 " Once More , with Feeling " was Joss Whedon 's first attempt at writing music , which he had always wanted to do . He learned how to play guitar to write several songs . Christophe Beck , a regular composer for the series , filled in the overture and coda and composed " Dawn 's Ballet " . Whedon is a fan of Stephen Sondheim , and used him as the inspiration for much of the music , particularly with the episode 's ambiguous ending . Cast member James Marsters ( Spike ) said , " Some of Joss 's music is surprisingly complicated . Maybe it 's a Beatles thing . He doesn 't know enough to know what he can 't do and he 's smashing rules . " 
