All vikisGame of Thrones Soundtrack
Ramin Djawadi's Game of Thrones soundtrack for Season 1 (2011) in full, all 29 tracks, 1 hour 6 minutes, each playing from its first second, under measured highlights. It was written without flutes, led by a cello, and later toured arenas with an 80-piece orchestra and choir.
We rate the Game of Thrones soundtrack A tier, and we think the Season 1 album, the one on this page, is the leanest and best of the show's eight: a cello, an ostinato, and no fantasy decoration to hide behind. It is A under our rule because this music left the screen for the arena: Rolling Stone counts 75 shows of the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience across 2017 and 2018, with a third tour in fall 2019 (Rolling Stone, May 9, 2019). It is not S because we could confirm no complete recording by another orchestra.
This is Main Title, the piece that plays over the show's title sequence: a lamenting solo cello above a driving ostinato (MovieMusicUK, Sep 9, 2011). Djawadi is still writing for this world: WaterTower Music released his House of the Dragon Season 3 album in August 2026 (Film Music Reporter, Aug 9, 2026), while A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms became the first series set there with another composer on its album, Dan Romer (Film Music Reporter, Feb 22, 2026). He also co-wrote a game score that has its own page here, the New World Soundtrack. Varese Sarabande released this album on Jun 14, 2011: 29 tracks, 65 minutes 58 seconds by Apple Music's track times, and 1 hour 6 minutes 27 seconds in the uploads by Vi.ki's count on Nov 10, 2026.
Hired late, and told what to leave out
Djawadi was not the first choice. He arrived very late, replacing Stephen Warbeck (MovieMusicUK). The showrunners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, had narrowed their search to him, sent him the first two episodes, and settled the job at a meeting about the show (grammy.com, Apr 14, 2019).
The brief was mostly a list of bans. They wanted music that sounded current and ruled out the lutes and flutes common in fantasy scores; as Djawadi recalls them putting it, "We don't want any medieval flutes" (grammy.com). He told the same story to The A.V. Club on Sep 22, 2022, where the forbidden instrument is the Celtic flute. Bobby Tahouri wrote additional music, David Klotz and Robin Quinn edited, and Djawadi produced the album himself (MovieMusicUK).
The cello, and a sad theme for the Starks
With the flutes gone, Djawadi and the showrunners agreed on the cello. It carries the title theme in a low register and leads the show's music from then on (grammy.com). The title theme does not stay in track 1: MovieMusicUK hears variations of it in The Kingsroad, Things I Do For Love, Jon's Honor and the track named Game of Thrones.
Other colors mark other places. The same review notes mandolins, heavy percussion and a reed that sounds like a shawm in Love In The Eyes and When The Sun Rises In The West, and a harp in Await The King's Justice and You'll Be Queen One Day. The Pointy End is a dance-like cue for Arya's sword lessons, and King Of The North opens the closing stretch.
Djawadi says he made the Stark theme sad because the family is split apart, and he points to Goodbye Brother, track 3, where Jon says goodbye to Bran (grammy.com).
Passed over in 2011
Season 1 won its composer nothing. The Television Academy's pages show the show's first nomination for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series in 2014, and Djawadi winning the category in 2018 and 2019 (emmys.com); his own page there counts 7 nominations and 2 Emmys (emmys.com). His Grammy nomination for the show came for Season 7 (grammy.com).
The album entered Billboard's Soundtracks chart at No. 17 on the chart dated Jul 2, 2011. It never reached the Billboard 200: Djawadi's history on that chart lists only Season 7, at No. 103, and Season 8, at No. 95 (Billboard), and a search of the RIAA database on Nov 10, 2026 found no certified Game of Thrones title. MovieMusicUK, reviewing it that September, called it the best score of his career so far. We think the reviewer heard in 2011 what the award voters needed three more seasons to notice.
From a television cue to the arena
The Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience was unveiled in Los Angeles in August 2016. Djawadi said the idea came from the show's creators, who wanted to hear the music with a full orchestra and choir, on a stage open on all sides (Variety, Aug 8, 2016). The announcement promised 28 cities; Pollstar (Jun 6, 2019) counts 24 North American shows booked for 2017, among them Madison Square Garden on Mar 7, 2017.
Europe followed with 23 arena shows in 14 countries in May and June 2018, then 23 more in North America from Sep 6 to Oct 14, 2018. Pollstar's box office for 45 North American shows across the two years is $20.8 million from 325,575 tickets. Djawadi conducted an 80-piece orchestra and choir on those tours (grammy.com). The 2019 tour played 20 amphitheaters from Sep 5 to Oct 5, with Djawadi at three dates only (Rolling Stone). We found no tour dated 2025 or 2026.
Highlights
Fourteen moments inside the tracks of this album, measured by Vi.ki from the uploads on Nov 10, 2026 and not picked by ear (the home page says how). The cello and the violin are the only instruments whose entries passed the bar, in two tracks each. The Play column is the time inside the track.
All tracks
The Season 1 album in its own order, from the uploads the label provided to YouTube, which sit on an automatically made "Ramin Djawadi - Topic" channel and not on a channel the composer runs. Each track is its own video, so every Play link starts at 0:00, and the 29 lengths add up to 1 hour 6 minutes 27 seconds; the longest is Fire And Blood at 4:31 and the shortest is A Raven From King's Landing at 1:17.
Editions
| Edition | Released | Tracks | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original album, CD and digital | Jun 14, 2011 | 29 | Varese Sarabande |
That is the only edition we could confirm. The CD's catalog number is VSD-7097, and MovieMusicUK times the disc at 66 minutes 12 seconds, 14 seconds longer than Apple Music's track times add up to.
Sources
- Game of Thrones (Music From the HBO Series), Apple Music, read Nov 10, 2026
- Game of Thrones, MovieMusicUK, Sep 9, 2011
- Ramin Djawadi looks back on eight seasons of Game of Thrones, Recording Academy, Apr 14, 2019
- House of the Dragon composer Ramin Djawadi, interview, The A.V. Club, Sep 22, 2022
- Game of Thrones, Television Academy
- Ramin Djawadi, Television Academy
- Soundtracks chart, week of Jul 2, 2011, Billboard
- Ramin Djawadi chart history, Billboard 200, Billboard
- Gold and Platinum: Game of Thrones, RIAA, read Nov 10, 2026
- Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience tour announced, Variety, Aug 8, 2016
- Game of Thrones lives on with Live Experience, Pollstar, Jun 6, 2019
- Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience, fall tour 2019, Rolling Stone, May 9, 2019
- House of the Dragon Season 3 soundtrack album released, Film Music Reporter, Aug 9, 2026
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms soundtrack album released, Film Music Reporter, Feb 22, 2026
Moments
Main Title
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
North Of The Wall
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Goodbye Brother
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
The Kingsroad
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Love In The Eyes
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Winter Is Coming
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
A Bird Without Feathers
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Jon's Honor
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Black Of Hair
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Kill Them All
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
The Pointy End
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Victory Does Not Make Us Conquerors
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
When The Sun Rises In The West
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
The Night's Watch
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
The King's Arrival
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
A Raven From King's Landing
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
The Wall
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Things I Do For Love
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
A Golden Crown
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Await The King's Justice
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
You'll Be Queen One Day
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
The Assassin's Dagger
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
To Vaes Dothrak
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
You Win Or You Die
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Small Pack Of Wolves
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Game Of Thrones
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
King Of The North
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Fire And Blood
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
Finale
Ramin Djawadi - Topic
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See also
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SoundtracksFull soundtracks of games, movies and shows, one page each, starting with Aion 2, New World, Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer. Each page opens with highlights inside the tracks and then lists every track in a table that plays it from its first second.
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New World SoundtrackThe New World soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi and Brandon Campbell and every album Amazon Games added to it, 156 tracks from the 2021 original to Music of Nighthaven, each playing from its first second in the official uploads, under highlights picked by ear and by measurement. The game goes offline on Jan 31, 2027.