Awesome Music in Denis Villeneuve's 2021-2024 film adaptation of Dune is a given, considering that Hans Zimmer wrote it. Zimmer's passion for the books meant that he wrote no less than three soundtrack albums for the first film alone.
Dune: Part One
- The first trailer concludes with an epic choral cover
of "Eclipse" from Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. - Two tracks, "Paul's Dream" and "Ripples in the Sand", were released early, and offered a taste of the thunderous chanting and choral voices that would define the music for the movie. "Paul's Dream" is reprised to great effect in the trailer for Dune: Part Two, mixed with a slower version of the Bene Gesserit's dark ethereal chanting.
- From the sketchbook album (created as extended explorations of ideas for the final score), the House Atreides theme, with bagpipes and a booming orchestration, is a perfect fit for a regal ruling house, but with a melancholy undertone that hints at the Atreides' tragic fall. Meanwhile, "Song of the Sisters" uses massed female voices to signify the Bene Gesserit, shifting from eerie whispers to practically shouted chants, turning the distinctively human instrument of the voice into something alien.
- The main score has plenty of great moments, such as the vocal motif of "Song of the Sisters" being developed into the shorter but ever-so-Creepy Awesome "Bene Gesserit", and the triumphant-but-mournful "Leaving Caladan", which builds as the Atreides prepare to venture to Arrakis.
- "Arrakeen" uses a purposeful drum-roll motif which recalls the sound of ornithopter wings; the motif is also linked to the Harkonnens (playing over the scene introducing them), adding an undertone to danger as the heroes enter the city.
- "Armada" blends multiple leitmotifs from the score; it opens with female voices that hint at the Bene Gesserit's manipulations that have led to the Harkonnens' attack, a Theme Music Power-Up with the Atreides bagpipes as Gurney rallies his troops and charges into battle, and the unearthly growl of the Sardaukar throat-singing that accompanies their arrival to slaughter the Atreides forces.
- "Blood for Blood" is pure musical Tear Jerker; playing over Leto's death, the choral voices that come in during the middle evoke a funeral chant, culminating in a chilling shriek.
- The film ends with this track, reprising the motif from "Leaving Caladan" with the musical textures associated with Arrakis, signalling the next stage of Paul's journey away from home as he joins the Fremen.
- The meme-worthy Sardaukar muezzin chant is an otherworldly-sounding, bass-filled song that perfectly sets the tone for the Sardaukar's introductory scene on Salusa Sucundus.
- The end credits theme "Grains of Sand", co-composed by fellow German composer and Dune fan Klaus Schulze, serves as an epic conclusion to both the film and the latter's career, as Schulze died of renal failure a few months after the film's release.
Dune: Part Two
- "Water of Life" is fitting for Jessica's ritual in becoming the Reverend Mother of the Fremen. It begins with female chants and whispers that sounds otherworldly, before growing in intensity as the water affects her body. The music then reaches the apex to emphasize both Jessica and her unborn daughter's Eye Awaken, revealing their blue eyes of Ibad, along with their growing power, and the horror in her predecessor's face.
- "Harkonnen Arena" is appropriately grand and sinister for Feyd-Rautha's Big Entrance and the rousing and bloodthirsty Harkonnen crowd in the arena.
- "Arrival" serves as an appropriate Leitmotif for Paul's transformation from the idealistic scion of House Atreides he once was into a well-intentioned but ruthless Dark Messiah after he embraces his destiny, letting the audience know that Paul is not someone to mess with now that the kid gloves are off.
- Perhaps the darkest reprise of "Holy War", "Southern Messiah" hammers home the implacable steamroller of fanaticism that Paul is unleashing.
- "Kiss the Ring" plays over the final scene. An understated and mournful song for a victory that will only lead to more horrors as the Holy War begins.
"Listen, you wanted a progressive rock score, and you got one!"
—Hans Zimmer
