British Composer Daniel Blumberg Wins Oscar for Best Original Score

Blumberg created the score for "The Brutalist," which followed an architect that escapes postwar Europe to rebuild his life in America

At the 2025 Academy Awards, British composer Daniel Blumberg won Best Original Score, for The Brutalist. This is Blumberg’s first Oscars win and first nomination — and won over Volker Bertelmann (Conclave), Clément Ducol and Camille (Emilia Pérez), John Powell and Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), and Kris Bowers (The Wild Robot).

Directed by Brady Corbet, The Brutalist followed a visionary architect played by Adrien Brody, who escaped post-war Europe and settled in Pennsylvania to rebuild his life, work, and marriage to his wife after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes.

“Thank you to the academy and everyone who watched the film and honored the work. It means a lot to be acknowledged like this,” Blumberg said in his acceptance speech. “I’ve been an artist for 20 years now, since I was a teenager. When I met Brady, I found my artistic soulmate. For him to trust me in this work and to grow alongside him has been so special. Thank you, Brady. I love you. I want to thank my collaborators, my co-producer Peter Walsh, and the artists who played on the score. The sounds you hear on The Brutalist are made by a group of hardworking, radical musicians who’ve been making uncompromising music for many years. I’m accepting this award on behalf of them, too.”

While recording the score, Blumberg worked with 20 musicians including British pianist John Tilbury, trumpeter Axel Dörner, saxophonist Evan Parker, and percussionist Steve Noble. The recordings happened rather nomadically from London, Budapest, New York, Berlin, and Paris, with the equipment fitting in a carry-on suitcase.

“I have a very specific recording setup that fits in a suitcase that 90% of the score was recorded on,” Blumberg told Pitchfork. “Half of the suitcase is filled with mics and the other half has a Sonosax recorder, a small, digital, but very high quality recording device that allows me to be able to go to [double bassist Joel Grip’s] painting studio and record something that will be able to be played out in huge cinemas.”

Also a visual artist, Blumberg has released three solo albums and works within multi-disciplinary duo GUO with saxophonist Seymour Wright. The 35-year-old was formerly the frontman of indie act Yuck, and has composed other film scores for shorts by Lynne Ramsay, Peter Strickland, Brady Corbet, and the French New Wave pioneer Agnès Varda.

Blumberg recently composed his debut film score for The World To Come (directed by Mona Fastvold), which premiered at the 77th Venice International Film Festival.