ABSTRACT
Music plays an important role at a number of different levels in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The theme of Buffy starts with this organ horror signifier, but then instantly changes its message. It removes itself from the sphere of both classic horror and its spoofs by replaying the same motif, the organ supplanted by an aggressively strummed electric guitar, relocating itself in modern youth culture and relocating the series in an altogether different arena. Angel's theme is a considerably longer melody, and where the opening four notes echo the pitches of Buffy's motif, the final four notes echo its shape. Buffy's theme is played by an amplified rock band and the melodic line is carried by an increasingly frenetic electric guitar. Angel's theme is more obviously lyrical, less frenetic, and although the guitars and drum kit of the rock band are included in the ensemble, they are not foregrounded so dramatically.
