The Dreaming ('Ere the world crumbles...) - Knut Avenstroup Haugen feat. Helene Boksle
June 15th 2008 17:52
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Soundtrack by Knut Avenstroup Haugen
Knut Avenstroup Haugen is a Norwegian musician who received his education as a composer and pianist at the conservatories of Kristiansand (Norway), Utrecht (The Netherlands), and the University of Oslo. Also known to compose orchestral and chamber music, Haugen's, breakthrough score to date has been the compositions he provided for the soundtrack of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. A Conan fan himself, he expresses that working for a project like this was long a dream and a most challenging opportunity as an artist and composer. In order to ready himself for the musical confrontation, Haugen went through all the original stories of Conan's creator Robert E. Howard as well as the 1980s movies featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the soundtrack of which, he states, is among his favorites. The effect of Basil Poledouris' epic soundtrack can be heard throughout Age of Conan, however it is far from an imitation since Haugen's musical imagination simply shines from one track to another. For instance:
"...Tortage Island (where the beginning of the game takes place) utilizes classical guitar to give the area a Spanish flavor. Cimmeria makes frequent use of a solo violin to impart a Celtic feel, while the Aquilonian music has a more orchestral style that evokes ancient Rome with oboe and English horn solos. The desert wastes of Stygia naturally have Egyptian and Arabian influences, and Haugen enlisted a Moroccan folk musician to perform primarily voice solos, but also some native drums, flutes, and other instruments to help flesh out that region.
To capture the Nordic feel of the Eiglophian Mountains and Vanaheim, popular Norwegian pop and folk artist Helene Břksle lent her voice to a number of tracks, making them some of Age of Conan's most iconic music."
To capture the Nordic feel of the Eiglophian Mountains and Vanaheim, popular Norwegian pop and folk artist Helene Břksle lent her voice to a number of tracks, making them some of Age of Conan's most iconic music."
Born in 1981, Břksle has been on stage since she was as little as 4. At 13 she nailed the role of Dorothy in the Kristiansand Barne children's theater staging of The Wizard of Oz. She went on studying music at NISS (Nordic Council of the Institute for the Stage and Studio), all the while getting the role of Hedvig in Henrik Ibsen Villanden version that staged at Agder Theatre in Kristiansand. She received great praise from the critics and won the hearts of the audience with her performance as the lead. All these early achievements combined with her tendency and love for folk music, led to her first album Elverhřy which turned out to be a nominee at the Norwegian Grammys. She is about to complete her new album soon and her concert updates can be followed through her corner at MySpace which can be reached via the link below.
The creator of Conan, Robert E. Howard, was born in Texas and is regarded as the father of "low fantasy" just like Tolkien is considered as the father of "high fantasy". Howard is the shadow behind senior characters such as King Kull of Atlantis and Conan the Cimmerian which helped shape the genre known as sword & sorcery. The latter, originally spawned from a rewritten story belonging to the former, managed to surpass King Kull and became exceedingly popular in the 70s and 80s not only because it is about the heroic deeds of a Hercules-like character and its mystical era but also due to its solemn, brooding aura which reflected Howard's persona perfectly. Although, he had long left this world when the popular comics came in print, Roy Thomas manifested the setting and mood of his short stories superbly while, one of the most renown pencillers of all times and a prominent figure behind the evolution of comics, John Buscema enabled Conan to visually come alive. Weird Tales magazine published 18 stories of Conan between 1932 - 1936 and Howard earned his place among the Lovecraft Circle, H.P. Lovecraft's cycle of close friends and writers, until his shocking suicide in 1936. Lovecraft was deeply effected by his close friend's death and died a year after from cancer while the last of the Weird Tales Trio, Clark Ashton Smith, of Lovecraft Circle stopped writing altogether upon the loss of his beloved cronies.
Knut Avenstroup Haugen bases The Dreaming on the 45th stanza of Völuspá (with excerpts from 26th and 41st), the first and most famous poem belonging to Poetic Edda. It is the foremost manuscript of Norse Mythology and is also a part of the Codex Regius. Codex Regius (translated The King's Book) is titled likewise due to the fact that it was presented to Frederick III of Denmark by Brynjólfur Sveinsson, the Lutheran Bishop of Skálholt. By preserving the manuscript of these minstrel poems that dated back to 13th century, Sveinsson remains the source behind our modern knowledge of Old Norse literature.
Völuspá (The Sibyl's Prophecy) centers around the forecast of a seeress whom Odin, the king of Gods in Norse Mythology, consults to foresee the future. The sibyl goes into trance and tells Odin how the world was created at first place and casts predictions about Odin himself and the future of mankind. According to the Oracle, the "Fate of the Gods", Ragnarök, leads to the final battle between the gods and their enemies which will lead to the destruction of both yet from their ashes a new world shall arise. The 45th stanza is among those that depict Ragnarök vividly:
45. Brthr munu berjask | ok at bönum verthask,
Munu systrungar | sifjum spilla;
Hart er í heimi, | hórdómr mikill,
Skeggjöld, skálmöld, | skildir (e)ru klofnir,
Vindöld, vargöld, | áthr veröld steypisk;
Man engi mathr | öthrum thyrma.
45. Brothers shall fight | and fell each other,
And sisters' sons | shall kinship stain;
Hard is it on earth, | with mighty whoredom;
Axe-time, sword-time, | shields are sundered,
Wind-time, wolf-time, | 'ere the world falls;
Nor ever shall men | each other spare.
The track begins with a deep string chord which is adorned by the accompaniment of lyr and ethereal vocals that go:
"Athr veröld steypisk
('Ere the world falls)
mun engi mathr öthrum thyrna."
(nor ever shall men each other spare.)
('Ere the world falls)
mun engi mathr öthrum thyrna."
(nor ever shall men each other spare.)
Then come drums marching from afar, somehow representing the footsteps of the approaching heroes and armies/men that follow them. Sun rises in the east as a new day dawns upon Hyboria, harboring ancient mysteries, concealing man-made treacheries, foretelling heroic victories and vengeful defeats. The track reaches its climax as the lyrics cry,
Knáttu vanir vígspá völlu sporna.
(And the field by the warlike Wanes was trodden.)
Skildir ro klofnir.
(Shields are sundered)
fyllisk fjörvi feigra manna.
(Drains the life-force of doomed men.)
(And the field by the warlike Wanes was trodden.)
Skildir ro klofnir.
(Shields are sundered)
fyllisk fjörvi feigra manna.
(Drains the life-force of doomed men.)
before coming to a sudden and dramatic coda. A tall, bulky figure emerges atop a cliff, clad in sweat, blood and rightful conquest, to watch the world crumble beneath his feet and to fulfill a long forgotten Nemedian Prophecy that goes:
"Know, O' Prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars - Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold.
But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west. Hither came Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the earth under his sandled feet."
Ink Blots
Browse music online at IMEEM
Download Age of Conan the Hyborian Adventures Soundtrack from Amazon.com
Meet the artist Knut Avenstroup Haugen at IGN
Meet the artist Helene Břksle at MySpace
Quoted text from The Age Of Conan: Behind The Epic Score by Alex Van Zelfden
Browse music online at IMEEM
Download Age of Conan the Hyborian Adventures Soundtrack from Amazon.com
Meet the artist Knut Avenstroup Haugen at IGN
Meet the artist Helene Břksle at MySpace
Quoted text from The Age Of Conan: Behind The Epic Score by Alex Van Zelfden
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Comment by Trevel
Comment by Ayda
Phantasmelodia
If you like the game, I truly reccommend the soundtrack. I have it on loop these last few days. Simply awe-inspiring!
Comment by Bart - Chicago (aka Hyperias on Set)
And yes, such a great game.
Comment by Ayda
Phantasmelodia
I''m loving the Demonologist and the Necromancer experience. -evil grin-