The Hunter
*All musical expamples linked have been set to start at the time the music I want you to listen to appears unless indicated otherwise*
Mahler Symphony №1 covers an particular intersection of my interests. Having first performed this piece in high school I have had quite a bit of time both learning it and since listening to it on several occasions. Another important thing in the life of high school Isaac (and Isaac today) is video games and video game music. In this case, the Monster Hunter series. For me, Mahler Symphony №1 is the symphony of motifs. It also happens to be the symphony of reusing music which I will get to a bit later. I think of it as a symphony of motifs due to how much importance (especially in the 1st movement) Mahler places on them to carry the material of the symphony.
From the start Mahler begins with us in a quiet, immenent, swirling sound of 7 octaves of A’s spread across the orchestra representing the sounds of nature. From this emerges all kinds of fun little ideas like the descending 4ths line, the cuckoo motif, brass fanfare, and our first major look at Mahler’s reuse of music through the theme of the 3rd song from his prior song cycle, “Song of the Wayfarer”. Mahler goes on to use these themes in various ways throughout the movement and throughout the symphony through a variety of means. This is where we can wrap back around to Monster Hunter .
A common trait of Monster Hunter’s music as well are little motifs and melodies like these that keep coming back. For example, Proof of a Hero (which you may have heard at the Tokyo Olympics last year), the main theme of Monster Hunter which appears in every game of course but also appears in the arena music of Mosnter Hunter Generations, and here to introduce the Monster Hunter Tri quest clear music, and here, and so on.
The second theme gets a bit more creative treatment generally being the main theme of Monster Hunter Tri (begins 0:20).
Similarly being utilized in various configurations as melodic material but also as a countermelody here in the Nakarkos Phase 2 Theme, and in other ways throughout the series.
I find this interesting because it’s done in a very similar way to how Mahler treats these themes from Songs of the Wayfarer in the 1st symphony, but also there are other tie ins such as in the 3rd movement ironically about the hunter’s funeral (something you will experience quite frequently if you ever give these games a shot) adapting the Frère Jacques theme Monster Hunter treats its material as if it were folk songs of the day sung in the various villages across the games. (I believe there may have been an actual adaptation of an existing song for at least one Monster Hunter song but I cannot seem to find it).
Monster Hunter also has taken inspiration from real world classical music just as Mahler has from Beethoven . I don’t think I need to explain where they got the idea for the Deviljho Theme music from.
My point being not that any of these things — using motifs, adapting folk music, referencing your own music — are unique to Mahler or Monster Hunter — but they do have just a couple similarities in how they go about it. That and the horns. Lots of horns.
