Final Symphony

Last updated

Final Symphony
Orchestral concert tour by Merregnon Studios
Final-Symphony-logo.jpg
ConductorEckehard Stier
Composer Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, Jonne Valtonen
ArrangersMasashi Hamauzu, Jonne Valtonen, Roger Wanamo
LocationGermany, England, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, United States, New Zealand, China, Austria, Australia, Poland
Album recordingFinal Symphony
Start dateMay 11, 2013
Producer Thomas Böcker (Merregnon Studios)
Merregnon Studios concert chronology

Final Symphony is a symphonic concert tour first held at the Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal in Wuppertal (Germany) on May 11, 2013. The concert tour features arrangements of video game music selected from the Final Fantasy series, specifically Final Fantasy VI , VII , and X . It is divided into three acts: a symphonic poem for VI, a piano concerto for X, and a symphony for VII. The concert is produced and directed by Thomas Böcker, with arrangements provided by Finnish composer and musician Jonne Valtonen, along with Roger Wanamo and Final Fantasy X composer Masashi Hamauzu with consultation from Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. The original works were composed by Uematsu and Hamauzu, and an introductory piece was composed by Valtonen. The premiere concert was performed by the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra under conduction from Eckehard Stier, with guest performer Benyamin Nuss joining the orchestra on piano.

Contents

Following the initial performance, Final Symphony was performed in several other venues. It was first performed in London (United Kingdom) at the Barbican Centre by the London Symphony Orchestra on May 30, 2013. Between 2014 and 2018, additional concerts took place in Tokyo (Japan), Aarhus (Denmark), Stockholm (Sweden), Tampere (Finland), Amsterdam (Netherlands), San Diego (United States), Baltimore (United States), San Francisco (United States), Auckland (New Zealand), Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China), Hamburg (Germany), Berlin (Germany), Munich (Germany), Vienna (Austria) and Melbourne (Australia), with each performance location handled by a different orchestra. In 2023, concerts were held in Birmingham (United Kingdom), Newcastle (United Kingdom), Stuttgart (Germany) and Wrocław (Poland). In 2024, two performances are planned in Malmö (Sweden).

A video of the Stockholm performance of the Final Fantasy VI Symphonic Poem was released on October 11, 2014, and a full album recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios was released on February 23, 2015 by Merregnon Studios. The album, along with the concerts themselves, were heavily praised, both for the quality of the performance and for the quality of the arrangements, which overlaid themes from multiple pieces rather than relying on a more traditional medley. The concert series was followed by Final Symphony II , a similar concert tour by Merregnon Studios which began in 2015 with music from Final Fantasy V , VIII , IX , and XIII .

Concert

Production

Producer Thomas Bocker in 2010 Thomas Boecker.jpg
Producer Thomas Böcker in 2010

Thomas Böcker first began producing orchestral concerts of video game music in 2003 with the first Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany. In 2008, he, through his production company Merregnon Studios, began a series of four concerts of video game music that used longer, more elaborate arrangements of themes from the individual pieces of music from the games. This Symphonic series of concerts stood in contrast to the more standard concerts, which played straightforward orchestral versions of individual songs. The four concerts were Symphonic Shades – Hülsbeck in Concert (2008), Symphonic Fantasies: Music from Square Enix (2009), Symphonic Legends – Music from Nintendo (2010), and Symphonic Odysseys: Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu (2011). Both Symphonic Fantasies and Symphonic Odysseys featured music from the Final Fantasy series composed by Nobuo Uematsu. Böcker has said that he considers Uematsu to be "the most famous composer of video game music and in general one of the most influential", and that Uematsu's 20020220 - Music from Final Fantasy concert in 2002 was a big influence on his own concerts. [1]

By May 2012, Böcker was working on a concert of music solely from the Final Fantasy series, titled Final Symphony. The idea for the concert was first proposed by Uematsu in 2009 after Symphonic Fantasies; the concert had featured Final Fantasy music as one of its four components, but unlike the other three the music had been a straightforward medley rather than a more complicated arrangement. [2] Uematsu had asked the team to keep the arrangements similar to those in other Final Fantasy concerts, but after the concert he felt that an opportunity had been missed to create something unique like the other three arrangements, especially the Secret of Mana section. [3] He encouraged Böcker to take more liberties with the source material if the opportunity arose, and hoped that another concert could be created in the future. Böcker proposed Final Symphony later that year to Uematsu, and got approval from Square Enix while coordinating a Tokyo concert of Symphonic Fantasies. [2] Final Symphony is the first concert consisting entirely of new Final Fantasy arrangements in over ten years, since 20020220 - Music from Final Fantasy. [4]

Böcker and the arrangers intended the arrangements in the concert to be "about telling the stories of the games". In order to "capture the atmosphere of the games", they limited the concert to three games from the series, so as not to spread the concert too thin. [2] They chose the games to be Final Fantasy VI , VII , and X , not only because they liked the music in the games but because they felt previous concerts, including to an extent Symphonic Fantasies and Odysseys, had failed to evoke the feeling of the games due to focusing on the battle music in an unbalanced manner. In an interview Böcker used Final Fantasy VII as an example, stating that only part of "the game's dark, romantic, melancholic, and hopeful story" was being portrayed by solely orchestrating the battle music from the game. [2] Böcker wanted to focus on "longer pieces [and] deeper storytelling" than other concerts like the Distant Worlds series, so as to offer fans "something they really never heard before". [5] Final Symphony was the first concert produced by Merregnon Studios without outside financial support, [6] and Böcker regards it as the riskiest venture Merregnon Studios had undertaken to date, as they could only rely on their own belief that audiences would respond strongly enough to the concert for it to be successful despite the production costs of producing a concert of the quality they wanted. [3]

Arranger Jonne Valtonen in 2010 Jonne Valtonen Official.jpg
Arranger Jonne Valtonen in 2010

Jonne Valtonen, Roger Wanamo, and Masashi Hamauzu created the arrangements for the concert. Valtonen and Wanamo had previously worked with Böcker on the concerts in the Symphonic series, and Böcker has stated that if they had been unavailable for the project he would not have created Final Symphony at all. Hamauzu, in addition to arranging the Final Fantasy X music, was one of the composers of the original pieces he arranged. Uematsu, who composed music for all three games, served as a consultant for the project, though he did not arrange any pieces. [2] When they first began the project, Böcker, Valtonen, and Wanamo took a few months to play through the games, watch playthrough videos, and read reviews and analyses of the games. [7] They did not research other arrangements that have been done of the pieces, as they feel the general approach to video game music orchestration is very different from their style. [8] They then got together to propose which tracks would be arranged, and decide which soundtracks worked best as a piano concerto, a symphonic poem, or a symphony. They chose a symphonic poem for VI, a piano concerto for X, and a symphony in three movements for VII. [7] As director and producer, Böcker was involved in the work on the arrangements from the beginning. He set the direction and was able to comment on the progress of the arrangers' work via e-mail and ICQ. He has emphasised, however, that Valtonen and Wanamo are "masters of their art" and were given all the necessary artistic freedom. [8]

The Final Fantasy VI poem follows the journey of Terra Branford, "the heroine born with the gift of magic". The poem explores the stages of her life through the game, as she escapes from slavery, faces her amnesia, discovers the source of her powers, and saves the world from the insane Kefka Palazzo. Final Fantasy VI was the first Final Fantasy game that Wanamo had played, and he wanted to tell the story of the game as it felt to him. [9] Wanamo has described the arrangement as the most difficult one he had done to date. [5] Originally, the poem was going to follow the story of the group of heroes, before Wanamo made Terra the focus, and ended up dropping the themes of the other heroes due to length. [10] The Final Fantasy X piano concerto was arranged by Hamauzu not to tell the story of the game, but to express the "continuum" of the series through the lens of the game. While inspired by the game's story, Hamauzu also drew inspiration from the rest of the franchise to make the concerto more than "a series of separate scenes and stories". [9] He feels that a hallmark of Böcker's concerts is that they are not limited to directly translating the original works, but instead tie them to a wider creative process. [11] Valtonen created the three movements of the Final Fantasy VII symphony to show three aspects of the game's setting. The first movement, "Nibelheim Incident", follows the villain Sephiroth in his journey through the game; the second, "Words Drowned by Fireworks", explores the relationship between Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, and Tifa Lockhart; while the third movement, "The Planet's Crisis", depicts the final clash between Cloud and Sephiroth. [9] He tried to "bring out both the darkest moments as well as the heart" of the game. [5]

Performances

Performances
DateCityCountryVenueOrchestraConcerts
May 11, 2013 Wuppertal GermanyHistorische Stadthalle WuppertalWuppertal Symphony Orchestra2
May 30, 2013 London EnglandBarbican CentreLondon Symphony Orchestra1
May 4, 2014 Tokyo JapanTokyo Bunka KaikanTokyo Philharmonic Orchestra2
May 9, 2014 Aarhus DenmarkMusikhusetAarhus Symphony Orchestra1
June 18, 2014 Stockholm SwedenKonserthusetRoyal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra1
September 12, 2014 Tampere Finland Tampere HallTampere Philharmonic Orchestra1
May 7, 2016 Amsterdam Netherlands Concertgebouw AmsterdamNetherlands Philharmonic Orchestra1
July 21, 2016 San Diego United StatesCopley Symphony HallSan Diego Symphony Orchestra1
July 23, 2016 Baltimore United StatesMeyerhoff Symphony HallBaltimore Symphony Orchestra1
July 27, 2016 San Francisco United StatesDavies Symphony HallSan Francisco Symphony1
October 21–22, 2016 Auckland New ZealandASB Theatre, Aotea CentreAuckland Philharmonia Orchestra2
November 22–23, 2017 Hong Kong ChinaHK Cultural Centre Concert HallHong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra2
March 2, 2018 Hamburg GermanyLaeiszhalle HamburgFilmorchester Babelsberg1
March 4, 2018 Berlin GermanyBerliner PhilharmonieFilmorchester Babelsberg1
March 14, 2018 Munich GermanyPhilharmonie MunichFilmorchester Babelsberg1
March 17, 2018 Vienna AustriaKonzerthaus ViennaFilmorchester Babelsberg1
September 28–29, 2018 Melbourne AustraliaHamer Hall, MelbourneMelbourne Symphony Orchestra2
April 16, 2023 Birmingham United KingdomSymphony Hall BirminghamCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra1
June 4, 2023 Newcastle United Kingdom Sage Gateshead Royal Northern Sinfonia 1
September 20, 2023 Stuttgart Germany Theaterhaus Stuttgart Stuttgarter Philharmoniker 1
October 14, 2023 Wrocław Poland National Forum of Music NFM Wrocław Philharmonic1
April 4–5, 2024 Malmö SwedenMalmö Live Konserthus Malmö Symphony Orchestra 2
November 8, 2024 Edinburgh Scotland Usher Hall Royal Scottish National Orchestra 1
November 9, 2024 Glasgow Scotland Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Royal Scottish National Orchestra1

The first performance of Final Symphony was in Wuppertal, Germany at the Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal on May 11, 2013. The concert was held twice that day, performed by the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, and was conducted by Eckehard Stier, who had previously conducted for Symphonic Fantasies in Tokyo. It featured Benyamin Nuss, who had also performed in Symphonic Fantasies, on piano for the Final Fantasy X piano concerto. [9] [12] The concert was performed again on May 30 at the Barbican Centre in London, England by the London Symphony Orchestra. It was the first concert of video game music by the orchestra. [13] Stier and Nuss repeated their performances from the premier. [12] The following year, the concert was presented in four more locations. Stier conducted for all four performances, while Katharina Treutler replaced Nuss for the Tokyo, Aarhus, and Stockholm concerts, and Mischa Cheung performed in Tampere. [14] [15] [16] [17] The arrangements were slightly modified for the 2014 performances, and a new encore piece, "Suteki da ne", was performed at the Tampere concert. [18] [19]

The Tokyo concert was the first video game music concert in Japan to receive a standing ovation, according to Merregnon Studios. [14] It was described by both Dengeki Online and Famitsu as magnificent, with a bold and refreshing style that was met with "thunderous applause". [20] [21] The London performance was also praised by critics; Joe Hammond of Video Game Music Online, Ed Williams of The 405, and Mariusz Borkowski of Gamemusic.pl all praised the concert for its powerful performance as both video game and classical music, and Audun Sorlie of Original Sound Version noted the fierce applause and standing ovations at both the London and Wuppertal performances. [22] [23] [24] [25] In 2016, Final Symphony made its North American debut. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi was present for concert and audience Q&A sessions at the California shows, the concert in San Francisco boasted a crowd of over 2,700 and made it the largest ever audience for a single performance produced by Merregnon Studios. [26]

Parts of the Final Symphony programme have been presented over the years by various orchestras, such as by the Munich Radio Orchestra at the Prince Regent Theatre Munich, the London Symphony Orchestra at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen at the Stadthalle Reutlingen and the Dortmunder Philharmoniker at the Theater Dortmund. This approach was continued in Böcker's later production Symphonic Memories – Music from Square Enix, which premiered in 2018 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the Konserthuset Stockholm and has since been performed by the Oulu Symphony Orchestra at the Oulu Music Centre, the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra at the Tonhalle St. Gallen, the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra at Culttz Kawasaki and the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz at the Pfalzbau Ludwigshafen. [27]

Set list

Set list
#SuiteOriginal pieces
1."Fantasy Overture – Circle within a circle within a circle"—
2."Final Fantasy VI – Symphonic Poem (Born with the Gift of Magic)""Overture", "Terra's Theme", "The Gestahl Empire", "Kefka", "Esper World", "Metamorphosis", "Omen", "Battle", "The Unforgiven", "Save Them!", "Dancing Mad" [28]
3."Final Fantasy X – Piano Concerto" (I. Zanarkand, II. Inori, III. Kessen)"Zanarkand", "Besaid", "Hymn of the Fayth", "The Sending" (2014–present performances), "Thunder Plains", "Yuna's Decision", "Assault", "Final Battle" [29]
4."Encore: Suteki da ne" (2014–present performances)"Suteki da ne" [19]
5."Final Fantasy VII – Symphony in Three Movements" (I. Nibelheim Incident, II. Words Drowned by Fireworks, III. The Planet's Crisis)"Those Chosen By the Planet", "One-Winged Angel", "Opening", "Prelude", "Who...Am I?", "J-E-N-O-V-A", "Trail of Blood", "Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII", "Aerith's Theme", "Tifa's Theme", "Words Drowned by Fireworks", "Cid's Theme", "Countdown", "The Great Warrior", "Jenova Complete", "Lifestream", "The Planet's Crisis" [30]
6."Encore: Continue?""Prelude", "Continue", "Anxious Heart" [19]
7."Encore: Fight, Fight, Fight!""Battle to the Death", "Those Who Fight Further", "The Decisive Battle", "Otherworld", "Mog's Theme" (2013 performances only) [19]

Album

Final Symphony
Final-Symphony-album.jpg
Studio album by
London Symphony Orchestra, Katharina Treutler
ReleasedFebruary 23, 2015
RecordedDecember 15–17, 2014
Genre Classical, Video game music
Length1:34:30
Label X5 Music Group
Producer Thomas Böcker

In December 2014, Merregnon Studios produced an album for the concert. Unlike prior Merregnon Studios concert albums, the Final Symphony album did not record of one of the performances but was instead a studio recording of the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, produced especially for the album. [31] The version of the concert recorded was the one used in the final performance in Tampere, rather than the one originally performed by the London Symphony Orchestra in 2013. [19] The performance was recorded on December 15–17, was conducted by Eckehard Stier, and featured a piano performance by Katharina Treutler. [32] [31] Nobuo Uematsu supervised the production of the album. [31] The album was published by X5 Music Group, who had previously published the Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo (2012) album for Merregnon Studios. [33] It was released as a digital album on February 23, 2015, while a preview of the album was performed on British radio station Classic FM on February 21. [34] Prior to the album's release, the only available recording of the concert was a video of the Stockholm performance of the Final Fantasy VI symphonic poem by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, released on their website on October 10, 2014. [35] A physical version of the album was released on Blu-ray on September 16, 2015. [36] A promotional mini-album was released on April 23, 2015, containing the Final Fantasy VI symphonic poem, and one part each from the Final Fantasy VII and X sections of the concert. In December 2016, Laced Records released the Final Symphony album on double CD and triple vinyl, as well as a double album combination with the Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo album. [37] The Final Symphony album was re-released as a lossless digital album on Bandcamp for streaming and download on January 1, 2021. [38]

The album was highly praised by critics. Stephen Meyerink of RPGFan described it as "the absolute top of the mountain in the world of video game music arrangement". He claimed that the "complexity and passion" of the concert could be appreciated by any music fan, but urged even mild fans of the source material to immediately buy the album. He praised the album's production values, saying that it was the closest a listener could get to the live performances from their home. [39] Joe Hammond of Video Game Music Online also enthusiastically praised the album, declaring it not only the best album Merregnon Studios had ever produced but also "one of the best video game music albums ever made". He noted both the complexity and quality of the arrangements, calling them out as superior to the ones in Symphonic Fantasies and Symphonic Odysseys due to their narrow focus, as well as the "world class" performance of the London Symphony Orchestra on the recording. [19] Classic FM noted the album as a "spectacular arrangement" that they compared to the best of film music while naming it their album of the week. [40] The Final Symphony album reached the top position on the iTunes Classical Charts in over ten countries, as well as the top five classical albums on the Billboard charts and the Official UK Charts. [9]

Final Symphony
#Track nameArrangerComposerLength
1."Fantasy Overture (Circle within a Circle within a Circle)"—Jonne Valtonen4:08
2."Final Fantasy VI (Symphonic Poem: Born with the Gift of Magic)"Roger WanamoNobuo Uematsu18:07
3."Final Fantasy X (Piano Concerto): I. Zanarkand"Masashi HamauzuHamauzu, Uematsu8:17
4."Final Fantasy X (Piano Concerto): II. Inori"HamauzuHamauzu, Uematsu6:36
5."Final Fantasy X (Piano Concerto): III. Kessen"HamauzuHamauzu, Uematsu4:21
6."Encore: Final Fantasy X (Suteki da ne)"WanamoUematsu3:43
7."Final Fantasy VII (Symphony in Three Movements): I. Nibelheim Incident"ValtonenUematsu13:42
8."Final Fantasy VII (Symphony in Three Movements): II. Words Drowned by Fireworks"ValtonenUematsu13:38
9."Final Fantasy VII (Symphony in Three Movements): III. The Planet's Crisis"ValtonenUematsu14:06
10."Encore: Final Fantasy VII (Continue?)"ValtonenUematsu4:35
11."Encore: Final Fantasy Series (Fight, Fight, Fight!)"WanamoUematsu3:17

Legacy

Final Symphony was followed by Final Symphony II , a concert of music from Final Fantasy V , VIII , IX , and XIII . It features long arrangements like the Final Symphony concerts. The majority of the music was originally composed by Nobuo Uematsu, while the Final Fantasy XIII suite was originally composed by Masashi Hamauzu. [41] Valtonen created the arrangements for the Final Fantasy V section, Wanamo worked on the VIII and IX portions, and Hamauzu arranged his own compositions from XIII with orchestration by Valtonen. [3] The concert was performed at the Barbican Centre in London by the London Symphony Orchestra on September 12, 2015, and later an earlier performance on August 29 in Bonn, Germany by the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn. After the debut performances, the London Symphony Orchestra traveled to Japan to perform the concert there three times: in Osaka at the Festival Hall on September 27, and twice in Yokohama at the Minato Mirai Hall on October 4. [42] 2016 performances of the concert included a concert on April 1 at the Tampere Hall in Tampere, Finland by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, and a June 9 concert by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the Konserthuset in Stockholm, Sweden. [43] Two concerts were performed in 2019, with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra on 5 July at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and one day later by the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra at the Philharmonic Hall in Essen. [44]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobuo Uematsu</span> Japanese composer and keyboardist (born 1959)

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the Final Fantasy video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton John as one of his biggest influences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masashi Hamauzu</span> Japanese composer and pianist (born 1971)

Masashi Hamauzu is a Japanese composer, pianist, and lyricist. Hamauzu, who was employed at Square Enix from 1996 to 2010, was best known during that time for his work on the Final Fantasy and SaGa video game series. Born into a musical family in Germany, Hamauzu was raised in Japan. He became interested in music while in kindergarten, and took piano lessons from his parents.

Merregnon is a series of works that blend orchestral music with fantasy fiction. Since its inception in 1999, the project has produced several albums and live concert performances. The third part is Merregnon: Land of Silence, which premiered in 2021 by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The forthcoming fourth entry, Merregnon: Heart of Ice, is scheduled for its debut presentation in 2024, featuring the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. All projects are created, directed and produced by Merregnon Studios founder Thomas Böcker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphonic Game Music Concerts</span>

The Symphonic Game Music Concerts are a series of award-winning orchestral video game music concerts first performed in 2003 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, notable for being the longest running and the first of their kind outside Japan. They are produced by Thomas Böcker and performed by various orchestras conducted by Andy Brick (2003–2007), Arnie Roth, Niklas Willén and Eckehard Stier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonne Valtonen</span> Musical artist

Jonne Valtonen is a Finnish composer, arranger and orchestrator. He is renowned for his contributions in the field of demoscene and tracker music, under the name Purple Motion, and with Future Crew.

Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. The series began in 1987 as an eponymous role-playing video game developed by Square, spawning a video game series that became the central focus of the franchise. The music of the Final Fantasy series refers to the soundtracks of the Final Fantasy series of video games, as well as the surrounding medley of soundtrack, arranged, and compilation albums. The series' music ranges from very light background music to emotionally intense interweavings of character and situation leitmotifs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirō Hamaguchi</span> Japanese anime composer, arranger and orchestrator

Shirō Hamaguchi is a Japanese anime composer, arranger and orchestrator. He is best known for composing music to the anime franchises Girls und Panzer, One Piece, and Oh My Goddess! and arranging/orchestrating music in the Final Fantasy series. He frequently collaborates with fellow composers Kohei Tanaka and Akifumi Tada on anime scores.

The music of the video game Final Fantasy X was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu, along with Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano. It was the first title in the main Final Fantasy series in which Uematsu was not the sole composer. The Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack was released on four Compact Discs in 2001 by DigiCube, and was re-released in 2004 by Square Enix. Prior to the album's North American release, a reduced version entitled Final Fantasy X Official Soundtrack was released on a single disk by Tokyopop in 2002. An EP entitled feel/Go dream: Yuna & Tidus containing additional singles not present in the game was released by DigiCube in 2001. Piano Collections Final Fantasy X, a collection of piano arrangements of the original soundtracks by Masashi Hamauzu and performed by Aki Kuroda, was released by DigiCube in 2002 and re-released by Square EA in 2004. A collection of vocal arrangements of pieces from the game arranged by Katsumi Suyama along with radio drama tracks was released as Final Fantasy X Vocal Collection in 2002 by DigiCube.

Music of <i>Chrono Trigger</i> Music of the video game Chrono Trigger

The Chrono series is a video game franchise developed and published by Square Enix. It began in 1995 with the time travel role-playing video game Chrono Trigger, which spawned two continuations, Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross. The music of Chrono Trigger was mainly composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, with a few tracks composed by regular Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Chrono Trigger soundtrack has inspired four official album releases by Square Enix: a soundtrack album released by NTT Publishing in 1995 and re-released in 2004, a greatest hits album published by DigiCube in 1999, published in abbreviated form by Tokyopop in 2001, and republished by Square Enix in 2005, an acid jazz arrangement album published and republished by NTT Publishing in 1995 and 2004, and a 2008 orchestral arranged album by Square Enix. Corresponding with the Nintendo DS release of the game, a reissued soundtrack was released in 2009. An arranged album for Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, entitled To Far Away Times, was released in 2015 to commemorate the 20 year anniversary of Chrono Trigger.

Final Fantasy VII is a role-playing video game by Square as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. Released in 1997, the game sparked the release of a collection of media centered on the game entitled the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. The music of the Final Fantasy VII series includes not only the soundtrack to the original game and its associated albums, but also the soundtracks and music albums released for the other titles in the collection. The first album produced was Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack, a compilation of all the music in the game. It was released as a soundtrack album on four CDs by DigiCube in 1997. A selection of tracks from the album was released in the single-disc Reunion Tracks by DigiCube the same year. Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII, an album featuring piano arrangements of pieces from the soundtrack, was released in 2003 by DigiCube, and Square Enix began reprinting all three albums in 2004. To date, these are the only released albums based on the original game's soundtrack, and were solely composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu; his role for the majority of subsequent albums has been filled by Masashi Hamauzu and Takeharu Ishimoto.

The music of the video games Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu, who would go on to be the exclusive composer for the next seven Final Fantasy games. Although they were composed separately, music from the two games has only been released together. All Sounds of Final Fantasy I•II, a compilation of almost all of the music in the games, was released by DataM/Polystar in 1989, and subsequently re-released by NTT Publishing in 1994. Symphonic Suite Final Fantasy, an arranged album of music from the two games by Katsuhisa Hattori and his son Takayuki Hattori was released by DataM in 1989, and re-released by NTT Publishing/Polystar in 1994. Final Fantasy & Final Fantasy II Original Soundtrack, another arranged album, this time by Nobuo Uematsu and Tsuyoshi Sekito, was released in 2002 by DigiCube and again in 2004 by Square Enix.

Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. The original Final Fantasy video game, published in 1987, is a role-playing video game developed by Square, spawning a video game series that became the central focus of the franchise. The primary composer of music for the main series was Nobuo Uematsu, who single-handedly composed the soundtracks for the first nine games, as well as directing the production of many of the soundtrack albums. Music for the spin-off series and main series games beginning with Final Fantasy X was created by a variety of composers including Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta, Hitoshi Sakimoto, and Kumi Tanioka, as well as many others.

Benyamin Nuss is a German pianist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Böcker</span>

Thomas Böcker is a German producer. He is the founder of Merregnon Studios and creative director of his orchestral music projects Merregnon and Game Concerts.

Symphonic Shades: Hülsbeck in Concert was a symphonic tribute concert held twice in Cologne, Germany on 23 August 2008 featuring video game music. The concert was held in honor of the German-born video-game composer Chris Hülsbeck, and featured orchestral arrangements exclusively based on Hülsbeck's works throughout his 22-year-long career. The concert was produced and directed by Thomas Böcker, with the majority of arrangements provided by Finnish composer and musician Jonne Valtonen, and with contributions by Japanese video-game composers Yuzo Koshiro, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, and additional assistance from Adam Klemens.

<i>Symphonic Fantasies</i> Concert tour of music from four Square Enix video game series

Symphonic Fantasies: Music from Square Enix was an award-winning symphonic tribute concert originally held in Cologne, Germany on September 12, 2009, at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall featuring video game music from Japanese game developer Square Enix. The concert featured symphonic movements based on the Kingdom Hearts series, Secret of Mana, the Chrono series, and the Final Fantasy series. It was produced and directed by Thomas Böcker, with arrangements provided by Finnish composer and musician Jonne Valtonen with assistance by Roger Wanamo. Due to overwhelming demand, a second concert was added at the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen, on September 11, 2009. Both performances were by the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne and the WDR Radio Choir Cologne under conduction from Arnie Roth, with guest performers Rony Barrak and Benyamin Nuss joining the orchestra. Symphonic Fantasies was broadcast over radio on the WDR4 station and streamed live video online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphonic Legends – Music from Nintendo</span> 2010 symphonic concert of Nintendo video game music

Symphonic Legends – Music from Nintendo was a symphonic tribute concert held in Cologne, Germany on 23 September 2010 by the WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln, featuring video game music from Japanese game developer Nintendo. The concert featured symphonic arrangements found in some of Nintendo's biggest game series, such as Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Pikmin, F-Zero and Donkey Kong. The concert was produced and directed by Thomas Böcker, with arrangements provided by Finnish composers and musicians Jonne Valtonen and Roger Wanamo, as well as Japanese game music composers Masashi Hamauzu, Hayato Matsuo, Shiro Hamaguchi and German film composer Torsten Rasch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merregnon Studios</span>

Merregnon Studios is a company based in Dresden, Germany, founded by Thomas Böcker. It produces recordings and concerts worldwide, including the orchestral Merregnon and Game Concerts series.

<i>Symphonic Odysseys</i> Concert of music from video games by Nobuo Uematsu

Symphonic Odysseys: Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu was a symphonic tribute concert first held in Cologne, Germany on July 9, 2011 at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall. The concert exclusively paid homage to the work of Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu and featured music selected from his works as a video game music composer. Among the games featured were Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Last Story, King's Knight, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy Legend, and selected works from the Final Fantasy series. The concert was produced and directed by Thomas Böcker, with arrangements provided by Finnish composer and musician Jonne Valtonen, along with Roger Wanamo, Masashi Hamauzu, and Jani Laaksonen. The concert was performed by the WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln and the WDR Radio Choir Cologne under conduction from Arnie Roth, with guest performers Benyamin Nuss and Juraj Čižmarovič joining the orchestra. A video recording of Symphonic Odysseys was streamed live online. The concert was initially scheduled for a single performance, but after selling out within twelve hours a second concert was added prior in the same day in Cologne. This too sold out, resulting in a total attendance of over 4000.

<i>Final Symphony II</i> Concert tour of music from the Final Fantasy video game series

Final Symphony II is a symphonic concert tour first held at the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Germany on August 29, 2015. The concert performances feature arrangements of video game music selected from the Final Fantasy series, specifically Final Fantasy V, VIII, IX, and XIII. It is divided into four acts, one per game, with the newest game, Final Fantasy XIII, first, and the oldest, V, last; all four arrangements are single-section arrangements, with the IX portion as a piano concerto. The tour is a follow-up to Final Symphony, a similar tour of orchestral arrangement performances from Final Fantasy VI, VII, and X beginning in 2013. The concert is produced and directed by Thomas Böcker of Merregnon Studios, with arrangements provided by Finnish composer and musician Jonne Valtonen, along with Roger Wanamo and Final Fantasy XIII composer Masashi Hamauzu. The original works were composed by Nobuo Uematsu and Hamauzu, and an introductory piece was composed by Valtonen. The premiere concert was performed by the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn under conduction from Eckehard Stier, with guest performer Mischa Cheung joining the orchestra on piano.

References

  1. ↑ Tony (2011-06-01). "Interview with Thomas Böcker". JPGames.de. Archived from the original on 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Greening, Chris (2012-05-08). "Thomas Boecker Interview: The Final Symphony". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  3. 1 2 3 Greening, Chris (2015-03-27). "Thomas Boecker Interview: Why Final Symphony Isn't the End". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  4. ↑ Sorlie, Audun (2012-08-24). "5 Quick Questions: Final Symphony (Thomas Böcker)". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  5. 1 2 3 Sorlie, Audun (2013-06-02). "Symphonic Memories: Tales of Merregnon Studios (Part 4)". Gamasutra . UBM plc . Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  6. ↑ Barros, Alexei (2015-02-23). "Interview with Thomas Boecker, game concert producer in Germany (part 2 of 2)". Hadouken. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  7. 1 2 Meyerink, Thomas (2015-02-11). "Thomas Böcker on Spielemusikkonzerte & Final Symphony". RPGFan. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  8. 1 2 Barros, Alexei (2015-02-16). "Interview with Thomas Boecker, game concert producer in Germany (part 1 of 2)". Hadouken. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Final Symphony - Game Concerts". Merregnon Studios. Archived from the original on 2016-08-01. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  10. ↑ Corn, Adam (2014-11-13). "Roger Wanamo Talks Final Fantasy VI Symphonic Poem". Soundtrack Central. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  11. ↑ Hamauzu, Masashi (2014-04-15). Greening, Chris (ed.). "Guest article: Masashi Hamauzu writes about Final Symphony". Translated by Wollny, Andreas. Merregnon Studios . Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  12. 1 2 "Final Symphony - Featuring music from Final Fantasy VI, VII, and X". Merregnon Studios. Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  13. ↑ Sheridan, Connor (2013-02-07). "Final Fantasy performance by London Symphony Orchestra in May". GamesRadar . Future plc . Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  14. 1 2 "Latest impressions from Japan: with Final Symphony Tokyo". Merregnon Studios. 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  15. ↑ "The journey continues: with Final Symphony in Aarhus". Merregnon Studios. 2014-05-10. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  16. ↑ "Back to Sweden: Final Symphony in Stockholm". Merregnon Studios. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  17. ↑ "Finale in Finland: Final Symphony Tampere". Merregnon Studios. 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  18. ↑ Bocker, Thomas (2014-03-29). "Final Fantasy kommer til Aarhus" [Final Fantasy comes to Aarhus]. Gamereactor (in Danish). Gamez Publishing. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hammond, Joe (2015-02-23). "Final Symphony". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  20. ↑ 『FF』の名曲をオーケストラで体感！"Final Symphony Tokyo music from Final Fantasy VI，VII and X"レポート [Experience the masterpiece of "FF" in an orchestra! "Final Symphony Tokyo music from Final Fantasy VI, VII and X" report]. Dengeki Online (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. 2014-05-07. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  21. ↑ 『FFVI』、『VII』、『X』の名曲の数々が交響曲にアレンジ！Final Symphony Tokyo公演が開催 [Many famous songs of "FFVI", "VII", and "X" are arranged into symphonies! Final Symphony Tokyo performance held]. Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  22. ↑ Hammond, Joe (2013-05-30). "Final Symphony: London, May 2013". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  23. ↑ Williams, Ed (2013-06-10). "Final Symphony". The 405. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  24. ↑ Borkowski, Mariusz (2013-06-05). "Obszerne sprawozdanie z koncertu Final Symphony: 30.05.2013 Londyn" [Extensive report from the Final Symphony concert: May 30, 2013 London] (in Polish). Gamemusic.pl. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  25. ↑ Sorlie, Audun (2013-06-03). "As I Say Goodbye: Final Symphony Report". Original Sound Version. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  26. ↑ "Final Symphony storms to success in the States". Spielemusikkonzerte. 2016-08-02. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  27. ↑ "Milestones". Merregnon Studios. Archived from the original on 2016-12-10. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  28. ↑ Huynh, Christopher (2015-03-06). "Final Fantasy VI Symphonic Poem Listener's Guide". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  29. ↑ Huynh, Christopher (2015-03-12). "Final Fantasy X Piano Concerto Listener's Guide". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  30. ↑ Huynh, Christopher (2015-03-19). "Final Fantasy VII Symphony Listener's Guide". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  31. 1 2 3 Greening, Chris (2014-12-13). "Final Symphony digital album being recorded with London Symphony". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on 2015-03-29. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  32. ↑ "Milestones - Game Concerts". Merregnon Studios . Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  33. ↑ "Nobuo Uematsu heads to Abbey Road to record Final Symphony". Merregnon Studios. 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  34. ↑ "Final Symphony world premiere performance on Classic FM". Merregnon Studios. 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  35. ↑ "Video recording of Final Fantasy VI performance online". Merregnon Studios. 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  36. ↑ "Final Symphony audio Blu-ray to launch this September". Merregnon Studios. 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
  37. ↑ Paquet, Ryan (2016-11-04). "Final Symphony and Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo Coming From Laced Records". Original Sound Version. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  38. ↑ "Final Symphony – music from Final Fantasy VI, VII and X". Bandcamp . Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  39. ↑ Meyerink, Stephen (2015-02-14). "Final Symphony". RPGFan. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  40. ↑ "Final Symphony - Music From Final Fantasy VI, VII and X: London Symphony Orchestra". Classic FM . Global Radio. 2015-03-02. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  41. ↑ Greening, Chris (2015-03-19). "Final Symphony II concert coming to London in September". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  42. ↑ Greening, Chris (2015-05-29). "London Symphony to perform Final Symphony II in Japan". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on 2015-06-29. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  43. ↑ Greening, Chris (2015-10-10). "Final Symphonies coming to New Zealand, Netherlands, Finland". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on 2015-11-22. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  44. ↑ "Event overview: Game Concerts announced for 2019". Game Concerts. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.