How ‘The Woman King’ Score Honors the Language of the Dahomey Warriors Through Chants and Songs
variety.comJon Burlingame editor It took the combined talents of four Grammy winners, a symphony orchestra and a choir of African-American opera singers to make “The Woman King” resonate with the sounds of 19th-century West Africa. “This was one of those once-in-a-lifetime films,” says composer Terence Blanchard of director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s project, for which he wrote a powerful score – the likes of which haven’t been heard in a period African film since Quincy Jones’ “Roots” 45 years ago. “All of your experiences lead you to this moment, to work on something like this,” says the two-time Oscar nominee and five-time Grammy winner. “As soon as I saw it, I was floored.
I looked at these characters as the founding DNA of all the strong African-American women I experienced growing up.” “The Woman King” is set in 1823 Dahomey, a West African kingdom now known as the nation of Benin.
Viola Davis plays the leader of an all-female army of warriors known as the Agojie. Director Prince-Bythewood tells Variety: “Terence and I connected immediately on what we wanted to do with this score.
We wanted a classic orchestral bigness steeped in West African culture, instrumentation with voices to bring the feel of the ancestors.” Blanchard enlisted the nine-voice Vox Noire ensemble that he had previously employed in his acclaimed opera “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” during last year’s Metropolitan Opera performances; and recorded for five days with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Glasgow.
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