Dune Soundtrack: Composers, Albums and Release Dates

Hans Zimmer scored both of Denis Villeneuve's Dune films, dune 2021 and Dune: Part Two (2024), while Brian Eno is the credited composer on David Lynch's separate dune 1984 adaptation. That makes two composers across three films, and each adaptation has its own album.

Zimmer's first Villeneuve score came with Dune (2021), released on the album "Dune: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" by WaterTower Music on September 17, 2021. It has 22 tracks, and the cues people search for most include "Dream of Arrakis", "Herald of the Change", "Bene Gesserit", "Gom Jabbar", "Leaving Caladan", "Ripples in the Sand" and "Night on Arrakis". The titles follow the story in order, from the opening vision of Arrakis through the Atreides departure from Caladan to the first nights on the desert planet.

He returned for Dune: Part Two (2024), whose album, "Dune: Part Two: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack", was also issued by WaterTower Music, on February 23, 2024, with 25 tracks. The best-known cues from its track list are "Beginnings Are Such Delicate Times", "Eclipse", "Water of Life", "Worm Ride", "Ornithopter Attack" and "Harkonnen Arena". If you want the sound of the Fremen and the Harkonnens in one place, the sequel's album is the stronger pick (a matter of taste, as the first album stays closer to the Atreides family).

Brian Eno is the credited composer on Dune (1984), directed by David Lynch, which opened on December 14, 1984. Its album, "Dune: Original Soundtrack Recording", came from Polydor on the same date and has 17 tracks. The cues most often named are "Prologue", "Main Title", "Leto’s Theme", "Prophecy Theme" and "Dune (Desert Theme)".

The 1984 and 2021 albums share a near identical title, so check the label and year before you buy or stream. Lynch's film and Villeneuve's films are separate adaptations of the same book, and their music does not connect.

No single track is the most popular Dune soundtrack song, because all three films are represented by score cues and not by standalone songs. The cues people look for most are "Dream of Arrakis" and "Gom Jabbar" from Dune (2021), "Beginnings Are Such Delicate Times" and "Worm Ride" from Dune: Part Two, and "Prophecy Theme" from Dune (1984). Think of each album as a long tasting menu and not a single hit single: the track titles are the courses.

David Lynch's Dune (1984) has a 17 track album, "Dune: Original Soundtrack Recording", released by Polydor on December 14, 1984. Brian Eno is the credited composer. The titles that stand out are "Main Title", "Leto’s Theme", "Prophecy Theme" and "Dune (Desert Theme)", and the last of these is the one most people mean when they ask for the film's theme. No source in the film's record says any of these cues was written for the film, which is a gap in the paperwork and not a statement about the music.

Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021) has a 22 track album, "Dune: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack", released by WaterTower Music on September 17, 2021. The track titles follow the story in order: "Dream of Arrakis", "Bene Gesserit", "Gom Jabbar", "Leaving Caladan", "Arrakeen", "Ripples in the Sand" and "Night on Arrakis". The album title names the film and the format but no individual track as a single.

Dune: Part Two has a 25 track album, "Dune: Part Two: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack", released by WaterTower Music on February 23, 2024, with Hans Zimmer again credited as composer. Its most searched titles are "Beginnings Are Such Delicate Times", "Eclipse", "Water of Life", "Harvester Attack", "Worm Ride", "Ornithopter Attack" and "Harkonnen Arena". Several of these name set pieces directly, so a listener who has seen the film can follow the plot by title alone.

In my opinion, the Villeneuve films have a sound and not a theme song. The two scores serve one story across 155 minutes and 167 minutes, so picking a single signature track is a matter of taste. For the order in which the films were released, see dune movies in order.

These are personal choices and not a ranking by popularity.

• "Dream of Arrakis" (Dune, 2021): the best first track of the three albums, because it opens the Villeneuve films with the sound the rest of the score builds on.
• "Gom Jabbar" (Dune, 2021): the title alone promises tension, and it is the cue I would play to explain what the score is for.
• "Leaving Caladan" (Dune, 2021): a clear marker of the move from the ocean world to the desert, and easy to pick out on the album.
• "Beginnings Are Such Delicate Times" (Dune: Part Two): the right opener for the sequel, because it signals a harder, larger story.
• "Worm Ride" (Dune: Part Two): the cue most listeners look up first, and for good reason, since it is built around the series' defining set piece.
• "Harkonnen Arena" (Dune: Part Two): a vivid contrast to the desert cues and a strong reason to play the album out of order.
• "Dune (Desert Theme)" (Dune, 1984): Eno's best known cue, and the one that makes the earlier film's album worth hearing next to Zimmer's.

No composer has been announced for Dune: Part Three, so no track list exists yet.