Civilization IV

Copied ContentSome content on this page was directly copied and pasted from another article with the name **Soundtrack (Civ4).**
Credit for the copied content goes to the contributors of that article.Some content in this current article is credited to the editors of Soundtrack (Civ4).

The **soundtrack of the computer game ***Civilization IV***** features a large variety of tracks both original and historical, from Gregorian chants to modern minimalism, and makes extensive use of classical music as well as both world music and folk music. Such a focus on the soundtrack and the inclusion of classical, world and folk music are rare among games, though relatively common for strategy games. Original music was created for the expansion *Civilization IV: Warlords* and includes specifically themed music for each of the several scenarios, and several new Leader pieces. *Civilization IV: Warlords* also uses music from *Civilization III* to fill out some of the areas overlooked in the original ***Civilization IV***, such as music for the "classical" period, and adds eastern music for the Asian scenarios. All tracks are stored on the hard drive in mp3 format, making them perfectly usable outside the game.

## Overview

Original music was composed by Jeff Briggs, Mark Cromer, Michael Curran and Christopher Tin. Featured composers include John Adams, Gregorio Allegri, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Antoine Brumel, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Francisco de la Torre, Josquin des Prez, Antonín Dvořák, Orlande de Lassus, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Ockeghem, Michael Praetorius, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Camille Saint-Saëns and John Sheppard.

Each of the game's time periods has its own set of background music appropriate for the period. The Ancient and Classical ages are limited to four original tracks that mostly focus on ambience and primitive instruments such as drums and the flute. The Middle Ages feature medieval and renaissance music, both instrumental and chants, such as Kyrie by Ockeghem. The renaissance era uses baroque and classical music music by Mozart, Beethoven and Bach. The soundtrack to the industrial period focuses on romantic music by Brahms, Dvořák and Beethoven, with one track each from Saint-Saëns and Rimsky-Korsakov. The modern age's music is composed exclusively of music by American minimalist composer John Adams. Orchestral samples in the game are from the Vienna Symphonic Library, which features recordings of classical music by members of the Vienna Philharmonic.

Each leader has his or her own theme music as well, and each leitmotif has three variants, corresponding to different periods in the game. These are shorter and simpler pieces, from just under 40 seconds to three minutes. Each reflects the leader or country in question: Roosevelt's music is the *Marines' Hymn*, and Napoleon's is based on *La Marseillaise*. Some are renditions of famous pieces of classical music, such as Frederick's piece, which is a paraphrase of the fourth of the *Goldberg Variations*, or Bismarck's, which is the opening theme of the second movement of Beethoven's *Symphony No. 3*. Others, such as Mao Zedong and Alexander the Great have music that has been modified from earlier games, such as *Civilization III*.

The theme song is "Coronation" by Christopher Tin, and the menu music is "Baba Yetu", also by him. The latter features lyrics based on a Swahili adaptation of the Lord's Prayer by Chris Kiagiri. Vocals were performed by Stanford Talisman.

## Music

Stanford Talisman performs all the pieces written by Christopher Tin. The other tracks (especially the polyphony from the Medieval section) are performed by a variety of groups, who are not credited on the original soundtrack.

## References

1. ↑ Civilization IV manual, page 224
2. ↑ Talisman featured on Civilization 4
3. ↑ *Sid Meier's Civilization IV Official Soundtrack*, VGMdb
4. ↑ Purit a beul, or Scottish peasant music

Baba Yetu (Main theme)