Orion's Belt (film) - Music

Music

The music for the film was composed by Geir Bøhren and Bent Åserud. They traveled to Svalbard to gather inspiration, and discovered that the lack of vegetation caused the distortion of sense of direction. Inspiration was gathered more from the associations of the nature and culture in Svalbard, rather than that of a traditional action film. This included such elements as listening to whale and Inuit song. For the storm scenes, the team made a Richard Wagner-inspired piece, which was distinct from the Inuit-inspired music. At the end of the piece was a flute melody, which was then adapted to become the theme song, Svalbardtema. Although the music was not mentioned in the original reception, it later became very popular and has become a de facto anthem for the archipelago. Bøhren and Åserud established themselves as film music composers with Orion's Belt and have composed the music for nearly all of Solum's later films.