# A request.



## Jshreki (May 25, 2012)

Hello, before you tell me how lame or dumb this is, please don't. I realize this may sound stupid to many of you but I am completely serious about this and would like some good solid information.

Now to the point. I have always loved music like this: 



 (Yes, it's from a video game. See above.) Although I have loved music like this for many years, I have never found any sort of song that sounds like this that hasn't been related to a movie or video game etc. So, my request to you is if any of you know any classical songs that sound like this that aren't from a movie but from someone like Tchaikovsky (1812 overture does not apply.) Tell me if this is a realistic request, and if it isn't, direct me to some songs from movies and such that sound similar to this?

(Carmina Burana does not apply here either.)

Thanks,

Jamal.


----------



## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

Nevermind.


----------



## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

Don't worry about sounding stupid, everyone starts somewhere with classical! I'm sure LordBlackudder will be responding to this shortly lol (he seems to be an expert on video game music). If you mention exactly what you like about that piece, with as much detail as you can, it may help others with making recommendations. I'll try to suggest a few that I think sound relatively similar:

Liszt's Totentanz seems to be a good fit: 



Dies Irae from one of Cherubini's requiems: 




Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique may be worth checking out as well! As well as most any requiem lol.


----------



## Jshreki (May 25, 2012)

I specifically like the bass they use in that song. It gets to me in a way I can't describe. The dramatic violin solo is also nice. Things like that. Listening to the Listz's, like it so far. (Not a novice to classical by the way, i've just never been able to find stuff like this.)

Edit on the part about the Listz's: Something a bit heavier than that. Low bass, etc.

Edit: Also that brass i'm hearing in there (The one I posted.) The tuba maybe it is? Really what I can describe how I like it is dark and menacing. Seems like a garbage explanation.

Edit: The Cherubini is good. More bass, lower brass instruments, (I used to play the standup bass myself so maybe i'm just partial to its sound.)


----------



## Moira (Apr 1, 2012)

Stargazer said:


> Don't worry about sounding stupid, everyone starts somewhere with classical! I'm sure LordBlackudder will be responding to this shortly lol (he seems to be an expert on video game music).


I'm in a multi-day conference on the state of Arts and Culture as a creative economy in South Africa at the moment, and one of the things that was mentioned there is that in the UK there is now an official sector of the creative economy involved with the making of video games. Recognised by government. Contributes a significant portion of the creative industry's total earnings. Can't remember what the figure was but it was bigger than the contribution of recorded music according to the notes I took during the conference. If anyone is wondering what that is doing in a South African conference, one of the speakers gave us an overview of world trends.


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)




----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

A lot of the harmonic vocabulary of video game music seems to be 'borrowed' or imitated after the fact of early 20th century 'modernist' composers.... there is something clearly more 'classical' in this music, it is less episodic, less quick to change 'moods' as is the nature of video or film music, but these various composers' music is often very well-known to the film and video composers who have modeled much of their work using these early 20th century pieces as a base.

I think you will hear a lot of similarity, their 'sound' very much of the type you seek.

Sergei Prokofiev:
cantata; Alexander Nevsky -- 'Battle on the Ice.' (Itself, originally a movie score, one of the first, later made into a full concert piece by the composer.)





Prokofiev ~ Scythian Suite
parts 1 & 2




part 3




part 4





Arthur Honegger ~ Symphony No. 5, 'Di Tre Re'
First movement




Third and final movement





Stravinsky's very famous "Le Sacre du Printemps," from which the now generic 'thumping' rhythm of a very percussive chord played by the string section is often directly imitated - in a small segment of the first movement of the 'Howl's moving castle' suite, and by many others.... that segment here @ 3'35'' - pizzicato, then a few seconds later, the famous syncopated accent string chord.
The whole piece (video is full-length concert performance) is fantastic; next year it turns 100 years old





Stravinsky, again: Oedipus Rex. The opening, with a relentless steady timpani beat, and the choral writing, certainly a sound somewhat emulated by many a later composer. The orchestra is brass and wind heavy, with only the lower strings, viola, cello, bass - the chorus all male. Glorious and 'dark' sound. A narrator gives a summary of each scene - Link is the first of a complete and fantastically staged production: music begins @ 1'40''




The 'gloria' in part 2, @ 9'18'' is especially exciting and stirring....





Bartok: 
Music for stringed instruments, percussion and celesta - used in Kubrick's "The Shining"
1st movement




3rd movement





If you like the 'big' chorus and orchestral works, Bartok's 'Cantata Profana,' for large orchestra, double chorus and soloists, is a must... dark, lustrous, quite beautiful, really.













And this piece for a huge orchestra and a wordless full chorus, a ballet score:
Ravel ~ Daphnis et Chloe -- here, the segment 'sunrise'




and the very exciting finale... starts @ about 2'27''




[_Warning - the composer made two full suites from this ballet for concert presentation - only the full-length version has the chorus as part of the orchestra._]

Another style, neoclassical in the hands of this Czech composer:
Bohuslav Martinů - Toccata e Due Canzoni -- I. Toccata





Early 20th century 'bad boy' music, meant to rattle the establishment, ebullient and... fun.
Paul Hindemith
Kammermusik No. 1 (link is 1 of 3)




Hindemith in his more 'classical - conservative mode, his lovely score, "Mathis der Maler." Hindemith did not shy from liberal use of all the instruments, including some spectacular brass writing and full orchestral 'tuttis.'


----------



## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

the presence of percussions in this kind of pieces leads to the most obvious suggestion, Mars, the bringer of war from the Planets






I think that Holst has inspired a lot of movie and videogame music with this piece.


----------



## Jshreki (May 25, 2012)

Thank you all. I have enjoyed all these pieces and have made a great addition to my collection.


----------

