Academy and Emmy-winning composer Rachel Portman has teamed up with Emmy-nominated Jon Ehrlich on the new Hulu miniseries We Were the Lucky Ones, a World War II drama based on true events. Creating beautiful music that juxtaposes the madness of war could prove quite a difficult undertaking but Portman and Ehrlich find the balance between the light and the dark, resulting in an emotionally layered, dimensional, and effortlessly vibrant soundtrack. The 24-track album is available on digital platforms this Friday, May 3, coinciding with the series finale.

We Were the Lucky Ones portrays the Holocaust from the point of view of the Kurc family, who are of Polish Jewish descent. Starring Joey King and Logan Lerman as Halina and Addy Kurc, this sensitively told story feels eerily urgent given the state of global politics unfolding at the present moment. Based on Georgia Hunter’s New York Times bestselling novel, the television adaptation of We Were the Lucky Ones is inspired by the incredible true story of the Kurc family, who were separated at the start of WWII. The series travels with them across continents as they do everything in their power to not only reunite but survive. We Were the Lucky Ones is a tribute to the triumph of hope and love against all odds.

Cinemacy is excited to premiere a 3 Score Sampler from We Were the Lucky Ones, below:

A flurry of melodic strings accompanies each of the three tracks. The first, “Addy Rows,” has an upbeat momentum that is guided by a steady piano treatment. The second, “Do As I Say,” feels heavier and more forlorn. There is a sense of anticipation and unease which is heightened by high-pitched strings and the piano’s minor chord progression. The final track in the sampler, titled “Passover,” is airy and bright. As the name implies, it evokes feelings of warmth and unconditional love.

Says Portman and Ehrlich, “We have been through a wonderful musical collaboration together trusted with writing the music for this important, deeply moving true story. The music covers the enormous scope of the story, following the different characters with many bespoke musical themes. It blends melodic orchestral colors that underscore the humanity of our characters against a sonic palette of textures and percussive gestures that invoke the looming darkness that increasingly envelops them.”

Rachel Portman made history in 1997 when she became the first female composer to win an Academy Award, which she received for her work on Emma. She is also the first woman composer to win a Primetime Emmy Award, for her work on Bessy. She received two further Academy nominations for The Cider House Rules and Chocolat, and received her second Primetime Emmy Award last year for Julia. With over a hundred film scores to her name, Portman also ventures into stage productions, like the musical “Little House on the Prairie” and an opera “The Little Prince” for Houston Grand Opera.

Jon Ehrlich is also a highly accomplished composer with a prolific list of scoring credits to his name, which include nearly a thousand primetime television episodes and three Primetime Emmy nominations. Notable accolades include Emmy nominations for his work on House, M.D., Roar, and The Agency, as well as winning Best Music in a Feature Film at the Nashville Film Festival for Ask Me Anything. A graduate of Yale University, Jon is also a founder of Qwire, a collaborative, cloud-based, web platform that streamlines workflows across every aspect of the music-to-picture ecosystem, while managing music assets and all associated music metadata.