How many times does Giacchino play that 4 note theme? I went and counted.

Some things to keep in mind:
1. I may have miscounted
2. I may be slightly off in which tracks had what
3. I didn’t double check my numbers or which tracks I heard them in
4. How do we count a “theme statement”? Basically, any time he switches from the root down to that minor 6th that was clearly articulated. It’s tricky because sometimes he just does the chord progressions, but any time I heard those specific pitches, I counted it. That includes any time he changes the number of notes or the rhythm or anything else. If I heard the root and then the minor 6th I counted it.

Track 1: Can’t Fight City Halloween – 31 statements. This track doesn’t open the film but it’s a great album opener. I think it’s the slow string build that reeks of “Get hype, this is going to be awesome.”

Track 2: Mayoral Ducting – 2 statements
Track 3: It’s Raining Vengeance – 52 statements. By a sizable margin, the most statements of any cue on the album. And yes, that means just for Battinson’s opening monologue, Giacchino’s already fed you the theme 85 times.

Track 5: Crossing the Feline – 2 statements
Track 6: Gannika Girl – 11 statements, but they’re all a 5 note piano variation
Track 7: Moving in for the Gil – 0 statements, but there are hints of it in the chord progression
Track 10: Escaped Crusader – 40 statements, most of which are a Zimmery action variant alternating between the root and the 6th with 16th note clusters. Also I just love this scene in the film, when [MOVIE SPOILERS] Batman escapes a police station, runs to the roof, zips up this squirrel suit and leaps off the building to glide away. It’s thrilling how the music builds and we get a POV flying shot…and then his parachute catches on a low bridge and he completely wipes out. It’s amazing.[/MOVIE SPOILERS]

Track 11: Penguin of Guilt – 17 statements, mostly via plucked strings.
Track 12: Highway to the Anger Zone – 10 statements. The first 6 are the motif broken into stomping 8th notes, while the last 4 are big brassy fanfares spaced out through the midsection of the track.

Track 14: Riddles, Riddles Everywhere – 13 statements, but they’re an underlying ostinato while more interesting stuff is happening elsewhere. Two measures on the root, two on the 6th.

Track 16: For All Your Pennyworth – 2 statements, but you could argue they’re just the chords and not the specific interval.
Track 17: Are You a Kenzie or A Can’t-Zie? – 16 statements, most of which are long pedal notes over some percussive stuff and a repeating string motif
Track 18: An Im-purr-fect Murder – 19 total statements. The first 3 are thunderous ones with the second note taken out. Then there are 7 that are soft 16th notes that blend into a ticking clock sound. Last few are thunderous and normal. Lowkey this is one of the best action tracks, with the urgent ticking sound and a tortured statement of Catwoman’s theme. Really anything with Catwoman’s theme is fantastic. Why didn’t I make a post about her theme instead?

Track 20: Hoarding School – 13 statements
Track 21: A Flood of Terrors – 18 statements
Track 23: A Bat in the Rafters, Pt. 2 – 21 statements. What really makes this great is the painful buildup of Pt. 1, when it’s just following the other characters in the arena as things get more bleak. I don’t call this a spoiler because Pt. 1 is just endlessly building up Riddler’s theme, and it isn’t until Pt. 2 that Batman’s theme comes flying in to kick ass.

Track 24: The Bat’s True Calling – 7 statements, all of which are alternating between the two notes on bells. Love it.
Track 26: The Batman – 60 statements
Track 28: Sonata in Darkness – 96 statements, including 2 key changes.

Grand totals:
274 in the score tracks, or 3.07 per minute, or 1 every 19.5 seconds
156 in the concert arrangements, or, over the course of just those two tracks, 8.2 per minute, or one every 7.3 seconds.
430 on the album, or 3.7 per minute, or 1 every 16 seconds.

Anyway, I think this is my score of the year so far? Either this or the hilariously short (27 minutes) Kimi. Or maybe Redeeming Love, which is a sensible 63 minutes. Also I don't have an abridged playlist of this just yet. Might not even make one, if you take out the concert suites it's the same length as Jupiter Ascending without the Movements at the start. But we'll see.

Okay I've wasted enough time on this.