ScoreNotes: How would you compare the development of the score for Napoleon: Total War to some of the recent soundtracks you’ve helped develop in the gaming genre? Was a similar trajectory followed or were there unique challenges and/or surprises along the way associated with this?

Richard: Napoleon was essentially a sequel to the previous Total War game Empire. In terms of planning and execution I followed much the same procedure I set before in terms of direction, planning out the music we’d create, timescales so on and so forth. However, Napoleon was set in a time period not too far from where we left off in Empire so it was crucial for me to find a new way to make this score sound unique and different from the previous one. I decided that we’d produce a score that would firmly establish the general tone of the game in 18th Century Europe. This decision created a unique framework for us to work within as we’d have to create music which not only suggested this time period but also fit the specific dramatic needs of the gameplay and in-game cinematic sequences.

ScoreNotes: Can you talk a bit about the composing team involved with this venture? How were the assignments divided up? And what were some of the ways in which a consistent tone was ensured regarding the musical output?

Richard: The composing team consisted of myself, Richard Birdsall, Simon Ravn (who had both worked with me previously on Empire) and Ian Livingstone. In general the game features collections of tension, battle, campaign and cut scene music which I distributed amongst us and then worked with the other composers to ensure that good variety, unity and musical colour was achieved. To ensure consistency in the musical output I had to establish the music direction and tone, determining how this ‘Classical’ environment would sound, how we would represent Napoleon as a character in musical terms and in terms of the general vibe. This would then allow us to use the themes and vibe throughout various areas of the game helping to gel it together musically. I would also share my tracks and ideas with the other composers to ensure we were on the same page.

ScoreNotes: How key is historical research for you when it comes to writing these scores and how deeply do you have to dive into the time frame that the story is focused on?

Richard: Since with this game’s score I’d decided to take an almost period approach, it was important to look at and understand the music of the Classical period if we we’re to emulate or be inspired by the general flavour of music from that time.

It had been a very long time since I had studied any Classical material, so it was refreshing and fun to get into works of Beethoven, Mozart and various contemporaries, examining their orchestrations and so on. In fact, focusing on a period sound went even further than the compositions. The orchestra that we recorded with (except for battle music) was of a chamber orchestra size and make-up which would have been similar to what Beethoven would have had available for his symphonies. We only went bigger for our battle music. We also included in the score a lot of smaller delicate writing such as chamber strings and quintet tracks which were popular in the period.

ScoreNotes: Are there any pressures in having to be creative within expectations? For instance, everyone has an inkling about the type of music a game like this requires, yet you were able to exceed expectations and deliver music that is fitting but fresh.

Richard: I wasn’t aware during the writing process of any additional creative pressure. There was however pressure from the fact that we had to tailor and bend the classical music language to fit the game needs. However, while challenging, this was for me a rewarding process – I like very much the music of the Classical period. I’m always focused during the writing process to write the best material I can in the time that I have got but perhaps what makes it seem fresh is just the fact that you don’t see many video game scores making as much use of the Classical language as Napoleon? Beyond that, there was something about the subject, the nature of Napoleons fight and his passion that I found inspiring to write about.

ScoreNotes: Can you talk about the choral presence heard in this score? This seemed to add quite an epic tone to the overall experience.

Richard: The choral parts I found very inspiring to work on, but the funny thing about the choir is that, while it made such a difference to the end sound of the score – there was a time when we almost didn’t have the choir! Initially, I had not intended to feature a choir in the score. Partly this decision was budgetary and partly logistical as it was more music and arranging to sort out to record. However, Laurence Tully, one of the video editors at Creative Assembly, had temp tracked one of the in-game cut scenes he was creating with some of Mozart’s Requiem, and upon seeing that, it was evident that we needed the choir to create the level of grandeur to represent Napoleon, coupled with Kieran Brigden our PR manager insisting on adding choir at every opportune moment! This then influenced the approach to a lot of the remaining score, helping to add passion and emotion. I think part of the success in our project with the use of choir came from the fact that we treated them as an ensemble in their own right, with their own material and level of importance in the tracks rather than simply adding the choir as a background pad or textural effect. In the tracks that feature choir, for the most part they lead the way and the focus was on them.

ScoreNotes: Conversely there are also moments of a more intimate nature heard on the album, specifically, that of the chamber music cues and other tracks that ominously establish a darker underscore. This helped establish a “complete” story experience in my opinion. Do composers relish an opportunity to have such an evenly balanced palette like this to work with?

Richard: I’m always trying to inject as much emotion and personality in to the score and game as possible. Fortunately, Total War, due to the nature of how the game is structured, offers the opportunity to balance epic battle orchestral and darker tension music for the battle areas of the game with more serene but equally colourful music on the campaign strategy areas, and then stretch our musical legs a little with dramatic writing for the in-game cut scenes.

For me, one key goal was to create a lot of variety and tonal colour in the score. I wanted the listening experience in the game to be as rich as possible within the bounds of budget and time. So I set out to maximise this by having varying ensembles sizes in the score from a full 84 piece orchestra to a 36 piece chamber ensemble. We featured a chamber string section, string quintet, solo piano, harp and a cappella choir pieces.

A game like Napoleon, which features a back story, lends itself well to a soundtrack presentation since it contains a music underscoring of his quest as a military leader, marking the key points in his life.

ScoreNotes: There may be some listeners and gamers who generally get into the content without giving a second thought about the level of effort that went in to the production, so I’d just like to spotlight the work at large here with the music. Can you give us a sense about the development time required to create a score like this?

Richard: Generally I would say there was probably a period of a couple of weeks spent researching the Classical style, the areas I wanted to explore, and those which I didn’t. The music itself was composed and orchestrated on and off over about a 3-4 month period culminating in the live recording in Bratislava in December 2009.

ScoreNotes: In culmination, I’m sure that you must have been rather pleased about the Ivor Novello Award this score garnered. Can you tell us what this recognition means to you and your team?

Richard: Winning an Ivor was a fantastic honour and achievement for me personally, the team, SEGA and Creative Assembly. What is important about this award is it is judged completely by professional composers and songwriters - it means a lot to have your peers validate your work, so I guess we’re doing something right! It’s great to see Video Game scores now able to win awards of this magnitude and I hope we’ll see more of this sort of thing in the future.

ScoreNotes: Given the veil of secrecy typically surrounding game development, do you have any upcoming projects you can speak about at this time? Likewise, I’d be curious to hear about any transition you may personally have in mind for television and film scoring as well.

Richard: Ha...Yes, game studios are usually tight lipped about their projects. While I can’t say anything specific about our current un-announced projects, I can say that I am working across the studios projects and I’ll do my best to better our achievements from Napoleon! Regarding Film/TV music, it’s certainly something that’s interesting to me and nowadays there is so much overlap stylistically between cinematic video game music and what you hear in movies. If there are any Film & TV producers/directors reading this, drop me a line ;-)