# Influence(s) of Jeremy Soule and/or composers who are similar



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Soule composes music for video games, but regardless of that he is one of my all time favorite composers. Much of his music is very mellow and smoothly flowing tonal music with very colorful harmonies. It sounds like he usually uses a string orchestra with a small number of wind instruments and percussion and sometimes a choir or piano. Most of his music is rather short of course, his longest classical piece for a soundtrack is 9 minutes, but there is a large amount of development and compositional skill in any length of his compositions. He is also in the process of composing a large scale symphony, an "opus 1" as opposed to just a soundtrack. There's an album of sketches for it so far that I haven't heard yet, but perhaps I'll do that today.

Here is a compilation of his relatively relaxing music from The Elder Scrolls series: 




The music is beautiful in its own right regardless of it being soundtrack music. If you don't want to listen to that entire compilation, I would suggest starting with the music from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, then Morrowind, then Skyrim.

Since he is a contemporary composer and has a relatively conventional tonal sound, it seems like there could be composers who he is clearly influenced by. For example, I thought that Britten's Serenade had a similar tonal quality and mood.

Any suggestions of similar sounding composers or pieces would be appreciated, and hopefully no comments about how it's worthless kitsch, eh?


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

I remember playing Morrowind back then when it came out. It had to be 2002 or something like that. I was in the USA and bought the game there and then spent 2 months playing it. Fond memories. But the problem is, that if you spent so much time in the game and the music playes all the time, you will oversaturate and get enough of it. I had to turn the music off towards the end of the game. But it is nice hearing the music after such a long time 
you mean similar music within classical or in general? If within classical, Gliere sounds remotely similar (at lest to my ears) - try his symphony 3, symphony 2. Or try both Kalinnikov symphonies.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

I like the Mass Effect soundtrack by Clint Manselli too





or Dead Space soundtrack by Jason Graves


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Jacck said:


> I remember playing Morrowind back then when it came out. It had to be 2002 or something like that. I was in the USA and bought the game there and then spent 2 months playing it. Fond memories. But the problem is, that if you spent so much time in the game and the music playes all the time, you will oversaturate and get enough of it. I had to turn the music off towards the end of the game. But it is nice hearing the music after such a long time
> you mean similar music within classical or in general? If within classical, Gliere sounds remotely similar (at lest to my ears) - try his symphony 3, symphony 2. Or try both Kalinnikov symphonies.


It's such a great game. The combat makes it a bit hard to play though. The problem with the music is that there are too few tracks and too much time. When you're in an area, one song would just play on a loop, making it tiring. When I play a TES game or other RPG, I listen to a selected playlist of tracks from each of the games. The Skyrim soundtrack has much more of an abundance of tracks and avoids any one getting stale during gameplay I think.

I would preferably like suggestions of purely classical music as opposed to soundtracks. I already know a few soundtracks that have a very similar mood, so I'm looking for larger-scale works. Thanks for your suggestions!


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Fredx2098 said:


> I would preferably like suggestions of purely classical music as opposed to soundtracks. I already know a few soundtracks that have a very similar mood, so I'm looking for larger-scale works. Thanks for your suggestions!


I would check the russian school - Gliere, Kalinnikov, Glazunov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Zemlinsky, Myaskovsky or even Tchaikovsky (symphony 1) - they produced music that is tonal, melodic and closest to todays soundtracks imho. Not only the symphonies, but also the tone poems.


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

I'm listening to Gliere's Horn Concerto at the moment which is very nice and seems like an ensemble that Soule uses frequently. Are any of those composers in particular prone to an overall slow and mellow mood?


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Fredx2098 said:


> I'm listening to Gliere's Horn Concerto at the moment which is very nice and seems like an ensemble that Soule uses frequently. Are any of those composers in particular prone to an overall slow and mellow mood?


all of them, in fact most late romantic music are is like that - Magnard, Tournemire, Stenhammar etc. Listen for example to Stenhammar symphony. I can image exploring Tamriel with this music on.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

or this
Vincent D'indy - Jour d'été à la montagne (1905)




so many hidden obscure late romantic music that comes to be known only thanks to youtube


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Jacck said:


> all of them, in fact most late romantic music are is like that - Magnard, Tournemire, Stenhammar etc. Listen for example to Stenhammar symphony. I can image exploring Tamriel with this music on.


That's beautiful! Though I grow weary that most classical music goes back and forth between energetic sections and mellow sections. I wish there were more composers who only make very slow, calm music. That's why I go with Feldman!


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Fredx2098 said:


> That's beautiful! Though I grow weary that most classical music goes back and forth between energetic sections and mellow sections. I wish there were more composers who only make very slow, calm music. That's why I go with Feldman!


yes, that is what found difficult too, when I switched to classical after 20 years of listening to soundtracks. But now it is no longer a problem for me. And the game soundtracks switch too - exploration music (slow and mellow), combat music (dramatic and vigorous). This is also pretty soundtrackish music, could fit into a game
Mieczyslaw Karlowicz - Symphony in E-minor, Op.7 "Rebirth Symphony" (1902)


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Jacck said:


> yes, that is what found difficult too, when I switched to classical after 20 years of listening to soundtracks. But now it is no longer a problem for me. And the game soundtracks switch too - exploration music (slow and mellow), combat music (dramatic and vigorous). This is also pretty soundtrackish music, could fit into a game
> Mieczyslaw Karlowicz - Symphony in E-minor, Op.7 "Rebirth Symphony" (1902)


I don't find it difficult, just monotonous (in an ironic way), boring, and played out in my opinion. And that's why I specifically enjoy the calm tracks and not the dramatic combat music. Some of the calm tracks, namely a few from the Skyrim soundtracks have beautiful crescendos that don't hinder the calm, flowing atmosphere of the music. I'm not a listener of soundtracks; I love Soule's music as music alone. It's not just background music. Personally I think it's the best thing related to the games, and I love the games. My opinion of the games is separate from my opinion of the music though. I don't think it should be a defining trait of soundtracks to not follow the trite patterns of average music. I'm just not a fan of energetic classical music, because that's how 99.999% of it is, and I think there's quite enough. The symphony you linked seems a bit more my "speed"  (so far at least)


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Here are some tracks that are dynamic but still calm and flowing:











And his longest piece for a soundtrack:


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Fredx2098 said:


> Here are some tracks that are dynamic but still calm and flowing:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


this is typical soundtrack music. It is hard to find something similar within classical, but you can find plenty other similar soundtracks. There are several older threads on TC looking for recommendations on music similar to Howard Shores LOTR etc. In general, there is nothing similar to soundtracks within classical. It is a different genre. The closes thing are the late romantic compositions. You simly dont find anything like this 




in classical music.


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Jacck said:


> this is typical soundtrack music. It is hard to find something similar within classical, but you can find plenty other similar soundtracks. There are several older threads on TC looking for recommendations on music similar to Howard Shores LOTR etc. In general, there is nothing similar to soundtracks within classical. It is a different genre. The closes thing are the late romantic compositions. You simly dont find anything like this
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's very unfortunate for classical music to be so limited. I will have to do something about that. What makes that "soundtrack music" and not "classical music composed as a soundtrack"? Remember that some of the most revered "real classical" pieces are some of the most cliche pieces of music used in soundtracks. Whenever a classical piece gets loud and energetic, I get bored and tired. It's just so expected and formulaic, and it's basically every single piece. I understand the appeal, but it doesn't appeal to me. Feldman is my only solace, but I'm sure plenty of people don't consider him to be "real classical music". Some of Arvo Pärt's music can work as well.


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