Critical Listening: The Last Of Us By Gustavo Santaolalla

Texas State University

School of Music

MU 3317

Critical Listening Essay: The Last of Us by Gustavo Santaolalla

London Rodriguez

Spring 2023 People—Bio & Context The recent evolution of video games and film genres have resulted in a necessity for a boom in the music industry. New age forms of writing have been discovered and developed upon. Film music has become its own genre, particularly with the inclusion of quality motifs that are declared and expanded upon. Very recently, we have seen the rise of popularity in video game music writing. Although there are a countless number of talented, passionate, and genius score composers, one that particularly caught my interest was Gustavo Santaolalla. Gustavo was born in 1951, in Argentina.

After this short stint in Los Angeles, Santaolalla returned to Argentina where he recorded his debut solo album, Santaolalla (1981). This new rock and roll-argentinian fused sound was groundbreaking for Santaolla and new genres of music to come. After his first album, he found himself consistently writing instrumental music, and particularly instrumental music with the use of ronroco. Gustavo was so well versed in the use of ronroco, that he released a solo album with solely ronroco playing, Ronroco (1998). This album became slightly popular amongst different film and television writers who desired for similar writing in their scores. The use of simplistic motives and an instrument such as ronroco was, and still is, quite unique to incorporate in western film scores. This amazing talent and passion for music writing led film writers to desire his writings on their projects, and Santaolalla suddenly found himself as a writer of television and film music. Gustavo claims (2:30) that the film work was what truly

This soundtrack became one of his more unique works, due to its emotional and developmental, yet simplistic structure. I found this entire score to be incredible and interesting, but I noticed the main theme, entitled “The Last of Us”, to be particularly stirring.

This work is the first track on the record and truly sets the tone for the emotion, mood, and feeling of the game that the player will experience. The piece is divided into two main sections: the first part being the main theme, which is played in a slow, contemplative way, and the second part being the variation, which is faster and more intense.

The main theme of "The Last of Us" is a hauntingly beautiful melody that is played on ronroco, by Santaolalla himself, and it captures the mood of the game perfectly. It is a simple and memorable melody that is often played during the game's most emotional moments, and it has become one of the most iconic moments of video game music of all time. The theme is a reflection of the game's themes of loss, hope, and the struggle for survival in a post-apocalyptic