Little Big Adventure 2 Soundtrack

Little Big Adventure 2 Soundtrack, Philippe Vachey, 1997

Little Big Adventure had won players’ hearts with its charming, open-ended fantasy world. However, fans had to wait three years for a sequel to reach shop shelves. In May 1997, Little Big Adventure 2 was released and received even more warmly than the first game. Players hoping for a title that was bigger and better still than Little Big Adventure were duly rewarded. The sequel’s world was significantly larger than its predecessor’s and even extended across multiple planets.

Philippe Vachey’s score for Little Big Adventure had proved a milestone in Western orchestral game music. If there was one complaint to be made, it was that the soundtrack was rather short. Given the larger scope of Little Big Adventure 2’s world, a more expansive score would have seemed the logical result. However, the Little Big Adventure 2 soundtrack is, if anything, a shade shorter than its predecessor. Still, that is hardly a substantial issue – Vachey’s writing is at least as strong here as it was on Little Big Adventure.

The Little Big Adventure 2 soundtrack has other surprises up its sleeve. Its opening track, “Song for Gabriel”, is strikingly minimalist compared with the series’ trademark orchestral richness. At first, the cue presents little more than a beautiful, sparse piano melody accompanied by the sound of children playing. It is a surprisingly static and pensive opening, underscoring a peaceful state of mind contentedly suspended in time. Yet, as in Little Big Adventure, Vachey shows complete command over the way a composition unfolds. The initially scant cello accompaniment gradually becomes more continuous, string synths broaden the music’s scope, and eventually reverberant live drums drive a hopeful, uplifting string melody.

Beginning on a note of serenity rather than outright optimism, the Little Big Adventure 2 soundtrack soon reveals itself to be a darker, heavier work than its predecessor. What has not changed, however, is Vachey’s masterful control of orchestral colour, mood, and development. The pieces here may not be as immediately ingratiating as those in the first game. However, these new compositions are even more fully realised and densely orchestrated, and above all just as emotionally multifaceted. That helps compensate for the fact that the musical world of Little Big Adventure 2 feels more coherent, but also somewhat smaller and less varied than that of its predecessor.

Little Big Adventure 2’s story features an evil empire, and “The Empire” creates the expected sense of menace, but in intriguingly unexpected ways. Of course, imposing and ponderous brass progressions play a major role. However, Vachey handles this instrumental group with far greater melodic skill than many game composers can muster. Where “The Empire” becomes especially interesting is in the way it contrasts those towering brass lines with busy solo violin figures that recall a jig. Propelled further by urgent woodwind motifs, that initially upbeat motion becomes breathless and finally maniacal when driven on for too long.

“Zeelich”, which underscores the antagonists’ planet and is just as sombre as “The Empire”, features the soundtrack’s most virtuosic orchestrations. Skittish violin accents cheekily answer the deepest string and brass chords before a live cello introduces a fragmented melody. Throughout the piece, Vachey keeps finding new ways to break up its melodic lines, denying the listener any stable sense of security. Chromatic woodwind ostinati keep the music restlessly in motion, while the density of the solo instrumental writing contributes ingeniously to the cue’s claustrophobic atmosphere.

It falls to “Honey B.” and “Emerald Moon” to lighten the mood and introduce less shadowy corners of the score’s world. “Honey B.” begins with bumbling tuba and pizzicato string rhythms, soon joined by layers of jolly melodic fragments. True to the soundtrack’s emotional richness, though, a trace of tension remains in the high violin chords. And, surprisingly yet seamlessly, the piece moves into a dramatic brass climax that amplifies the threat hinted at by the strings. For the most part, however, this is upbeat, nearly comic music that thankfully never turns cute.

“Emerald Moon” recalls Little Big Adventure’s “Desert” in its wispy atmosphere. Melancholic synth washes and a tinkling, silvery melody offer respite from the album’s general busyness. Calmly meditative, “Emerald Moon” still yields a beautifully yearning melody. The cue feels like an unlikely candidate for yet another grand brass finale, but that is precisely where it is heading. Astonishingly, the conclusion still feels true to the piece’s emotional core.

After all this, the unabashedly celebratory closer “LBA’s Theme (1997 Version)” feels somewhat jarring, particularly coming after the mournful string adagio “Purple”. True, Little Big Adventure did not offer much of a sustained album flow either. However, it worked perfectly well as a sequence of colourful vignettes. Little Big Adventure 2 does not quite achieve the same ease of movement. Then again, it is hard to object too strongly to a composition as beautiful and delightful as “LBA’s Theme (1997 Version)”. Essentially, it is a reorchestrated version of Little Big Adventure’s “LBA’s Theme (1994 Version)”. The emphasis now leans slightly more towards the score’s pop influences, with jangling guitar and more pronounced percussion. But in the end, little has changed – thankfully. Ultimately, the Little Big Adventure 2 soundtrack may run for only a little over 20 minutes, but Vachey makes every second count.