Let’s begin the story with a confession: I am not really a gamer. That said, I am enchanted by some of the wonderful orchestral and art music that’s been composed for video games along with the many greats of the classical canon that have been repurposed into their scores. And, just as we all remember the themes to our favourite movies, game music is now the soundtrack of their lives for many people.
I vividly remember hearing the music from Halo 3 – the main theme was spine-tinglingly good and had me turning up the volume. This began a quest to explore the genre more deeply. The two albums of Greatest Video Game Music recorded by the London Philharmonic offered an overview of the range and beauty of games music. Here was everything from Super Mario to Angry Birds and World of Warcraft, all in wonderful orchestral colour, with arrangements by British composer and conductor Andrew Skeet. And yes, Sonic the Hedgehog gets the full London Phil treatment too.
