The Sunday Listen: 'Undertale (Main Theme)' by Toby Fox
What if I told you some of the most interesting and popular music being written right now wasn’t in the conservatoires or in top of the end recording studios for major motion pictures, but instead for video games?
As gaming has become one of the world’s dominant forms of entertainment, its music has become more visible and influential. What began as simple 8-bit blips and bloops has evolved into richly layered orchestral scores, intricate electronic compositions, and genre-bending listening experiences with a creative breadth at a level (and often exceeding it) that rivals film and television in complexity, emotion, and production. Composers like Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy) and Koji Kondo (Mario, Zelda) have achieved worldwide celebrity status for their work and are probably more well known than composers for any other other kind of medium, including film (except for maybe Hans Zimmer).
It make sense. Many people now, particularly the core group of music consumers in their 20s and 30s, grew up playing games. Upbeat melodies fueled our victories, melancholic strains underscored our losses, and a vibrant fusion of genres mirrored the diverse worlds we explored. This immersive quality was a crucial element in creating the game's atmosphere, a potent emotional cocktail that lingered long after the end credits rolled.
More importantly, game music is designed to be loopable and unobtrusive over long periods, making it great for studying, working, or relaxing, fitting into a recent trend towards ambient styles that are ideal for background listening.
Recently, I discovered the enchanting soundscape of Undertale, a seemingly unassuming indie game. Toby Fox, the game's creator, single-handedly crafted a soundtrack that defies easy categorization. It's a vibrant mix of chiptune, electronic, orchestral, rock, and piano – a sonic reflection of the game's quirky, emotional intensity. The acclaim is well-deserved, leading to special edition releases and even a dedicated Undertale Piano Collection arranged by David Peacock and performed by Augustine Mayuga Gonzales, with many catchy, captivating, colourful pianistic arrangements.
Now, I'll admit, I'm not a hardcore gamer anymore. My teenage years of endless dungeon crawls are long behind me. But pressing play on Undertale's soundtrack this morning unlocked a flood of feelings – a potent wave of nostalgia that transported me back to simpler times. It wasn't just the music; it was evocation of that carefree, less complicated past, a potent reminder of a life unburdened by adult anxieties. The music became an immersive re-experiencing of a simpler, happier era and I felt a weird feeling of ecstatic joy I haven’t felt in a while. Judging purely on my serotonin levels, I don’t think a piece of music as hit me quite as hard as the main theme in quite some time. It’s relatively straightforward and insistent music, but delivered in a virtuoso way.
So consider venturing beyond the usual suspects: video game music has evolved into a rich, uplifting and varied genre in its own right. Even if you don't know the context of the game – and perhaps won’t quite share my intense fondness – many game soundtracks deserve to be appreciated as sophisticated, standalone compositions regardless of the medium they were created for. Don't let the "video game" label limit your exploration; you may find yourself discovering some incredibly beautiful and moving music.
Please let me know your thoughts, I always love knowing what students think about these picks.
Happy Sunday!
Will