The Testament of Ann Lee Music By Daniel Blumberg

From award-winning writer-director Mona Fastvold (The World to Come, The Brutalist) comes the extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers. Academy Award-nominee Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shaker’s irrepressible leader, who preached gender and social equality and was revered by her followers. 

The Testament of Ann Lee captures the ecstasy and agony of her quest to build a utopia, featuring more than a dozen traditional Shaker hymns reimagined as rapturous movements with choreography by Celia Rowlson-Hall (Vox Lux) and original songs & score by Academy Award winner Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist). 

Of the music, DANIEL BLUMBERG says, “The story of the Shakers and Ann Lee is inherently radical. I was trying to push the edges of the melodic core of hymns and songs to these more elemental and improvised sounds. Outside of my films, I make records with songs, so there was familiarity in working with song form but it was a very new process to do it for a picture. There’s a wide breadth of voices on this soundtrack ranging between some of my favourite improvisers in the world, untrained choirs, to Hollywood actors.” 

Director MONA FASTVOLD adds, “From the very beginning, the music was never just an accompaniment—it was a living, breathing force shaping the film. Daniel’s approach, rooted in physicality and raw vocal textures, allowed us to build a world where sound and movement became inseparable, echoing the ecstatic spirit of the Shakers.” 

Film lead AMANDA SEYFRIED comments, “Daniel’s ability to preserve the spirit of Shaker hymns and carry it forward in such an evocative and timeless way is a gift to all of us. I’ve never been more moved as a musician to work alongside him to bring these to life.” 

Much of Blumberg’s earliest ideas surrounding the sonic landscape of the film were rooted in physicality and the religious practice of speaking in tongues, prompting the composer to assemble a group of close to 100 singers – extreme vocal improvisers Maggie Nicols, Phil Minton, Shelley Hirsch, Freya Edmondes alongside a cast of untrained voices – to create a wordless cacophony of vocal textures that mirrors the Shakers’ ecstatic spiritual practices.

Crafting a tightly focused yet boldly experimental sonic palette, Blumberg worked with avant-garde percussionist Steve Noble to incorporate tuned percussion like hand bells, church bells and vast metal bell plates that toll spectrally throughout the film, as well as the celeste, a keyboard with metal plates that is operated by a hammer. Vocal and percussive elements are supported by a string section featuring experimental improvisors Billy Steiger (violin), Angharad Davies (violin), Tom Wheatley (viol), Okkyung Lee (cello), Joel Grip (double bass), with additional harp by Rhodri Davies. Composing over 100 minutes of music, the album was recorded across a multiple locations and studios, crafting a uniquely raw sound unlike that of a traditional studio score. A full list of album personnel and production credits can be found HERE.   

For the film’s vocal songs, Fastvold and Blumberg grounded their approach in Shaker history, together selecting ten archival hymns to be reshaped through a contemporary lens and performed onscreen by the film’s cast. In addition to the twelve traditional hymns, Blumberg composed three original songs, including the end credits theme “Clothed by the Sun,” performed as a duet between the composer and Seyfried. The result is a boldly inventive song-and-score hybrid that drives the film’s two-hour narrative while capturing the radical spirit of Ann Lee and the Shaker movement.  

Searchlight Pictures’ The Testament of Ann Lee is now available in select theaters and everywhere Friday, January 23 and the full score is out now.