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‘The Sandman’ Season 2 Composer David Buckley Discusses Closing Season Gain

COURTESY OF NETFLIX

We no longer too prolonged ago had the chance to interview Emmy-nominated composer David Buckley about his work on Netflix’s The Sandman season 2. We focus on composing interesting scenes, the mumble’s original themes, mythologies, and locations, amongst diversified topics.

David Buckley aloof the soundtrack to The Sandman season 1, returning for its second and final season. Over the course of 12 episodes, the season introduces dozens of original characters, no longer least the rest contributors of The Never-ending family, whereas exploring diversified world mythologies, equivalent to Norse and Greek. There are such a extensive amount of musical styles Buckley needed to steadiness in the closing season. The ‘s fair.

We no longer too prolonged ago bought the chance to chat with Buckley about his work on Netflix’s The Sandman season 2. Verify out our interview, which contains a couple of questions from followers!

What angry you essentially the most about Season 2’s musical skedaddle— be it original characters, original settings, or one thing else?

I mediate essentially the most fun aspect about coming support for a second season of a mumble is that you just receive to play as soon as extra and likewise you receive to re-explore what you created in the first season, nonetheless presumably with an added sense of self belief due to you know that the mumble has already been out and that it’s been embraced and liked and recommissioned. And I mediate that in all departments, you in actual fact feel a sense of parents essentially desire extra, and folks desire you to operate and mark and continue trying for things. So I mediate that’s essentially the most fun aspect.

It’s returning to one thing that you just created that’s familiar, nonetheless you have the different to launch presenting things in original light. And absolutely with the original characters. And no longer simplest experiencing their journeys and emotions, nonetheless also Dream, the Sandman, he has loads to take care of on this season. I’ve bought to discover out about spoilers. However showing the trend of his character and the depths and the highs and lows that he goes thru is one thing that became in actual fact, in actual fact savory.

And overall, I mediate it became what the showrunner [Alan Heinberg] acknowledged to me: this has continuously been a mumble about emotions and by no design extra so than in season two. It’s promoting human emotions.

The Sandman. Tom Sturridge as Dream in episode 202 of The Sandman. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2025

For season 2, did you change into and fasten on Dream’s theme to replicate how he has changed? If that’s the case, what did you exchange?

Yes, I imply, absolutely. He’s navigating deal original pastures. And the theme does change, it finds original twists and original turns, as his character does. And he goes thru some slightly gut-wrenching experiences, which his theme needs as a design to accommodate.

I didn’t shift the stammer up this kind or shift the stammer down that manner. I imply, presumably I did, nonetheless that’s form of slightly of little bit of a weird and wonderful diagnosis. It’s extra, as I’m looking at the episode and seeing what Dream has to take care of, I’m form of looking to let the song and his theme extra or less equally discover his trajectory

Each of the Never-ending has a specific theme. How did you technique the duty of giving each sibling a determined musical motif, whereas making certain all of them complement each diversified?

In diversified episodes, diversified siblings appear. Generally we gaze one for a vary of episodes, incessantly they appear and then proceed. However nearly exclusively they’ve a musical theme or sound, I mediate with one exception, the attach she correct didn’t appear that incessantly when compared to the comfort. That became Despair. There’s a couple of instrumental moments the attach she is there, nonetheless it became by no design ample in actual fact to wedge in a theme for her. However the others positively have thematic identities.

It became in actual fact fun to contrivance better that. There are a couple of key moments in the mumble the attach all of them receive together for varied occasions. And it became fun, form of weaving their themes real into a extra or less suite of right here comes one person presenting the theme, and loads of others. I imply, clearly, we dwell with sure characters better than others. There could be a ranking and a hierarchy. I believe that’s largely based on the form of source area topic that became chosen.

Season 2 takes a deeper dive into mythology, exploring tales delight in the Greek tragedy of Orpheus and encounters with Norse gods, Faeries, and so forth. Were there any specific devices or musical textures you ragged to give their themes a cultural and emotional identification?

Faerie is a terribly attention-grabbing one, as a collective. They look all over the mumble; they’re most likely one of essentially the most necessary additions. And they also’ve what I would delight in to direct rather a sturdy theme. The major introduction is within the context of a Shakespeare play.

There’s a quasi-Elizabethan-Shakespearean sound world to them. So it allowed me to form of indulge my fantasies in early song, which I continuously delight in to enact if I’m in a position to. And on this case, it gave the influence very relevant. They’ve a model of slightly of ancient sound world occurring intermingled with slightly of little bit of Celtic. And then there’s a Greek tragedy relate the attach I did utilize some ancient Greek instrumentation.

The Sandman. Ruairi O’Connor as Orpheus in episode 205 of The Sandman. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2025

I did talk to a Greek specialist correct to search out out what we enact know. And I realised that — for the musicians who’re reading this — incessantly things are written in slightly of abnormal time signatures when compared to what we would question at the present time. I learned slightly of bit on the job about some of that stuff. I continuously mediate that to form of strive to recreate one thing from the previous is no longer as fun as asserting, let the previous uncover the future. So rob what you want about it, and let that be a model of springboard for whatever you need to enact..

We positively have taken cultural and historical suggestions and played with all of them over the season with a majority of these original characters.

In the closing moments of Quantity 1, Dream reaches his most emotionally inclined snort to your entire arc. How did you technique scoring that moment of tragedy?

It in actual fact became an different for me to enact what Allan acknowledged he wished me to enact, which is to contrivance folks bawl. I imply, it’s already slightly persuasive what’s heading in the right direction screen, nonetheless let me be a relate of elevating he emotional stakes and letting the audience undergo and skills the tragedy that Dream and all americans round him is experiencing.

And it’s attention-grabbing, due to I’ve worked on diversified projects the attach administrators desire me to take care of a presumably a cooler head and no longer say so remarkable and let the drama enact the heavy lifting. However what became in actual fact nice about this process is that it became, “No Dave, it is likely you’ll well pour your emotion into this as successfully, imply it is likely you’ll well bawl into your song and let that be fragment of it. Let that be fragment of the mourning and the wailing and the upset.” And I loved it, it felt liberating to correct put out some form of raw emotions.

There are some absolutely appealing scenes of tragedy and loss on this season. I mediate folks are gonna be in for a poke with lows, nonetheless there’s some highs as successfully.

Turned into as soon as there anything else original that you just stumbled on or learned whereas composing the rating for The Sandman?

Across the two seasons, I’ve gotten to perceive and fall in love with characters whom I didn’t know before. It wasn’t a snort of comics that I knew many of about. My wife in actual fact had read them and in actual fact liked them.  I became discovering out on the job and discovering these folks as I went.

It’s hard for me to have confidence these characters won’t have entered my existence because it have been. And I don’t mediate they’ll ever rush away. So I don’t know if I learned anything else in regards to the specific art work of composition, necessarily at some stage in this process, nonetheless I’ve learned one thing in regards to the delusion characters. And they also truthfully feel delight in they’ve change into form of a relate of me in their possess manner, which I mediate is slightly fair.

Questions submitted by followers! Wren (@WrenM2004): What became your accepted piece to originate?

I’ve correct been cutting the soundtrack album this closing week, which comes out at the atomize of the month,  it would come out in time with the second shipping of the mumble. That became a potential of whittling down… God is conscious of…8 hours of song into 80 minutes of song, which became rather in its possess manner rather a stressful skills.

I mediate the Faerie stuff I’m rather fond of. I mediate it’s bought slightly of every thing. It’s bought some fun. It’s bought some deeply felt emotion. It’s bought some fable grandeur. I assume your entire original sounds and themes that I created for the season, that’s most likely the one who is largely the most multifaceted, correct due to that assortment of parents from the fairy has rather slightly of true estate within the mumble.

Cal (@Cal_120) What became essentially the most interesting piece to originate?

Every thing’s a downside, nonetheless nothing stands out as being, “How enact I enact this?” In the muse of the season, there became a sense of jumping support onto a horse, which I described early on on this interview as being fun and thrilling. There’ll most likely be that diminutive intimidation about opening up a box that had, you know, form of closed at the atomize of season one and incandescent that it is likely you’ll well presumably quiet enact it would per chance well it is likely you’ll well presumably quiet characteristic within that universe.

I mediate it became helped deal by the indisputable fact that season two doesn’t in actual fact feel delight in a repetition of season one. You perceive, I’ve worked on diversified presentations that’ve gone into extra than one seasons, and each so incessantly you in actual fact feel delight in we’ve form of finished this before — that wasn’t the case right here. There became so remarkable original stuff to be learned and gathered that it made it less of a downside.

I don’t recall any moment the attach it’s delight in, “Oh, God, you know, what are we doing? We must direct this.” It became labor, exceptionally labor, nonetheless it became interesting in essentially the most classic sense of the discover.

And at closing, one aspect that followers have been pondering for years is the lyrics to the choral version of the mumble’s main theme. What are they? Properly, now, at prolonged closing, we have ourselves an acknowledge. The lyrics are as follows:

“Two gates of dark desires, baffling and unclear of that design. One gate is of horn, the diversified of ivory. Goals which rush thru ivory deceive, whereas these which rush thru polished horn bring perfect-trying things to hurry when any mortal sees them.”

With Buckley’s work on The Sandman total, he’s now focusing on the original season of The Lincoln Lawyer. He’s also engaged on Runaway, based on a Harlan Coben original.

We thank David Buckley for his time. Please stammer: This interview became edited for readability and brevity.

The Sandman Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

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