Music in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
The use of music was a key component in the fictional
Themes
Buffy theme
The "Buffy theme" is the music played alongside the opening credits of the show. The theme itself has no lyrics; it begins with several notes played by an organ, a signifier for horror in movie culture from the 1930s onwards, followed by upbeat rock music.
The theme was played by the
"[The Buffy production staff] had hired some famous theme song composer to come up with a theme and they didn't like the one he came up with so they were kind of on a low budget, and asked local bands to come up with theme song ideas."[1]
In the DVD commentary for "Welcome to the Hellmouth", Whedon explained that part of his decision to select Nerf Herder's theme was that Alyson Hannigan had made him listen to the band's music. Nerf Herder later recorded a second version of the theme which was used for the opening titles from season 3 on.
In 1999, Nerf Herder lead singer Parry Gripp gave the background on the writing of the melody. The original melody was written before Whedon contacted the band asking them to submit a demo for a theme tune, and was not written specifically for the show:
"We did the theme song before the show was on the air. It was a song that had already been written, but we really didn't know where to take it. I had some ideas - it was originally going to have some kind of science fiction theme, which is weird, because we don't do songs like that. I remember having the title of 'Outer Space Rock' or something like that; that was a working thing".[2]
Angel theme
Darling Violetta is an alternative rock group that had performed two songs, "Cure" and "Blue Sun" in the Buffy episode "Faith, Hope & Trick." They cowrote the song with songwriter Holly Knight.
The following year, Angel invited bands to submit demos for the theme music to the show. They asked bands to use "dark superhero ideas" and "Cello-rock".
In 2005, Holly Knight and the band composed an extended version of the Angel theme called "The Sanctuary Extended Remix", which featured on the soundtrack of the series Live Fast - Die Never. Joss Whedon and
Score
Many people have worked on the scoring of Buffy and Angel. Some of the main composers were:
Walter Murphy
Walter Murphy was the main composer on the first season of Buffy.
Christophe Beck
Beck's music for the show includes:
- "Close Your Eyes" plays during "Becoming". This song incorporates the "Buffy/Angel Love Theme" that is used significantly throughout seasons 2 and 3, and appears on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album.
- "Remembering Jenny" plays after the death of Passion"). This song also features backing vocals from Anthony Head, who played Rupert Gileson the show.
- "Slayer's Elegy" plays during the final assault of "The Wish".
- "Loneliness of Six" plays at the end of "Lovers Walk" as various heartbroken characters walk off in different directions.
- "Sacrifice" plays when Buffy sacrifices herself for her sister and for the world ("Once More, With Feeling" along with Beck's suites from "Restless" and "Hush".
- "I'm Game" plays at the end of the penultimate episode of Angel ("Power Play") as the group decides to launch a suicidal final assault against the Circle of the Black Thorn. "I'm Game" was the theme used throughout the series whenever there was a need for "heroic music", and debuted in the first episode ("City Of"), when Angel resolves to fight evil in Los Angeles.
Thomas Wanker
Robert J. Kral
Robert J. Kral was the main composer for the series Angel, writing the music for 112 episodes for seasons 1 through 5. Initially hired by Christophe Beck for Season 1 with shared credit, Kral was employed by 20th Century Fox directly for Seasons 2 through 5. Kral worked for Beck on initial episodes, with Kral then writing most of the episodes for season one. Kral employed Zoran Boris and Douglas Romayne to write additional music for the final two seasons. The soundtrack Live Fast, Die Never mostly consists of his scores from throughout Angel. Fans were asked to nominate their favorite tracks and the resulting poll determined the bulk of the soundtrack released by Rounder, EMI and 20th Century Fox Television.
Music scenes and themes composed by Kral for Angel include:
- "Hero" for the character Doyle
- "Darla's Theme" which recurs throughout the series
- "Rebellion" for an episode with crossover plots and characters from Buffy
- "Home" for Angel's son Connor, as he eventually lives out his life with no memory of his father
- "Darla's Sacrifice" for an intense change in the story arc of the series
- "Pylea", which features a score style change for several complete episodes in a different "dimension" of medieval style fantasy
- "Vespa Chase", featuring a comedic motorcycle chase through Italy
- "The End Of The World"
Robert Duncan
Robert Duncan is credited as composer for Buffy episodes 7.02 and 7.04-7.22. His tracks included:
- "Chosen", Buffy and Spike's love theme, Faith and Robin's theme, and the theme of Slayer Victory during the fight in the Hellmouth.
- "Every Girl, A Slayer", which plays while Buffy proposes her idea to overcome the First.
Douglas Romayne
- "In Westbury Field", which plays when Giles is introduced in England ("Lessons")
- The suite of "Istanbul", "Just In Time" and "Lesson One" is the score to the opening sequence of the season, showing a slayer being chased and murdered in Turkey, Buffy training Dawn to fight vampires, and Buffy's worries about the new school ("Lessons")
- "On The Mend", which plays when Buffy helps Willow heal from the Gnarl ("Same Time, Same Place")
- "Another Way Out", which plays when Angel, Wes, Lilah, Fred and Connor are trying to escape the Habeas Corpses")
- "Chasing Lilah" ("Calvary")
- "Cordy's Journey", which plays over a montage of scenes showing that Cordy is possessed ("Inside Out")
- "The Hellmouth", which plays when Spike magically appears in Angel's office straight from the Buffy series finale ("Unleashed")
- "Puppet Fight", which plays when Angel, transformed into a puppet, has a showdown with evil puppets taking over the lives of children in LA ("Smile Time")
- "One Day To Live", which plays while Angel and the gang try to save Fred from dying of a mystical disease ("A Hole in the World")
The Bronze
The Bronze is a nightclub in Sunnydale, which hosts live music and serves as a key place where the Scooby Gang spend time for leisure. In the opening episodes, Sprung Monkey and Dashboard Prophets establish that much of the music featured at the club is alternative rock and roll, though numerous styles of music are also later heard, including trip hop, ballad and new wave/electronic music. The Bronze appears in 66 of the 144 episodes of Buffy.
The production team used the setting of The Bronze to showcase new bands from the Los Angeles area, as well as more well-known artists and bands such as Aimee Mann, Cibo Matto and Michelle Branch.
Key musical moments at the Bronze include:
- Buffy and Angel dancing to Angel")
- Buffy taunting Angel by intimately dancing with Xander to Cibo Matto's "Sugar Water" ("When She Was Bad")
- Buffy and Faith flirtatiously dancing to "Bad Girls")
- Superstar")
- Oz, along with the other Scoobies, hears the band, "Shy" (a fictional front for the real-life band, Wild at Heart")
- Giles performs "Exposition Song" with Restless")
- Willow and Tara dance together during Family")
- Tabula Rasa"), a performance which became particularly popular amongst fans due to the meaning of the episode, which featured the break-up of Willow and Tara; the departure of Giles to England; and the beginning of Buffy and Spike's relationship). The version used on the show was slightly different from the radio version.
- The Breeders performed in the episode "Him" that aired November 5, 2002.
- Angie Hart performs "Blue" with her band Splendid. The song was co-written by Hart and Joss Whedon ("Conversations with Dead People")
- Sleeper")
Dingoes Ate My Baby
Episode | Location | Songs |
---|---|---|
"Inca Mummy Girl" | The Bronze | "Fate" & "Shadows" |
" Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered " |
The Bronze | "Pain" |
" Dead Man's Party " |
Buffy's House | "Never mind," "Pain" & "Sway" |
" Homecoming " |
The Bronze | "She knows" |
" Band Candy " |
The Bronze | "Violent" |
" Revelations " |
The Bronze | "Run" |
" Living Conditions " |
Buffy's dorm room | "Pain" (on stereo) |
" The Harsh Light of Day " |
The Bronze | "Dilate" |
" The Initiative " |
The Bronze | "Fate" (on stereo) |
Lorne and Caritas
Some key musical moments include:
- The first song from Caritas seen on screen is Lorne singing Judgment"). Lorne was seen in many more Season 2 episodes singing at his bar.
- In the same episode, Angel, a long-time fan of Dear Boy").
- Cordy, Wes and Gunn drunkenly sing Redefinition").
- Darla sings The Trial").
- A Hole In The World").
- The last performance seen at Caritas was That Old Gang of Mine").
- After the destruction of Caritas in the Angel finale, Lorne visits another bar and sings Not Fade Away").
Shy
After
Velvet Chain
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan's music is used twice on Buffy at key moments, in the finales of Seasons 2 and 6.
- In "Becoming, Part Two", "Full of Grace" plays as Buffy leaves Sunnydale. The song and Buffy's abandonment signify the character reaching an all-time low.
- At the end of the sixth season in "Radio Sunnydale, but not in the UK one.
Buffyverse discography
A number of CD releases have been released linked to the Buffyverse:
Buffyverse discography | Release date |
---|---|
Buffy film soundtrack | 1992 |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album | 1999 |
Once More, with Feeling | 2002 |
Radio Sunnydale |
2003 |
Angel: Live Fast, Die Never | 2005 |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Score | 2008 |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Collection | 2018 |
References
- ^ "Members.lycos.co.uk - Interview with Nerf Herder". Archived from the original on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2006-04-07.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine#1 (UK, Oct 1999), page 18.
- ^ Websites.cable.ntl.com - Interview with Darling Violetta lead guitarist Archived 2006-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Score [SOUNDTRACK]". Amazon. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ bluntinstrument.org.uk Bluntinstrument.org.uk - Review of Thomas's work on Buffy
- ISBN 978-0312329440.
- ISBN 978-0312312589.
- ISBN 978-0786437993.
External links
- Bluntinstrument.org Buffyverse music
- Slayageonline.com - Music, Gender, and Identity in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
- Websites.cable.ntl.com - Interview with Darling Violetta lead singer
- Websites.cable.ntl.com - Interview with Darling Violetta lead guitarist
- The11thhour.com - Interview with Darling Violetta
- Bluntinstrument.org - Christophe Beck
- Cityofangel.com - Interview with Robert Kral
- Bbc.co.uk - Interview with Robert Kral
- Buffyfans.com Music Section
- Duncanmusic.com - Official site