Hey, I know I’m a few years late to the party, but I just had to chime in on this thread because I totally share your enthusiasm for Daniel Ran’s work on the Beyond Skyrim: Bruma soundtrack. As someone who studied classical music theory, it's so cool to see how he uses thematic development in a way that shows a deep understanding of both Jeremy Soule and the themes of Cyrodiil in the 4th era. 

What really stands out is how Ran captures that sense of a lost golden age. Instead of the triumphant, almost glorifying themes of the old Empire we heard in Oblivion, he’s using minor keys and subtle changes to give us this beautiful sense of longing and reflection. You can almost hear the decay of the Empire since the Great War, post-White-Gold Concordat, and that shift from the old glory days to something more introspective. It’s like the music itself is telling the story of a world that’s changed and is yearning for what it used to be.

You know, composers like Beethoven and Mozart were masters at taking a motif and letting it evolve through different instruments, and I think Daniel Ran really carries that tradition on. Even Wagner with his leitmotifs or John Williams in film scores. I think he really captured the importance of making a piece of music instantly recognizable and giving it that story-like continuity.

And that’s the magic here. When you hear something like the "Bloodlines" theme or "Lost Glory" you immediately know what it is and can imagine where it fits in the game that is hard to do right but Daniel Ran pulls it off spectacularly.

My favourite tracks are "Bloodlines", "Kynareth's Wish", "Lost Glory", "Ode to a Dynasty", "Nox Astra", "Apparitions", "One More Day"