Last fall, I was stuck at home sick for a few days, and during that time, I found a new favorite show thanks to a recommendation from a friend: “Arcane.”
This show means something particularly special to those who were already familiar with these characters and places from League of Legends and related games. But for me at that point, it was all new. I was still absolutely captivated, no prior knowledge of the games was needed.
The animation is richly detailed and sometimes abstract. The songs and the carefully crafted scoring work together so well to build the world and create the emotional impact of the character’s stories.
When looking up more about the music, I found out that the violin (and viola!) playing on the Arcane soundtrack is by superstar classical violinist Ray Chen. You can hear him playing in the dramatic opening scene; he’s also featured in the song “What Could Have Been” with Sting, and he appears in the show, animated into a scene, playing an improbable instrument that looks like a fantasy version of the Stroh violin.
Chen says that this experience changed how he heard the music in the games he played, “Video game music for me had previously been this thing that was always in the background, kind of the regular epic sounding music, but I never thought how beautiful it could be, and how much storytelling could be put into the music.”
On his new album “Player 1” with the Royal Philharmonic conducted by Cristian Mӑcelaru (the new music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra), Ray Chen embraces the beauty of music that belongs to a video game (Pokemon Red), movie scores (How to Train Your Dragon) and TV shows (Squid Game, Naruto).
He also plays two strikingly cinematic pieces that are more traditional classical works, one old and one new. The deftly lyrical violin concerto by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (famed for his movie scores, including the classic “Adventures of Robin Hood from 1938) has become a concert favorite, and this performance really sings.
(Brief digression/story time: While Korngold started as a composer of classical/concert works, he came to Hollywood first to work, and then fleeing Nazi occupation of Austria. At this time, he resolved to only write film scores (the work he needed to support his family) until Hitler was defeated. This concerto was his return to the more “classical” music after the end of World War II - and is very influenced by the music he had been writing over the past decade for the movies).
There is also an amazing piece on here by new-to-me composer Eunike Tanzil. She writes music for TV and movies, has collaborated with singer-songwriter Laufey, and in this recording, you can hear her brief, beautiful, elegant “Serenade” for violin and orchestra.
I’m definitely going to be following her for more music that I hope we can continue to share on the radio. And if you’re looking to brighten up your social media feed: Ray Chen is also a super-fun follow online, whether you’re on Insta, FB, or Youtube. He posts so many joyful things about music, games, and his creative life. He’s also created an app to help musicians practice, by making this often solitary activity a bit more fun and interactive - like a game.
