The theme to Morrowind is one of my favorites. It starts quietly, with a melody from the woodwinds, being lightly accompanied by brass, strings, and percussion. It's almost a mysterious and intriguing sound that invites the listener. Then the strings take over the melody, and then the entire orchestra does. The way the song starts so quietly and just swells to such magnificent heights instills images of awe and majesty, perfectly accompanying Morrowind's beautiful, yet alien landscapes. And then the song quickly winds down into nothingness, returning to that original feeling of mystery and intrigue. Every time I hear this piece, I instantly remember all the sweepingly beautiful and memorable landscapes that characterized Vvanderfell. It's a perfect theme to one of the best experiences you can have with gaming.
It's a crying fucking shame Bethesda decided to fucking gut the melody for Skyrim. They totally removed all the majesty, awe, and intrigue that permeated the original piece, and replaced it with "epicness". It's reprehensible.
***
The Demons Souls music is amazing as well, but it doesn't work very well by itself. This is hardly a bad thing, however. The greatness of the DS music is that each song is seemingly crafted around the boss and not as stand alone pieces, thus each song fits the encounter tighter than a glove (as music only plays in DS when you fight bosses). It sets an amazing mode. That's why I don't feel it works without the game... it's because the reason the music works is because it complements perfectly the game and the boss you are fighting. Whenever I hear the individual songs, it's impossible for me not to imagine fighting each of the bosses they represent. This is the biggest reason why I feel DS is such an amazing, perfectly crafted game-- every single element works perfectly in harmony, and removing one element would make the entire thing collapse on itself, and the music is no exception. It's just sublime.
