Music from "Halo"

From Wind Repertory Project
Martin O'Donnell
Michael C. Salvatori

Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori (orch. Timothy Holzman)


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General Info

Year: 2001 / 2011(?)
Duration:
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Unknown
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown


Instrumentation

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Errata

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Program Notes

Halo is a military science fiction media franchise created by Bungie. The franchise is currently managed and developed by 343 Industries and published by Xbox Game Studios.

The central focus of the franchise builds on the experiences of Master Chief John-117, one of a group of super soldiers codenamed Spartans, and his artificial intelligence companion, Cortana. The original trilogy centers on an interstellar war between humanity and an alliance of aliens known as The Covenant. The Covenant, led by their religious leaders called the Prophets, worship an ancient civilization known as the Forerunners, who perished while defeating the parasitic Flood. The eponymous Halo Array are a group of immense, habitable, ring-shaped superweapons that were created by the Forerunners to destroy the Flood, but which the Covenant mistake for religious artifacts that, if activated, would transport them on a Great Journey to meet the Forerunners. They are similar to the Orbitals in Iain M. Banks' Culture novels, and to a lesser degree to author Larry Niven's Ringworld concept.

The music for several of the Halo editions, beginning in 2001, was composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. O'Donnell came up with the idea of opening the piece with Gregorian chant . The resulting music became the basis for the Halo series' "highly recognizable" signature sound, and what has been called one of the best-known video game themes. The use of the chant in the main theme has been credited with contributing to popular interest in the genre. Halo's music used an interactive engine to change music in response to player's actions; this non-linear method has since become widespread. The scores for Halo and its sequel Halo 2 garnered awards such as The Game Developers Choice Award and Best Original Video Game Soundtrack from Rolling Stone.

- Program Note adapted from Wikipedia


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