He wrote the main theme for the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011–2019). Below is a transcription of just the opening and the basic harmonic and melodic components. A time signature of 6/8 or 12/8 might be more appropriate than 3/4, but there is a rationale for this choice.
There are six consonant triads, or consonant fifths, in the diatonic scale, which can be identified by their Greek-mode names. For example, the Game of Thrones main theme uses the three-flat diatonic scale, and the six consonant triads, or fifths, in this scale are rooted on E-flat (Ionian), F (Dorian), G (Phrygian), A-flat (Lydian), B-flat (Mixolydian), and C (Aeolian). Two of the six consonances in the diatonic scale are the common tonic consonances: Ionian and Aeolian. Of the four remaining consonances, Game of Thrones uses three of the four: Phrygian, Mixolydian, and Dorian. Only Lydian remains unused.
There are three quarter-note spans that begin on each of the beats in 3/4: beat 1, beat 2, and beat 3. Any of these three spans could be subdivided into two eighths notes. In the Game of Thrones main theme, the accompanimental motive subdivides the span starting on beat 3. The primary melody subdivides the span starting on beat 1. Only beat 2 remains undivided.
Djawadi also wrote the main theme for the later HBO series Westworld (2016–). Below is a transcription of just the opening and the basic harmonic and melodic components. The headless stems indicate pitches hard to hear. A time signature of 6/8 or 12/8 might be more appropriate than 3/4, but, once again, there is a rationale for this choice.
The Lydian consonance unused in the Game of Thrones main theme is the first non-common-tonic consonance to be used in the Westworld main theme, starting in m. 5. The beat-2 eighth-note subdivision unused in the Game of Thrones main theme is the first eighth-note subdivision to be used in the Westworld main theme, probably starting in m. 41 but clearest starting in m. 44.
More can be said of how these main themes relate, such as a focus on transformations of the [0234] diatonic set. But I will stop there for now.
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