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Baba Yetu
"Baba Yetu" (Swahili: "Our Father") is the main theme song for the 2005 video game Civilization IV. It was composed by Christopher Tin and performed by Ron Ragin and the Stanford Talisman. For its re-release in Tin's debut album Calling All Dawns, it was performed by the Soweto Gospel Choir. The song, when re-released, became the first piece of video game music to be nominated for and to win a Grammy Award.
Being a fan of the Civilization series, Tin reconnected with his former roommate Soren Johnson during his five-year college reunion at Stanford University; both had been part of an overseas program during their studies at Oxford University, with Johnson studying history and Tin studying music. Johnson told Tin at the reunion he had been working on Civilization III, and Tin expressed his love of the series to him. Some months after the reunion, Johnson contacted Tin and told him they were looking for music for the introduction for their new game Civilization IV, and wanted him to help.
Johnson said that in the creation of the song, they were inspired by the performances of the Stanford Talisman, an a cappella group at Stanford that specializes in traditional African music, and wanted Tin to compose something similar for the theme. Tin took about a month to compose the track before recording it with Talisman for the game.
Christopher Tin later said in an interview that he was inspired by the visuals Firaxis gave him. He said that his inspiration came from the main menu screen of Civilization IV, which showed a video loop of the earth as seen from outer space. It was a shot of North Africa and showed the sun rising over the horizon of Earth every half a minute. Tin said that, "It was beautiful and serene, and almost instantaneously the opening notes of the piece started playing in my head."
The lyrics of "Baba Yetu" (which means "Our Father" in Swahili) are a translation of the Lord's Prayer.
In 2007, "Baba Yetu" was released by Alfred Music Publishing, and it was rearranged by Tin for an SATB a cappella choir with optional percussion accompaniment in 2011. Other arrangements include SSATBB choir, TTBB choir, piano quintet, concert band, string orchestra, and piano/voice.
"Baba Yetu" garnered much critical praise, with over 20 reviewers singling out the theme on game review websites such as IGN and GameSpy.
"Baba Yetu" was nominated for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals category, and on February 13, 2011, it was announced as the winner of its category, making it the first piece of music composed for a video game to be nominated for and to win a Grammy Award. At the 10th annual Independent Music Awards, "Baba Yetu" was the winner in the 'Song Used in Film/TV/Multimedia' and 'World Beat Song' categories.
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Baba Yetu
"Baba Yetu" (Swahili: "Our Father") is the main theme song for the 2005 video game Civilization IV. It was composed by Christopher Tin and performed by Ron Ragin and the Stanford Talisman. For its re-release in Tin's debut album Calling All Dawns, it was performed by the Soweto Gospel Choir. The song, when re-released, became the first piece of video game music to be nominated for and to win a Grammy Award.
Being a fan of the Civilization series, Tin reconnected with his former roommate Soren Johnson during his five-year college reunion at Stanford University; both had been part of an overseas program during their studies at Oxford University, with Johnson studying history and Tin studying music. Johnson told Tin at the reunion he had been working on Civilization III, and Tin expressed his love of the series to him. Some months after the reunion, Johnson contacted Tin and told him they were looking for music for the introduction for their new game Civilization IV, and wanted him to help.
Johnson said that in the creation of the song, they were inspired by the performances of the Stanford Talisman, an a cappella group at Stanford that specializes in traditional African music, and wanted Tin to compose something similar for the theme. Tin took about a month to compose the track before recording it with Talisman for the game.
Christopher Tin later said in an interview that he was inspired by the visuals Firaxis gave him. He said that his inspiration came from the main menu screen of Civilization IV, which showed a video loop of the earth as seen from outer space. It was a shot of North Africa and showed the sun rising over the horizon of Earth every half a minute. Tin said that, "It was beautiful and serene, and almost instantaneously the opening notes of the piece started playing in my head."
The lyrics of "Baba Yetu" (which means "Our Father" in Swahili) are a translation of the Lord's Prayer.
In 2007, "Baba Yetu" was released by Alfred Music Publishing, and it was rearranged by Tin for an SATB a cappella choir with optional percussion accompaniment in 2011. Other arrangements include SSATBB choir, TTBB choir, piano quintet, concert band, string orchestra, and piano/voice.
"Baba Yetu" garnered much critical praise, with over 20 reviewers singling out the theme on game review websites such as IGN and GameSpy.
"Baba Yetu" was nominated for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals category, and on February 13, 2011, it was announced as the winner of its category, making it the first piece of music composed for a video game to be nominated for and to win a Grammy Award. At the 10th annual Independent Music Awards, "Baba Yetu" was the winner in the 'Song Used in Film/TV/Multimedia' and 'World Beat Song' categories.