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 Christophe Beck was the main composer on
Buffy during seasons 2-4. He composed two more episodes after that: "
The Gift" and "
Once More, with Feeling" (which was a contractual obligation, having signed on before he left the series). An album dedicated to his compositions for the show, entitled
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Score, was released on September 9, 2008 by Rounder Records. In early February 2018, La La Land Records released a limited edition 4CD set of scoring from the show including many of the suites from the two promotional score CDs as well as some new cues, and scoring by other composers and Carter Burwell's score to the film. 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
Jenny Calendar ("
Passion"). This song also features backing vocals from
Anthony Head, who played
Rupert Giles on 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 ("
The Gift"). This appears on the soundtrack for "
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 Thomas Wanker was the main composer for the majority of the 5th and 6th seasons of
Buffy. His work tended to be subtle, and was described by one reviewer as "unassuming mysterious underscore". In "
Shadow" and "
Into the Woods", some of his tragic melodies are used in musical montages shown as Buffy and Dawn cope with their mother's illness, and Riley's feelings of alienation from Buffy.
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 Douglas Romayne was hired by Joss Whedon to score episodes of
Buffy season 7. He scored additional music for 33 episodes of
Angel seasons four and five for Robert J. Kral. He was Associate Music Director on the
Buffy musical "
Once More, with Feeling", which was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Music Direction (C. Beck and J. Tobias nominated). He also arranged Whedon's song "Mrs" in "
Selfless". His tracks included: • "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
Beast, set loose at Wolfram and Hart ("
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==