GRAMMY.com First Listen: The Greatest Video Game Music

The Greatest Video Game Music, an album featuring classical renditions of popular video game themes performed by the world-renowned London Philharmonic Orchestra, is set to be released Nov. 8. Ahead of its release, GRAMMY.com has your exclusive first listen of the classical orchestration of the video game theme for "Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" as well as the theme for "Battlefield 2."

The Greatest Video Game Music will offer an opportunity for millions of gaming enthusiasts to hear new classically inspired interpretations of popular video game themes such as "Angry Birds," "Call Of Duty" and "Halo 3." The album will also help introduce young players to the sounds of classical music, evidenced by a recent performance of the album by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall that captivated younger fans in attendance. Coupled with the forthcoming worldwide symphony tour in support of the 25th anniversary of "The Legend Of Zelda," The Greatest Video Game Music is helping to bring orchestral music to younger audiences the way Looney Tunes and Walt Disney cartoons did for previous generations. The New York Times recently wrote, "If Beethoven and Tchaikovsky were alive today, they would be composing music for video games."

Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the album also features classical orchestrations of the themes for "Final Fantasy," "Super Mario Bros.," and "World Of Warcraft," among others. Composers whose video game themes are featured include Joel Eriksson, Michael Hunter, Koji Kondo, Alexey Pajitnov, Ari Pulkkinen, Jeremy Soule, and four-time GRAMMY winner Hans Zimmer, among others.

The theme for "Battlefield 2" was composed by Eriksson, who has composed video game themes for "Battlefield: Bad Company 2," "Battlefield: Vietnam" and "Battlefield 2: Modern Combat," among others. Eriksson is also credited for composing music for the 2006 film 7 Millionaires.

Zimmer composed the theme to "Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." His credits include scoring music for films such as The Da Vinci Code (2006), Inception (2010), The Lion King (1994), the Pirates Of The Caribbean series, and Mission: Impossible 2, among others. He earned his first GRAMMY in 1994 for Best Musical Album For Children for composing The Lion King — Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, and his most recent GRAMMY came in 2008 for Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media for The Dark Knight.

Founded in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beechman, the London Philharmonic Orchestra is considered one of the most prestigious orchestras in the world. In 2007 the orchestra named Vladimir Jurowski its principal conductor. The orchestra has appeared on several GRAMMY-nominated recordings, including Corea.Concerto ('Spain' For Sextet & Orch.; Piano Con. No. 1), which earned a nomination in 2000 for Best Classical Crossover Album.