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Fall of Troy

by Gunnar Madsen

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Simon Elchlepp
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bherbold
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sjthespian
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Greg V McKee
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1.
Spring, 1194 b.c. 01:44
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2.
A Thousand Ships 03:22
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3.
Crossing the Plains 03:45
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4.
Onslaught: The Walls of Troy 03:54
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5.
The Long March 05:32
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6.
Hector’s Last Battle 03:33
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7.
Behind the Gates 04:08
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8.
Waiting for Dawn 01:06
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9.
Wrath of Achilles 03:28
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10.
Night Raid 03:54
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11.
Across the Scamander 03:37
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12.
Winter, 1185 b.c. 01:47
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13.
The Horse: Fall of Troy 04:39
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about

"This rather splendid soundtrack that never was. Brooding, dark and moody." Zeiteist Magazine

"Epic, classically influenced instrumentals filled with rich textures." Babysue

An "album of ominous atmosphere." 75 or Less

This has to be one of the most impressive albums in your entire discography, which is impressive to say the least." Eric Cohen, Music Director WAER

"This has become the only music I play while I work. Over and over, it puts me in exactly the mood I need". Max, CDBaby

A Soundtrack without a Film

It was the fall of 2004. I got a call from some of my old buddies from my Atari Games days. Some of the very best game designers, artists and programmers in the game world were assembling a dream team to create a strategy game based on the epic 11 year-long battle for the city of Troy. (Remember the Trojan Horse? The face [Helen's] that launched a thousand ships?) I signed on to write the music and do the sound design.

It was my first chance to write something in an epic hollywood vein. Musical ideas came to me in a flood, and I quickly had a whole series of sketches to underscore the mood of the game. The music, while intended to inspire the player's martial interests, struck tones of sadness and loss - The Trojan War was an incredibly cruel, wasteful, and long war.

Just as the game was taking on substance and style, the producer disappeared on a trip to the far east to find more money. When the producer finally reappeared, it was only to shut the game down, leaving a lot of unpaid bills and a lot of unemployed and unhappy workers. I backed up my work to a hard drive and forgot about it.

During the summer of '05, I was traveling a lot, and I'd bought an ipod to help endure the airports and hotel rooms. A bunch of the mp3s from the game happened to have been loaded onto the ipod and they played one day by accident. I was struck by how good the music was. I ended up listening to those tunes more than any other music that summer. I fell in love with this music.

Although I loved the music, it was quite unlike the CDs that people know me for, and it took me some time before I convinced myself that my fans and the world at large would love it too. Convinced, I hunkered down in the fall, turning what had been sketches into completed pieces, and assembling the pieces into a coherent album. Although the tone of this record is very different from my other instrumental albums, , it shares the same depth of emotion and melody and counterpoint - It's every bit as rich a musical experience.

credits

released May 16, 2006

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Gunnar Madsen Berkeley

Gunnar Madsen is a Grammy-nominated composer/songwriter.
He’s written for the Minnesota Opera, Lincoln Center, Universal Pictures and National Public Radio;
He has performed on The Tonight Show, the Smothers Brothers Show, PBS, and the BBC.
He co-founded the internationally acclaimed acapella group The Bobs.
He co-wrote the award-winning Off-Broadway musical “The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World” ... more

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