Music in Golarion

[Mikael Sebag]

So, in the few mentions I've read of music in Golarion, I've been impressed by the accuracy with which the musical tastes of each region reflect those of their real-world counterpart. My hope for this thread is that we, as a community, can identify the musical styles and genres of each region in Golarion either through citation of any specific mention or through deduction based on the region's real-world parallel.

So, any volunteers?

[Geeky Frignit]

Cheliax: Opera

[Knoq Nixoy]

There's a Varisian nursery rhyme in PF 1. I think their music would be gypsy-like.

And the Danse Macabre monster (PF 11) has it own soundtrack of Camille Saint-Saens.

[Kerney]

Geeky Frignit wrote:

Cheliax: Opera

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Taldoran Opera (To Phantom, a nod to Among the Living)

In Sleep he came to me, in dreams he came
That voice which calls to me, and speaks my name
And now I dream again, of sudden death!
Lord Zyphus! is here!
To spread Unlife!

[Wolfsnap]

If you've never listened to Jon Anderson's whimsical and fantasy-inspired Olias of Sunhillow then I strongly recommend it. It's a very fun album and has served as inspiration for me on more than one occasion. It always struck me as being the kind of thing that Elves might listen to.

[Doodlebug Anklebiter]

I recommend The Fairport Convention's Liege and Lief as a collection of Andoran folk songs.

[Mikael Sebag]

Hmm, alright, this is getting the historical musicologist in me thinking.

We know that Cheliax is big on opera and that Cheliax is also somewhat modeled after early modern Venice, so the rational conclusion is that Chelaxian opera is most like our world's Venetian opera.

Venetian opera's heyday was primarily in the middle years of the 17th century, after opera had migrated from private chamber entertainments in Florence to the commercial opera houses of Venice (from where it later disseminated to other nations, since Venice was a big port city). The plots abandoned the mythological themes that populated the first operas in favor of histories and tragedies with few or no supernatural elements. Is that consistent with the written material on Chelaxian opera? I'm guessing there's all kinds of infernal elements in their opera, but I'd also wager that tragedies and human protagonists (possibly military heroes?). Any verification of my assumptions would be heartily appreciated.

By extension, we can assume that other genres found in Cheliax are consistent with Italian music c.1625-1675, so that includes madrigals (though by this time recreational part singing was falling out of fashion in favor of performances by virtuoso musicians), chamber genres (solo and trio sonatas I'd imagine), sacred oratorios (probably from Asmodean liturgy if such a thing exists), and dance suites. As far as instruments go, we're probably looking at primarily Baroque violins, violas, and cellos as well as the harpsichord and the archlute. Winds and brass are probably less common, but are nevertheless used to great effect when called for.

Let's see, as far as actual music that could be used at the table for games in Cheliax, it's a little dicey. You'd definitely want to stick with composers like Monteverdi, Banchieri, and even up to Corelli, but it'd be important to stick to pieces in minor modes to really bring out the infernalist aspects of the culture. Even though it's later than the dates given, the Venetian composer (eh, eh?) Giuseppe Tartini's Devil's Trill sonata immediately comes to mind, as do the more chromatic madrigals written by Monteverdi.

I think I'll tackle Andoran next.

[Jonathan William MacLachlan]

For Alkenstar, I've created a playlist of Bardcore & 8-Bit versions of 80's rock songs.