During
his tenure as Buffy house composer, Beck drew a fair amount of praise
from fans of the show, and is regarded as having contributed the highest quality
music to the best of the show's episodes. At this time rumour had it that
a CD containing music from the second and third seasons might be released
alongside the sucessful pop album, but this never materialised, much to the
composer's own chagrin. Some years later some of his music from seasons 4
and 5 was released along with songs from season 6's Once More, With Feeling,
but with hopes of the release of season 2-3 music (arguably the most substantial
contribution to the series) well-and-truly dashed, only the composer's promotional
releases gave some indication of their magic away from the series.
According to Joss Whedon in an interview for UGO in December 2003...
"We've tried to get one since the Emmy (referring to Beck's win for Best Dramatic Underscore for the second season episode "Becoming Pt. 1"). "It took us seven years to get out two collections of songs...and we've been able to sneak some stuff on there." Whedon explained that mainstream interest (or rather lack thereof) in scoring work makes it "unbelievably difficult" to get a project of that sort off the ground. "There ain't no justice."
The
good news is that as of September 2008, Beck/Buffy fans finally have a great
deal of what they wanted. Rounder Records apparently picked up on the fanbase
and have assembled a splendid mix of music from seasons two, three, four and
five (the finale only, which was the only episode to feature Beck's music)
which should more than whet the appetite of newbies, whilst tantelising collectors
of the promo discs with just enough extra to have them queuing at the virtual
checkout. So in case you're wondering why this site exists - it's not a publicity
campaigne, it's not built on his reputation as a film scorer, it started right
here, in the Buffyverse, and whatever his work since, this is the unimpeachable
benchmark, not just for television but for all modern multimedia scoring.
A cornucopia of themes and styles that emerse you in a wicked tale of the
damsel-that-turned, and with a slight budget, a few live instruments, and
a lot of talent, delivering a classic, not once but again and again and again.
Below are links to episode features together with details from the promotional albums which were made from music in seasons two and three. As soon as Bluninstrument gets hold of the new disc (US release only, it seems), and compares with what is listed here, this page will need a revamp, losing some tracks which are now commercially available, and adding references to what should always have been an essential disc. Cues or episodes marked * are represented at least partially in the 2008 release. Suites of music from these episodes are available on the disc 'Buffy the vampire slayer - Once more, with feeling' Mutant Enemy / 20th Century Fox: Rounder 1166190582 for episodes marked with ^.
Features musicians Chris Bleth (woodwind), Kevan Torfeh (cello), Steve Forman (percussion), Lenny Bloodstein (violin on 'Twice the fool'), Anthony Head (voice on 'Remembering Jenny'). All other episodes composed by Shawn K. Clement & Sean Murray
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2.01 When she was bad 2.02 Some assembly required 2.04 Inca mummy girl 2.08 The dark age 2.11 Ted 2.13 Surprise 2.14 Innocence |
2.16
Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered 2.17 Passion 2.19 I only have eyes for you 2.21 Becoming, part 1 2.22 Becoming, part 2 |
Features musicians Chris Bleth (woodwind), M.B. Gordy and Steve Forman (percussion on 'The zeppo'), Evan Wilson (viola on 'Amends' and 'Graduation day'), George Doering (guitar on 'Lover's walk'), Bobbi Page (vocals on 'The wish'
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3.01 Anne 3.06 Band candy 3.08 Lovers walk 3.09 The wish 3.10 Amends 3.12 Helpless |
3.13 The zeppo 3.16 Doppelgangland 3.17 Enemies 3.18 Earshot 3.19 Choices 3.20 The prom 3.21 Graduation day, part 1 3.22 Graduation day, part 2 |
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4.01 The freshman |
4.12 A new man * |
5.22 The gift ^ *
6.07 Once more, with feeling (orchestrations, arrangements, incidental music)
Credited to Robert Kral, who later in the season (from around the 6th episode) became sole composer, although Beck retained joint credit until season 2, and contributed the occasional cue up to the midway point of the season. Only the first episode is credited to Beck alone, and this is featured in the 2005 score CD. See the entry for Angel (1999-2000) in the film/tv-ography.
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1.01 City of [Angels] |
|
^
Note1: Due to space constrictions, I am unable to provide permanent MP3 files for music from the promo discs. 192kbps files are available for each feature update, but are taken down when the next arrives. A 64kbps version should stay for longer, though.
Note2: Main title themes: Buffy: Nerf Herder
Angel: Holly Knight, Cami Elen and Jymm Thomas, performed by Darling
Violetta
"Blood, text and fears"
October conference report
Call for papers: Sounds of the
Slayer publication