Symphony of Boreal Wind is a soundtrack from the album City of Winds and Idylls.
On December 19, 2021, this track was re-released in the Featured Original Soundtrack (2021), Genshin Impact's first OST album recorded with Dolby Atmos technology.[1]
Soundtrack Usage[]
Open-World Combat
In Wolvendom, Windwail Highland, Mondstadt:
Andrius (phase 2)
Media
Production Credits[]
| Position | Staff[2] |
|---|---|
| Composer | Yu-Peng Chen (陈致逸) |
| Conductor | Jiemin Zhang (张洁敏) |
| Orchestra | Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (上海交响乐团) |
| Recording Studio | Shanghai Concert Hall (上海音乐厅) |
| Recording Engineer | Xiaoxing Lu (陆晓幸) |
| Pro Tools Engineer | Junjie Liu (刘俊杰) |
| Mixing Engineer | Nick Wollage |
| Mastering Engineer | Yu-Peng Chen (陈致逸) |
Developer Insight[]
Of all the music, the piece for the fight with Stormterror Dvalin is one of the most memorable. Most boss fights are characterized by frenzied background music, but for this music we instead went for a theme led by emotion, one charged with the tone of Stormterror's story. Thus we created this boss battle music quite differently from the norm.
In fact, emotion serves as the overall compass for all of Genshin Impact's music. We hope that players don't just see the music as a supplement to the game, but rather as an integral part to the world, story, history, and battle. Really feel and resonate with the sounds to enjoy a deeper, more personal experience of the game. Stormterror's battle music, for example, is part fiery intensity and part gentle repose; once players understand this dragon's story, they will relate to the music's emotion and feeling of distant longing.
There are easter eggs hidden in the boss music of Stormterror Dvalin and Andrius, Dominator of Wolves. One is that the chanting includes the vocal accompaniment of Yu-Peng Chen himself — sometimes, when the producer wants to help the music reach its emotional pinnacle, they will do it themselves.
All the methods we attempted had one goal in mind: to create music that can serve as a bond between the player and Genshin Impact, allowing everyone to enjoy the game even more.
Yu-Peng Chen Interview: The Music of Genshin Impact
The first big region of Genshin Impact is Mondstadt. It's where all the adventures begin. The music design in this region is rather simple. The artistic design of Mondstadt has a lot of European elements. The city is a free and uninhibited place where chivalry is greatly advocated. As a result, I tried to make the music more free and relaxed without sacrificing the romance and eloquence of ancient Europe. Mondstadt is also a city that believes in "wind," and the wind element is the first element that the traveler can use, Therefore, I used a lot of woodwind instruments in battle music hoping to imitate the free-flowing character of the wind. I know how to play the clarinet and the Irish tin whistle, and I'm also a quite adequate piano-player. That's why I actually improvised a lot of the music in the open world.
In "Caelestinum Finale Termini," the tension of irregular string rhythm reflects the tension of the overall atmosphere of the battle, and the melody lines are also hidden within the rhythm. The main melody in the woodwind section plays out the uneasiness in the heart of Dvalin, and the humming human voice sublimates the significance of this fight. It shows that the destiny of the Traveler is to purify Dvalin.
In "Symphony of Boreal Wind," I try to learn from Beethoven's orchestration elements. The elements of breath and pauses in the melody make it sound more determined, sonorous and powerful, which fits the image of the wolf. The piano line is like the combination of the ice element and the wind element. The choir makes the wolf seem more deterrent and gives off a more poetic feeling overall. I love this song very much.
The artistic style of Liyue has Chinese Oriental fantasy elements. Therefore, in addition to using Chinese music instruments, the music of Liyue integrates Western harmony from classical music with traditional Chinese music. Occasionally, I also mix in some extended jazz chords in Liyue's music to add color to the simple melodies of Chinese pentatonic scale.
I especially like the song "Another Hopeful Tomorrow." Generally, the more simple and ingenious the music is, the more it can move the audience. I can usually compose music like this in one sitting. It sounds easy, but in fact, you need to accumulate a lot of energy to understand the course of life, and you also need to have a unique understanding of the musical language to be able to do that. For example, I often think about how melodies or motives interact, how I can make them sound more like daily speech, to make them have a more natural expression, pause, breathing, fluency or hesitation that may hide or express emotions. I will deliberately look for such beauty.
Trivia[]
- Some parts of this soundtrack bear similarities to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem in D minor, K. 626.
Other Languages[]
| Language | Official Name | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| English | Symphony of Boreal Wind | — |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 冰封交响曲 Bīngfēng Jiāoxiǎngqǔ | Frozen Symphony |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 冰封交響曲 Bīngfēng Jiāoxiǎngqǔ | |
| Japanese | 氷封のシンフォニー Hyoufuu no Shinfonii[!][!] |
References[]
- ↑ Twitter: Featured Original Soundtrack Announcement
- ↑ NetEase Cloud Music: Symphony of Boreal Wind 冰封交响曲