Baroque music in video games
 

Over the years I've noticed that I love video game tunes with baroque influences - or at least what I think of as baroque. The thing is, I have no idea if these are really baroque pieces or if there are some other classical influences here (or it's something else altogether). My knowledge of music history and theory is a bit lacking. I'd love to be able to define why I like these songs (and eventually attempt my own in this style).

Basically what I'm asking is this:

1) Would these be considered baroque?
2) If so, what makes them baroque?

Here are the tracks which prompted this thread:

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

(this one's a bit different, maybe not baroque at all)

Also random Castlevania tunes composed by Yamane

The chord progressions in Huge Game Table and Baroque Virus in particular give me the same kind of feeling. I wish I had more examples; I used to have a playlist with a bunch of these but lost it awhile back.

If anyone else has examples of similar songs found in video games, I'd love to hear them.

I only mean to be a bit of an asshole, but the only track on here you pointed out as not being baroque is the only one with baroque influence at all, considering it's based on one of the famous movements of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

This thread should be moved to Concert Hall.

No (later) Castlevania, okay? Since Yamane often inserts her improvising organ baroque phrase everywhere in her works, so there are a bit too many pieces from her to mention (some tracks such as "Wood Carving Partita" are also too popular).

I think Sakuraba is another frequent writer of Baroque in VGM. Too many to list.

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

Please stop calling it baroque. The use of counterpoint does not make something baroque. Harpsichords do not make something baroque. Nothing written since the baroque period can be baroque. Some of these are barely even baroque influenced.

Not everybody here is with a degree in music, so please forgive a looser terming of Baroque than in academy. I even can't call something Baroque-y, without harpsichord or church organ, but as long as any of them interests Drakken, mentioning it has a merit, and that should be the point of this thread. I don't say my selections were particularly good though.

Technically it's right, but rightness doesn't necessarily make a good post.

Progressive rock is heavily influenced by baroque composing styles (in contrast to later composing styles which more and more put the focus on arrangement and performance instead). Progressive rock itself had a strong influence on early Japanese VGM, and the baroque approach to composing suited the limitations of synthesizers used in game systems very well.

I always enjoyed this BAROQUE piece from Mario RPG:

YouTube Video

One of the tracks from LittleBigPlanet 2 had a strong baroque influence. It was "Victoria's Lab", which is described as "Victoria's Aria et Fugato" in the music video on YouTube. A Fugato is a musical passage of imitative counterpoint, like a small fugue within a larger work. The fugue rose to the height of its sophistication in the baroque period.

The counterpoint in the "Victoria's Lab" track is carried by voices, and has similarities to the "Columns - Clotho (Sega Genesis)" track that you posted at the top of the thread. You can watch the Victoria's Lab music video on YouTube by searching "Victoria's Lab". It's the top result under that search.