The soundtrack of the six-part ZDF series “The Second Wave” can now also be heard separately. Karim Sebastian Elias, also known as KS Elias, created a composition together with Thai instrumentalists to musically accompany the story of the four and a half hour series.
First came the wave, then the past
“The Second Wave” tells of the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. A group of friends were planning on vacationing in Khao Lak when the natural disaster struck them. Most survive, only Alexandra is missing and later declared dead. 15 years later, she shows up at her friends’ doorstep and confronts them with the past they thought they had left behind.
Trailer for “The Second Wave”
“It was an incredibly inspiring artistic experience”
Elias traveled to Bangkok to develop and record the approximately two hours of music together with a group of Thai artists. It seemed important to the composer to be inspired by the location of the events, as well as to work closely with the series’ scriptwriter. Regarding his work, he explains: “To be able to develop the musical world for this demanding six-part series together so closely with Sarah Schnier, the author and showrunner of ‘The Second Wave’, even well before filming, was an incredibly inspiring artistic experience. Being there during the filming on location in Thailand and experiencing this fanatical ensemble doing their art and recording our film music with the musicians in Thailand made the film music this soundtrack.”
Sarah Schnier is also extremely satisfied with the resulting composition. She explains: “In ‘The Second Wave’ I confront my characters with the blind spots in their self-image, forcing them to confront an old guilt – while Karim constantly catches them with his wonderful and sensitive music, carrying them through the story and ensures that they never lose their dignity.”
Listen to the soundtrack to “The Second Wave” here:
The drama is in the ZDF Mediathek available and will also be broadcast on television at the end of December, with three episodes in a row.
Broadcast dates at a glance:
- Wednesday December 27th: 10:15 p.m
- Thursday, December 28th: 10:15 p.m