Xenoempathy Dome music?

[Rubin]

Who is the composer responsible for the music in the Xenoempathy Dome Secret Project movie?

I believe this has been posted before, but the forum search produces nothing. The same piece is used in the Oracle Wonder movie in Civ4.

[Darsnan]

Both the SMAC and SMAX manuals list the following:

Background Music: David Evans and Jeff Briggs
Movie music: Jeff Briggs


D

[Rubin]

Hm, I find it a little difficult to believe Jeff Briggs did that piece. It sounds more like Schubert or Liszt to me.

[zylog]

Hmmm... interesting.

I sounds like it's from the romantic era, but it's not flashy enough to be Liszt. It also sounds too "Romantic era" to be Schubert who was "late classical/early romantic."

After a brief search, I've determined that it's Mendelssohn's "Song Without Words #1". I guess being a former music geek can be useful sometimes eh?

[Verrucosus]

Excellent! Now that I've just listened to a different version, I'd say that the tempo in SMAC/Civ4 is too fast, but it's still one of the more catchy pieces. It's a very good choice for both the Xenoempathy Dome, the title being particularly apt. I'm not so sure about the Oracle. While it's okay for this piece to stand out in SMAC, I wish they had used similarly distinctive music for other wonders in Civ4.

[Rubin]

Oh man! Almost missed this thread...

zylog, thank you very, very much for solving this puzzle almost driving me crazy in recent years!!!

Its such a wonderful piece that if Mr. Briggs had done it, the world was being unjust for not letting his musical talent be known to the masses. However, Mendelssohn it is and I am at ease now

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful music.