# Identify this scary choral piece? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-scary-choral-piece/295088 "2005-03-18T01:55:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-scary-choral-piece/295088/1 "2005-03-18T01:55:29Z")
I was just watching _X-Play_, a videogame review show the other day, and during a section on a pretty awful game, they used some scary choral music in the background that I wasn’t able to identify. It definitely wasn’t the soundtrack to the game itself, and I know it wasn’t _Carmina Burana_. I managed to record a clip of the music, [here.](http://www.home.pon.net/phoebeg/EvilDis.mp3) (Mp3, about 500k, 30 seconds) There’s a bit of dialogue over the first half, but the music itself is still pretty clear. Can anyone tell me what this music was? I’m _dying_ of curiosity. Well, thanks for your time, Ranchoth ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-scary-choral-piece/295088/2 "2005-03-18T03:32:17Z")
Agreed that it isn’t _Carmina Burana_, but it does sound a lot like it. Same rhythm in the first section as _O Fortuna_. In short, I don’t know what it is, but I’ll bet it’s one of three things: 1. Video game music. I’ve heard some pretty impressive stuff that I was told came from games like _Final Fantasy VI_. Fully orchestrated with chorus. 2. A film score. Horror movies, especially anything having to do with Satan, seem to require creepy choral music. 3. A setting of the Requiem Mass. It’s not Mozart, Verdi, or Brahms, though. My best bet would be number 1. Don’t know if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-scary-choral-piece/295088/3 "2005-03-18T04:54:37Z")
Going on the theory that it’s video game music, the first bit sounds a lot like Liberi Fatali from Final Fantasy VIII, specifically a clip from the middle - about a minute in. It’s hard to compare, though, with the dialogue and the other music - presumably from the Disney game they’re discussing - over the music in your clip. The second bit of music doesn’t, though. Liberi Fatali doesn’t slow like that. Is that definitely all one piece? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-scary-choral-piece/295088/4 "2005-03-18T05:51:26Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Is that definitely all one piece? Not definately—there was a pause in the music for some dialogue and a setup (which I cut out of the clip, for space), then they finished the review with a cut to that final bit of music. The two might very well be from two different musical pieces; I just don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-scary-choral-piece/295088/5 "2005-03-18T08:40:08Z")
Yep, the umpteenth imitation of _O Fortuna_ from _Carmina Burana_. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-scary-choral-piece/295088/6 "2005-03-18T11:00:25Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Yep, the umpteenth imitation of _O Fortuna_ from _Carmina Burana_. Heh heh, it’s one of those thread titles you just _know_ will be Orff or pseudo-Orff… And I’d doubt it’s film music. It’s too static - video game music needs to have less direction to it, because it can’t predict when the action will be happening. Composing for film means following a set ‘trajectory’.