Composer Christopher Larkin says video games are popularising classical music among younger audiences.Credit:Ben Searcy
Larkin,who created the music for Australian 2D action-adventure gameHollow Knight,says it’s not just classical music finding its way into digital worlds. “You have games likeApe Out scored by an interactive drum kit,big band jazz in Cuphead,and an interactive musical inStray Gods.”
Stray Gods:The Roleplaying Musicalwas only released last month,yet its trackAdrift (created by Colorado composer Austin Wintory,best known for creating the score forJourneyandAssassin’s Creed Syndicate) already has over156,000 views on YouTube.
“There’s a story behind the music,and we all love a good story,” Larkin says. “But there’s also something more personal. When a particular piece of music starts playing,it marks the player’s own discovery of a place or thing in the game. So,when they hear that music later,their own memory and imagination,alongside the game’s world and narrative,is felt again.”
Adelaide-based Larkinhas over546,000 monthly listeners on Spotify,with his trackDirtmouthclaiming over 15 million streams.
“Games are now accepted as a major form of entertainment alongside film,some might say even above it due to the fact that it’s interactive and the immersion that comes with that,” Larkin says.
Orchestra Victoria’s artistic planning and engagement manager,Elise Lerpiniere,says game music is a natural extension of the orchestra’s 50-year history of performing narrative art forms like opera and ballet.