Musical Tuesday: “Dune Variation” (Dune), composed by Stephane Picq

For this week’s theme, I present another blast from the past — a piece from the 1992 Dune adventure game that preceded Westwood’s far-better known Dune 2. Specifically, I’ve presented two versions. The first is the in-game version; the second is the version from the “Spice Opera” CD. The first couple of minutes of the CD version are a rather dull lead-in, so I’d advise you skip to 1:55, but the rest of the song more than makes up for it. It’s a lovely, otherworldly piece that always makes me think of Arrakis, and wind howling in the desert, and the wonders that Frank Herbert conjured up almost 50 years ago. Enjoy!