Prayer - from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (phrase 2)

Theme of Tara - from Metal Gear (pt. 2) + Prelude - from Final Fantasy XIV

Prayer - from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (phrase 4)

Prayer - from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (phrase 5)

Commissioned and premiered by the Miami University Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Ricardo Averbach.
(Note - stylistically this piece is a complete anomaly for me. Check out some of my other stuff on soundcloud and you'll see what I mean...)

Arcade Variations is a true Frankenstein’s Monster. Nearly every element heard throughout its duration was extracted from the carcass of an existing video game theme. The selected themes date from the beginning of the short history of games through the present. Their appearance in the piece, however, is organized in the shape of a wedge: the first themes to appear (after a brief introduction) come from the middle of this history, from 1998—2001. Subsequent sections combine material from earlier and later games, working backwards to the beginning, around the late 70s, and forwards to the year I began composing the piece: 2016.

The fun was in their combination. No section relies exclusively on the music from any single game – instead they are combined, often in counterpoint, and altered to fit within a given section. Some of the themes are easily recognizable, others are fragmented, transposed, or buried within a predominant texture. The entire list, in order of appearance, is included below. Find them if you can!

**Theme Name – Game Name (year)**:
Entity - from Ico (2001)
Kotake and Koume - from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
Scars of Time - from Chrono Cross (1999)
Halo - from Halo: Combat Evolved (2002)
Separation With Despair - from Shadow Of The Colossus (2005)
Air Man - from Mega Man 2 (1989)
A-Type - from Tetris (1985)
Title Screen Theme - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994)
Prayer - from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997)
Theme of Tara - from Metal Gear (1987)
Prelude - from Final Fantasy XIV (2009)
Journey to Skyhold - from Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014)
Berzerk (1980)
Donkey Kong (1981)
Space Invaders (1978)
Rally X (1980)
Pac Man (1980)

This piece is dedicated to the Miami University Symphony Orchestra, on the occasion of its Centennial celebration.

Arcade Variations (with annotations)

Per Bloland is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music whose works have been praised by the New York Times as “lush, caustic,” and “irresistible.” His compositions range from intimate solo pieces to works for large orchestra, and incorporate video, dance, and custom-built electronics. He has received awards and recognition from organizations including IRCAM, ICMA, SEAMUS/ASCAP, the Ohio Arts Council, Digital Art Awards of Tokyo, ISCM, the Martirano Competition, and SCI/ASCAP. His first opera, Pedr Solis, commissioned and premiered by Guerilla Opera in 2015, received rave reviews from the Boston Globe and the Boston Classical Review. He has received commissions from loadbang, Keith Kirchoff, Wild Rumpus, the Ecce Ensemble, Ensemble Pi, the Callithumpian Consort, Stanford’s CCRMA, SEAMUS/ASCAP, the Kenners, Michael Straus and Patti Cudd. His music can be heard on the TauKay (Italy), Capstone, Spektral, and SEAMUS labels, and through the MIT Press. A portrait CD of his work, performed by Ecce Ensemble, was recently released on Tzadik.

Bloland is the co-creator of the Electromagnetically-Prepared Piano, about which he has given numerous lecture/demonstrations and published a paper. He is an Assistant Professor of Composition and Technology at Miami University, Ohio, and in 2013 completed a five-month Musical Research Residency at IRCAM in Paris. He received his D.M.A. in composition from Stanford University and his M.M. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Scores may be purchased at www.babelscores.com/perbloland
For more information visit: www.perbloland.com


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