Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack by Andrew Schartmann [Book Review]

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koji kondo's super mario soundtrack

The theme song to Level 1-1 in Super Mario Brothers for the Nintendo Family Computer, known as the Nintendo Entertainment System or the NES in the West may be the most widely-known piece of music by a Japanese composer. Humming the first few notes will be enough for many listeners under the age of forty to know what is being referenced.

Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack is the latest entry in the 33 1/3 series of short books from Bloomsbury in which authors examine a classic album in depth. As in other books in the series, Andrew Schartmann explores the historical context behindthe Mario soundtrack, as well as examining every song in depth, digging deep into the musical tools and phrases used by the composer.

This is an except from a review of Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack by Andrew Schartmann, originally published in the Asian Review of Books on August 30th, 2015. The full review can be accessed here.