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Hello, the forums.
I wasn't entirely sure whether to post this in the Brood War or SCII forum, since it appears in both games. I've loved the Brood War Aria in the opening cinematic of the SC expansion since release. I'm sure everyone here remembers the line,
"Take us into orbit, Mr. Malmsteen." As a musician, a student of Latin, and a SC fanboy, my interest in the song is threefold. Its reappearance in the SCII soundtrack('I, Mengsk' 1:41-3:33) has renewed my curiosity.
I've found that the song is a collaboration between Blizzard composers Glenn Stafford and Jason Hayes; maestro Stafford having written the Latin aria, and maestro Hayes, the French choir.
Hayes has graciously posted the French lyrics and translation on his message board, and a quick google search for the lyrics will turn up his lyrics, along with a clearly incorrect Latin translation.
As it turns out, a well-intentioned user on Jason Hayes' forum made an admittedly poor attempt at the transcription of the Latin, since Mr. Stafford doesn't seem to have any contact info online. But since no one else involved was familiar with Latin, and the attempt appeared next to Hayes' lyrics, they've been circulated as correct since.
Is anyone more versed in Latin able to decipher the lyrics? Is there perhaps an accurate copy floating around? Is anyone aware of a medium of contacting Glenn Stafford?
I'm hesitant to intrude upon the composer, but I've pretty much exhausted my options.
You can easily hear "Morituri te salutant" in the first and third lines. Even the second to last line is "Requiescat in pace," but those two are so iconic that you hardly need to know Latin to pick them out. I'm fairly sure the second line ends in the word "sodalis", or "companion", and the last line may or may not be "Memor mori" but the rest is indistinguishable.
I'd really appreciate any help with the Latin. If a correct set turns up, I'd be happy to help circulate it among the right community sites—I've registered on at least half a dozen lyricism/Starcraft-related sites and message boards just for the purposes of this song.
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that cutscene was so brutal
the marine runs out of ammo ( : O ) and then gets bailed out by a mystery unit with rockets and then he's like WHERE'S THE AIR SUPPORT and then the air support leaves and he's fucked nooooooooooooooooooooooo
poor marine ;_;
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It's a great theme, and it adds a lot to the cinematic. Unfortunately, Blizzard only accepts messages if you're having trouble paying them, playing their games, or want to report abuse. In that order.
The support email is defunct, and directed me via a canned do-not-reply message to the support tickets. The GM that answered my support ticket directed me to the WoW forum, which makes me wonder whether he read it to begin with, and my thread in the SC2 forum was almost instantly buried by a slough of imba complaints. Seems like there's no viable way to get a message in front of the developers.
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Dude I seriously tried looking for the same thing a few months ago. That song is like one of my favorite all time video game songs.
From what I gathered, The song is in half French and half Latin. The unfortunate part is, in most other Blizzard songs by the same artist, the Latin parts are almost never intelligible, and instead are just random Latin words said to sound ominous and epic
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OminousLatinChanting
That may or may not be the case for this particular song, but I don't think anyone has ever put in the effort to find out.
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Well, at least parts of it are intelligible, since they're recognizably iconic Latin phrases. You may be right about the rest, which would be disappointing next to Hayes' ironic French lyrics, but what really aggravates me is that Glenn Stafford is so unreachable, along with the rest of the dev staff.
The Aria has appeared in both Starcraft games now, so he should easily be able to answer one way or another, but I'm not having trouble giving Blizz money, my copy of SC2 works fine, and I don't have anyone to report hacking, so I'm S.O.L. talking to anyone.
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On June 15 2011 14:30 Hakker wrote:Dude I seriously tried looking for the same thing a few months ago. That song is like one of my favorite all time video game songs. From what I gathered, The song is in half French and half Latin. The unfortunate part is, in most other Blizzard songs by the same artist, the Latin parts are almost never intelligible, and instead are just random Latin words said to sound ominous and epic http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OminousLatinChantingThat may or may not be the case for this particular song, but I don't think anyone has ever put in the effort to find out.
From that link:
"The Teaser of the Starcraft Expansion Pack features ominous opera chanting playing on an antique record player in Admiral DuGalle's quarters as he and Vice Admiral Stukov discuss the ethics of using the Zerg as a bio weapon while watching said aliens ravage a hapless human colony. It swells from Latin into Ominous French Chanting with a Bilingual Bonus of Soundtrack Dissonance — "Give everything for honour!" — as the Admiral orders his fleet to abandon the colonists to their fate.
The trailer featured said Ominous Operatic Latin Chanting as the audio as clips from various cutscenes played.
Check out the music track "Liberty Air Waves". Chanting starts at about 4:37.
The Brood War Aria (actual track name, honest) comes back in Starcraft II as Emperor Mengsk's personal theme. In addition, several other tracks feature ominous chanting, such as the Escape From Mar Sara."
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Just stumbled across this awesome piece of classical music whilst browsing. I'm dying to know the correct lyrics to the song.
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On December 03 2011 18:24 poorbeggarman wrote:
Just stumbled across this awesome piece of classical music whilst browsing. I'm dying to know the correct lyrics to the song.
I am glad you bump these thread , the music is just wonderful and soothing , although It brings me back haunting memories in which that marine is sadly going to be left behind and is going to die a really painful death  .
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I think I've stumbled on some accurate lyrics while doing some amateur listening and web surfing
Here's my approximation of the lyrics based on the work of my predecessors:
Morituri te salutant
XXXXXX salutatis
Morituri te salutant
XXXXXX XXXXX
Creatura "res divina xxx-ium" XXXX XXXX
Requiescat in pace et in amore<------might be pronounced "ri" instead of "rei" to sync better with 'pace' and the tone of the song?
N'Ayez pas peur
De soufrir
Le futur
Nous attend
Les soldats reviendront!
Arriveront victorieux!
Donnez tout pour l'honneur!
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I'm going to take my own crack at this. First, what's already been suggested:
+ Show Spoiler +http://www.musicbyjason.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=9fp1uq1ma2mda0k4knlr11jb36&topic=23.msg2281#msg2281
Morituri te salutant
Vitale salutatis
Morituri te salutant
thesauri audacia
creatura *res divina spero* 1
lux *vivescere lux* 2
prex perfidelis adhortari
laureata
admonitu
+ Show Spoiler +http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=233553#9
Morituri te salutant
XXXXXX salutatis
Morituri te salutant
XXXXXX XXXXX
Creatura "res divina xxx-ium" XXXX XXXX
Requiescat in pace et in amore<------might be pronounced "ri" instead of "rei" to sync better with 'pace' and the tone of the song?
Thanks a lot especially to poorbeggarman above me. I've been over this song quite a few times but didn't catch on to the things that you did.
What's important to keep in mind here is that Blizzard composers don't have a good track record for producing intelligible Latin, nor do they have any reason to. Nobody listens to a video game's soundtrack to understand its Latin except for me and a number of others I could probably count on my hands. Despite what Classics majors may tell you, Latin's modern-day utility, save for how it is used in ominous utterances and appellations, rivals that of a DVD rewinder.
Jason Hayes, for the World of Warcraft OST, composed "A Call to Arms". Its musical merit is indisputable, but the Latin lyrics are what I would expect to get if I typed what he wanted to say in English word-for-word into a Latin dictionary. I can only imagine what the singers, evidently knowledgeable enough about ecclesiastical Latin to pronounce it, were thinking when they were handed their parts.
Anyway, with that in mind, I think it's entirely possible that segments of this Brood War Aria may be pure gibberish pronounced like Latin, but I'll be operating under the assumption that Maestro Stafford did resort to such measures. Note that I'll be working off of the original Brood War version, not the Wings of Liberty version because at some points they seem to be saying different things entirely. (As if things weren't convoluted enough.)
Morituri te salutant
????? salutatis + Show Spoiler +I take back what I said about operating under the assumption that all of these lines are actual Latin. There's no way the first word is Latin by any stretch of the imagination. What I hear could be ihala, ihal, iha, or any of those substituting a "gn" for the "h".
Morituri te salutant
Precia ob orgia + Show Spoiler +This rendition is a stretch for a couple reasons. The first consonant sounds much more like a dental consonant than a "p", but no other Latin word comes close if I must limit myself to that. Secondly, what is heard is closer to "Preciob orgia", but this can be explained if we assume that, for this line, the vowels are being elided as would happen in readings of Latin poetry. (I assume elision also occurs in ecclesiastical Latin, even though I am only familiar with classical Latin.)
Creatorum res divissima + Show Spoiler +I think? terminal m's are pronounced as full m's in ecclesiastical Latin. (In classical Latin they only nasalize the vowel; lips don't close to form the full m sound.) However, I'm sticking with "Creatorum" here because the penultimate vowel definitely sounds more like an o than a u, and the singer appears to be nasalizing the ultimate vowel.
iIIIIiiiiIiiIiiiiIIIIiiiIiiiIIIiiIIIIIIIiiiiiiiii + Show Spoiler +I cannot make out a single consonant in this sequence, and the music's swell doesn't help either. I'm fairly certain they're just vocalizing at this part.
Requiescat in pace in amore + Show Spoiler +As poorbeggarman noted, proper Latin would require amore here instead of the audible amori.
Translation:
Those about to die salute you
[inaudible] you wish [us, implied?] well + Show Spoiler +Latin distinguishes between plural and singular you. In the first line te, a singular pronoun is used, but in the second line salutatis, a verb conjugated for the plural form, is used, implying different subjects for the two lines, which is strange.
Those about to die salute you
[Our/your] reward for [our/your] excesses + Show Spoiler +I'm very rusty, but I'm not sure if this use of ob in this context is how it is classically used. Also, orgia literally means orgies, but I translated it figuratively here.
Most blessed thing of all created things
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
May it find rest in peace, in love.
I'm still not satisfied with my approximation, but I don't know what else can be done.
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Russian Federation2 Posts
Thanks for this transcription, 've been searching these lyrics for a long time.
Nevertheless, I've found some disparity between them and the sound. I've listened both versions of the song and found they were NOT different; moreover, the Wings of Liberty version was simplier for me to recognize some sounds. Using a Latin dictionary I've made such a transcription:
Morituri te salutant
Via solaris.
Morituri te salutant
Precia ob orgia.
Creatorum res devincio
Requiescat in pace verna mori.
I'm not Latinist, so I'll be glad if you correct me. But it seems to have a sense, not to be random words. Using the dictonary I composed such a translation:
Those about to die salute you,
Sunny (maybe meant bright) way.
Those about to die salute you,
(Our) reward (retribution) for orgy (I think it's figuratively, seems to mean fun (unconcern)).
Creations (better to say generally those) who are recruited (by rule),
Servants of death will rest in peace.
So literary version of translation:
Those about to die salute you,
Bright way.
Those about to die salute you,
Retribution for fun.
Those who are recruited,
Servants of death will rest in peace.
P.S. sorry for my English 
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On August 14 2012 04:53 AlexStukov wrote:Thanks for this transcription, 've been searching these lyrics for a long time. Nevertheless, I've found some disparity between them and the sound. I've listened both versions of the song and found they were NOT different; moreover, the Wings of Liberty version was simplier for me to recognize some sounds. Using a Latin dictionary I've made such a transcription: Morituri te salutant Via solaris. Morituri te salutant Precia ob orgia. Creatorum res devincio Requiescat in pace verna mori. I'm not Latinist, so I'll be glad if you correct me. But it seems to have a sense, not to be random words. Using the dictonary I composed such a translation: Those about to die salute you, Sunny (maybe meant bright) way. Those about to die salute you, (Our) reward (retribution) for orgy (I think it's figuratively, seems to mean fun (unconcern)). Creations (better to say generally those) who are recruited (by rule), Servants of death will rest in peace. So literary version of translation: Those about to die salute you, Bright way. Those about to die salute you, Retribution for fun. Those who are recruited, Servants of death will rest in peace. P.S. sorry for my English
This seems pretty accurate.
Also great first post :3
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Great post, AlekStukov. I listened to the pieces again with your and my renditions in mind and came up with this.
I agree with you completely on your first point, via seems to be what they're saying in both versions.
I disagree, however, when it comes to the word spoken after via. (So I also still think that the two versions are different.) In the Brood War version, I think the singer very clearly enunciates four syllables (sa-lu-ta-tis), but in the SC2 version I hear something more like sonalis ("noisy"?) or solaris, which you suggested. I can't think of any reason why they might have changed the words, so I would think that wouldn't be the case, but the two things they say are definitely distinct to my ear.
I also think neither of us did the word after res right. I can hear something like devincio in both versions now that you say it, but there's a very clear "ts" sound in both versions in the middle of the word that makes me unhappy with devincio and divissima. I just spent about 15 minutes listening to both versions and have come up with this: I think they're saying creatorum redit initium: the beginning of all created things (i.e., oblivion) returns. I think this line has a fair chance of being correct because of how it fits well with the overall theme of the piece. Another possibility is creatorum reddet initium: [someone/thing] will return all created things to their beginning. (Literally: [someone/thing] will restore the beginning of all created things.)
Finally, having listened to the last line a few more times in both versions, I'm not sure which way to go. What I wrote originally doesn't work, I've realized, because there's an "r" between the "a" and "m" in what would have been "amore." I don't think yours is correct, either, because mori cannot mean "of death." It can only mean "to die." (Or "of a mulberry tree," but I don't think that's quite right in this context.) Here is what I think now: Requiescat in pace in verna amori. Note that because of elision it sounds closer to Requiescat in pacin vernamori.
I think we're getting really close to the actual thing, but I'm still not confident. Here's what I've come up with with the help of AlekStukov and the others:
Morituri te salutant
Via salutatis
Morituri te salutant
Precia ob orgia + Show Spoiler +Note that because of elision what is heard is closer to "Preciob orgia."
Creatorum redit initium + Show Spoiler +ti when succeeded by a vowel is pronounced "tsee" in ecclesiastical Latin.
Requiescat in pace in verna amore + Show Spoiler +As poorbeggarman noted, proper Latin would require amore here instead of the audible amori, and amor, amoris isn't even an i-stem noun. Regardless, it makes most sense to treat it as in the ablative case. Also note the elision.
Translation:
Those about to die salute you
You wish [them] well on the road + Show Spoiler +Latin distinguishes between plural and singular you. In the first line te, a singular pronoun is used, but in the second line salutatis, a verb conjugated for the plural form, is used, implying different subjects for the two lines, which is strange.
Those about to die salute you
The reward of excesses + Show Spoiler +Orgia literally means orgies, but I translated it figuratively here. "Excesses" should be understood as something like negligent or mindless behavior.
The beginning of all created things returns
May it find rest in peace, in vernal love
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Russian Federation2 Posts
Oh, thanks, hulkhegel! That exlained some strange moments were still being remaining.
On September 01 2012 06:09 hulkhegel wrote:
I disagree, however, when it comes to the word spoken after via. (So I also still think that the two versions are different.) In the Brood War version, I think the singer very clearly enunciates four syllables (sa-lu-ta-tis), but in the SC2 version I hear something more like sonalis ("noisy"?) or solaris, which you suggested. I can't think of any reason why they might have changed the words, so I would think that wouldn't be the case, but the two things they say are definitely distinct to my ear.
I had noticed this moment when I was writting my post. But "Via salutatis" is too unlike the WoL version, moreover, as you say further, there is a problem with singular and plural "you". And IMHO my variant has a better translation... So when writting the post I had decided it was only a manner of pronunciation (something stretched, like "so-o-la-ris") in Brood War version. Is it impossible in Latin singing? if yes, of course, you are right. But in fact your version is really closer to Brood War version.
On September 01 2012 06:09 hulkhegel wrote:
I also think neither of us did the word after res right. I can hear something like devincio in both versions now that you say it, but there's a very clear "ts" sound in both versions in the middle of the word that makes me unhappy with devincio and divissima. I just spent about 15 minutes listening to both versions and have come up with this: I think they're saying creatorum redit initium: the beginning of all created things (i.e., oblivion) returns. I think this line has a fair chance of being correct because of how it fits well with the overall theme of the piece. Another possibility is creatorum reddet initium: [someone/thing] will return all created things to their beginning. (Literally: [someone/thing] will restore the beginning of all created things.)
Really, that's good and has more clear translation. It has one more syllable than both "res devincio" and "res divissima" variants, but I've listened both versions several times more and found "redit" more correct than "res".
On September 01 2012 06:09 hulkhegel wrote:Finally, having listened to the last line a few more times in both versions, I'm not sure which way to go. What I wrote originally doesn't work, I've realized, because there's an "r" between the "a" and "m" in what would have been "amore." I don't think yours is correct, either, because mori cannot mean "of death." It can only mean "to die." (Or "of a mulberry tree," but I don't think that's quite right in this context.) Here is what I think now: Requiescat in pace in verna amori. Note that because of elision it sounds closer to Requiescat in pacin vernamori. ... Requiescat in pace in verna amore + Show Spoiler +As poorbeggarman noted, proper Latin would require amore here instead of the audible amori, and amor, amoris isn't even an i-stem noun. Regardless, it makes most sense to treat it as in the ablative case. Also note the elision. ... The beginning of all created things returns May it find rest in peace, in vernal love
It seems to be accurate. And makes clear general sense for the translation.
So I think your version is better with the exception of unclear moment solaris/salutatis.
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I had noticed this moment when I was writting my post. But "Via salutatis" is too unlike the WoL version, moreover, as you say further, there is a problem with singular and plural "you". And IMHO my variant has a better translation... So when writting the post I had decided it was only a manner of pronunciation (something stretched, like "so-o-la-ris") in Brood War version. Is it impossible in Latin singing? if yes, of course, you are right. But in fact your version is really closer to Brood War version.
I was about to agree with you since I do think it sounds closer to solaris in both versions than salutatis, but then I remembered when I looked at my dictionary that solaris can't mean "of the sun" or "bright" in this context. Instead, it must mean "you comfort/console" which works well here. + Show Spoiler +(Solaris is an adjective that came into use in late Latin, I think, which is how we got the English adjective "solar," but it can't work in this context. To get the meaning "on the bright way," we would need either via solari or via solis: lit., "on the sunlike road" and "on the road of the sun," respectively.)
So, here's my final (for now) version:
Morituri te salutant
Via solaris
Morituri te salutant
Precia ob orgia + Show Spoiler +Note that because of elision what is heard is closer to "Preciob orgia."
Creatorum redit initium + Show Spoiler +ti when succeeded by a vowel is pronounced "tsee" in ecclesiastical Latin.
Requiescat in pace in verna amore + Show Spoiler +As poorbeggarman noted, proper Latin would require amore here instead of the audible amori, and amor, amoris isn't even an i-stem noun. Regardless, it makes most sense to treat it in the ablative case. Also note the elision.
Translation:
Those about to die salute you
You comfort them on their way
Those about to die salute you
The reward of excesses + Show Spoiler +Orgia literally means orgies, but I translated it figuratively here. "Excesses" should be understood as something like negligent or mindless behavior.
The beginning of all created things returns
May it find rest in peace, in vernal love
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I am currently working on a transcription of this wonderful piece of music. Your transcription of the lyrics is really helpful, as I was obviously not satisfied with the version that was circulating. There are still a couple of issues though. I am far less knowledgeable than you as far as latin goes, but as a conductor and musician, I may be able to add something here.
First, given the storyline of Starcraft II WoL and more importantly HotS, the word reddet would be even more appropriate. As stated above, the translation would be ''He will return all created things to their beginning'', or even ''He will return all which he created to their beginning''. This subtly reveals the storyline of the whole saga. Moreover, the fact that this song keeps playing repeatedly since Brood War is revealing of its importance. And as far as I can tell from listening to all 3 versions of this (the other one is from the Echoes of War CD from Eminence Orchestra), the pronunciation is not clear enough to discard either option.
The other, more important issue I have is the final verse. I have never seen, in any latin sacred music (i.e. masses, requiems, motets, etc), the end of the word ''pace'' being ellided. And I am also convinced that it is not the case here either. None of the three versions allow me to hear any consonant at the end of ''pace'', let alone an ''n''. In all versions, the singer pauses between ''pace'' and the next word. They would not take a breath there, at least not such a big one (especially since they wouldn't need this much air for the ending), as it would not make any sense with the lyrics (and musicians spend hours studying and learning placement of breaths). Such an obvious breath would imply that there is a logic in stopping there, and most probably a comma in the text (commas did not exist in classical latin I believe, but they are used extensively in latin sacred music). Also, as noted by everyone, the last word definately ends on an 'i'. It could be a mistake by the composer, of course, but it was written than rearranged twice, and I doubt he would have made the same mistake again each time. And I would be disappointed to know that he (and the Blizzard team) allowed mistakes to slip into this text, since it now reveals itself as pretty important in the saga.
The pronunciation is not very clear, and the first vowel of that word could be 'a' as 'o', but since the rest of the 'a's in the piece are pretty clear, I would go for an 'o', like you did. I think '''verna'' is correct, although one version (Echoes of War) seems to have an ''l'' instead of the ''n''.
I would therefore suggest that the last line is :
Requiescat in pace, verna mori
''mori'' would be here the third person sing. subjunctive of ''morir'' (to die), which falls in line with ''requiescat''. It could also be the third person imperative.
''verna'', in this case, could mean ''slave'' (singular vocative case)
That would translate into (not word to word of course)
Rest in pace, die O slave.
Which does fit the previous verses and the storyline better IMHO. If you are still active on the forum, maybe you can tell me if that could be possible?
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So is it of general consensus that that black dude was the first marauder? Was he cloned?
Love this music, probably my second of all of the SC franchise.
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EPT
