Music of Game of Thrones

Ramin Djawadi is the composer of the Game of Thrones score.

The music for the fantasy TV series Game of Thrones is composed by Ramin Djawadi, and published by Varèse Sarabande for the first two seasons and by WaterTower Music subsequently. The soundtrack is instrumental and features one major theme, the Main Title, which accompanies the series' title sequence.

The music is noted for its popular main theme, which has been covered many times, and for its use of decidedly non-medieval renditions of songs from the series's source novels by noted indie bands. These adaptations, according to Wired, create attention for the series in media that wouldn't normally cover it, but are also notable for their musical merits independent of the series.^[1]

Overview

Soundtrack

Mixtapes

Background

Asked in interview about the overall process of composing the music and how it is used in the series, Djawadi stated "I sit with David and Dan and we do what's called a spotting session where we watch the entire episode and then discuss when music should start and stop. Everybody's very involved with that. And it constantly gets played with. What I love about Game of Thrones is that the positioning of the music is so well done, because it's not overdone. When the music cuts in, it really has something to say."^[2]

Themes

Main Title

According to Djawadi, the show creators wanted the main title theme to be about a journey as there are many locations, characters in the show and involves much traveling. After Djawadi had seen the preliminary animated title sequence the visual effect artists were still working on, he was inspired to write the piece. Djawadi said he intended to capture the overall impression of the show with the theme tune.^[3]

Houses and characters

Djawadi composed theme tunes for each of the major houses, and some of the characters also have their own themes that may be played in scenes involving them. The theme for House Stark is played on a cello, and most of the Stark characters only have variations on the same theme on cello. Arya Stark is the first of the house to have her own theme, first heard when she started her lesson on swordplay in episode three of season one, with the music featuring a dulcimer.^[4] A new theme for Jon Snow, previously using only the House Stark theme, was created in the sixth season and featured in the episode "Battle of the Bastards". It was first heard at the end of episode three when he said "My watch is ended", signifying a shift in the character after he had been resurrected.^[5] House Lannister has an associated song, "The Rains of Castamere". The song was played at the Red Wedding, but first heard when Tyrion Lannister whistled a small part in the first episode of the second season.^[6]

The theme may evolve over time in the show. The theme for Daenerys Targaryen started small, but became grander when she became more powerful. Her theme may be played initially by a single instrument such as a processed cello, but later becoming more epic-sounding incorporating more instruments, including Japanese taiko-inspired drums, Indonesian bedug drums, and an Armenian duduk flute.^[4] Syllables and words in Valyrian, a fictional language of Game of Thrones, were also used in her theme music, although not as whole sentences.^[5]

Different themes may also be combined in some scenes. For example, in the finale of Season 6 with the shot of the armada at the end, at least five themes were combined – themes for Daenerys, Theon Greyjoy, the Unsullied, the dragons, and the main title.^[4]

Tours

• Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience (2017) (Featuring Ramin Djawadi)

Awards

Awards and nominations

See also

• For other music based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, see Works based on A Song of Ice and Fire.

References