The music of the 2004 TV series Battlestar Galactica is a body of work largely credited to the composers Bear McCreary and Richard Gibbs. The music of Battlestar Galactica displays a variety of ethnic influences and generally does not conform to the "orchestral" style of many science fiction scores.

The music of Battlestar Galactica makes use of the technique called "leitmotif". A leitmotif is a phrase or melodic cell that signifies a character, place, plot element, mood, idea, relationship or other specific part of the story. It is commonly used in modern film scoring as a device to mentally anchor certain parts of a film to the soundtrack. Of chief importance for a leitmotif is that it must be recognizable enough for a listener to latch onto while being flexible enough to undergo variation and development. However, the development of leitmotifs was not part of the composers' (Bear McCreary) original plan:

Background When he began work on the series, McCreary was asked to produce something completely different from the "gleaming, brassy sound" of the original series. To save on expenses McCreary typically works with 9-10 musicians. For some of the series' more important episodes, he requested a full orchestra: "I don't need to put up a fight for it. The episodes that require an orchestral presence are self-evident, and everybody at Sci Fi and the producers know it's money well-spent."

Orchestral music began to be introduced near the end of the first season. In the beginning, producers preferred other sounds:

McCreary was interested in producing an organic sound using real instruments.

Soundtrack releases To date, seven CDs of soundtrack music from Battlestar Galactica have been released for sale. All seven albums have been released on the La-La Land Records label.

Season 4 is a 2-CD set, with an overview of the season's music cues making up Disc 1, and the score for the Series Finale "Daybreak" (Parts 1, 2 and 3) on Disc 2.Bear McCreary (2009-03-27) http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=1819

Miniseries soundtrack The soundtrack for the 2003 Battlestar Galactica Miniseries was largely scored by Richard Gibbs. The total running time of the album is 1:08:16.

Many of the cues from the Miniseries soundtrack have been re-used as incidental or background music in the regular series beginning in 2004. For example, the track "Starbuck's Recon" plays over the final scene on Caprica in "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down".

"Are You Alive? / Battlestar Galactica Main Title" [5:28] "Goodbye, Baby" [2:24] "Starbuck Buck Buck" [1:49] "To Kiss or Not to Kiss" [2:42] "Six Sex" [1:48] "Deep Sixed" [1:59] "The Day Comes" [1:08] "Counterattack" [2:40] "Cylons Fire" [1:34] "A Call to Arms" [1:03] "Apollo to the Rescue" [1:56] "Launch Vipers" [4:26] "Seal the Bulkheads" [2:10] "The Lottery Ticket" [3:06] "Eighty-Five Dead" [1:23] "Inbound" [1:23] "Apollo Is Gone / Starbuck Returns" [2:19] "The Storm and the Dead" [2:40] "Thousands Left Behind" [2:09] "Silica Pathways" [3:32] "Reunited" [1:56] "The Sense of Six" [3:01] "Starbuck's Recon" [1:11] "Battle" [7:40] "Good Night" [2:38] "By Your Command" [1:56]

Season 1 soundtrack

Gibbs opted not to devote full time to the regular series' production, due to scheduling conflicts: he wished to devote more time to scoring theatrical films. As a result, Bear McCreary scored "33" (which was actually the first episode) and then stayed on as soundtrack composer for all subsequent episodes of the series. McCreary is credited as sole composer for 26 of the 30 tracks on the Season 1 soundtrack. The total running time of the album is 1:18:19. Irish singer Lilis Ó Laoire sings in the Irish language on "Wander My Friends".

Many of the leitmotifs of the show were introduced in this opus, including the Adama family theme, Boomer's theme, the Cylon theme and Starbuck's theme.

"Prologue" [0:40] "Main Title (U.S. Theme)" [1:05] "Helo Chase" (from "33") [1:31] "The Olympic Carrier" (from "33") [5:48] "Helo Rescued" [1:02] (from "33") "A Good Lighter" (from "The Hand of God") [1:56] "The Thousandth Landing" (from "Act of Contrition") [3:08] "Two Funerals" (from "Act of Contrition") [3:26] "Starbuck Takes On All Eight" (from "Act of Contrition") [3:46] "Forgiven" (from "You Can't Go Home Again") [1:31] "The Card Game" (from "Act of Contrition") [3:04] "Starbuck On the Red Moon" (from "You Can't Go Home Again") [2:01] "Helo In the Warehouse" (from "Litmus") [2:02] "Baltar Speaks With Adama" (from "Six Degrees of Separation") [1:55] "Two Boomers" (from "Six Degrees of Separation") [1:48] "Battlestar Operatica" (from "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down") [2:36] "The Dinner Party" (from "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down") [3:14] "Battlestar Muzaktica" (from "Colonial Day") [1:43] "Baltar Panics" (from "Six Degrees of Separation") [1:46] "Boomer Flees" (from "Flesh and Bone") [1:17] "Flesh and Bone" (from "Flesh and Bone") [4:06] "Battle On the Asteroid" (from "The Hand of God") [6:53] "Wander My Friends" (from "The Hand of God") [2:58] "Passacaglia" (from "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I") [5:16] "Kobol's Last Gleaming" (from "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I and II") [2:49] "Destiny" (from "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II") [4:44] "The Shape of Things to Come" (from "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II") [2:56] "Bloodshed" (from "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II") [1:51] "Re-Cap" [0:37] "Main Title (U.K. Theme)" [1:05]

Season 2 soundtrack

McCreary is again credited as the primary composer for the Season 2 soundtrack; Gibbs retains his credit for the series' main title music. The total running time of the album is 1:18:53.

In his sleeve notes for the album, McCreary singles out two pieces for particular attention: the re-arrangement of Stu Phillips and Glen A. Larson's original theme for Battlestar Galactica to become the "Colonial Anthem" as it appears in "Final Cut"; and the string quartet "A Promise to Return", dedicated to the recovery of the lead violinist, Ludvig Girdland, who was severely injured in a car crash a month after the recording.

The Season 2 soundtrack also featured the first statement of Tigh's theme (in track number 6, entitled "Martial Law") and the Roslin and Adama theme (in track number 13, entitled "Roslin and Adama").

"Colonial Anthem" ("Theme from Battlestar Galactica") (from "Final Cut") [4:02] "Baltar's Dream" (from "Valley of Darkness") [2:45] "Escape from the Farm" (from "The Farm") [3:09] "A Promise to Return" (from "The Farm") [3:03], performed by the Supernova String Quartet "Allegro" (from "Home, Part 2") [4:59] "Martial Law" (from "Fragged") [1:51] "Standing in the Mud" (from "Black Market") [1:45] "Pegasus" (from "Pegasus") [2:46] "Lords of Kobol" (from "Pegasus") [2:50], featuring Raya Yarbrough, vocals "Something Dark is Coming" (from "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1") [8:51] "Scar" (from "Scar") [2:26] "Epiphanies" (from "Epiphanies") [2:43] "Roslin and Adama" (from "Resurrection Ship, Parts 1 and 2") [2:49] "Gina Escapes" (from "Resurrection Ship, Part 2") [2:00] "Dark Unions" (from "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2") [2:53] "The Cylon Prisoner" (from "Pegasus") [3:51], featuring Bt4, vocals "Prelude to War" (from "Pegasus" and "Resurrection Ship, Parts 1 and 2") [8:22] "Reuniting the Fleet" (from "Home, Parts 1 and 2") [2:45] "Roslin Confesses" (from "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2") [2:09] "One Year Later" (from "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2") [1:43] "Worthy of Survival" (from "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2" and "Exodus Part 2") [3:35] "Battlestar Galactica Main Title" [0:45], music by Richard Gibbs; engineered and mixed by Gordon Fordyce; featuring Michael Now and Caitanya Riggan, vocals "Black Market" (from "Black Market") [5:48], featuring Steve Bartek, guitar

Season 3 soundtrack

The official soundtrack for Battlestar Galactica's third season was released October 23, 2007. Several previously established themes are re-visited: for example, the Adama family theme ("Admiral and Commander"), Starbuck's theme (in the cues taken from "Maelstrom") and the "Worthy of Survival" theme ("Gentle Execution"). "Wayward Soldier" and "Violence and Variations" develop the second season's use of strings, as exemplified by "Prelude to War". New thematic elements include Kat's theme ("Kat's Sacrifice") and the Apollo-Starbuck love theme ("Under the Wing").

"A Distant Sadness" (from "Occupation") [2:50], featuring Raya Yarbrough, vocals "Precipice" (from "Precipice") [4:52] "Admiral and Commander" (from "Exodus, Parts 1 and 2") [3:16] "Storming New Caprica" (from "Exodus, Part 2") [7:48] "Refugees Return" (from "Exodus, Part 2") [3:43] "Wayward Soldier" (from "Hero") [4:17] "Violence and Variations" (from "Unfinished Business") [7:42] "The Dance" (from "Unfinished Business") [2:33] "Adama Falls" (from "Unfinished Business") [1:46] "Under the Wing" (from "Maelstrom") [1:11] "Battlestar Sonatica" (from "Torn") [4:44], performed by Bear McCreary, piano "Fight Night" (from "Unfinished Business") [2:27] "Kat's Sacrifice" (from "The Passage") [2:46] "Someone to Trust" (from "Taking a Break from All Your Worries") [3:09] "The Temple of Five" (from "The Eye of Jupiter") [2:44] "Dirty Hands" (from "Dirty Hands") [3:32] "Gentle Execution" (from "Exodus, Part 2") [3:28] "Mandala in the Clouds" (from "Maelstrom") [4:10] "Deathbed and Maelstrom" (from "Maelstrom" and "He That Believeth in Me") [5:53] "Heeding the Call" (from "Crossroads, Part 2") [2:11] "All Along the Watchtower" (from "Crossroads, Part 2") [3:33], featuring Bt4, vocals; words and music by Bob Dylan; adapted, arranged, and produced by Bear McCreary

Season 4 soundtrack

The track listing for the fourth season soundtrack was announced by Bear McCreary on his blog on 19 June 2009. The first disc of the two-disc set consists of cues from the main body of season four, excluding "Razor" and "Daybreak"; the second disc comprises almost the full score of "Daybreak", the series finale.

Disc 1: "Gaeta’s Lament" (from "Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?") [4:49], featuring Alessandro Juliani, vocals "The Signal" (from "Revelations") [5:09] "Resurrection Hub" (from "The Hub") [3:40] "The Cult of Baltar" (from "He That Believeth in Me" and "Escape Velocity") [5:42], featuring Raya Yarbrough "Farewell Apollo" (from "Six of One") [2:55] "Roslin Escapes" (from "Blood on the Scales") [2:55] "Among the Ruins" (from "Sometimes a Great Notion") [7:44] "Laura Runs" (from "A Disquiet Follows My Soul") [2:21] "Cally Descends" (from "The Ties That Bind") [3:08] "Funeral Pyre" (from "Sometimes a Great Notion") [3:57], featuring Kandyse McClure "Roslin and Adama Reunited" (from "The Hub") [1:59] "Gaeta’s Lament" (Instrumental) (from "Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?") [4:50] "Elegy" (from "Someone to Watch Over Me") [2:55] "The Alliance" (from "Revelations") [2:30] "Blood on the Scales" (from "The Oath" and "Blood on the Scales") [5:19] "Grand Old Lady" (from "Islanded in a Stream of Stars")[0:51] "Kara Remembers" (from "Someone to Watch Over Me") [3:28] "Boomer Takes Hera" (from "Someone to Watch Over Me") [2:39] "Dreilide Thrace Sonata No. 1" (from "Someone to Watch Over Me") [5:35] "Diaspora Oratorio" (from "Revelations") [4:52]

Disc 2 (all from "Daybreak"): "Caprica City, Before the Fall" [4:34] "Laura’s Baptism" [2:40] "Adama in the Memorial Hallway" [2:11] "The Line" [3:57] "Assault on the Colony" [15:07] "Baltar’s Sermon" [4:25] "Kara’s Coordinates" [4:21] "Earth" [3:08] "Goodbye Sam" [2:11] "The Heart of the Sun" [3:20] "Starbuck Disappears" [2:09] "So Much Life" [5:01] "An Easterly View" [4:23] "The Passage of Time" [1:18]

Razor/The Plan soundtrack

The next soundtrack, consisting entirely of music from Razor and The Plan, neither of which had previously had music featured on a soundtrack, was released on February 23, 2010. The track list is as follows: