Perhaps the successor to incidental music and the film score is the video game score, which may often use pure orchestral music, not even with electronic elements. It's an interesting question whether this repertory will bleed into the traditional classical marketplace, and the large crossover albums of composer , who hails from the same Silicon Valley that produces the games, tend to answer the question in the affirmative. The opening selection of , "Il Sogno di Volare," was written for a game in the "Civilization" series designed by 's roommate at Stanford, ; it was 's wildly successful "Baba Yetu," for 's , that first put on the map. The critical point is that 's albums successfully make the transition from video game music to full-fledged collections of compositions, and perhaps goes even a step further: it is a choral-orchestral song cycle, taking the history of flight as a theme. draws on an impressive variety of texts, all sung in their original languages. "Il Sogno di Volare" is drawn from writings of on the subject of flying, and brings in , , astronaut , the Bhagavad Gita (most ominously), and more, including for the finale, 's Rice University address on the U.S. moon shot program. 's music indeed does resemble that of a film score; compared with , it may suffer a bit, but whose would not? His settings are varied and engaging, and he conducts the himself, as well as a grouping of English choirs that is well drilled in the many languages involved. 's fans will already be awaiting this release. The new factor commercially is that listeners from beyond the video game sphere may also be interested. ~ James Manheim