Long Night of Solace (music)

Long Night of Solace is the sixth track (Disc 1 Track 6) included in Halo: Reach Original Soundtrack, and plays mainly in the Halo: Reach campaign level Long Night of Solace. It is composed of Kat's Plan (0:00-2:41), Displacement (2:41-3:24), Broken Bonds (3:24-4:25), Uppercut (4:25-5:35), My Heart Breaks (5:35-6:58), The Ardent Prayer (6:58-7:38), Belly of the Beast (7:38-9:14), Discourage the Curious (9:14-9:54), and Make It Count (9:54-11:46).

Kat's Plan (2:41) opens with brass playing the opening cues from The Battle Begins (from the earlier track Winter Contingency). Brass and high strings enter with a serene melody, briefly leading into a grim variation of the first phrase of the Gregorian chant from Halo Theme. Low strings then take over for ambience, joined by high strings and brass, then fade out. The piece plays in the opening cinematic of the level, then continues into the gameplay sequence afterwards.

Displacement (0:43) fade in with upbeat percussion and electric guitar riffs. The melody repeats with digital effects. The piece plays when NOBLE Team traverse from the beach to the facility Sabre Program Launch/Research Range, and during the latter half of the Halo: Reach E3 2010 Trailer. A percussion-only version plays in the level The Package, during the third wave of Covenant that appears exclusively on Legendary in the "This Cave is Not a Natural Formation" chapter.

Broken Bonds (1:01) cut in with male choir, joined by low strings and brass. They play in ambiance before transitioning into the next piece. The piece plays during cinematic in which Jorge-052 and Noble Six board Bravo 022 in the launch facility. An extended version of the piece is also used as a transition piece in the level New Alexandria, when Noble Six exits SinoViet Center.

Uppercut (1:10) features muted synth ambiance with pulsing rhythm. The rhythm quickens to a stop, and the synth ambiance fades out. The piece plays when Bravo 022 defends Anchor 9.

My Heart Breaks (1:23) opens with high strings playing the string part from The Battle Begins, repeating the suspenseful melody until ending with a single note. The piece plays during the cinematic in which Bravo 022 docks with Anchor 9 and Noble Six is briefed by Colonel Urban Holland.

The Ardent Prayer (0:40) fades in with synth effects, playing eerie ambiance. The piece plays during the cinematic in which Bravo 022 and other YSS-1000 Sabres land onboard the Ardent Prayer, and continues into the gameplay sequence afterwards.

Belly of the Beast (1:36) opens with a percussion-only version of The Battle Begins, followed by a more intense version featuring louder percussion. It then fades into choir. The piece plays after Noble Six has cleared the hangar bay of Ardent Prayer, and continues into the cinematic in which the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine is brought onboard the ship. The more intense version plays when Noble Six exits the hangar bay, with the choir section playing when is destroyed, up until Six infiltrates the ship’s bridge.

Discourage the Curious (0:40) features rhythmic electronic instruments. The piece plays when Noble Six defends the hangar bay with Jorge-052.

Make It Count (1:52) opens with brass playing the opening cues from The Battle Begins, followed by strings and piano. The choir takes over, singing their melody from The Battle Begins before being joined by high strings. Piano and low strings return, and all instruments end with a single note. The piece plays in the ending cinematic.

Production notes

 * Broken Bonds and its variations were named "Glue" because they were used at various points of the campaign to connect different music pieces, thus creating a sense of cohesion in the musical experience. Broken Bonds was titled "c_glue_full", and featured Phrygian mode, much like Unreconciled from the earlier track Tip of the Spear, though on the key of C. O'Donnell then added improvisations by low strings, horns, and high strings, followed by his own vocals with reverb effects. The vocal-only version was titled "c_glue_vox", and featured faux Latin syllables. Other "glue" pieces were created in different keys, including an atonal one.
 * Composition of the synth part of Uppercut began on an arpeggiator as "spacey1", which O'Donnell described as a "stream of consciousness piece", which exists to evoke one type of atmosphere without any progression. It then evolved into "spacey2", which was not composed using the arpeggiator. The pulsing heard in the Broken Bonds was "spacey6", which was created for pulse and drive during space combat. Even though O'Donnell stated that, when combining two pieces together, one should be ambient with almost no harmonic rhythm and the other is percussive with no pitches, when he accidentally combined "spacey2" and "spacey6" during production, despite violating the aforementioned rule, it gave him "three stories for the price of two".
 * The track is the second longest track on the album, falling 22 seconds short of the longest track, Winter Contingency.
 * The names Kat's Plan and Uppercut allude to Operation: UPPER CUT.
 * The name My Heart Breaks is a translated direct quote from Jorge-052 when he saw Reach being glassed from orbit.
 * The name The Ardent Prayer is named after the UNSC-targeted Covenant corvette, Ardent Prayer.
 * The name Belly of the Beast is a reference to a chapter in the Halo: Combat Evolved campaign level The Truth and Reconciliation, drawing a parallel between Noble Six boarding the Ardent Prayer and John-117 boarding the Truth and Reconciliation.
 * The name Discourage the Curious is a direct quote from the order Holland gave to Jorge-052 after the Slipspace bomb has arrived on the Ardent Prayer.
 * The name Make it Count is a direct quote of Jorge-052's last words to Noble Six, "Tell them to make it count".