Avant-garde composer Jóhann Jóhannsson has died at 48. The Icelandic musician passed away on February 9 in Berlin and the cause of his death is currently unknown.
“I’m so very sad. Today, I lost my friend who was one of the most talented musicians and intelligent people I knew,” said Tim Husom, Jóhannsson’s manager. “We came a long way together.” Jóhannsson is survived by his parents, sisters, and daughter.
Jóhannsson came up in the experimental music scene beginning in 1997 as a founding member of the art collective and record label Kitchen Motors and in 2002, he released his solo debut Englabörn to critical acclaim. He was a prolific composer, scoring for countless award-winning films. His score for The Theory of Everything brought him a Golden Globe for Best Original Score as well as an Academy Award nomination. Jóhannsson was a frequent collaborator of French director Denis Villeneuve and created the scores for works like Sicario, Prisoners, and the science fiction drama Arrival.
Jóhannsson’s most recent ventures were as a music and sound supervisor on Darren Aronofsky’s polarizing 2017 feature Mother! He also teamed up with Icelandic cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir on the original score for the forthcoming biblical drama Mary Magdalene.
Listen to “Flight From The City” from Jóhannsson’s 2016 release Orphée and part of the score from Arrival below.
