Caroline Shaw to Release Score Album for Ken Burnsâ New Leonardo da Vinci Documentary
Caroline Shaw composed the original score for Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahonâs forthcoming documentary Leonardo da Vinci. On October 25, sheâll release the music on a new album for Nonesuch. Below, check out the new song âIntentions of the Mind.â
Shaw recorded her Leonardo da Vinci score with bassist John Patitucci and the three ensembles with which she works most closely: Attacca Quartet, SÅ Percussion, and Roomful of Teeth. In a statement about the score, David McMahon said, âCarolineâs existing body of musicâjoyful, daring, at times transcendent, and wholly uniqueâseemed to speak directly to Leonardo, a seeking soul who, 500 years after his death, can come across as strikingly modern. A fully original score, we believed, would add crucial connective tissue to areas where the record of Leonardoâs life is thin and itâs possible to briefly lose his trail. The music Caroline created is dynamic, enthralling and filled with wonder.â
The Burnses and McMahonâs two-part, four-hour documentary airs on PBS on November 18 and 19. âNo single person can speak to our collective effort to understand the world and ourselves,â Ken Burns said in a statement about his film. âBut Leonardo had a unique genius for inquiry, aided by his extraordinary skills as an artist and scientist, that helps us better understand the natural world that we are part of and to appreciate more fully what it means to be alive and human.â
Caroline Shawâs Leonardo da Vinci (Original Score) will follow her recent album with SÅ Percussion, Rectangles and Circumstance. She also has lately shared two songs with her partner, Danni Lee Parpan, for their band Ringdown, âTwo-Stepâ and âGhost.â