Heroes of Might and Magic II Soundtrack (PC), Steve Baca / Rob King / Paul Romero, 1996

Even decades after its release, the Heroes of Might and Magic II soundtrack stands apart as a unique experiment. The score for Heroes of Might and Magic had clearly articulated Paul Romero and Rob King‘s immense ambition to create game music with the gravitas and impact (and cultural cache) of classical music. The result was a resounding artistic success. It’s no surprise then that Heroes of Might and Magic II‘s music amplifies its predecessor’s already lofty aspirations. But how do you make convincingly symphonically-styled music like that of Heroes of Might and Magic even more grandiose?

Romero and King – joined by King’s band mate Steve Baca – found a logical answer. They added vocals – and not just any sort of vocals. In other words: a large part of the Heroes of Might and Magic II soundtrack consists of full-blown opera arias. These days, underscoring a game with opera arias would be highly unusual. Proposing such a thing in 1996 was revolutionary – and probably a bit mad.

Calling the Heroes of Might and Magic II soundtrack ‘revolutionary’ requires some qualification though. It’s not like the composers were striving to create any sort of previously unheard, original music style. Instead, what Romero and King are doing is to take an existing form of (high-brow) artistic expression and apply it in a new context.

It’s tempting to say that the Heroes of Might and Magic II soundtrack was ahead of its time. However, considering how very few game scores followed in its footsteps, it feels more like a work that exists outside of game music conventions entirely, unlikely to ever spawn a legion of imitators (as opposed to another conservative revolutionary, Michael Giacchino‘s Medal of Honor). Stylistically, Heroes of Might and Magic II might have been a dead end. At the same time, it also signalled that from now on, the sky was the limit. If you can score your game with opera arias, what music could possibly be out of bounds for game composers?

It’s one thing to have grander ambitions – it’s another thing to pull these off successfully. But considering how intricate and refined Romero’s orchestral pieces on Heroes of Might and Magic were, it’s little surprise that his operatic compositions here feel like the real deal, and never like mere pastiche. The vocal melodies, all found on the score’s castle tracks, are impeccably composed. They possess a real sense for operatic flair and deep understanding of this musical expression. And there’s no doubt that the arias are performed to an impressive standard and run the gamut of emotions. They range from the ethereal, almost new-agey soprano strains of “Town – Sorceress” and the sinister bass bombast of “Town – Necromancer” and “Town – Warlock (Expansion)” to the restrained elation and triumph of “Town – Barbarian (Expansion)”.

The romantic era-styled opera soli carry a fantastic emotional charge and urgency with them, and Romero’s fittingly tumultuous Sturm and Drang orchestrations merge with the vocal melodies to create a work of tremendous symphonic depth and richness. His wonderful vocal melodies are backed by an orchestral backdrop that is as marvellously lavish and emotional as the arias. Romero layers the instruments in ever more colourful textures that demand repeat listens to discover all of the music’s subtleties.

It feels like Romero strives as hard as he can for truly classical scale. In the process, he once more sets a new standard for orchestral writing in Western game music. The score moves through an amazing number of moods and tone colours during its relatively short compositions. Its compositional and emotional complexity is nearly unparalleled among Western game scores. It’s a testament to Romero’s compositional skills that he harnesses the torrent of musical ideas which swirl through his pieces and shapes them into strident, coherent pieces.

Let’s not forget King and Baca’s contributions to the success of the Heroes of Might and Magic II soundtrack. Mind you, not so much their monotonous (if brief) battle cues, but instead what would become another staple of Heroes of Might and Magic games: terrain tracks. Underscoring different landscapes within the game, these pieces are far sparser, less attention-seeking affairs. They almost take the opposite approach to Romero’s cues. King and Baca only require a few solo instruments on each composition to paint vivid images of various locations.

This kind of music has no lavish orchestrations or emotional outpourings to fall back on. There are only simple melodies and carefully wrought, minimal background instrumentations – and yet these are spellbinding compositions. The fact that Heroes of Might and Magic II‘s composers are able to master two very different registers of emotional expression – operatic bombast and reflective restraint – finally cements this soundtrack’s status as one of the best orchestral scores ever composed for a video game. Its aspirations to be high art may feel overwrought to some, but the score’s audaciousness only reveals an artistic triumph.

Heroes of Might and Magic III Soundtrack, Steve Baca / Rob King / Paul Romero, 1999

After Heroes of Might and Magic II‘s unprecedented operatic splendour, the composing team of Paul Romero, Rob King and Steve Baca faced a problem when they tackled the franchise‘s next soundtrack: where to go from here? Heroes of Might and Magic II found its approach by amplifying its predecessor’s ambitions and scale. As a result, it rocketed past other Western game soundtracks at the time into uncharted territory. Repeating the same strategy – going grander – for the Heroes of Might and Magic III soundtrack wasn’t an option. After all, how much bigger can you go than full-blown operatic grandeur?

What was Romero, King and Baca’s answer to this dilemma then? In a nutshell, they play it safe on the Heroes of Might and Magic III soundtrack. This is not an envelope-pushing work like its two predecessors. Instead, Heroes of Might and Magic III is nothing more and nothing less than a really great fantasy score, with all the stylistic trappings one would expect from the genre. It’s a less dazzling, extrovert work than Heroes of Might and Magic II. However, its melodic beauty and orchestrational finesse still tower above the vast majority of fantasy scores.

This elevated position is largely due to the same strengths that already characterised Heroes of Might and Magic II. Orchestral textures are lush and lovingly shaped, with an acute ear for effective counterpoint. Cues develop marvellously well and pack stunning amounts of diversity into two minutes of running time. And above all, the score’s greatest strength is its ever reliable, never ending flow of beautiful melodies. It’s all these qualities that make Heroes of Might and Magic III‘s adherence to genre stereotypes entirely forgivable. At every turn, it fills the fantasy formula with life and excitement.

It helps that the music’s textures feel a bit less crammed than on Heroes of Might and Magic II. Romero tempers the youthful exuberance that saw him tossing as many ideas as possible into the castle themes on Heroes of Might and Magic II. This time around, he sounds more relaxed. Equally, he’s keenly aware of how to create elaborate compositions that give their ideas and melodies enough room to breathe. Romero also returns to a methodology he used on Heroes of Might and Magic. Once again, he structures his castle themes as variations of a motif or melody. This helps to further smoothen out the compositions’ flow.

Despite its less dramatic air, this soundtrack doesn’t give up the sense of scale and emotional diversity that Heroes of Might and Magic II had accomplished. On the Heroes of Might and Magic III soundtrack, Romero, King and Baca once more manage to seamlessly mix a wealth of disparate atmospheres and colours into coherent compositions. This trait is particularly obvious on the album’s darker tracks. These pieces, despite all their Gothic demeanour, have an underlying playfulness that ties them in with the soundtrack’s bright mood. Even the gloomy depths of “Town – Dungeon” remain quite light-hearted with their traipsing string and brass rhythms, and a moody oboe melody on top. Similarly, “Town – Inferno” does a tremendous job at balancing the blithe sounds of a music box and a bouncy woodwind melody with the requisite ominous string tremoli and commanding brass.

This absorbing melange of moods is evident on many of the less sombre compositions as well. “Town – Fortress”‘s charming opening escalates unexpectedly into a grandiose episode. Full of building horn chords and driving violin and woodwind figures, the piece reaches its climax through a soaring motif. “Town – Tower”, the soundtrack’s longest composition, is even better. In fact, it’s the entire franchise’s best developed composition, and the apogee of the variation form Romero deploys. Taking elegant triple meter rhythms as its basis, “Town – Tower” moves through a ravishing wealth of melodies, moods and textures.

Where the Heroes of Might and Magic III soundtrack manages to surpass its brilliant predecessor is with its terrain tracks. These are now more similar in style to the castle themes – lavish and full-bodied rather than sparse and introvert. This makes for a more seamless, if also less surprising album flow. Once more, the compositions’ melodies and textures never cease to amaze. “Terrain – Underground” and “Terrain – Water” are impressionistic tone idylls, completely enrapturing and addictive in their sheer beauty and lushness. “Terrain – Swamp” features a cheeky, tumbling bassoon figure that remains charmingly unfazed by the oppressive, humid string atmosphere around it. Similarly, “Terrain – Rough”‘s flute melody has an intensely yearning, aching character that highlights how much more melodic the terrain tracks are this time around, more clearly defined and less drifting – if at the same time also more indebted to fantasy scoring conventions.

Ultimately, what listeners are left with is the perfect starting point for any score fan new to this venerable franchise, and a must-have for every fan of gorgeously orchestrated game music.