User:Noian/Epic Music

Epic Song is a cross-genre categorization of music inspired by the literary epic. Historically the term has referred to "lengthy narrative songs, generally from an oral tradition, involving specialist bards". Epic Music as a genre can be traced back to the 13th century Chanson de geste  and focuses on music with a narrative aspect and a theme of grandeur and heroism. It is no longer is limited to oral tradition, bards, or long songs. Popular use of the term Epic Music to describe the genre did not start to appear until the 1970s, and the genre saw incredible growth in between 2000-2014. Epic Music as a category or genre features common lyrical components that evoke an emotional and narrative theme. Epic Music draws from a broad range of influences and can be applied to Classical, Rock, Celtic, and many other genres.

Comparison with Other Genres
"Thomas Bergersen - [a composer known for music used in movies]-...didn’t write “Final Frontier”...to be used in a film trailer, but simply as one track on his own album, Sun, which he insists was not created to be shopped for trailers. “My focus has always been on creating good music...whether the music works in a movie, a trailer, a video game, in someone’s home video, or on someone’s headphones in the gym, it really doesn’t matter to me.”"

The Epic Music genre often includes other genres, such as Classical, Rock , and IDM. Epic Music is also often used in Film Scores , Trailer Music , and Video Games. Between 2000-2014, many Trailer Music was of the Epic Music genre due to its popularity. As a result, many composers of Epic Music have often been mistaken as artists in these mediums rather than the Epic Music genre. Due to the hybrid nature of pieces, some pieces may also be mistaken for other genres. For composers of the Epic Music genre, being mistaken as composers of Trailer Music or Film Scores is incorrect as the pieces were not originally composed with those mediums in mind. Many songs outside those mediums exist which qualify as Epic Music. Examples include older songs, such as the 13th century Dies Irae, 1939 Symphony No. 7, 1916 Fountains of Rome. Similarly, many film scores or trailer music use music which does not qualify as epic. Since 2014, Trailer Music has moved away from the Epic Music genre. Many artists of the genre now explicitly listed their genre as epic on their profiles, such as Yoav Goren and Future World Music.

History
TODO Reference PhD paper on this topic which goes over history TODO Reference News Article about history of Epic Music: https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/all-about-library-music-part-7

Epic Song (Historical)
The term Epic comes from the literary epic, but is instead applied toward music that evokes a similar sense of emotion or feeling.

As a classification, Epic Songs or Music is a subset of Narrative Songs by the United States Library of Congress in classifying music.

Epic Songs and Modern Epic music has an impact on society

Source on historical epic musics

Compared to historical Epic Songs, modern day Epic Music has evolved since it's original form, with many new sub-genres (or hybrids with other genres) in the modern times. In addition, Epic Music is relatively new term used by composers and listeners alike. Collections in the genre include songs predating the popularization of the term or from artists of other genres considered by fans and labels to qualify under the genre.

NEED TO PARAPHRASE BELOW FROM SOURCE "Finally, we should not forget that ‘epic music’ has lots of fans in its own right, who generate about 15 percent of our revenue through YouTube, Spotify, Apple and other sources."

"However, ‘epic music’ is a specific style, involving big percussion, orchestras, choirs and much gravitas. Carl Orff’s 1935 ‘O Fortuna’ from Carmina Burana, well known as the theme from The Omen and in the UK as the music from ’70s Old Spice adverts, is a good early example of the epic style now common in fantasy games and films. There was a time, from roughly 2000 to 2014, when a lot of trailer music was also epic music. In that now-passed golden age, composers of trailer music became beloved of fans on forums and YouTube channels. However, the two strands branched apart in an epic schism from 2014, as trailer music became much more about sound design and then hit songs, leaving ‘epic music’ weakened without the big trailer dollars being pumped into productions. Whereas Bergersen’s Two Steps From Hell took the fan-friendly ‘epic music’ branch in the great trailer/epic split, the other trailer library companies largely followed the more dependable trailer route of making whatever the Hollywood studios wanted, even if it was walls of booms and noise under whispery cover versions."

Common Features
"Whether it’s joyous escapism, political anger or a personal spiritual quest that provides fuel for a great album is not of importance. What matters, as Coltrane said, is wanting “to speak to a listener’s soul”."

TODO: Go over the paper and present findings from the paper.

Orchestral
TODO From the discover source, include comments from artists themselves, fix missing ref The use of orchestral instruments in other genres is an commonly used tactic in music evoke the emotional feel of an epic. As a result, genres such as jazz, rock, and even EDM have incorporated orchestras.

List of Composers and Groups
The following is an incomplete list of composers and groups.

Primary Attribution

The following artists or groups have released music explicitly with the Epic Music genre/term listed.
 * Steve Barden
 * Two Steps From Hell (Nick Phoenix, Thomas Bergersen)
 * Glory Oath & Blood (Robert Leslie Bennett, Warner/Chappell_Music)
 * Audiomachine (Carol Sovinski, Paul Dinletir)
 * Blizzard Entertainment (Jaroslav Beck, Jason Hayes)
 * Epic Music VN (Dang Tuan Phong)
 * Agus González-Lancharro
 * Gothic Storm Music (Dan Graham)
 * Colossal Trailer Music (Mikkel Heimbürger)
 * Ivan Torrent (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
 * Immediate Music/Globus (music)/BMG Production Music (Aleksandar Dimitrijevic, Yoav Goren) TODO add citation for Aleksander, add other artists under the brand
 * Jaap Visser (Raven Music Group, Revolt Production Music, Blizzard Entertainment)
 * Future World Music (Armen Hambar, Aram Mandossian, Vlado Hudec)
 * John Dreamer
 * Jennifer Thomas

Secondary Attribution

The following artists have released music which is considered to be a part of the Epic Music genre, but who's authors consider the piece to be of a different genre or who's primary genre is another.
 * John Williams
 * Hans Zimmer
 * James Horner
 * Dmitri Shostakovich
 * John Powell
 * Steve Jablonsky
 * Ramin Djawadi
 * E. S. Posthumus (Franz Vonlichten, Helmut Vonlichten)
 * Jo Blankenburg