The US filmmaker Ken Burns’ 2024 documentary on Leonardo da Vinci ambitiously attempts to make sense of the Italian Renaissance giant’s scientific and artistic genius in a documentary that’s complemented by Caroline Shaw’s inventive and beautifully balanced soundtrack. There’s an underlying frenetic edge to Shaw’s music which she imaginatively scores for percussion, choir and string quartet, giving the impression of a man always at work, always thinking. “Optics, Light & Shadow”, for instance, is a filigree, restless pizzicato-based groove, while “Flying Machines” flits and scampers as it soars. At various points, amid the feverishness, Shaw displays glorious canvasses of sound that provide moments of deep reflection, including “Treatise on Painting” that draws on Shaw’s extensive experience with choral forces. There are moments that inspire pure drama, too, including “Virgin of the Rocks” that seems simply to gaze, awestruck, at Leonardo’s painting. And how to portray the Mona Lisa in sound? Shaw chooses simplicity, bringing choir, quartet and percussion together for a sweeping hymn to Leonardo’s most celebrated and perhaps most enigmatic artwork.