Squid Game Season 2 soundtrack: what classical music is in the Netflix show?

30 December 2024, 13:10 | Updated: 30 December 2024, 14:56

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By Will Padfield

Season one of Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ was packed with classical music, elevating the gory drama to new levels. What music is in the second season?

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Squid Game hit screens in September 2021 and caused an outpouring of emotive reactions, as viewers were simultaneously thrilled and appalled by the gory, shocking and mysterious South Korean show.

Amongst the drama and violence, the show featured some of the best-known works of classical music, including Haydn’s cheerful and elegant Trumpet Concerto, which provided the perfect juxtaposition to the on-screen action.

Season one told the story of a group of contestants who have the chance to win ₩45.6 billion (£28.5 million) by playing playground games. The catch? If you lose, you die.

SQUID GAME (TV) (2021) NETFLIX/MOVIESTORE COLLECTION LTD. Picture: Alamy

Each contestant has chosen to compete in the games as they are in severe debt, giving them the incentive to risk it all for the grand total.

Season two picks up three years after the first season and focuses on Seong Gi-hun’s life after winning the Squid Game, deciding not to live in America but instead return to the games with the hope of uncovering the identity of the mysterious ‘front man’.

He once again dives into the brutal survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants who hope to win ₩45.6 billion, equating to roughly $31 million in USD. Alongside this, Hwang Jun-ho tries to locate Gi-hun with help from hired mercenaries.

Like the first season, the second season will feature a classical soundworld that will underpin the tension. Here’s everything you need to know about the pieces of classical music used in Squid Game season 2.

Who composed the music for Squid Game season two?

South Korean composer Jung Jae-il returned to compose the music for the second season of Squid Game, again choosing to handpick classical works that are interwoven into the soundworld.

Jung has led a prolific career in the music industry and is most famous in the compositional world for writing the soundtracks to two of South Korea’s biggest films, Parasite (2019), and Okja (2017), both of which were directed by Bong Joon-ho.

He graduated from Seoul Jazz Academy and is a gifted musician, playing piano, guitar, bass, and drums all to advanced levels.

Way Back then

In the Oscar-winning film Parasite, the composer played the musical saw on the track ‘Camping’, and his piercing recorder-playing is one of the first sounds heard by audiences watching Squid Game, with the track ‘Way Back Then’ introducing the show.

The creepy-sounding ‘Pink Soldiers’ credited to an artist called ‘23’ returns in season two.

What classical music is used in Squid Game season 2?

Time to Say Goodbye – Andrea Bocelli

At the end of the first episode, viewers are presented with a nail-biting scene, as the Salesman and Gi-hun play a game of Russian Roulette. The salesman – whose aloof charisma stood out in season one – decides to play a piece of music on his phone to accompany the deadly game. The piece he chooses is ‘Time to Say Goodbye’, as sung by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.

The song was released in 1995 under its Italian name Con te partirò and was written by Francesco Sartori (music) and Lucio Quarantotto (lyrics). In 1996, an English language version was released with Bocelli accompanied by Sarah Brightman, which achieved even greater success, topping charts in Europe, including Germany, where it became the biggest-selling single in history.

The song is about two lovers who are parting but works just as well as an ironic and sinister soundtrack for the game of Russian Roulette that will ultimately leave one of the characters dead.

Andrea Bocelli, Sarah Brightman - Time To Say Goodbye (Live From Teatro Del Silenzio, Italy / 2007)

Puccini – Nessun dorma

Another hugely popular piece of classical music, Puccini’s ‘Nessun dorma’, is featured prominently in season two of Squid Game. The show-stopping aria is from Puccini’s opera Turandot, which was left unfinished at the time of his death. In the aria, the unnamed Prince of Persia sings that ‘no one will sleep tonight’ as he awaits with anticipation to seduce princess Turandot. The stakes are high for the prince, because if Turandot can guess his name correctly, she will execute him… love moves in mysterious ways in opera!

The inspiring, soaring music has been adopted for many occasions over the past century, most notably at the 1990 World Cup when legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti sang it, broadcast to millions.

Luciano Pavarotti sings "Nessun dorma" from Turandot (The Three Tenors in Concert 1994)

The version chosen for Squid Game season two however is sung by Paul Potts, a tenor who won the first series of Britain’s Got Talent. The choice of Potts adds another layer of irony to the soundtrack, as he won a competition that transformed his life – much like the contestants of the Squid Games hope to do themselves (although arguably Britain’s Got Talent is slightly less horrifying…).

The song is played during a game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ combined with ‘Russian Roulette’. The use of the music is perfect, especially as Prince who sings the aria in Turandot is really on the brink of being murdered. Yikes!