Screenshot of the credits of the HBO “Game of thrones” series – HBO
- The “Game of Thrones” series celebrates the 10th anniversary of its launch this Saturday.
- On this occasion, the vinyl publisher Diggers Factory is reissuing a double vinyl album, Game of Thrones music, performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Return on the incredible soundtrack of Ramin Djawadi.
A score as epic as it is intense! While Game Of Thrones celebrates ten years of its launch this Saturday, there is no doubt that its cultural heritage includes the richly textured music of Ramin Djawadi. On the occasion of this anniversary, the vinyl publisher
Diggers Factory offers fans of the adaptation of the Georges RR Martin saga a reissue of a double vinyl album, Music of Game of Thrones, bringing together no less than 20 tracks from seasons 1 to 6, performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The opportunity to rediscover a cult soundtrack.
A riff of light strings, a few drums in the distance, and a cello ringing which launches the melody… The credits of Game Of Thrones has become one of the most famous tunes in the history of television.
An arsenal of instruments, sometimes strange
A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Iranian and German-born composer Ramin Djawadi was working for Hans Zimmer when he was asked to imagine the soundtrack for Game Of Thrones. DB Weiss and David Benioff give him only one instruction, not to use the flute, too present according to them in the original fantasy tapes.
The arsenal that Ramin Djawadi used for Game Of Thrones features dismal strings, mighty horns, and strange instruments like the Armenian reedwood known as duduk (for Daenerys) or glass bowls (for White Walkers).
A generic designed in a car
He’ll find the credits tune in the car on his way home from a screening of the show’s revamped pilot cut. “My intention was to install an atmosphere, to translate the mystery, the adventure and the journey”, he explains in an interview with the magazine Variety. “The cello, dark and expressive, provided the perfect tone,” he explains.
The music for the first season was written for a small string ensemble, supplemented with synthetic pads and percussion. “For season 1, the orchestrations were done with synths, not at all with philharmonic orchestrations,” explains Cyril Roux, editor at Diggers Factory.
A music budget that increases from season to season
Over the next six seasons, the music budget increased as did the overall production budget. Over the seasons, Ramin Djawadi has created dozens of themes for the characters and the series’ many twists, all composed in his Los Angeles studio, but recorded in Prague by the instruments of the Czech Film Orchestra and Choir.
“It started out intentionally small,” the composer tells Variety, “But as the story developed, the dragons came, the battles grew, the drama got bigger and bigger, the music had to grow with it. We added bigger orchestras, more choirs, more instruments all around. “
“Partly for this reason we decided to bring the music of Game Of Thrones. The hope is that, armed with an 80-piece symphony orchestra, choir, and all the new arrangements, made by the wonderful Evan Jolly, we have a cohesive listening experience, ”says Rick Clark, the producer in charge of the re-recording of Game of Thrones music by the Prague City Philharmonic Orchestra, in
the album booklet.
Many variations on the same theme
The quantity of pieces of music required for a series is a particular challenge for a composer. To dress up the 73 episodes, Ramin Djawadi has multiplied the variations on the same theme. The simplicity of the structure of these pieces and these many variations served this series which followed forty protagonists scattered in the universe of Westeros and Essos. The music reinforced the homogeneous aspect of the story.
With so much music created, the album Music of Game of Thrones was only able to retain part of it: 20 emblematic titles, from seasons 1 to 6, such as the famous Light of the seven, this heady track which introduces the first piano notes in the series and accompanied the violent response of Cersei of the grand finale of season 6, or even Dance of Dragons, which accompanied the spectacular scene in the Great Arena of Meereen at the
end of episode 9 of season 5.
Pieces that we rediscover thanks to the orchestrations of Evan Jolly and the interpretation of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. “On a good stereo system, this takes on a very audiophile dimension,” promises Cyril Roux.
Ten years after the launch of Game Of Thrones, “The soundtrack has become a standard,” said Cyril Roux. It has inspired several concert tours, hundreds of covers on YouTube (some performed by dogs or cats!). “We have been using this soundtrack for three years,” says Cyril Roux. “The first pressing of 1,000 copies sold very quickly. We released a second edition with electric blue vinyls like the eyes of the White Walkers, and this anniversary edition with white vinyls, ”he explains.
These vinyls are the delight of fans all over the world. “We had requests from Korea, the United States,” says Cyril Roux. Some fans even collect different editions of Ramin Djawadi’s music. “A phenomenon that we really find among vinyl collectors”, comments the expert. Ten years after its launch and two years after the finale, the music of Game Of Thrones is not about to stop ringing on the turntables!