Soundtrack
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The Soundtrack for the Viva Piñata games was primarily composed by Grant Kirkhope (with additional tracks by Steve Burke) and has been released in many forms over the years, even receiving releases on vinyl.
Steve Burke was the original composer for Viva Piñata and wrote many song that ended up getting scrapped. He rejoined towards the end of production to write 21 Romance Dance themes, some sound effects and to clean up the MIDI data of Grant Kirkhope's soundtrack so that it could be prepared for the orchestral recording sessions with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
Robin Beanland assisted with writing some Romance Dance themes for Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, but aside from the Pengum's, it is unclear which ones he wrote.
David Wise was the sole composer for Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise.
Releases
Viva Piñata Original Soundtrack (2009 Album)
Viva Piñata Original Soundtrack was released on July 28, 2009. It was the first official soundtrack release. It was also available on streaming services until it was removed for unknown reasons.
Viva Piñata (2018 Album)
Viva Piñata was released on August 8, 2018 on vinyl, which came with a download code to access the soundtrack digitally. The track list is essentially the 2009 album (minus Island Welcome) but with 9 more songs inserted throughout, including 2 tracks outside of the main soundtrack: Pester's Plot and Pengum Chill.
Rare Treats: Viva Piñata Revisited (2026 Album)
Rare Treats: Viva Piñata Revisited was released January 9, 2026 and featured rerecorded (and in some cases, lightly rearranged) versions of the tracks from the 2009 CD. It features artwork from Viva Piñata lead artist Steve Mayles. It was released on vinyl and streaming services.
| # | Title | Length | Composer(s) | Song Archetype |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Island Welcome | 0:28 | Grant Kirkhope | Cutscene |
| 2 | Oven-Fresh Day | 2:36 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden day |
| 3 | All in a Day's Work | 2:55 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden day |
| 4 | Tranquil Hours | 2:38 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden night |
| 5 | Frosty Morning | 2:36 | Grant Kirkhope | Piñarctic day |
| 6 | Sunrise Whisper | 2:07 | Grant Kirkhope | Dessert Desert day |
| 7 | Snowy Blankets | 2:38 | Grant Kirkhope | Piñarctic night |
| 8 | Time Flies | 2:30 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden day |
| 9 | Winter Shines | 2:18 | Grant Kirkhope | Piñarctic day |
| 10 | Slow Baked | 2:20 | Grant Kirkhope | Dessert Desert day |
| 11 | Daily Dance | 2:17 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden night |
| 12 | Icicle Chorus | 2:25 | Grant Kirkhope | Piñarctic day |
| 13 | Bedtime Story | 2:29 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden night |
| 14 | Flower Greetings | 2:27 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden day |
| 15 | Growing Under Moonlight | 2:39 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden night |
| 16 | Sowing Seeds | 2:06 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden day |
| 17 | Midnight Feasts | 2:19 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden night |
| 18 | Desert Breezes | 2:19 | Grant Kirkhope | Dessert Desert night |
| 19 | Warm Heart, Cold Nose | 2:24 | Grant Kirkhope | Piñarctic day |
| 20 | Chilly Promise | 2:22 | Grant Kirkhope | Piñarctic night |
| 21 | Ripen and Bloom | 2:17 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden day |
| 22 | Secrets in the Sand | 2:04 | Grant Kirkhope | Dessert Desert day |
| 23 | Stardust Falls | 2:04 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden night |
| 24 | Soil Song | 2:21 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden day |
| 25 | Tomorrows Wonders | 2:42 | Grant Kirkhope | Garden night |
35th Anniversary Collection (2020 Album)
35th Anniversary Collection was released on August 4, 2020 by Rare All-Stars, the artist name chosen for Rare's general soundtrack releases. 35 songs were chosen from Rare's soundtrack catalogue. To keep things relevant, only the Viva Piñata songs have been included.
| # | Title | Length | Debut Game | Composer(s) | Song Archetype |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Oven-Fresh Day | 2:30 | Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise | Grant Kirkhope | Garden day |
| 24 | Costolot's Store | 2:09 | Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise | David Wise | Store |
| 25 | Bedtime Story | 2:37 | Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise | Grant Kirkhope | Garden night |
Unreleased
* Title was taken from RareGamer's tracklist, which later had some titles canonised.
** Confirmed credit directly by Grant Kirkhope, but officially miscredited to Robin Beanland.
Composition
Archetypes
The main soundtrack can be divided into 6 archetypes, each with different composition techniques that define their identity. These archetypes are garden day, garden night, Dessert Desert day, Dessert Desert night. Piñarctic day and Piñarctic night.
Garden
Garden Day
Garden day songs make heavy use of the Ionian (major) scale, with songs often having sections in either Lydian or Mixolydian. Sowing Seeds is the only song that doesn't use the Ionian scale, instead being completely Lydian. Every garden day song has a lead melody section played on a concert flute, as well as one with a B♭ clarinet.
Trivia
- The longest song is the original recording of Growing Under Moonlight, with a length of 3:05.
- Excluding rearranged tracks, the 2009/2026 track list leaves out 11 songs from the main soundtrack.
- There is only 1 Dessert Desert night song included in the 2009 CD release.
- The 2018 vinyl release leaves out 4.
- Island Welcome is the only song that is exclusive to Viva Piñata.
- That being said, its main melody is reused heavily in Flower Greetings.
- Steve Burke is the only Viva Piñata composer to not have a song on an official release.