A few names have been etched into the history of music and their influence can be seen even today. In the era of pop music and counter culture launching us into an underground world of new wave rap and street music, we can barely recall classical tracks. While most of us can’t relate to it, every symphony, harmony and standard across genres of music come from a set of original compositions. The music you love probably has its base in classical music you thought you’d never engage with. Some of the genre starters in music are still celebrated, just the way we celebrate Johann Sebastian Bach on March 22.
Bach was a German composer and virtuoso organist, considered one of the greatest composers of all time. And although you might not have heard his music, you’ve definitely heard remastered tracks or versions of it in films, series and even games. You didn’t read that wrong! Several video games have featured Bach’s compositions. And they can be found in the most unexpected story arcs and gameplay. Scroll through to find out which of Bach’s music waltzed into popular games.
Tetris
Turns out Nintendo’s old school game, Tetris, stuck to the roots of classical music. The puzzle video game for Gameboy that came out in 1989 featured Bach’s French Suite No. 3 in B-minor. Those among us who are 90s kids will know the wave of nostalgia that hits home with Tetris’ signature sound. While you might not associate Bach’s music directly with Tetris aka 10-year-old me’s favourite pass time, the gameplay was backed by French Suit and I think that’s beautiful.
Fallout 3
Fallout’s background score is marked by ambient lo-fi and intense battle music. The Bethesda Softworks game has an interesting mix of music and has not one but two Bach tracks. One of the tracks is Bach’s Violin Sonata No.2 and the other is Violin Partita No.3. The game very cleverly takes orchestra music into their post-apocalyptic world’s wasteland-like setting.
BioShock Infinite
BioShock has music from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The 2K Games’ product was introduced to German gamers with orchestral music. It isn’t a surprise that they featured Bach as one of the soundtracks for the game Bioshock: Infinite features ‘Air’ from Orchestral Suite No.3. The music brings out the immersive gaming experience pretty well.
Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman isn’t the kind of game you would expect to feature classical music but it makes great use of orchestra music to bring out the darkness in the atmosphere of the game. The element is only improved and intensified by Bach’s Cello Suite No.1. Now that’s a way to make traditional western music into moody pieces fit for gameplay! We love how the contrast works out.
Donkey Kong 64
Donkey Kong started out as an arcade game and its tropical vibe and main character won massive popularity with gamers ever since its inception in the late 80s. However, 90s kids who have played Donkey Kong 64 might have heard Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor. I bet you didn’t expect that one!
Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin have also found spots in games like Fallout, Bioshock and, believe it or not, Grand Theft Auto! Who knew gaming had such major a connection with classical music! We loved finding these hidden gems in titles gaming geeks have been playing all this while. How’s that for giving your love for games a cultured twist?
Cover Image Courtesy: steamcommunity.com
