So far, the game works like this:
When you enter a context point (research screen, combat location, planet view, galaxy view, etc.) it ends the current music and loads music from the folder associated with that context point. If the folder is empty, it doesn't load music.

Example of how this works with the ramifications:

I can put all the music in the galaxy view folder (named "Peaceful" by the way) and leave all other folders empty. This will prevent it from loading any music in a context (like the research screen) that does not have music in it, and so not change the music it is playing.

HOWEVER, this also means that if the music file reaches its end while in that empty context (like the research screen), it will not load another music file until you return to a context that has music files in its folder (the galaxy view in this example).

LIKEWISE, if you switch to the new context, and that context has the same music files as the context you left (enter research from galaxy view with both folders have the exact same files, for instance) the game sees it as a new list of music files. It will still cut off the current music and load a new one from its file list in the new context folder.

ALSO, in this example, every single time you return to the galaxy view, it will load up a random music file from the galaxy view folder, without letting the current music file complete, cutting whatever is playing. The game sees it as a new call to the music in a context folder every time you enter that context.

This behavior is consistent, even if I eliminate all but one of the context folders. If I just eliminate all context folders, and put all music in the base music folder, it will play a music file on the title screen, and when that music file is done, it will play no music files at all.

Until I can find a way to make the game not load music from context folders, but instead just shuffle play from a single folder without regard to context, it will still have the music files cutting off in a jarring way

I'll keep experimenting. If anyone can point me to a way to achieve this, I would appreciate it. Documentation on modding DW2 is pretty sparse still, especially on this topic.