UK radio station Classic FM has released the results of its latest annual poll, where it asks listeners to vote for their favorite pieces of Classical music - and it’s another strong year for music from videogames.
We previously discussed Classic FM a short while ago, asking whether or not music from games deserves to feature among compositions by the likes of Mozart, Beethoven and Bach. Regardless of what people might think however - and the debate is likely to rage on for years to come - it seems that music from videogames is starting to gain more mainstream recognition.
In total, eight pieces made the final list, with Nobuo Uematsu’s theme from Final Fantasy reaching the op ten, sitting happily in 7th place.
The full list of featured gaming music (along with links to their chart position on the Classic FM website) is as follows:
- Journey - Austin Wintory (pos. 289)
- Kingdom Hearts - Yoko Shimomura/Hikaru Utada (pos. 177)
- Kingdoms of Amalur - Grant Kirkhope (pos. 75)
- Viva Pinata - Grant Kirkhope (pos. 54)
- World of Warcraft - Russell Brower (pos. 50)
- Banjo Kazooie - Grant Kirkhope (pos. 50)
- The Elder Scrolls - Jeremy Soule (pos.17)
- Final Fantasy - Nobuo Uematsu (pos. 7)
As expected, the results have drawn plenty of debate on the Classic FM website, with people arguing for and against the merits of their inclusion - as seems to happen every year. The success is due in no small part to the dogged effort of Mark Robins, a PR manager working in the games industry. Having been a lover of gaming and gaming music all his life, he took it upon himself to ensure that it finally started to receive the recognition he believes it deserves. So, in 2012, he took to social media and encouraged fans to vote for their favorite compositions. The drive was successful, and each successive year since has seen more and more gaming music find its way on to the list. The radio station has even since dedicated entire evenings to gaming music, with the most recent being broadcast only last month.
Whatever people might think about whether or not World of Warcraft or The Elder Scrolls deserve a place in the limelight next to Tchaikovsky and Handel, it seems that gaming music isn’t going to disappear from the list anytime soon.
Dale Morgan
@spamdangled
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