The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Music from the National Theatre Production) is the official album release from composer Jherek Bischoff of his score for the National Theatre’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s best-selling novel of the same name. The official soundtrack will be available to buy, stream and download on all major platforms from 22 October, to coincide with the production opening at The Duke of York’s Theatre in London’s West End.

CDs featuring artwork from the production will also be available to buy online via Bandcamp and the National Theatre Bookshop and in person at the NT Bookshop and The Duke of York’s Theatre. A special limited-edition vinyl will also be released in the new year. Pre-order and pre-save a copy of the soundtrack from Friday 1 October here.

Nominated for the 2020 Stage Debut Award’s Best Composer category, Bischoff’s work deftly underscores the journey of a man returning to his childhood home, where he finds himself standing beside the pond of the old Sussex farmhouse where he used to play. He’s transported to his 12th birthday when his friend Lettie claimed it wasn’t a pond, but an ocean… Plunged into a magical world, their survival depends on their ability to reckon with ancient forces that threaten to destroy everything around them.

The first major stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s work, this fantasy novel is ‘brought to thrilling life’ (The Times) in an adaptation by Joel Horwood, directed by Katy Rudd, which premiered at the National Theatre in late 2019 and transfers to the West End this autumn. A modern myth, where the power of imagination and storytelling transports audiences on a spellbinding and spectacular adventure.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane’s Movement Director Steven Hoggett first heard Bischoff’s 2016 ambient orchestral album Cistern as he read the script he had been sent to begin work on the production. Excited by the synergy of Bischoff’s musical style and the source material, Hoggett introduced director Katy Rudd to the album and Bischoff was invited to join the team staging this ambitious and magical work for the stage. With direction from Rudd that the score should be dark, scary and synth-based, Bischoff took inspiration from sci-fi and horror soundtracks from the 1980s.

Bischoff worked on the score with the National Theatre Music Department, which granted access to a library of instruments. Bischoff, along with the National Theatre, commissioned a purpose-built whalesong synthesizer from Spitfire Audio. Later released as Granular Whalesong through Spitfire Audio LABS, the synth was used to help voice the otherworldly creatures of the story. These, along with a string quartet, choir and an array of synthesizers, serve as the sound world for Bischoff’s score – at times ethereal and stirring, and at others entrancing, pulsating and positively horrifying.

Jherek Bischoff is a Los Angeles-based composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumental performer. Bischoff has received commissions from Kronos Quartet, Lincoln Center, St Ann’s Warehouse, and The Royal Conservatory, and his numerous collaborators include the likes of Kronos Quartet, David Byrne, Angel Olsen, Neil Gaiman, Robert Wilson, and Regina Spektor. His critically acclaimed releases include 2016’s Cistern, 2012’s orchestral pop album Composed, and a co-release in 2016 with long-time collaborator Amanda Palmer – Strung Out In Heaven: A Bowie String Quartet Tribute. Bischoff’s work for film and television includes the short films The Beauty of Decay, The Mushroom Hunters and The Grave of St Oran, the horror anthology The Devil Makes Three, documentary Thank You For Coming, Netflix’s A Futile and Stupid Gesture and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, and Starz’ Blunt Talk. His ballet and theatre work includes Wash of Gray for the Pacific Northwest Ballet; Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer and the opera Andersens Erzählungen for Theater Basel which next year transfers to Munich’s Residenztheater; Robert Wilson’s The Sandman for Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus; and Johnny Breitwieser for Vienna’s Schauspielhaus. Bischoff is developing two theatre productions, scoring for film and television, and releasing new music with direct fan support via Patreon.

Performances for The Ocean at the End of the Lane begin at The Duke of York’s Theatre on 23 October where it will run until 23 April 2022, with a press night on 4 November.