Melancholic Star: The music selection


Did you play the game and thought "wuo, that music sounds cool, I wonder what it is" then let me talk a little about it and about why I selected the pieces that I did, with the help of versions that I found on youtube that I have no affiliation with (if you didn't play and stumbled upon here someway... Hi! feel free to read if you want anyways!)

We start the game with J.S. Bach's Concerto for 4 Harpsichords in A Minor, BWV 1065, as we speak to "the devil" (Lilith) in a mysterious cathedral 

Harpsichords have a distinctive sound, so fancy and old fashion! I would say they also have a "churchy" feel and this piece sounds quite grand and imposing, like if it's asking you to behold something important but, with a performative flare, almost over exaggerated, is it really that important? Is it true?

Lilith, our narrator in this part of the story has unclear intentions, is difficult to know what she holds true but I think that it shows that she holds the status quo and the so called authority to scrutiny, kinda like a jester hiding critics of the nobles between jokes.


Then we talk about sacrifices with Ravel's Noctuelles (moths) from Miroirs (mirrors)

I really like lepidopterans (the family of butterflies and moths), an important theme in the story (loose as may be) is metamorphosis, this piece is kinda chaotic, I think it really sounds like moths trying to reach into the light, a truth in this case, if that truth will bring freedom or will burn like a flame remains to be seen.


Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker, when deities turn their back, the devil extends their hand

What a curious little story the Nutcracker is, the conflict resolves in the fist act and then there come the celebrations and boom! it's done, In a way this story is like that, the conflict is resolved in a way, the princess already ran away from the tower but the story keeps on going.


The narrator changes, now the princess (Lily) talks about themselves, in the background we hear a piece from the swan lake, the story of swan lake has lots of endings, some more hopeful than others, for some Swan Princesses freedom from the course comes from death, for others love was the answer, some die from betrayal while others sacrifice themselves to free others and some find happiness .


Next is the Arabian Dance from the Nutcracker, with the rat king defeated and the prince free from his course there are celebrations in the magical palace with dances representing different candies and other stuff.

This piece feels really introspective to me so it seemed perfect for some self-reflection


Edvard Grieg's Anitra's Dance from Peer Gynt, we could say that tired of introspection Lily indulges in some escapism, something that can be really healthy in moderation but can cause problems in excess, in Perrt Gynt Anitra is a character that seduces the protagonist in order to steal his stuff.


Further into escapism we get the overture from the Nutcracker such a nice song, the beggining of a magical adventure (also reminds me of princess tutu, great anime), the little adventure doesn't have a cheerful tone for long as reality sinks into the little stories Lily creates to distract themselves.



So there comes the pa de deux from the nutcracker and Ravel's pavane for a a dead princess/pour an infante défunte (for a dead child) (a pavane is a type of dance, the first one may be more whimsy but I think both have a sorrowful grieving tone.




Then it comes one of my favorite pieces I included, also a lesser know one from the  suite for orchesta no.2 in c mayor, the valse, This piece just screams frustration to me, like is trying to be playful and whimsy but it loses it's temper and has the necessity of sharing the anger it feels inside, it's kinda cathartic but the end also feels like repressing those feelings again.



We go back to Lilith for a little while with the dance of the sugar plum fairy form the nutcracker, one of the more recognizable songs (I think), cute, sweet and playful!



Welcome to the piece I love the most that I used for this part of the story, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1, I have heard that Tchaikovsky was dismissed in his homeland because his music was "too sentimental" I really like his music precisely because it's full of sentiment, and what a journey this concerto is.

To me it feels like a battle between melancholy and determination, a chase for an answer or a ray of hope that's is always a little out of reach, being at the bottom of the lake finding the strength to swim upwards, trying to reach se surface when you aren't even sure of where it is, the piece sounds like it's reaching a conclusive climax so many times but then it calms down, almost back to the beginning, it becomes calm again, then it gains strength, the end is near but then we go back, what it seemed like the end of the journey is just the beginning of another one, just like healing, self discovery and so many other things in life.



After Lily's conclusion we go back to the cathedral and Lilith

From the Sleeping Beauty ballet (from Tchaikovsky) Act I - 8b, this one I didn't find any public domain / creative commons recordings so I transcribed the sheet music to Musescore, Lucky me it's a short piece! This is for a little scene of the servants dancing in the celebration of the Princess's birthday, not so long after this Carabosse (the evil witch/fairy, Maleficent  in the Disney version) comes in a disguise to trick the Princess into pricking her finger with... ah... a really splintery spindle or a distaff? (after learning more about spinning wheels and other tread making equipment I have no idea why the disney's version has such a comically huge needle, maybe it was hidden because it was a danger to anyone that could trip near it)


And then in a way we end at the beginning, the title music is a "music box" version of a theme we hear for the first time in the overture of the sleeping beauty ballet, this motive is used later when the Lilac fairy uses her magic, after the princess succumbs to the sleeping (originally dead) spell the Lilac fairy puts the kingdom to sleep so the princess doesn't wake up alone and her parent's don't die waiting for her to wake up.


And, here we are, thanks for reading! (and sorry for any typos that I may leaved along the way)

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