compelled to write a theme for Ezio, which
became ‘Ezio’s Family’.
What can you tell us about what went into
creating that iconic music?
That theme started with the track ‘Earth’,
that I wrote for the project while I was going
through some intense personal family trauma.
I shared it with the Assassin’s Creed team
and they started calling it Ezio’s track. They
really loved it. After that the team really set
me loose and encouraged me to create a
score with a lot of depth and emotion. It was
perhaps a bit unusual at the time to have
such a vulnerable theme for a blockbuster
title, instead of a Hollywood fanfare. After
writing ‘Earth’, the score style became clear
to me and I felt there was an opportunity
to write an action cue based on this theme
and a more orchestral arrangement of
‘Earth’, so I wrote ‘Ezio’s Family’ and ‘Venice
Rooftops’. Those three tracks really are a
kind of trilogy of tracks for me, written from
the same perspective with different musicalapproaches and purposes in mind. We then
recorded ‘Ezio’s Family’ with a live orchestra
at Capitol Studios in Hollywood and Melissa
Kaplan was the featured solo vocalist.Howdoesit youfeeltohaveyourwork
performedin bigconcertsbytheworld’s
toporchestras?
It’s great! Especially to hear music that’s full
of electronics and then to hear an orchestra’s
interpretation of that is really cool. It’s great
to meet gamers at these events and to see
all the cosplay and love for these franchises.
It’s very special to be among an audience who
loves the game and music, there is so much
passionattheseevents.nborderlands 3 is out 13 September.Jesper’s
assassin’screedSymphonyworldwide
orchestratourbeginsinJuneandtakesin
london’seventimapolloon 5 octoberand
la’s Dolbytheatre on 10 november.AssAssin’s
Creed 22009
Jesperprovidedezio’s
storywitha movingand
epicsoundtrack.‘ezio’s
family’hashauntingchoral
work,whiletherhythmic
‘earth’isezio’s theme and
fits his character like an
embroidered leather hood.stAteOfdeCAy 2 2018
this dynamic soundtrack
fromJesperreallyhelpsyou
feelimmersedin thegame.
the central, uplifting theme
is ofhope,buthealsotakes
youona journeythrougha
decayingruralamerica and
scares you in the tenser,
bitier moments.hitmAn 2:silent
AssAssin 2002
Jesperhassoundtrackeda
numberofhitmangames.
thisone,ontheogxbox,
is grand pomp, utilising an
entire orchestra for some
hugely cinematic moments,
with swelling strings and
bombastic percussion.MAGIC
MOMENTSTHE BIG INTERVIEW
Jesper’s inspired use of electronica for Hitman Contracts bagged him a videogame BAFTA in 2005LEFT Jesper says
the soundtrack
for Darksiders 2
was written with
concept art and
the background
storyin mind.
BELOWLEFT
Although Jesper
feels more
pressure scoring
sequels, they
enable him to go
deeper on his
previouswork.
BELOWRIGHT The
State Of Decay 2
soundtrack
features both
hope-inspiring
tunes and
tension-ramping
mood pieces.
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