Westworld Suite - DPops

Westworld Suite
Music by Ramin Djawadi
Arranged by Isabel Sands '21
Conducted by Linus Lu '19

"Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin never died. They simply became their music."

Music plays an important role in the HBO science fiction series "Westworld". The composer, Ramin Djawadi, mixes western motifs with eerie, electronic ornaments to create the soundtrack to a future world in which wealthy guests can visit an immersive theme park populated by lifelike androids, called "hosts". As the series progresses, Djawadi's score reflects the rising tensions between creator and creation, real and artificial, and predetermination and free will.

This arrangement loosely follows the trajectory of the series. The first few songs ("Main Titles Theme", "Sweetwater", and "Paint it Black") sound the most distinctively western-- background music in a theme park, perhaps. As the hosts' world expands ("C.R.E.A.M.", "Runaway") and they journey towards consciousness ("Heart Shaped Box", "Dr. Ford"), the music begins to blur boundaries between genres. Throughout it all, the one consistent voice is the piano, which, within the show, serves as a symbol of a scripted world. The final song, "Exit Music (for a Film)" promises an unsettling future for humans and hosts alike.

Program Notes by Isabel Sands