Re: Classical music in Spectrum games and demos

[Rorthron]

Beethoven, Sonata number 14 ("Moonlight Sonata") on JSW title screen

[PeterJ]

This is quite an interesting read:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/3 ... um_manual/

[Alessandro]

With the WoS forum being available again, here is the thread I mentioned earlier:

https://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/discussion/3805/

[djnzx48]

This is quite an interesting read:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/3 ... um_manual/

Not on the Spectrum, but when I was looking at old episodes of '4 Computer Buffs', I found this original performance from around 1985 using Commie 64s.

[Rorthron]

I've consolidated the information in this thread and the old one on WoS in the lists below. I've included both classical and non-classical music in separate lists (except where a game has both). Might they be included in ZXDB? Both classical and non-classical seem worthy of inclusion to me.

I've also tidied up the presentation a bit. I've used a comma as the delimiter between the game title and the music information. But the overall presentation could be made more consistent, and the content probably needs checking and correcting (I've done neither). I've used a question mark to denote cases where doubt was expressed.

Classical:

Alien Evolution, unknown by Mozart
Antics, J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Apulija-13, first bars of Sergej S. Prokof'ev's Romeo And Juliet op. 64 - 2-13 Dance Of The Knights
The Birds and the Bees, Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimskij-Korsakov
The Bulge, opening chords of Beethoven's 5th
Brainstorm, (128K) Alla Turca by Mozart
Circus Games, Entry of the Gladiators by Fucik
Dynamite Dan 2, Maple Leaf Rag by Joplin; Mozart's Sonata in C (the first record); other records unknown
Dynamite Dan, Mozart's Rona Ala Turker (title page)
Earthlight, (128K) Antonio Vivaldi the first movement of the concert L'Autunno (The Autumn) from Le quattro stagioni (The four seasons)
Elite, unknown
Farenheit 3000, Toccata
Fox Fights Back, a medley of three different tunes: 1) about half of Les Tor?adors the Introduction to Act I of Bizet's Carmen; 2) the opening of the first novement of Mozart's Symphony No. 40; 3) Johannes Brahm's Hungarian Dance No. 5
Funky Fungus/Funky Fungus Reloaded, excerpts from Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons op. 8 RV 269 - Spring: I. Allegro; Modest P. Mussorgskij's Pictures Of An Exhibition: I. Gnomus
High Noon, the "funeral march" from the third movement of Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 (every time one of the gunfighters gets killed)
Horace and the Spiders, unknown
Hunchback 2, William Tell Overture by Rossini
Jet Set Willy, Opening lines of L.V. Beethoven's Sonata no 14 (Moonlight Sonata) for piano solo (first movement) (title screen)
Leisure Genius's Cluedo, unknown classical music pieces (just before you get to roll the dice)
Lode Runner, (128K) Bach's Jesu: Joy of Man's Desiring
Lost In My Spectrum, excerpts from: Edvard Grieg's Suite op. 46 - In The Hall Of The Mountain King; Johann Strauss Sr.'s Radetzky-Marsch op. 228; the beginning of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's Lerchengesang (from Der erste Frühlingstag Op. 48) (when you complete the game)
Mad Mix Game, 1) First movement of L.v. Beethoven's 5th symphony; 2) Minuetto (3rd movement) from Luigi Boccherini's string quintet op.13 n.5; 3) Air from Gioacchino Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia; 4) Unknown but probably a cantata by J.S. Bach.
Manic Miner, Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss Jr (title screen); Theme from Hall of the Mountain King from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt (in-game)
Mermaid Madness, Dance of the F?e Drag?e from P.I. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet suite
Moon Alert, Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner
Mutant Monty, the beginning of Grieg's piano concerto
Olli and Lissa, unknown
Phantom Club, Opening lines of J.S. Bach's Third Brandeburg Concerto (first movement)
Riptoff's help program, J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Rockman (Mastertronic), one of the movements of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nacht Music (title theme)
Sabre Wulf, prelude from J.S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Klavier
Sanxion, The Romeo and Juliet Suite?
Sophia II, Camille Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre op. 40; Dmitrij Shostakovich's Suite for Variety Orchestra - VII: Waltz n. 2; Gioacchino Rossini's William Tell - Ouverture (finale); Jean-Joseph Mouret's Fanfare for trumpet violin oboes and timpani I. Allegro
Sophia, Wolfgang A. Mozart's Dies Irae from the Requiem in D minor K. 626
Specventure (Mastertronic), listed in the in-game instructions
Super Mutt, Opening lines of the ouverture from Gioacchino Rossini's Guglielmo Tell
Sweevo's World, Washington Post March by Sousa
Tai-Chi Tortoise, Horn Concerto #4 Mvmt 3 by Mozart
Tapper, the Can-Can from Carmen at some point?
Technician Ted, Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss Jr; Johann Strauss Jr.'s Radetzkymarsch (in-game)
Turmoil, the "toreador" thing from Bizet's Carmen
Zarjas, unknown by J.S. Bach

Non-classical:

The Archers, Barwick Green by Wood
Blacklamp, (128K) a rewrite/remix of Greensleeves?
Camelot Warriors (Dinamic Software), Scarborough Fair
Jet Set Willy, If I Were a Rich Man
Mikie, Hard Days Night
Monty Mole, Colonel Bogey March by Alford
Where Time Stood Still, Jerusalem (but doesn't get used)

[TMD2003]

With that little bit of "non-classical" tacked on the end, I wonder if it's worth mentioning Oddi The Viking? Something tells me I should recognise the opening tune...

Daren's RZX Archive video has 30 seconds of it.

I also heard it mentioned somewhere that the lunatic-fast version of Toccata & Fugue in D Minor used in Antics was based on Sky's 1980 version than Bach's original. Can anyone confirm this?

Rick Dangerous isn't listed here, and that's a game I know more about that most. Toccata & Fugue - similar to the version found in Antics - is the opening tune for Schwarzendumpf Castle, Dance of the Knights introduces the Missile base, and the very familiar Egypt tune is best described as "Trad. Arabic". As far as I know, the South America tune plus everything in Rick Dangerous II is original music for the game.

I loaded Olli & Lissa, and couldn't identify the tune. It sounds off-key, as if written on a QL, but there's a slight sniff of John Philip Sousa about it. And my knowledge of bach isn't enough to identify the tune of Zarjas.

Talking of which, Monty Python's Flying Circus should be on the list somewhere, as the theme tune for the TV series, and hence also this game, was Sousa's Liberty Bell March. And as if to blow my own trumpet... or maybe, sousaphone... I've included the Liberty Bell March and two other Sousa compositions, The Washington Post (as with Sweevo's World) and Stars And Stripes Forever (that's the "here we go" tune, so probably present in a football game of some description) in Corona Capers, along with the national anthem of the United States of Trump (written on this side of the Atlantic, if you didn't know...), and the opening chords of the Chinese national anthem. Oh, and Iron Maiden's "Virus" as well... on that note, I suppose we could ask Daren if any more RZX Archive videos have felt the icy glare of copyright strikes over them from the intro music?

[MatGubbins]

Wham! Music box (Melbourne House)
Music Box 128K and 48K (Melbourne House) editions - they have different songs on them.

[Alessandro]

I made several corrections to Rothron's list.

Alien Evolution: W.A. Mozart, Symphony No. 40 in G minor K 550, I. Molto allegro
Brainstorm (128K)/Dynamite Dan: W.A. Mozart, Piano Sonata n. 11 K 331, III. Rondò alla turca
The Birds and the Bees: N.A. Rimskij-Korsakov, Flight of the Bumblebee, from The Tale Of Tsar Saltan, III, 2
Circus Games: Julius Fučík, Entry of the Gladiators op. 68.
Farenheit 3000: J.S. Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565
Moon Alert: R. Wagner, "Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walküre WWV 86B, act III
Rockman (Mastertronic): W.A. Mozart, Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" K 525, I. Allegro
Sabre Wulf: J.S. Bach, Prelude and Fugue in C major BWV 846 (No. 1 of The Well-Tempered Clavier)
Turmoil: G. Bizet, refrain of "Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre", from Carmen, act II

Plus:

Horace and the Spiders: there's no music at all there!
Cluedo: just a bunch of beeps put together
Sanxion: music by Wally Beben from an original composition by Rob Hubbard (read the scrolling message in the 128K version's main menu!)
Tapper: no classical music (if what goes on during the game can be called music... )

Finally, I am not listing non-classical tunes since this topic is about classical music, actually

[Rorthron]

Thanks, @Alessandro.

I'll update the list in a separate thread, since the discussion has moved away from the original topic.

Edit: see viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2669 for the new thread.