Joseph Koo's Greatest Hits

Dubbed the Beethoven of Hong Kong by his long-time musical collaborator James Wong. He could easily hang among the sterling greats of film composing such as Jerry Goldsmith, Ennio Morricone, Basil Poledouris and Christopher Young. I find his music to be the perfect fusion of Chinese and Western styles of instrumentation, a sort of East meets West. But as it comes naturally with greatness, people like him are able to find their own voice. For instance, the interplay between the brass section and the strings of that Legend of Condor Heroes bgm was a revelation and something I've not come across before. He dominated the tv scene, pumping out classic after classic. After his retirement from the tv broadcasting company TVB, the lack of his presence was easily felt and Hong Kong tv was never the same again. I will always remember his compositions for the tv series Demi Gods and Semi Devils. The romanticism, heroism and tragedy of martial arts chivalry is embodied in those pieces. Besides a couple of arranged releases, one wonders why no albums were produced for the original sound. Considering how much of an impact he had on Chinese people's lives, he would've made an absolute killing. But knowing a little about him, he's a very humble man and isn't particularly interested in seeking fame and fortune. It makes it difficult for people like me though who prefers to listen to music as standalone, but could only make do with scraps of his original works on the Internet.

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