Boss Battle Sonata

When editing and engraving my scores, I enjoy listening to music. When not listening to classical or jazz, I gravitate toward the great repertoire of video game music. And if a deadline looms near, I choose the rich sub-genre of boss battle music.

Boss battle music in video games invokes a heightened sense of urgency, allowing the composer to incorporate fast tempos, syncopated rhythms, mixed-meter, disorienting harmonies, and extreme melodic range into the score. For example, “Battle with Ganon” by Koji Kondo from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past features the insane time signature of 23/16 (or 13/16+5/8). (I highly recommend giving that one a listen.) Some personal favorite canonical composers include Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda), Junichi Masuda (Pokémon), Gō Ichinose (Pokémon), Hirokazu Ando (Super Smash Bros.), Mahito Yokota (Super Mario Galaxy), and several others.

Additionally, the boss battle sub-genre features many common musical tropes such as fifth-heavy power chords, quasi-Alberti bass writing, and arpeggiated ostinatos. In summary, the style is unendingly fun to listen to and to write.

When presented with the opportunity to compose a piece for virtuosic duo Darren Liou (clarinet) and Austin Ho (piano), I jumped on the chance to write Boss Battle Sonata. The piece is a love letter to the video game repertoire, presented in full acoustic form featuring all the fun genre tropes and Liou and Ho’s impressive technical skill.

Difficulty: Very Hard | Duration: 6 minutes

Clarinet in B-flat

Piano