Recently, I've been listening to some game OSTs that feature arrangements of classical music. This got me thinking about how classical music is used in video game soundtracks. As an avid classical music and video game soundtrack listener, it's always nice to hear a familiar classical piece pop up unexpectedly in a soundtrack or to hear how the music has been arranged for a game.
From soundtracks I've listened to, here are the ones I've noticed:
- Hirozuka Tanaka using the Can Can by Jacques Offenbach for the Super Mario Land Invincibility BGM.
- Hirozuka Tanaka using Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by Tchaikovsky and the Carmen Overture by Georges Bizet in Tetris (NES and Game Boy).
- Spiralmouth using The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II in Crash Twinsanity.
- Yukio Kaneoka using the opening of Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for the Game Start music in the NES version of arcade Mario Bros.
- The Sims 3 using several classical pieces including Handel's Water Music, Suk's Barcarolle, Schubert's Trout Piano Quintet, Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 6, Franck's Violin Sonata and a few pieces by Mozart (either Piano Sonatas or Divertimento no. 17).
- Fauré's Dolly Suite Berceuse used in the Wii photo channel slideshow music.
Are there any other instances of classical music being arranged for video game soundtracks that anyone has noticed? It would be interesting to find out and hear some of them.
