Netflix has been killing it in the music department lately, between the '80s-throwback synth soundtrack of sci-fi series Stranger Things and the hip-hop-meets-disco stylings of Baz Luhrmann's eclectic The Get Down. When the newest (and most expensive) Netflix drama The Crown premiered this Friday, it provided even more ear candy for fans of the streaming service's original programming. The British period piece will leave viewers with lots of questions about the storied history of Queen Elizabeth II and how long they'll have to wait for more episodes. But some viewers will likely also be wondering how to get The Crown soundtrack after hearing the gorgeous music on display throughout the 10 episodes of Season 1.
There's a reason the music in The Crown sounds so lush and cinematic. In keeping with the series' blockbuster-worthy $130 million price tag, Netflix got one of Hollywood's most prolific and prestigious musicians to compose The Crown 's main theme: Hans Zimmer. The 10-time Oscar nominee has gifted us with some of the most iconic soundtracks of our time, including The Dark Knight, Inception, and his Academy Award-winning music for The Lion King . (He has also worked with The Crown creator Peter Morgan twice before, on 2008's Frost/Nixon and 2013's Rush.)
Fans won't be able to hear Zimmer's full Crown theme until they stream the episodes, but you can get a sense of it from this trailer for the Netflix drama:
The rest of the music in the series was written by Rupert Gregson-Williams, another Hollywood composer whose work you may be familiar with from the likes of Hotel Rwanda, The Legend Of Tarzan, and Mel Gibson's acclaimed upcoming war drama Hacksaw Ridge .
The Crown soundtrack is available for purchase on Amazon. The album contains 19 tracks — including Zimmer's theme — with such British-y sounding titles as "Duck Shoot," "The Anointing," and "Bit Of Fluff." (There's also a track that should come with its own spoiler warning, the bluntly-titled "Mary Is Dead.") It's also reasonable to assume that the full soundtrack will be available to stream on Spotify in the near future, alongside the music of other Netflix shows like the aforementioned The Get Down .
If Amazon's preview clips of the Crown soundtrack are any indication, the theme that Zimmer has composed will soon be as catchy and recognizable as the opening strains of our dearly departed Downton Abbey. Hopefully the Netflix show itself will also prove a worthy successor to that fan-favorite British drama. It certainly has big shoes to fill.
Images: Alex Bailey/Netflix
