Castlevania: The Original Game Soundtrack
Encyclopedia
contains the music
from Konami
's 1999 video game Castlevania
. It was released in Japan on March 26, 1999 at a retail price of 2,234 yen (approximately 19 United States dollar
s). The soundtrack was also released in Europe.
Tomoya Tomita was the game's sound producer and director; Masahiro Kimura, Motoaki Furukawa, and Mariko Egawa composed the music. Their score is predominantly Minimalist
and Ambient
in composition. It features a wide variety of electronic instrumentation, ranging from the period harpsichord
to contemporary beat synths
. A notable exception is the violin
solo in "Introduction", which was studio-recorded. The piece was performed by Tomokuni Katayama and is featured prominently at the game's title screen.
Although many of the songs from Castlevania are featured on this album, some background music and most of the incidental music
from the game did not make it onto the soundtrack. A few of the prominent missing songs include a variation of the boss theme "Shudder", as well as the background music that plays during scenes in which the hero converses with Renon or Charles Vincent.
Computer and video game music
Video game music is any of the musical pieces or soundtracks and background musics found in video games. It can range from a primitive synthesizer tune to an orchestral piece, usually such that the older the game, the simpler the music...
from Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
's 1999 video game Castlevania
Castlevania 64
Castlevania, known in Japan as , is an action-adventure video game developed by Konami's Kobe branch for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released on a 64-megabit cartridge in North America on January 26, 1999, in Japan on March 11, 1999, and in Europe on May 14, 1999...
. It was released in Japan on March 26, 1999 at a retail price of 2,234 yen (approximately 19 United States dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
s). The soundtrack was also released in Europe.
Tomoya Tomita was the game's sound producer and director; Masahiro Kimura, Motoaki Furukawa, and Mariko Egawa composed the music. Their score is predominantly Minimalist
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
and Ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
in composition. It features a wide variety of electronic instrumentation, ranging from the period harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
to contemporary beat synths
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
. A notable exception is the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
solo in "Introduction", which was studio-recorded. The piece was performed by Tomokuni Katayama and is featured prominently at the game's title screen.
Although many of the songs from Castlevania are featured on this album, some background music and most of the incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
from the game did not make it onto the soundtrack. A few of the prominent missing songs include a variation of the boss theme "Shudder", as well as the background music that plays during scenes in which the hero converses with Renon or Charles Vincent.
Track listing
Some of the official track titles did not include the original subtitles of the songs. In the following chart, tracks whose names differ significantly from their English counterparts have been translated in parentheses below the original title.No. | Japanese title | Official English title | Usage | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | オープニング - "血脈の印" (Opening - "Sign of Blood Relations") |
Introduction | Title screen | 1:46 |
2 | セレクト (Select) |
Setting | File select menu | 1:10 |
3 | プロローグ | Prologue | Prologue | 1:04 |
4 | 戦慄 | Shudder | Boss theme 1 | 1:06 |
5 | 侵入 | Intrusion | Level 1 event, entering Dracula's castle | 0:48 |
6 | 見張り塔 | Watchtower | Level 2, Watchtower | 1:57 |
7 | 別館 - "静かな狂気" (Annex - "Silent Madness") |
Annex - Silent Madness | Level 3, Villa | 2:48 |
8 | 村人 (Villager) |
Hamlet People | Level 3 event, talking with the vampire | 1:04 |
9 | ローゼ (Rosa) |
Rose | Level 3 event, meeting Rosa | 1:12 |
10 | 迷路庭園 | Maze Garden | Level 3, Maze | 1:36 |
11 | 秘密の棺 | Mysterious Coffin | Level 3 event, vampire encounter | 0:52 |
12 | 闘争 1 (Struggle 1) |
First Struggle | Boss theme 2 | 1:05 |
13 | 地下水路 - "深緑の罠" (Underground Waterway - "Dark Green Trap") |
Underground Waterway | Level 4 (Carrie), Underground Waterway | 2:46 |
14 | 地下坑道 - "Invisible Sorrow" (Underground Tunnel - "Invisible Sorrow") |
Underground Tunnel | Level 4 (Reinhardt), Underground Tunnel | 4:59 |
15 | ローゼの悲しみ (Rosa's Sorrow) |
Lamented Rose | Level 4 event (Reinhardt), meeting Rosa again |
0:46 |
16 | 本丸 ~ メインテーマ (Castle Center ~ Main Theme) |
Dungeon - Main Theme | Level 5, Castle Center | 2:47 |
17 | マルスの異変 (Malus' Emergency) |
Malus Reappears | Level 5 event, meeting Malus again | 1:17 |
18 | アクトリーセ | Actrise | Level 4/5 event, meeting Actrise | 0:57 |
19 | サイファ (Sypha) |
Cipher | Level 5 event (Carrie), fight with Carrie's relative |
0:48 |
20 | プラネタリウム | Planetarium | Level 5 event, breaking the seal | 0:43 |
21 | 予期せぬ出会い | Unexpected Encounter | Level 5 event, meeting Rosa and Death | 0:46 |
22 | 決闘塔 | Duel Tower | Level 6 (Reinhardt), Duel Tower | 2:18 |
23 | 科学塔 | Tower of Science | Level 6 (Carrie), Tower of Science | 2:40 |
24 | 処刑塔 | Tower of Execution | Level 7 (Reinhardt), Tower of Execution | 2:07 |
25 | 魔法塔 | Tower of Sorcery | Level 7 (Carrie), Tower of Sorcery | 2:11 |
26 | 闘争 2 - "獄幻界乱舞" (Struggle 2 - "Wild Dance in the Illusionary Prison World") |
Second Struggle | Boss theme 3 | 1:17 |
27 | 歯車 | Toothed Wheel | Level 9, Clock Tower | 2:01 |
28 | 暗雲階段 (Stairway to the Dark Clouds) |
Stairway to the Clouds | Level 10, stairway to the castle keep | 1:18 |
29 | 闘争 3 - "幻想的舞曲" (Struggle 3 - "Illusionary Dance") |
Third Struggle | Boss theme 4 | 1:36 |
30 | 短い静謐 | Moment of Silence | Level 10 event, before leaving the castle keep | 0:55 |
31 | 天守からの脱出 (Escape from the Castle Keep) |
Castle Escape | Level 10, running back to the clock tower | 0:44 |
32 | 闘争 4 - "異次元狂想曲" (Struggle 4 - "Another Dimension Rhapsody") |
Fourth Struggle - Concert of Another Dimension |
Mammoth Bull Demon and final boss theme | 1:38 |
33 | 青い墓標 - キャリーGoodEnding (Pale Grave - Carrie GoodEnding) |
Carrie's Good Ending | Good ending (Carrie) |
1:51 |
34 | 誓いとその影 - BadEnding (Shadow Oath - Carrie BadEnding) |
Bad Ending | Bad ending | 1:51 |
35 | 再会 - シュナイダーGoodEnding (Reunion - Schneider GoodEnding) |
Schneider's Good Ending | Good ending (Reinhardt) |
2:45 |
36 | スタッフロール (Staff Roll) |
Credits | Credits | 4:20 |
37 | Melodies of CastleVania | Castlevanian Melodies | Remix of track 16 | 3:38 |
38 | Invisible Sorrow | Invisible Sorrow | Remix of track 14 | 4:52 |
39 | A night in peace and quiet | A Night of Peace and Quiet | Remix of track 33 | 2:43 |