Inside The Score - Banjo-Kazooie - Final Battle

Over the top

Look how far the Teddy Bears’ Picnic has come; from quirky children’s song to becoming the cornerstone of a multi-part bombastic orchestral suite for the mighty final boss of a game. And there is no question that Gruntilda is indeed a formidable opponent, stationed and ready to fight at the top of her tower like many other villains who are fond of the adrenaline rush produced by heights. This witch is not in need of any fancy transformations or making herself giant, it is just her and her broom toe to toe against the adversaries she delighted in psychologically torturing throughout the game. This is a villain with very good aim, a villain who could even erase your save file if you misbehaved, so caution is advised.

The music reflects hits and spells thrown from side to side and Grant Kirkhope also throws himself completely at it, going over the top and making the track as epic and dramatic as humanly possible on a N64 soundfont; no attempt is made at humour or oddball writing. This is unapologetically serious and powerful through and through, with the might and grandeur of romantic scoring, something that Grant considers characterizes most of his boss battle themes. A he points out, since this was the proper first boss theme people would hear from him, he pretty much throw everything he’s got at it, giving Grunty a sense of danger way beyond her usual playfulness. The game took as seriously its final boss battle as Super Mario 64. Percussionist had never had to work this hard before.

Like other epic sounding tracks from the scores of the composer its origins reside in the work and tone of the previous scrapped material known as Project Dream, a pirate themed fantasy adventure that would have allowed for more majestic soundtrack composing than the more cartoon based mascot platformer that we ended up with. Even so, some of its influences managed to pour through to Banjo-Kazooie, specially after the musical direction pretty much changed mid-game, giving the bear and the bird a very particular zany style. A bulk of the ‘Final Battle’ cue is directly taken from a boss theme that was already composed for Project Dream; it would seem that, having the track laying around, Grant decided to use its tone and parts of it for Gruntilda, and then what remained was connecting it with Banjo-Kazooie exclusive motifs. In this case, we have of course Gruntilda’s motif; Mad Monster Mansion harmonic progression, a.k.a the track that gave most of the identity to the score; the nautical, heroic part of Rusty Bucket Bay and the main theme of the series. It was just a matter of connecting all these parts and then add some blows back and forth in musical form to wind it all.

Most elements from the Final Battle cue are already present in this boss music made for Project Dream, just rearrange some Banjo exclusive tunes to create an even more exciting frankenstein

The heavy and dramatic brass-based romantic sound in Rareware games first appeared on the soundtrack for the game Donkey Kong Country 2, with composer David Wise feeling the darker tone of the project when compared to the first would benefit from the potent and mighty sounds of Russian composers such as Sergei Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, specially in matters related to the villainous Kremlings. Since Project Dream continued the pirate theme and originally had David Wise on board alongside Grant Kirkhope perhaps this stylistic choice was carried to it and might have encouraged some thematic overlap with dramatic and powerful moments in the Banjo series.

A few tracks from DIddy Kong’s Quest carry with them part of the DNA of the Kirkhopian dark style, specially those related to the dark atmosphere inhabited by the pirate Kremlings. Recreating this soundtrack for the Game Boy was also the very first assignment of Grant at the company.

(For the full Banjo-Kazooie experience those tracks should be played at 1.25x playback speed)

These dramatic and awe-inspiring qualities of the Soviets’ music make it a suitable choice for portraying the grandeur and danger associated with either pirates or boss battles. After all, the powerful and often bombastic nature of Russian music like Prokofiev’s works lends itself exceptionally well to build atmosphere and heighten experiences with its inherent theatricality and grandeur, allowed by the implementation of the brand new, expanded spectrum of romantic orchestras and modality centering on minor profiles. Pieces such as Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights or Musorgsky’s coronation scene from his opera Boris Godunov convey part of the style. Banjo-Kazooie just takes it up a notch with insanely fast tempos which would prove very difficult to play for real life orchestras.

Pure Russian bombast

This was pretty much already boss battle music

Same for the ultra fast string arpeggios combined with slow, heavy brass and enhancing percussion:

OK maybe it can be played by a Soviet orchestra

It also doesn’t hurt that with the trumpet being his main instrument Grant Kirkhope certainly knows his way around exciting brass sections.

Musical Analysis

Structure: Section 0 / Section 1 / Section 2 / Section 3 / Section 4 / Section 5 / Section 6 / Section 7 / Section 8 / Section 9 / Section 10 / Section 11

Tempo: 180

Melodic and Harmonic Profiles: C Harmonic minor; C Aeolian/Minor; C Dorian; Eb Harmonic minor; F Aeolian/Minor; Ab Harmonic minor; Bb Aeolian/Minor; Eb Aeolian/Minor; A Ionian/Major; B Ionian/Major; E Aeolian/Minor; F Octatonic; C Altered Dorian; Ab Ionian/Major; F Ionian/Major; D Harmonic minor; D Aeolian/Minor; Db Harmonic minor

The final battle from Banjo-Kazooie is kickstarted with the very last version of the Grunty’s Theme, a tune which has accompanied us throughout the game in multiple arrangements. This time it is sounding weightier and tenser; It is the only rearrangement that incorporates the cascading on top of each other motif pre-intro of the standard Lair theme (the other rearrangements begin from the accompaniment establishing intro that loops). This is the Gruntilda’s Lair section, played fast and with string arpeggio accompaniment that betray the metal influences of Grant Kirkhope, also an accomplished guitar player himself, due to the chords being sounded closer to a guitar technique known as sweep picking than something a violinist could achieve easily. On a guitar the technique is realized by playing single notes on consecutive strings with a ‘sweeping’ motion of the pick, using the fretting hand to produce arpeggiated chords that are fast and fluid in sound. It sounds epic, appropriate for a fight on top of a castle or a ship traversing in the middle of a storm; it is a two-octave sweep that plays most of the chords in root position—the Bb as a transition chord and G are the only ones inverted. It also includes the more majestic coda Gsus4 to G which is absent in the original versions. This is Paganini levels of violin playing and contributes to the chaos of th moment.

Instead of the accompaniment establishing intro of the Gruntilda’s Lair theme, here we get a snippet of the Mad Monster Mansion harmony as heard on the prologue when Grunty shows up to kidnap Tooty; it is a small and quick foreshadowing of the later full blown Mad Monster Mansion section, just a quick tease of the i to bVi harmony. The low end is played in monolithic fifths as it is standard to ground the harmony.

After passing the Gruntilda melody through three different instruments that we are used to from the cartoon orchestra, next in line is the Rusty Bucket Bay section, based on the C section of that theme due to its use of the Andalusian progression and Shantey like Dorian profile produced by the F chord, which give a sense of high stakes and heroic end of times. The percussion gets heavier and more unrelenting. In contrast with the original Rusty Bucket Bay melody, this has a coda more appropriate for the situation, the piece reiterating the Gsus4 to G cadence which is more majestic than just going to the G point blank; this cadence is used throughout the cue even for sections whose original source did not include that suspended version of G.

Then we get the payoff of the foreshadowing of both the prologue and the intro of the piece by letting the full progression of Mad Monster Mansion play out, the brass section getting progressively higher by stacking octaves on top of each other for each iteration of the progression which is repeated three complete times before allowing itself to go to the coda.

Banjo and Kazooie are in a predicament so it is no wonder that their main theme is featured distorted and frantic, in a minor key due to the bleakness of the situation. The C harmony is changed to a C minor and the G of the banjo melody is flattened, the harmony diabolically going from Cm to Ab7. This is the moment when the piece starts to toy with the idea of opposite hits, as if each fighter is allowed to throw a punch back and forth. First the banjo sound, then an immediate interjection of Grunty, represented by the rapid reiteration of the Mad Monster progression, the key changing to match the higher stakes and create the sense of exponential nervousness; it is a leap of one and a half step, first from Cm to Ebm, then from Ebm to Fm when it is the turn of Banjo and Kazooie to hit back—or more likely, their small opportunity to run away from Gruntilda—since this call and response might have been inspired by the Chase cue from Project Dream, which also contrasted two themes, one for the good guys and one for the bad guys, played against each other. Lastly we get from Fm to Abm before transitioning into the calm before the storm section.

This new section is the one entirely taken from the ‘Boss’ cue found in Project Dream. It is a small breath of fresh air after the bombast and frenetic tension we have been subjugated to. Because if you want an impact sometimes first going quiet is the most effective strategy, allowing for a crescendo towards the final clash of powers. The octaves are played by the low strings implying the descending harmony: C – Bbm – Ab -F#, then the same but based around Ebm. It reaches the climax as if Gruntilda was just charging a magic spell and just threw it at you, the tempo matches the speed of some of her in-game attacks, working specially well for the flying segment of this multi part boss fight. During this section, the idea of left to right hits becomes more prevalent, the orchestra accentuating each hit with percussion. The harmony is based around the I to bVI chord movement, which is made with economical voice leading. It also changes keys, first based around the pair A – F and then a whole step up, B – G. Chaos and persecution ensues.

Things are not looking good for the heroes as the subsequent section devolves into a fast flurry of descending patterns that are a signal for trouble. This is now new material written exclusively for this battle. The marimba fulfilling the role of a player trying desperately to run away and the brass personifying the witch throwing spells that hit at certain intervals. The descending scales are based around E minor profiles, then an ascending major chord (Bb) thrown at the end for those small moments of courage. After that we get the most dissonant crescendo, as if Gruntilda’s powers are getting more and more overwhelming. Diminished chords that progressively get higher are sustained alongside dissonant fast descending scales played by the strings. The scales and percussion begin by emphasizing each measure and then double this emphasis as the anticipation reaches a climax. The progression could be F dim – Ab dim – B dim or could be though of as just a long unnerving Fdim7.

After the bear and the bird survive that attack there is another deflating section full of malice and danger in the air. This evilness is transmitted through a modified version of the minor scale (one with a flat third and sharp fourth on the first tetrachord) on the head with a minor tetrachord on the tail; it allows for the use of Cm alongside D. Adding the notes of the clarinet, which has the more melodic role alongside the low strings during this mostly harmony based part, the progression would take the form of something like

Cm – D – Eb6 – D7

Cm -D – Cm – D

A similar progression and idea to the Song of Storms from the Zelda series.

The player is back to the fold and another series of back and forth signaled by the changing of chords, frenetic key changes and percussion follows. The Banjo-Kazooie tritone is in full form here due to the rapid change first between Ab to D and then F to B. After the flute recharges the energy, during the very last clash, Gruntilda, the bear and the bird are now exhausted, so the blows become slower and heavier, Still, the idea of hits from side to side remains.This time we only have Cm against Ab, meaning the piece is ready to go back to the beginning of the loop in C minor; the Ab now being major points to a ray of hope for the player that this battle might end. But no, neither Grant nor Gruntilda can let it go, adding an additional exciting section reprising the Gruntilda’s Lair part, this time transposed a whole step up to D minor before abruptly returning to C minor by way of a coda that moves the last dominant chord stepwise in chromatic steps towards the G.

The final Battle both musically and conceptually is full of pyrotechnics and unrelenting driving force, elements that generate excitement and a sense of forward momentum, Grant Kirkhope is not shying away from putting his frenetic cinematic scoring prowess to the test and giving a track unlike any other in the soundtrack yet still retaining its motifs and instrumentation. This was a clash between two forces. However, it is the intervention of a third mythical power the one who will decide the outcome.

As a fun fact and showing he means business with the metal influences of this track, Grant participated in a rearrangement of this final battle cue shredding in an electric guitar, which was a present from Eddie Van Halen himself, and filmed at his house for the Youtube channel FamilyJules:

Grant’s Lair. Told you the track was meant for a back and forth