Product Description
In 1982, the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
Nuclear Power Plant started a series of tests to simulate an electrical power
outage to help create procedures for maintaining the circulation of the reactor
coolant for the 60-75 seconds needed until the back-up generators got to full
power. This was key to ensure that the coolant pumps did not stop working;
otherwise, it could lead to the core overheating or, worse, the core melting
down. The first test was unsuccessful, and, after some modifications, the test
was repeated in 1984 and 1985.
On 25 April 1986, a fourth test was
scheduled to take place at 1415hrs during a controlled power-down of one of the
reactors. However, at 1400hrs, another regional power station went offline,
causing the test to be delayed by 10-hours. With the well-prepared day and
evening crews shifts over, the test was left to the unprepared night crew.
Unbeknownst to them, safety systems and protocols had been disabled or ignored
earlier in the day, power-output issues had left the reactor in an unstable
condition and there were basic design flaws with the reactor when it was
constructed. All of this led to an uncontrolled chain reaction and, at some
point around 01:23:45 in the morning of 26 April 1986, explosions and a fire
destroyed a reactor building of reactor number 4 at Chernobyl. Radioactive
contamination was released into the surrounding areas, 100,000s of people were
evacuated, a 30-kilometre exclusion zone was put in place and whilst,
officially, only 31 people died from this disaster, it has been estimated that
between 4,000 and 16,000 fatalities are related to the events of that day. The
area is likely to be unsafe for the next 20,000 years.
The soundtrack to the TV mini-series
"Chernobyl" is by the Icelandic composer, Hildur Guðnadóttir. The music is
made, almost entirely, from sounds that she recorded at a decommissioned
Nuclear power plant in Lithuania, giving it a very raw quality. She says "the
show itself portrays the disaster with respect and realism, and I was adamant
the score reflects this. I wanted to show the viewer how it would feel to be
there, and to tell this story of fear, loss and, ultimately, human error."
"Vichnaya Pamyat"
translated to "Memory Eternal" in Ukrainian, but a better English
equivalent would be "Rest in Peace". It is a hymn used during Ukrainian
Orthodox Christian church funerals and memorial services. Guðnadóttirs arrangement is heard at the end
of the final episode of the series.
A recording of the music from the
original soundtrack can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Poc3MF8GFk.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.