The music of Caprica is a body of work credited to composer Bear McCreary.

Background

Bear McCreary, the composer for parent series Battlestar Galactica, has been tasked to compose for the new series. Despite his critically acclaimed work on Battlestar, McCreary was not initially considered for Caprica. The producers preferred a completely new direction in order to emphasize the program as separate from its predecessor, however, they changed their minds after he showed that he could deliver something different. McCreary says: "It needed to be more intimate, more familiar, more classical, and pull away from the raw tribal energy that was in Battlestar". However, some elements of the Battlestar score are used to hint at the future, sparingly at first with the potential to evolve further in that direction in future seasons, including the Adama family theme and the Colonial Anthem. McCreary's work on Caprica is almost entirely orchestral. As on Battlestar Galactica, character themes are used extensively, however, world ethnic influences play a much smaller role. The full ethnic percussion ensemble, including taikos, frame drums, dumbeks, chang changs, tsuzumis and other instruments, was brought in, although used much more sparingly than on Battlestar. The Tauron Theme draws inspiration from Russian folk music. In the episode "End of Line", the soundtrack prominently features an opera composed for the show by McCreary and sung by Alessandro Juliani, who played Felix Gaeta in Battlestar Galactica. The second episode of Caprica borrows music from another Bear McCreary composition, the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles soundtrack. "Atomic Al's Merry Melody" is playing in the background when Lacy visits the home of Sister Clarice Willow.

Soundtrack releases

Pilot soundtrack

The soundtrack for the extended pilot episode was released on June 16, 2009, by La-La Land Records.

Expanded Soundtrack

On July 30, 2013, La-La Land Records released an expanded soundtrack featuring a selection of music from across the first (and only) season of the show. The album is not meant to collect all of the music from the season, but rather a range of the diverse score. It includes many of the cinematic tracks, but also a national anthem, a gangster rap, a drag queen burlesque, and an opera. Disc 1 Disc 2

Reception

Film Music Magazine gave the Caprica pilot soundtrack an "A", saying: "McCreary powerfully establishes his prequel main theme off the bat with a distinct, and haunting sense of melancholy for strings and violin, until his biggest statement is made for the end titles. It’s striking orchestral composing that shows just how good McCreary has gotten at this stuff".