Track List
Main Title (from The Rescuers Down Under)
Homeland (Main Theme) (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron)
Dies Irae (Mozart’s Requiem Mass)
Molossus (from Batman Begins)
United We Stand, Divided We Fall (Two Steps From Hell)
Chevaliers De Sangreal (from The Da Vinci Code)
Leaving Earth (Mass Effect)
Lascia Ch’io Pianga (Ronaldo by Handel)

William Somerset Maugham once said, “Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.” I think that this quote is important because it shows how art is capable of allowing humans to transcend their state of being and feel something greater. Music is sort of like playing a role-playing video game. It takes the listener to a far off land where anything is possible. For me, my favorite feelings that I get from music are those of adventure, energy, and beauty.
Adventurous music is frequently found in film soundtracks. The opening theme of The Rescuers Down Under starts with peaceful animal noises and then explodes into drums, horns, and maracas, only to fade away again back into a single drawn-out violin note. This is a really effective piece of music because the sudden explosion of sound is loud, unexpected, and a bit erratic. Spirits: Stallion of the Cimarron contains another of my favorite adventure songs in its main theme. It starts with a lonely horn and gradually adds in percussion and violins until it swells into full force with French horns. With music in this adventurous genre, I feel like the future is uncertain but that is ok because I will be able to face whatever comes with a positive attitude. Energetic music is also very important to me. It helps me to get pumped up and motivated, especially for exercising. Music like this tends to have very high tempo such as the Dies Irae from Mozart’s requiem mass which is some of the fastest choral music that I have heard. Batman Begins has a lot of really explosive music, including the track Molossus. Hans Zimmer is a big fan of percussion which, along with horns, is what this upbeat song is all about. These styles of heavy percussion and big, booming vocals are combined in United We Stand, Divided We Fall by Two Steps from Hell to spectacular effect. These songs mean a lot to me because there are times in life when I need inspiring and it is really helpful to be able to pull inspiration from music. Perhaps the most important category of music for me is beautiful music that tears at the heartstrings. Whenever my outlook on life isn’t exactly as positive as it should be, I tend to turn to songs like Lascia Ch’io Pianga from the opera Ronaldo by Handel. The notes are very simple and the main theme of the song is quite short. The orchestration is very simple and halting which results in silences which bring out the sweet sadness in the woman’s voice as she sings simple words about her heart breaking. Leaving Earth from the game Mass Effect is one of the most hauntingly beautiful pieces I have ever heard. The combination of simple piano chords with an increasingly severe orchestral theme makes for a truly haunting combination of sounds. Not all beautiful music is depressing though. Chevaliers De Sangreal from The Da Vinci Code is a very hopeful piece which gradually swells to a place of beauty and hope over the course of a 4 minute buildup. For me, beautiful music frequently involves violins as it is an instrument that is so capable of drawing out sweetness one note at a time. Music has been a tremendous influence on our culture. It is such a common site to see people performing everyday tasks with earbuds in. We all listen to different things for different reasons but we are all united in the fact that music brings joy to our lives.