Frank Herbert’s Dune novel has been an inspiration for countless artists and musicians. Hans Zimmer’s awe-inspiring Dune: Part Two soundtrack (released on February 23, 2024) is the most recent album to take listeners on a musical journey across Arrakis, and other worlds of the Imperium. Let’s take a look back at previous soundtracks, released across four decades, that have accompanied Dune movies, TV series, and even a documentary.
Note: While there are also soundtracks for some Dune games, and albums inspired by Dune, those are saved for another time.
Dune (1984) – Original Soundtrack Recording
To coincide with the premiere of David Lynch’s Dune movie on 14 December, 1984, Polydor Records released the original soundtrack on CD, LP, and cassette. With a running time of around 41 minutes, 16 of the 17 tracks were written and produced by Toto, with the track “Prophecy Theme” written and performed by Brian Eno.
David flew me to Los Angeles to see Dune, it wasn’t finished then. And I don’t know whether his intention or his hope was that I would do the whole soundtrack, but I didn’t want to, anyway. It was a huge project, and I just didn’t feel like doing it. But I did feel like making one piece for it, so that’s what I did.
Brian Eno – The New York Times
| 1 | Prologue | 01:48 |
| 2 | Main Title | 01:21 |
| 3 | Robot Fight | 01:14 |
| 4 | Leto’s Theme | 01:45 |
| 5 | The Box | 02:38 |
| 6 | The Floating Fat Man (The Baron) | 01:26 |
| 7 | Trip To Arrakis | 02:36 |
| 8 | First Attack | 02:48 |
| 9 | Prophecy Theme | 04:21 |
| 10 | Dune (Desert Theme) | 05:32 |
| 11 | Paul Meets Chani | 03:05 |
| 12 | Prelude (Take My Hand) | 01:01 |
| 13 | Paul Takes the Water of Life | 02:52 |
| 14 | Big Battle | 03:08 |
| 15 | Paul Kills Feyd | 01:52 |
| 16 | Final Dream | 01:25 |
| 17 | Take My Hand | 02:38 |
Dune (1984) – Original Motion Picture Score
On October 14, 1997, nearly 13 years after the film’s premiere, PEG released another CD of the Original Motion Picture Score for Dune, with a running time of around 73 minutes. This version contained 30 tracks, all by Toto, some previously unreleased, and a demo version of the main title. Note that the “Prophecy Theme” by Brian Eno is not included on this release.
The PEG CD would later by re-released in 2001, correcting several production issues that affected the original release, however both CD cases look identical, and the only visual difference being on the CD itself, with the 2001 release having the “Made in USA” text in white, rather than black.
We did all of the music except for a thirty-second part that Brian Eno did. He got all the press. That was an interesting project because it was a legitimate score. It wasn’t a rock-and-roll band going in to try and write a rock-and-roll album. It was a classical score with a little bit of rhythm section.
Steve Lukather, Toto – Westworld
| 1 | Prologue/Main Title | 03:18 |
| 2 | Guild Report * | 00:55 |
| 3 | House Atreides * | 01:43 |
| 4 | Paul Atreides | 02:21 |
| 5 | Robot Fight | 01:21 |
| 6 | Leto’s Theme | 01:44 |
| 7 | The Box | 02:40 |
| 8 | The Floating Fat Man (The Baron) | 01:16 |
| 9 | Departure * | 01:14 |
| 10 | The Trip to Arrakis | 02:37 |
| 11 | Sandworm Attack * | 02:52 |
| 12 | The Betrayal/Shields Down * | 04:27 |
| 13 | First Attack | 02:47 |
| 14 | The Duke’s Death * | 02:06 |
| 15 | Sandworm Chase * | 02:38 |
| 16 | The Fremen * | 03:06 |
| 17 | Secrets Of the Fremen * | 02:25 |
| 18 | Paul Meets Chani | 03:06 |
| 19 | Destiny * | 02:55 |
| 20 | Riding The Sandworm * | 01:24 |
| 21 | Reunion With Gurney * | 01:40 |
| 22 | Prelude (Take My Hand) | 01:02 |
| 23 | Paul Takes the Water of Life | 02:52 |
| 24 | The Sleeper Has Awakened! * | 03:24 |
| 25 | Big Battle | 03:09 |
| 26 | Paul Kills Feyd | 01:54 |
| 27 | Final Dream | 01:26 |
| 28 | Dune (Desert Theme) | 05:33 |
| 29 | Dune Main Title – Demo Version | 01:23 |
| 30 | Take My Hand | 02:39 |
Frank Herbert’s Dune – Original Television Soundtrack
Released April 2001, around four months after the TV mini-series premiered, this single CD release contains 27 tracks by Graeme Revell. The soundtrack’s total running time is around 67 minutes and it contains music from all three episodes of the series.
Dune was an interesting opportunity to try and take something that’s a classic and make something spiritual out of it. That’s where my head was aimed at. I wasn’t thinking so much in terms of the action, which is reasonably straightforward. I was really focused on the spiritual aspect.
Graeme Revell, composer – Soundtrack Magazine
| Part 1 | ||
| 1 | Main Theme | 01:55 |
| 2 | Navigator Advises | 01:30 |
| 3 | Pain Box | 02:59 |
| 4 | Worm Sign / Escape the Worm | 04:17 |
| 5 | Dreamscape | 01:57 |
| 6 | Up The Ladder / Battle | 01:22 |
| Part 2 | ||
| 7 | Desert Trek | 01:44 |
| 8 | Outrun Worm | 02:22 |
| 9 | Travel With Fremen | 01:21 |
| 10 | Reclaim Jamis Water / Worm Riding | 04:47 |
| 11 | Fremen Village | 02:47 |
| 12 | Underground Lake Vision | 02:14 |
| 13 | Paul & Chani | 02:18 |
| 14 | Chani & Paul’s Love | 02:07 |
| 15 | Worm Bark | 02:26 |
| 16 | Seduction-Pt.1 | 01:53 |
| 17 | Seduction Pt.2 | 04:12 |
| 18 | Jessica Changes Water | 01:41 |
| 19 | Desert Love | 01:28 |
| Part 3 | ||
| 20 | Paul’s Vision | 01:41 |
| 21 | Conquering The Worm | 02:51 |
| 22 | Paul Drinks | 02:49 |
| 23 | Paul Reigns | 03:37 |
| 24 | The Killing of the Innocent | 02:22 |
| 25 | Baron Harkonnen Dies | 02:01 |
| 26 | Jihad Begins / Last Fight | 02:57 |
| 27 | Paul Chooses – Finale | 03:25 |
Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune – Original Television Soundtrack
Released March 18, 2003, on the day the final episode in the second mini-series aired, this CD by Brian Tyler contains 36 tracks and has a running time of around 77 minutes. This is a greatly under-appreciated soundtrack and it was later used in many blockbuster trailers, including Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and Star Trek (2009).
The standout track is Inama Nushif, which contains lyrics in Fremen (based on an entry in the Dune Encyclopedia), sung by Azam Ali.
Greg Yaitanes the director called me and said, hey Brian, we’re making this big six-hour sci-fi movie in three parts based on Children of Dune and Dune Messiah, would you be interested? And I’m thinking – am I being pranked? What ended up happening, was that I used those scores I wrote when I was 12, in those melodies for the Children of Dune score, which is a fan favorite, it’s actually how I met Steven Spielberg… because he loved that score and used it for the trailer of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Between 2003 and 2015, that score ended up being the most used music in trailers.
Brian Tyler, composer – Mixdown
Read the full interview at: MixDown.
| 1 | Summon the Worm | 03:49 |
| 2 | Dune Messiah | 02:40 |
| 3 | Main Title (House Atreides) | 01:36 |
| 4 | The Revolution | 02:01 |
| 5 | Fear is the Mind Killer | 02:44 |
| 6 | The Arrival of Lady Jessica | 03:08 |
| 7 | Leto Atreides II | 02:45 |
| 8 | Inama Nushif (Montage) | 03:51 |
| 9 | War Begins | 01:08 |
| 10 | Battle of Naraj | 03:15 |
| 11 | Rya Wolves | 01:33 |
| 12 | I Have Only Now | 03:12 |
| 13 | The Impossible Wager | 03:00 |
| 14 | Face Dancer | 01:02 |
| 15 | The Throne of Alia | 01:20 |
| 16 | Trap The Worm | 03:03 |
| 17 | Salusas Secundus | 01:04 |
| 18 | The Jihad | 02:02 |
| 19 | The Ring of Paul | 03:50 |
| 20 | Exiles | 01:28 |
| 21 | Sins of the Mother | 01:24 |
| 22 | Irulan Is Regret | 01:11 |
| 23 | My Skin Is Not My Own | 00:23 |
| 24 | Reunited | 02:28 |
| 25 | The Golden Path | 02:09 |
| 26 | Child Emperor | 01:18 |
| 27 | Sign of the Bene Gesserit | 02:08 |
| 28 | The Preacher at Arrakeen | 02:32 |
| 29 | The Dessert Journey | 01:35 |
| 30 | The Ghola Duncan | 01:37 |
| 31 | Leto And Ghanima | 01:16 |
| 32 | The Fremen Qizarate | 01:42 |
| 33 | Farewell | 03:25 |
| 34 | Children Of Dune | 01:16 |
| 35 | Horizon | 01:35 |
| 36 | End Title | 01:31 |
Jodorowsky’s Dune – Original Score
Released in November 2015 on digital, CD, and 2-LP set, this 30-track album by Kurt Stenzel is from the documentary by Frank Pavich on the greatest movie never made – Jodorowsky’s Dune.
I also played guitar and did vocals, some chanting… and some screaming, which comes naturally to me. Jodo’s voice is actually the soundtrack’s main musical instrument – listening to him was almost like hypnosis, like going to the guru every night.
Kurt Stenzel, composer – Album’s liner notes
| 1 | Coming of a God | 05:28 |
| 2 | Greatest Movie Never Made | 01:01 |
| 3 | Parallel World | 01:42 |
| 4 | Parallel World (outro) | 01:04 |
| 5 | Leap of Faith | 00:43 |
| 6 | Time and Space | 02:04 |
| 7 | Optical World | 02:56 |
| 8 | Nebula | 02:26 |
| 9 | Invitation | 01:03 |
| 10 | Point of View | 02:36 |
| 11 | Mœbius | 04:48 |
| 12 | Arrakis | 01:59 |
| 13 | Millions of Stars | 00:21 |
| 14 | Into the Galaxy | 01:27 |
| 15 | O’Bannon Meets Jodo | 01:19 |
| 16 | Finding the Others | 00:58 |
| 17 | Spiritual Warriors | 01:37 |
| 18 | Conception of Paul | 02:01 |
| 19 | Ships With Souls | 01:51 |
| 20 | The Pirate Spaceship | 05:24 |
| 21 | Rescue From a Sandworm | 02:36 |
| 22 | Mad Emperor | 00:23 |
| 23 | Burning Giraffes | 01:42 |
| 24 | Baron Harkonnen | 00:34 |
| 25 | Giger’s Theme | 01:06 |
| 26 | Deepest Darkness of the Soul | 01:15 |
| 27 | Feyd Rautha | 04:18 |
| 28 | Total Extermination | 02:27 |
| 29 | I Am Dune | 06:01 |
| 30 | Hollywood | 02:23 |
The Dune Sketchbook
Released September 3, 2021, the same date that Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One premiered at the Venice Film Festival, this 2 CD set contains over 100 minutes of music that expands on the themes developed for the movie.
I tried to let them all be part of one DNA so their rhythm could be absolutely perfect, which meant getting out the digital razor blades and lining everything up like crazy. Part of what makes all of this so much fun is the misuse of acoustic instruments. Curiously, the rhythm of the drums and the percussion keeps appearing as organized chaos [throughout the score]. I tried to think of something that maybe in 10,000 years you would think of it as a good groove, but right now you’d just hear it as a little iconic motif played by percussion, like weird code.
Hans Zimmer on “Song of the Sisters” – IndieWire
| Disc 1 | ||
| 1 | Song of the Sisters | 16:25 |
| 2 | I See You in My Dreams | 18:25 |
| 3 | House Atreides | 13:54 |
| 4 | The Shortening of the Way | 11:14 |
| Disc 2 | ||
| 1 | Paul’s Dream | 07:03 |
| 2 | Moon Over Caladan | 08:34 |
| 3 | Shai-Hulud | 09:47 |
| 4 | Mind Killer | 11:11 |
| 5 | Grains of Sand | 05:12 |
Available as MP3, CD, and Vinyl from Amazon.com
Listening options: https://lnk.to/DuneSketchbookID
Listen for free on YouTube:
Dune (2021) – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Released September 17, 2021, around the time of the movie’s release in many parts of Europe, Han Zimmer’s 22-track score has a running time of about 74 minutes.
I want the audience to come with us on this journey, to this planet, and to this world which seems huge and vast – unfathomable, and at the same time realize that it is all about the smallest and tiniest emotions, just like the desert is made up of grains of sand, and the music is just made up of grains of notes. So rather than it being a massive blanket of sound, this is different, this is moving emotion.
Hans Zimmer – Dune: Celestial Sounds Featurette
| 1 | Dream of Arrakis | 03:08 |
| 2 | Herald of the Change | 05:01 |
| 3 | Bene Gesserit | 03:54 |
| 4 | Gom Jabbar | 02:00 |
| 5 | The One | 02:30 |
| 6 | Leaving Caladan | 01:55 |
| 7 | Arrakeen | 02:16 |
| 8 | Ripples in the Sand | 05:14 |
| 9 | Visions of Chani | 04:27 |
| 10 | Night on Arrakis | 05:03 |
| 11 | Armada | 05:09 |
| 12 | Burning Palms | 04:04 |
| 13 | Stranded | 00:58 |
| 14 | Blood for Blood | 02:29 |
| 15 | The Fall | 02:32 |
| 16 | Holy War | 04:20 |
| 17 | Sanctuary | 01:50 |
| 18 | Premonition | 03:30 |
| 19 | Ornithopter | 01:54 |
| 20 | Sandstorm | 02:35 |
| 21 | Stillsuits | 05:31 |
| 22 | My Road Leads into the Desert | 03:52 |
Available as MP3, CD, and Vinyl from Amazon.com
Listening options: https://lnk.to/duneID
Listen for free on YouTube:
The Art and Soul of Dune
Released October 22, 2021, this album is designed as a companion piece to the Dune behind-the-scenes book of the same name (released on the same day). It is only nine tracks long, each track corresponding to a chapter in the book, however the total running time is over 103 minutes.
Originally announced as being available to download for free, it later turned out that it was only available to stream for free, with paid downloads from Amazon and Apple.
I sent the book to Hans [Zimmer], he read it and he said ‘Tanya, I have music for your readers’
Tanya Lapointe, executive producer – The Art and Soul of Dune Featurette
| 1 | Foreword | 04:30 |
| 2 | This is Only the Beginning | 14:25 |
| 3 | Caladan | 07:20 |
| 4 | Giedi Prime | 08:04 |
| 5 | Salusa Secundus | 04:11 |
| 6 | Arrakis | 13:27 |
| 7 | The Attack | 09:30 |
| 8 | Deep Desert | 15:13 |
| 9 | Fremen | 26:49 |
Listening options: https://lnk.to/ArtandSoulofDuneMusic
Listen for free on YouTube:
Music of Dune (For Your Consideration)
Dune: Part One (2021) was nominated for 10 Oscars, and won 6, including for “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)”. As part of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Oscar nomination campaign, they released over 88 minutes of the score from the movie across 30 tracks. While not officially available to buy you may see bootleg CDs on eBay containing these tracks – buyer beware.
He created new instruments, a new musical language. All the score is inspired by the sound of the wind, and the sound of the wind on the sand, and the rhythm … because the rhythm attracts the worm.
Denis Villeneuve on Hans Zimmer – Dune: A New Soundscape Featurette
Note: For the numbering of the tracks, the first number represents the reel, the “M” stands for music, and the following number is the cue number.
| 1m01 | Opening | 03:14 |
| 1m02b | Herald of the Change | 03:14 |
| 1m04 | Paul Tells Duncan His Dream | 02:33 |
| 2m10 | Bene Gesserit Arrive | 03:44 |
| 2m11 | Gom Jabbar | 02:03 |
| 2m12 | Bene Gesserit Leave | 02:01 |
| 2m13a | Paul and Jessica | 01:46 |
| 2m14 | Leaving Caladan | 01:57 |
| 3m20 | Sandwalk Video | 01:29 |
| 4m27 | Flight to Spice Field | 02:09 |
| 4m28-29 | Failed Harvester Lock | 05:47 |
| 4m30 | Visions of Chani | 04:30 |
| 5m31 | Sardaukar | 01:20 |
| 5m32-35 | Night on Arrakis | 05:12 |
| 5m36-37 | Harkonnen Attack | 02:41 |
| 5m38-39 | Betrayal | 02:41 |
| 5m40-41 | Burning Palms – Duncan Kicks Ass | 04:08 |
| 6m43 | Burning City (Stranded) | 01:04 |
| 6m44 | Broken Tooth | 02:27 |
| 6m46 | Holy War Across the Universe | 04:10 |
| 6m48 | A Place to Hide | 01:50 |
| 7m50-51 | Duncan’s Sacrifice | 03:41 |
| 7m52-54 | Escape in Ornithopter | 03:09 |
| 7m55 | Chase into Dust Storm | 00:55 |
| 7m55b | Dust Vision | 01:16 |
| 7m57 | Kill Them | 00:54 |
| 7m59-61 | Stillsuits | 04:40 |
| 8m63-64 | Run – Shai Hulud | 02:42 |
| 8m69 | My Road Leads into the Desert | 03:57 |
| 9m70 | End Credits Dream | 07:03 |