Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi on writing music for season 7
Composer Ramin Djawadi is on a roll. On July 11, he performed music from his Game of Thrones score at the Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of the season 7 premiere festivities, and he woke up the next morning to find out his music for Westworld had been nominated for an Emmy.
“I can definitely say it was quite a week,” Djawadi enthused in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “Number one, I did not expect a nomination for Westworld, so I was super flattered about that. Very excited. And I had never performed at Disney Hall, so to be able to do that and to do it at the actual premiere it was absolutely amazing.”
Djawadi already crossed the country earlier this year with the Game of Thrones Live Concert Tour, and he is still finishing up the music for the last few Game of Thrones episodes for season 7. At last week’s premiere, producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss introduced the composer with a story about how he first came to work on the show, and Djawadi remembered it very much the same way:
"It’s pretty much exactly what they said: I saw the episodes, I was blown away by it, I met with them, and I was really busy at the time already. I realized that the scope of the show was so big and I didn’t know if I had enough time to make it happen. A few phone calls later, they said, “Come on, Ramin. We love you so much. We have to make this work.” And I loved them so much and the show so much that I said to myself, “Okay, you’re not going to sleep for three months.” We just dove into it, and here we are: season seven."
Despite the shortage of sleep, Djawadi is happy he trusted his gut. “I told myself I had to make it work and figure it out. And I did. The sleep had to give in, but looking back, it was the best experience I’ve ever had.” He had a great run with this summer’s live show, which was an immersive recap of seasons 1-6. It also prepped him to write the score for season 7, although he only got to see it a little bit before everyone else. “I was very inspired of now seeing where it’s going and pushing further with the melodies and new themes.”
So what does Djawadi have to say about the upcoming episodes? To start, he was impressed with the size and scope of the new storyline:
"What I really love is that every season, it kicks things up another level. Whenever I think that isn’t possible, then I see the material. The dragons are huge now. Everything is really expanding. So the music has to do the same. There’s a lot of really great and emotional scenes coming up. Just Dany arriving at Dragonstone, that was a five minute scene with no dialogue at all — just her touching the sand. It was a big music moment. I’m really expanding on that and using a lot more orchestral elements now, because there’s such a size to it. Normally we would go bigger with the orchestra toward the end of the season, but this year we were able to bring it into the very first episode."
Djawadi rearranged Daenerys’ dragon theme for her arrival at Dragonstone, making it sound more royal her journey through the halls to the throne room. “I wanted to make sure I captured her as an individual and her internal feelings as well,” he said. “Being born there and now actually walking back there.” You can even hear a whisper of Stannis’ theme when she rips down his banner. “It was carefully planted.”
Since Djawadi hasn’t yet had time to name the pieces he’s working on, the music that played over Dany’s arrival at Dragonstone doesn’t have a title. But obviously, “Dragonstone” is a good candidate. “It’s probably safe to say that that’s what this piece should be called.”
The power of “Light of the Seven,” the music that played over the destruction of the Sept of Baelor in the season 6 finale, was immense. Does Djawadi feel pressure to somehow top himself in season 7? “I put pressure on myself every season,” he says, “even before season six, that I want to push forward with new themes. I just want to top myself on the season before.” But he also doesn’t want to overthink it too much. “What’s right for the show” is his main priority.
“Light of the Seven” also introduced pianos into Game of Thrones’ instrumental repertoire. Djawadi is continually looking to add new sounds. “We always try to have some new instrumentation, some more subtle than others,” he offers. “The music though, just as with the rest of the show, I don’t want to say too much. We’ll have to see how things unfold over the next couple of episodes.”
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What’s coming up next for Djawadi? He’s set to work on a feature film, The Mountain Between Us, starring Idris Elba and Kate Winslet. But we’re understandably most excited for his future work on Thrones.
