Hasta La Gadget!

If you don’t play video games, you’re missing out on some of the most meticulously arranged and elegantly performed orchestral and classical music produced today. Last night at the Grammy Awards, this point was made absolutely clear when Baba Yetu, a beautiful piece from Sid Meier’s Civilization IV, took the Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) award. 

The song is the original work of composer Christopher Tin, who composed the piece to be the theme song for the game and to appear on his first album, titled Calling All Dawns. The song appears in the opening sequence of the game, and was originally meant to be game’s theme song. The vocals are performed by Stanford Talisman, a choral group from Stanford University. The lyrics are a direct translation of The Lord’s Prayer in Swahili, and the song earned specific praise from game reviewers when Civilization IV came out. The Academy thought the song moving enough to earn Tin high praise for his work.

Civilization IV is only one of an entire new breed of video games that rely on orchestras and composers for their music, a far cry from the 8-bit MIDI loops that a lot of people still associated with video game music. Tin, for his part, is heading home with a lot of new attention on his work, and two new awards (the other was for Best Classical Crossover Album, for Calling All Dawns.) 

If you haven’t heard Baba Yetu, click the jump to hear it as part of the opening sequence to the game.