Connelly et al recording @ Abbey Road Studios
Rarely seen these days, Tomb Raider classics composer Peter Connelly has been interviewed this month by Square Enix Music. Connelly first took on the series as the second mainstay composer with Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, followed by Tomb Raider: Chronicles and the London Symphony Orchestra performed Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.
Following Nathan McCree's departure from Core Design after Tomb Raider III: The Adventures of Lara Croft (1998), Connelly reiterated McCree's original 1996 Tomb Raider motif in each instalment to follow. A motif that has in fact appeared in every video game iteration of the franchise to this day, plus Alan Silvestri's score to the 2003 major motion picture, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life. While McCree hasn't been on the video game music scene for years, Connelly was still racking up new projects, although some might consider racing games like Herdy Gerdy a step down from Lara Croft's adventures.
Chris Greening of Square Enix Music first queries Connelly about his work for Tomb Raiders 4-6:
"Working on these titles was an absolute pleasure and I respect how lucky I was to be given such an opportunity. I always give credit to Nathan McCree, the original Tomb Raider composer, as he paved the way for my own compositions on the series. Of course, I added my own twist though. Looking back, I am quite proud of what I did although, at the time, I wanted them dead and buried. Haha. As I've progressed over the years, particularly with my mixing and production skills, I often ponder over re-doing some of the work. At the top of the list would be The Last Revelation theme.
The Last Revelation theme kind of just came to me. The opening harp is what initially fell at my fingers, followed by the descending string sequence (or was it the other way round?). It wasn't until later I realised I really should add the iconic Tomb Raider melody, which worked beautifully in many places, particularly towards the end. With Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation based in Egypt, I wanted to give my compositions an essence of Egypt without being too clichéd or corny, although they probably were by the time I was done with them.
With regards to the theme music for Tomb Raider: Chronicles, I had an epic idea which, sadly, never got finished. You only hear a very small snippet of what was to be in the very first opening sequence. This has been questioned many a time and the answer to why the game didn't have a 'proper' main theme was simply... time. In retrospect, I wish I'd made more of an effort to complete it so, for my own redemption, I will re-open the original MIDI sequence someday and finish off what I started!" - Peter Connelly
Connelly further elaborates on his career at Core Design as well as the opportunity of recording Angel of Darkness at the legendary Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra:
"...we were thrilled... with our first choice of orchestra and studio — the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road. It was a dream come true. I think we did rather well, considering it was our first live gig, as we recorded more than 40 minutes of music in less than six hours. The LSO are great to work with; they're fantastic musicians — among the world's best — and I would love to work with them again someday...
...I started at Core just as Tomb Raider III was being polished, so I had very little involvement with this project. There were a few things here and there, but that was it, so I was surprised to see my name credited with Additional Sound Effects. I did write some music for the end boss on the off chance it would get used, but it was too late to get it on the disc. I did use this music for Tomb Raider: The Last Revelations so it wasn't wasted..
...Unfortunately, I don't follow the game like I used to, but I have heard some of the soundtracks and I think they're amazing. In all honesty, I have been thinking about the possibilities of scoring another Tomb Raider soundtrack for some time now... I just need to work out the best way to approach the right people. If you can help me out...!" - Connelly
Thanks again to Chris Greening @ Square Enix Music. Full interview after the jump.