Saxton's Dilemma (Soundtrack)

Team Fortress 2 Official Soundtrack

"Team Fortress 2 (Main Theme)" "Playing With Danger" "Rocket Jump Waltz" "The Art of War" "Faster Than a Speeding Bullet" "Right Behind You" "Petite Chou-Fleur" "Intruder Alert" "Drunken Pipe Bomb" "More Gun" "Haunted Fortress 2" "TF2 Saxxy 2011 Theme" "A Little Heart to Heart" "MEDIC!" "Archimedes" "Dreams of Cruelty" "The Calm" "ROBOTS!" "Dapper Cadaver" "Rise of the Living Bread" "Red Bread" "Three Days to Live" "Seduce Me!" "Stink Lines" "It Hates Me So Much" "Misfortune Teller" "Soldier of Dance" "RED Triumphs!" "BLU Triumphs!" "Yeti Park" "Saxton's Dilemma" "Mercenary Park" "Saluting the Fallen"

"Saxton's Dilemma" is one of the song titles featured on the official Team Fortress 2 Soundtrack, listed as track number 31. Added in the Jungle Inferno Update startup themes. It is featured in the Jungle Inferno update trailer.

Analysis

Key: G Minor
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: 102 BPM
Length: 1:11
Release Date: October 20, 2017
Update: Jungle Inferno
Composer: Mike Morasky
Instrumentation: flute, piccolo, oboe, english horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, tenor saxophone, 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 4 trombones (3 tenors, 1 bass), tuba, timpani, 3 percussion, harp, piano, violin 1, violin 2, violas, cellos, contrabasses

"Saxton's Dilemma" is a track intended to sound unfamiliar and almost dopey, characterizing Saxton Hale's situation where he doesn't know what to do with the park after killing all of the Yetis. To achieve an "exotic" sound, it utilizes a variation of the harmonic minor scale, chromaticism, and features timbres not often found in orchestral music like bass clarinet and tenor saxophone.

The track begins with a fanfare similar to one found in "Yeti Park", before immediately fading out and leading into an extended bass clarinet melody which uses the aforementioned harmonic minor scale. Trombones enter to take over the melody as bass clarinet continues, now playing a counterline. Following that, the melody in full is restated by strings, bass clarinet, bassoon, tenor saxophone, and horns. Meanwhile, percussion, low brass, and low strings play the bass line and offbeat accompaniment, and high woodwinds play a staccato eighth note figure outlining the harmonic minor scale. After the melody has been played through a second time, tuba, bass trombone, and bassoons entering on the last phrase, the track ends in an orchestral unison.

Update history

October 20, 2017 Patch #1 (Jungle Inferno Update)

• [Undocumented] Added Saxton's Dillema^(sic) startup music track.

February 14, 2018 Patch

• [Undocumented] Removed gamestartup_operation_summer2017_1.mp3, the music file used to make Saxton's Dillema one of the only 3 songs added in the Jungle Inferno Update play during the Jungle Inferno Campaign.

Trivia

• The Spotify version lacks the apostrophe in "Saxton's".