Let's recall the Heroes 4 adventure map themes, as named in the OST.
- 08 Valhalla (volcanic)
- 09 The Prayer (swamp)
- 10 A Wise Tail (snow)
- 11 Wandering
- 12 Hope (dirt)
- 13 Floating Across Water (water)
- 14 Searching For A Dream (sand)
- 15 Desolation (rough)
- 16 The Mountain Song
- 17 Subterranean (subterranean)
** "The Mountaing Song" appears in-game as part of grass.mp3, which is most of the terrain tracks linked together.
"Valhalla" is probably an original composition.
"Subterranean" consists largely of a stock "menacing" sequence on loop.
For the remaining tracks, we've known for a while that they were derived (modified, with passages, instruments and effects added) from Irish folk music in the "Complete Celt" sample library, produced by "many of the same musicians" from the world-famous Riverdance performance.
As a side note, these are the songs' titles in Complete Celt:
- The Prayer - Celtic Death Ballad
- A Wise Tail - High Combe
- Wandering - Mountains of Mourn
- Hope - Across The Sea
- Floating Across Water - Bayside Waltz
- Searching For A Dream - Fallow Ground
- Desolation - Black Mountain Day
- The Mountain Song - Wicklow
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Now, I want to talk about a funny thing that happened when I was listening to the OST today. Having not played H4 in a while, I tried to guess how the tracks map to terrain types by their content alone, without looking at any references. My results look like this:
- 08 Valhalla (volcanic)
- 09 The Prayer (dirt)
- 10 A Wise Tail (swamp)
- 11 Wandering (grass)
- 12 Hope (snow)
- 13 Floating Across Water (water)
- 14 Searching For A Dream (sand)
- 15 Desolation (rough)
What's interesting is, since the songs were not created for Heroes, mapping them onto the Heroes gameplay is an act of re-interpretation and re-purposing beyond their original intentions. As long as you think like a responsible sound designer who takes into account the game's needs, your opinion can be just as valid as Rob King's.
"Wandering", the most "ambient" and uneventful track with a forlorn mood, would fit the Heroes tradition of grass themes.
"Floating Across Water", "Searching For A Dream" and "Desolation" are good for their roles. The first is the iconic Riverdance song of flowing water; the second belongs in the Heroes tradition of depicting deserts with "exotic" chords and instruments; the third song has been skillfully tweaked by Mr. King to amplify the sense of difficult traverse through a rugged wasteland.
However, I differ with King on the choices for the remaining three themes:
"Hope" was the sweetest and calmest song in Complete Celt, made even quieter by King. The song should have been perfect for conveying the tranquility of a snow-covered landscape.
"A Wise Tail" is pervaded by a meandering melody and tings of mandolin strings. I can see the intention to fit it into a snow theme, but feel it more reminescent of the traditional Heroes motif of swamp filled with chirping insects.
"The Prayer", with its melodic and structural variations, is more evocative of a bumpy but swift trek than an arduous slow trawl through swamp, and can work as the dirt theme.
In my personal opinion, this arrangement might bring the background music a little closer to the terrain types the player is experiencing. Fellow long-time players, what do you think?
