Ante Bellum Original Soundtrack: Dev Diary #3
Last week we looked at the Catholic motif within the Ante Bellum Original Soundtrack. This week we will look at its equal & opposite motif: the Islamic theme!
Motifs: the "Islamic" theme
The Islamic motif was the first theme composed for the OST. In the Ante Bellum world, it serves to represent the major Islamic nations and is a direct counterpart to the Catholic theme. In Ante Bellum lore this is most notable in Iberia. However, the theme is also intended to fill a role outside of Ante Bellum: a de-facto expansion for Themes of the Old World to cover Anatolia and the realms bordering the Eastern Mediterranean. In this sense, real-world history and developing musical styles of the area have been some influence, though for simplicity I did keep all of Islam under one major theme and then used various aspects to add flavour (e.g. Arabic scales and themes).
With all of this in mind, the construction of the Islamic theme comes from two very clear places: Iberia and the Balkans; where the Islamic world most famously clashed with the Christians during the time period. Musically, this means that the Iberian (Wonder) and Balkan (Chaos) themes from Themes of the Old World have directly been built into the main Islamic melodic motif:
The opening of the motif is an upward perfect fifth interval; a direct inversion of the Iberian theme's downward perfect fifth - intended to signify just how opposed those two were (and also, by extension, the Papacy, in which Piety has a musical relationship to Wonder and thus also represents historic Catholic opposition to Islamic influences).
The second part of the motif is a quick upwards turn, similar in tone and interval to the aggressive and rapid notes of the Chaos theme. However, in the Islamic motif it is much more defined and ordered, a reflection on the somewhat increased stability that the Turks brought to the Balkans when they took over.
In addition to the above, the Islamic theme comes with the rhythmic motif specific to this soundtrack (the driving force behind the main theme track), to tie it in to the Ante Bellum world.
At various points throughout the album the main Islamic theme is broken into individual chunks and not necessarily played together. Sometimes you will hear the horn call of the inverted-Iberia portion, such as in "Swords of Islamic", and other times you will only hear the frantic turn of the ordered-Balkans portion, such as in "Battle of Valencia". Then, there are various sub-motifs and alternate melodies supporting the main motif, which are intended to represent all the various faucets of the Islamic world and leave my options open should I return to compose for the area in the future.
In the Ante Bellum sense, the Islamic theme is most closely related to The Seljuks and the Nizzarids. Of course, some examples and song titles are given below for you to enjoy and explore various styles of the theme!
1. Islamic Theme - Main
This is the theme as you heard it in the announcement trailer and the "Legacy of Seljuk" track. It purely intended to introduce the melodic and rhythmic motifs and a few variations (most notably the epic key change from minor to major that occurs in the buildup from 2:25 onwards). Given this, and the piece's grand/heroic scope (hey, this is meant to be the Seljuks in all of their glory), some of the finer details that root the music back in historic Islamic elements have been overlooked - most notably the musical style and form. Nevertheless, it's irresistible to imagine the triumphant march of the Turks into Constantinople as the piece comes to a climax.
2. Islamic Theme - Peace
Here is where we really begin to become familiar with the Islamic theme and its various parts. In "Shield of Islam" the music is mostly slow and gentle, perhaps like a marketplace, but also with passages of haunting or heroic elements. In a relaxed environment we get introduced to the motif in complete, broken and altered forms. Then you get lots of different variants of the melody beyond the opening few notes (which you will surely come to quickly recognise) to represent all the different schools and variations of Islam about the area. It is here where real-world history gets dusted in with Arabic-style chords and scales.
3. Islamic Theme - War
Now let's turn it up a notch. Epic horn fanfares, an active and driving percussion beat and fierce Arabic-style flavour. It is fast and tense and upbeat. It's "Sword of Islam". Those cannons are coming and your fear is rising. There's nothing sneaky here in this version other than to extend out the melody, pump up the rhythm and turn up that Islamic immersion to the max. It's a direct brother to the peace version, so the style and melody is similar. This has some rhythmic and melodic difference to the main establishment in "Legacy of Seljuk", but is still recognisable. The piece speaks for itself really - I only have to add: imagine looking up to a distant ridge and seeing an Ottoman army approaching; that's what this war music is.
4. Islamic Theme - Conflict?
Just like the Catholics, Islam has a chance to showcase itself in "Battle of Valencia", putting it in the spotlight and pitting it against its foes on the battlefield at Valencia. Everything great of the Islamic theme is here: an extended brass fanfare, a delicate melody finally transposed into an Arabic mode, a driving beat with deep tension and that fierceness that brought them all the way to Wien. The melody is slightly drawn out here with definitive attention; every. note. counts. They mean business. It is a fearsome challenge that Islam lays down to the Catholics opposite them. The outcome? You'll have to listen to the music (or play Ante Bellum) to find out!
The Islamic theme is probably the most well-crafted and intricate theme within the album, owing to its multi-functional purpose across all areas of Islam, as well as its dual role as a de-facto theme for the Ottomans in Themes of the Old World. Nevertheless, its construction, and particularly its relationship to the Iberian (Wonder) and Italian/Catholic (Piety) theme, allows it to be definitive, yet meaningful and memorable. I really hope you enjoy the booming drums, glorious horns and graceful Arabic scales of the songs as you battle for supremacy over the frontiers.
Next week I will look at the high-level design philosophy and overarching themes for the music, such as instrumentation (noticed anything yet?), and talk a bit about some of the pieces that haven't been mentioned yet.
The Ante Bellum Original Soundtrack releases worldwide on 4 February 2022.
- Utopia