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Year 59 (LIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Capito of Apronianus and Capito (or, less frequently, year 812 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 59 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events[link]

By place[link]

Roman Empire[link]

• Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus retires from the Roman Senate.
• Emperor Nero ordered the murder of his mother Agrippina the Younger. He tries to kill her through a planned shipwreck, but when Agrippina survived Nero has her executed and frames it as a suicide.
• Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, Roman commander in the east, captures Tigranocerta in Mesopotamia. He installed Tigranes VI, a Cappadocian prince, as ruler of Armenia. For the next four years, a cohort from Legio VI Ferrata and Legio X Fretensis is stationed in the capital as bodyguard to the king, supported by fifteen hundred auxiliaries.

By topic[link]

Arts and sciences[link]

• In the Satyricon, Petronius pokes fun at Roman immorality.

Religion[link]

• Paul the Apostle pleads his case and testifies of Christianity before king Agrippa II. It was at this event when Agrippa gave his famous response to Paul's testimony, "You almost persuade me to be a Christian." ^[1]
• In the Satyricon, Petronius pokes fun at Roman immorality.

Births[link]

Deaths[link]

• March – Agrippina the Younger, mother of Nero (killed by order of Nero)

References[link]

Jesper Kyd Jakobson (born February 3, 1972) is an award winning Danish video game, television and film score composer. Internationally renowned for composing the unique, signature music soundtracks for multi-million selling franchises Assassin's Creed, Hitman and Borderlands, Kyd’s distinctive scores feature a diverse array of orchestra, choir, acoustic manipulations and electronic soundscapes, immersing audiences with emotional depth often described by critics as ‘rousing,’ ‘surreal’ and ‘beautiful.’^{[citation needed]}

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Kyd started playing piano at an early age. Later, he took several years of training in classical guitar, note reading, choir singing and classical composition for piano. However, he is mostly self-taught.^[1][2] Kyd was always more interested in the compositional aspects of music and received a Commodore 64 when he was 14, enabling him to compose music for the demoscene.^[3] Several years later he obtained an Amiga, allowing him to compose music with samples in it.^[4] He, along with his good friend and collaborator, Mikael Balle, became a member of the demo group Silents DK, and after some time started collaborating with a group of coders known as Crionics,^[5] which would arguably later prove vital for his professional career. They eventually made the legendary Amiga demoscene production Hardwired.^[6][7] He also created and scored the first wild demo, Global Trash 2, together with Mikael Balle.

Career[link]

At this point Jesper Kyd decided to quit the demo scene and focus on a professional career as a game musician. He and his demoscene friends who had collaborated on the Hardwired demo created the computer game developer Zyrinx and started working on a game called Sub-Terrania for the Sega Genesis. The game was successful and the music of the game received particular acclaim, many stating it was "Some of the best ever" for this particular system.^{[citation needed]}

With the commercial success of the game, Jesper Kyd and the rest of the team relocated to Boston. Kyd composed music for two additional Zyrinx titles, Red Zone and Scorcher as well as the music for two externally developed games, Amok and The Adventures of Batman and Robin before their game publisher Scavenger went bankrupt, forcing the Zyrinx team to dissolve as well.

Freelance[link]

After the demise of Zyrinx, many of its former members returned to Denmark to start IO Interactive. Jesper Kyd decided to move to New York City and set up his own sound studio in Manhattan called "Nano studios". Because of his extensive connections in the industry,^{[citation needed]} Kyd found success as a freelance computer game musician. He also had been planning to score upcoming games from IO Interactive from the beginning.

Breakthrough[link]

Jesper Kyd's real fame came, according to him, with the release of Bioware's MDK2: Armageddon, Shiny's Messiah and IO's Hitman: Codename 47 being released around the same time, all being fairly well known games, with Hitman ending up as one of the most popular of the time.^[8] The soundtrack to Codename 47 was based on urban soundscapes and ethnic instrumentation. It immediately took the focus of many magazines around the world. Mp3.com declared that "The theme song to the original Hitman is arguably one of the best pieces of video game theme music so far this decade".^[9]

His next huge step was recording the soundtrack of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. The soundtrack was recorded with 110 musicians of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and Choir. "The music of most big budget action movies won't move you like the music of Hitman 2," said IGN.^[9]

His next soundtrack contained heroic and densely atmospheric music for the epic action/adventure Freedom Fighters. He recorded the score with the Hungarian Radio choir. It further established him as one of the leading, innovative A-list composers in interactive entertainment. It was described by Film Score Monthly Magazine as "Vangelis on steroids". Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards nominated him for Best Use of Soundtrack, meanwhile, Game Audio Network Guild Awards nominated him for "Best Original Vocal Song – Choral" (for Main Title and March of the Empire). Leading video game web site GameSpot awarded Freedom Fighters "Best Music of the Year".

His unique fusion of modern electronica and brooding symphonic and choral grooves featured in Hitman: Contracts garnered international critical acclaim as one of the truly groundbreaking original soundtracks. It was awarded Best Original Music by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts at the 2005 BAFTA Games Awards and won Best Cinematic / Cut-Scene Audio at the 2005 G.A.N.G. Awards. "Many have tried to turn a video game soundtrack into a musical experience. But few have succeeded in creating a coherent, satisfying listening experience as well as Jesper Kyd," noted EQ Magazine.^[9]

Following his Bafta-winning music for the globally acclaimed Hitman series, Kyd’s next assignment was to provide the rich and melodic sound for what would become Ubisoft’s flagship franchise, Assassin's Creed, created by visionary developer Patrice Desilets. Kyd’s cinematic score for Altair’s Middle-Eastern story delivers a deeply meditative and spiritual aesthetic with dramatic effect. For Assassin's Creed II, Kyd took the music in an adventurous new direction, crafting a melodic, acoustic and orchestral music score recorded with A-list musicians in Los Angeles. The music propels the action, captures the allure and mystery of Ezio’s story and immerses players in the breathtakingly detailed settings of Renaissance Italy. Kyd’s original score for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood draws influence and authentic instrumentation from the Renaissance period, immersing players in master assassin Ezio’s mission to liberate Rome from the corrupt and tyrant regime of the Borgias. For the epic conclusion to Ezio’s story, Assassin's Creed Revelations, Kyd composed a rich and evocative hybrid music style drawing on Greek, Renaissance and Middle-Eastern instrumentation, while combining his emotional melodic writing and acoustic/electronic styles associated with the series.

Kyd’s emotionally dynamic score for the highly anticipated action/adventure Darksiders II combines dark ethereal themes and melodic fantasy with sublime atmosphere that enrich the player’s cinematic journey through each of the unique realms. Darksiders II II follows the exploits of Death, one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, during his epic journey through various light and dark realms as he tries to redeem his brother WAR, the horseman who was blamed for prematurely starting the Apocalypse. Darksiders II is set for release on August 21, 2012.

Kyd is currently scoring new episodes of the upcoming live action TV series Metal Hurlant Chronicles (Heavy Metal), Cameron Romero’s next film Radical, Undead Labs’ ‘Class3′ and other projects to be announced.

He resides in Burbank, California and is represented by The Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency.

Works[link]

Kyd has composed music for many different forms of visual and non-visual media, below is a run-down of his works.

Games[link]

• 2012 - Darksiders II
• 2012 - Heroes and Generals
• 2012 - Soulcalibur V (provided a remix of the track "Venice Rooftops" from Assassin's Creed II)
• 2011 - Forza Motorsport 4
• 2011 - Assassin's Creed: Revelations (with Lorne Balfe)
• 2010 - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood^[10]
• 2009 - Assassin's Creed II
• 2009 - Borderlands
• 2008 - The Chronicles of Spellborn
• 2008 - The Club (main theme)
• 2007 - Assassin's Creed
• 2007 - Unreal Tournament 3 (with Rom Di Prisco)
• 2007 - Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
• 2006 - Hitman: Blood Money
• 2006 - Gears of War (concept music)
• 2005 - Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (cinematics)
• 2004 - Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2 (songs .59 -remix-, Istanbul café, and Red Room)^[11]
• 2004 - Robotech: Invasion
• 2004 - Hitman: Contracts
• 2004 - McFarlane's Evil Prophecy
• 2003 - Freedom Fighters
• 2003 - Brute Force
• 2002 - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
• 2002 - Minority Report: The Video Game
• 2001 - Shattered Galaxy
• 2001 - The Nations: Alien Nations 2
• 2000 - Hitman: Codename 47
• 2000 - Messiah
• 2000 - MDK2
• 2000 - Soldier (unreleased)
• 1999 - Time Tremors
• 1996 - Scorcher
• 1996 - Amok
• 1995 - Adventures of Batman and Robin
• 1994 - Red Zone
• 1993 - Sub-Terrania
• 1993 - AWS Pro Moves Soccer
• 1989 - USS John Young

Movies[link]

• 2010 - A Perfect Soldier
• 2008 - Staunton Hill
• 2007 - La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928, new score)
• 2006 - Sweet Insanity
• 2003 - Night All Day
• 2002 - Pure
• 2002 - Death of a Saleswoman

Short films[link]

• 2011 - Somnolence
• 2010 - The Auctioneers
• 2006 - Virus
• 2006 - Impulse
• 2003 - Cycle
• 2002 - Pure
• 2002 - Paper Plane Man
• 2002 - Day Pass
• 2001 - Going with Neill
• 2001 - The Lion Tamer
• 2000 - Organizm

TV series[link]

• 2012 - Metal Hurlant Chronicles / Heavy Metal (US title)
• 2009 - The Resistance

Trailers[link]

• Game of Thrones TV Series
• Conan the Barbarian
• Assassin's Creed TV launch trailer
• Assassin's Creed cello TV trailer
• Assassin's Creed E3 trailer
• Gears of War E3 trailer
• V For Vendetta (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Hitman: Blood Money TV trailers
• Hitman: Contracts TV trailers
• Hitman 2: Silent Assassin TV trailers
• Freedom Fighters TV trailers

Awards and nominations[link]

• 2012 BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2011 GameSpot Readers Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Music Winner
• 2011 GameSpot Editors Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Music Nomination
• 2011 Gold Spirit Awards - Best Video Game Score Nomination
• 2011 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences - Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Nomination
• 2011 Game Audio Network Guild Awards - Music of the Year Nomination
• 2011 Soundtrack Geek Awards - Best Video Game Score Nomination
• 2010 Hollywood Music in Media Awards - Best Original Score (VG) Nomination
• 2010 Gold Spirit Awards: Best Video Game Score Winner
• 2010 BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2010 International Film Music Critics Association - Best Original Video Game Score Nomination
• 2010 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences - Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Nomination
• 2010 Game Audio Network Guild Awards - Music of the Year Winner
• 2009 IGN Best of the Year Awards - Best Soundtrack Winner (PlayStation 3)
• 2009 GameSpot Readers Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Original Score Winner
• 2009 GameSpot Editors Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2009 Hollywood Music in Media Awards - Best Original Score (VG) Winner
• 2009 Gamespy Editors' Choice Awards - Best Original Music Winner
• 2009 Spike Video Game Awards - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2009 G4TV X-Play Awards - Best Original Soundtrack Nomination
• 2009 Machinima Awards - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2008 BAFTA - Best Original Music Nomination (British Academy Award)
• 2008 Hollywood Music Awards - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2008 Golden Joystick Awards - Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
• 2008 ELAN Awards - Best Video Game Score Winner
• 2007 GameSpot - Best Video Game Score Nomination
• 2007 3 G.A.N.G. Nominations, including Music of the Year
• 2006 MTV Video Music Awards - Best Video Game Score Nomination
• 2006 IGN Best Original Score Winner
• 2006 Golden Joystick Awards - Best Game Soundtrack Nomination
• 2006 4 G.A.N.G. Nominations Including Music of the Year
• 2005 BAFTA - Winner Best Original Music Award (British Academy Award)
• 2005 G.A.N.G. Winner Best Music for Cinamatic/Cut Scene
• 2005 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Freedom Fighters Soundtrack CD
• 2004 Billboard Awards Best Music Nomination 2004
• 2004 IGN - Best Soundtrack Nomination
• 2004 3 G.A.N.G. Nominations
• 2004 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Hitman Contracts Soundtrack CD
• 2003 GameSpot - Best Soundtrack of the Year Winner
• 2003 Game Reactor - Best Original Soundtrack Winner
• 2003 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Hitman 2 Soundtrack CD
• 2002 Games Agent - Best Original Soundtrack Winner
• 2002 GameSpot - Best Original Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
• 2002 X-Sages - Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
• 2002 IGN - Best Sound Nomination
• 2002 Action Vault - Outstanding Achievement In Music
• 2002 Bolt Games - Bolt Games Music Award

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official MySpace
• Jesper Kyd discography at MusicBrainz
• MobyGames rap sheet
• Artist profile at OverClocked ReMix
• An insight into Kyd's demoscene days with a video from 1991 he did the music for
• A more in depth look at his career including his demoscene days

Interviews[link]

• Interview at Nerd Reactor
• Interview at Tracksounds
• Interview at SoundtrackNet
• Interview at Go! Game Music
• Interview at BSOSpirit
• Interview at SpelMusik
• Interview & Module Downloads at Amiga Music Preservation
• Interview at DVD.Reviewer for Jesper Kyd's work on Staunton Hill
• Interview at GameStar.ru