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. [1] [2] [3] The two most recent installments, Merregnon: Land of Silence and Merregnon: Heart of Ice, were premiered in 2021 and 2024 respectively, with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. [4] All projects are created, directed and produced by Merregnon Studios founder Thomas Böcker. [5] [6]
Merregnon productions have drawn in numerous musical collaborators known for their work in video games, such as Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, Chris Hülsbeck, and Yuzo Koshiro. [1] [3]
Merregnon: Heart of Ice, which features an original score composed by Nobuo Uematsu, was first announced on April 20, 2023. [7] The world premiere took place on February 29, 2024, in Ludwigshafen, Germany, with the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz presenting the music. Eckehard Stier, who has already led several concerts with music from video games, served as the conductor for this performance. The project also brings together the talents of children's author Frauke Angel and director Julien Chheng, who is in charge of the design of the characters. Merregnon: Heart of Ice is the first orchestral work Uematsu wrote for a concert hall. [8]
In the icy world of Merregnon, Kjugo, a wooden robot, and Beru, a dog, embark on a quest to find Kjugo's creator, Nuobi, who has been kidnapped by the sinister Ice Wind Dancer, Goyakai. Their journey through the realm of eternal frost is fraught with danger as they face off against the menacing Goyakai.
In a final battle, Kjugo's pure soul challenges Goyakai's freezing grip on the land. After Goyakai's defeat, Nuobi is freed from his icy imprisonment. The adventure of Kjugo and Beru revives Merregnon and fills the land once again with laughter and joy. [9]
Merregnon: Heart of Ice was called "a thrilling adventure with high drama and a fulminant battle for humanity" by the German daily newspaper Die Rheinpfalz . Writer Ulrike Dansauer, who attended the premiere, praised the project's appeal to a wide audience: "The story is very popular with young audiences: devout listening from even the youngest children, closed eyes from adults, completely absorbed in the tale." [10] Thomas Nickel, writer for German gaming magazine M!Games, echoed this sentiment, stating: "Despite the late hour, the younger visitors are just as fascinated as the older ones". He found the style of Merregnon: Heart of Ice to be reminiscent of the early Final Fantasy soundtracks, but "fresh and original", and commented that "the joy of the music and composition is very evident". In his view, the way the compositions speak for themselves is "excellent": "They don't need to support graphics and game systems, it's entirely up to them to convey drama and characters". [11]
Merregnon: Land of Silence features original music by Yoko Shimomura and a story by children's author Frauke Angel. [1] For Shimomura, it is the first concert work of her career. [12] The symphonic fairy tale in arrangements by Yasunori Nishiki and Jonne Valtonen was created to introduce families and younger audiences to orchestral music in the tradition of Saint-Saëns' The Carnival of the Animals and Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf . [1] [13] Lightly animated illustrations of characters and plot points accompany the music and narration. Conducted by Andreas Hanson, the work was first performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and filmed at the Stockholm Concert Hall in June 2021. In September of the same year, the video was made available free-to-view on the orchestra's website. [14] [15] Since 2022, performances take place worldwide, with orchestras such as the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. [1]
While Merregnon: Land of Silence has an educational background, Böcker is particularly concerned with the entertainment aspect, one reason why the project draws on the aesthetics of video games and anime to appeal to a modern audience. Shimomura believes that those efforts are helping to "tackle some of the misconceptions around classical music." [13] In Böcker's view, the story is a symphonic fairy tale of "courage, perseverance, solidarity and above all, freedom." [14]
The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra has made available a further six videos in which Shimomura talks about her ideas and her approach to working on the respective themes for the characters in the story. [14]
In the desolate, grey world of Merregnon, orphan Miru and her dog Mako discover a wounded bird, Ikari, who leads them on an adventure to the north. Intrigued by Ikari's tales of a lush region ruled by the warrior Skissor and his captive dragon Yamakito, they set off with Miru's friend Hikito, fueled by dragon tree syrup.
Upon reaching their destination, they find Yamakito, a miserable dragon guarding Paradise, and confront Skissor, who tries to drive them away. With Ikari's help, Yamakito breaks free and his triumphant song defeats Skissor, uniting the land and ending Merregnon's long silence.
Date | City | Country | Venue | Orchestra | Concerts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 10, 2021 | Stockholm | Sweden | Stockholm Concert Hall | Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra | Video premiere |
September 17, 2022 | Recklinghausen | Germany | Festspielhaus Recklinghausen | Neue Philharmonie Westfalen | 1 |
September 25, 2022 | Gelsenkirchen | Germany | Musiktheater Gelsenkirchen | Neue Philharmonie Westfalen | 1 |
November 22-23, 2022 | Lausanne | Switzerland | Salle Métropole Lausanne | Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne | 3 |
March 5, 2023 | Jena | Germany | Volkshaus Jena | Jenaer Philharmonie | 1 |
March 7-11, 2023 | Stockholm | Sweden | Stockholm Concert Hall | Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra | 13 |
March 17-18, 2023 | Hong Kong | China | Tuen Mun Hal Hong Kong | Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra | 2 |
April 20-23, 2023 | Ludwigshafen | Germany | Feierabendhaus Ludwigshafen | Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz | 4 |
June 1, 2023 | Shanghai | China | Symphony Hall Shanghai | Shanghai Symphony Orchestra | 2 |
July 1, 2023 | Chautauqua, New York | United States | Amphitheater, Chautauqua, N. Y. | Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra | 1 |
April 23, 2024 | Eindhoven | Netherlands | Muziekgebouw Eindhoven | South Netherlands Philharmonic | 1 |
April 24, 2024 | Tilburg | Netherlands | Concertzaal Tilburg | South Netherlands Philharmonic | 1 |
April 25, 2024 | Venlo | Netherlands | De Maaspoort Theater Venlo | South Netherlands Philharmonic | 1 |
April 26, 2024 | Kerkrade | Netherlands | Theater Kerkrade | South Netherlands Philharmonic | 1 |
Merregnon: Land of Silence was described as a "symphonic anime" by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . [15] Deutschlandfunk spoke with Böcker in a radio feature entitled "Music education with a video game composer", [16] and Klassik Radio elaborated on the fact that Merregnon: Land of Silence is intended to introduce children playfully to the orchestral world, on an "enchanting adventure journey" in a "symphonic anime fairy tale for the entire family." [17] Böcker was invited to write a guest article for Gramophone about orchestral music and its power to inspire audiences young and old. In it, he emphasises the importance of a family concert that "entertains and promotes immersion", because according to him, "it awakens an enthusiasm that leads to spontaneous engagement with the subject, without any finger-wagging or other overtly educational components." [5] In an extensive article on Wired , Shimomura and Böcker were joined by Stefan Forsberg, executive director of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Forsberg points out that music by game composers is "a part of the daily lives of so many people around the world", and the author notes that Merregnon: Land of Silence could provide "a welcome hand for struggling concert halls." [13] In a webinar hosted by the German Embassy in Tokyo, Shimomura, Böcker, and Angel talked about the process leading up to the concert Merregnon: Land of Silence. [18]
In 1999, Böcker's interest in game music prompted him to approach composers around the world and invite them to collaborate on his original Merregnon CDs. [13] [19] Merregnon, Volume 1 was released in 2000, distributed by synSoniq Records, featuring orchestral music and narration, as well as an accompanying booklet with text and illustrations. [20] Music from Merregnon, Volume 2 premiered at the first ever Symphonic Game Music Concert outside Japan in Leipzig, Germany, also produced by Böcker, [21] [22] before the full work was released one year later in 2004 by Totentanz Records, distributed by SoulFood / Sony Music . [23] In 2005, Merregnon, Volume 2 was published in the Japanese market by Dex Entertainment, distributed by Sony Music Japan . [24]
Merregnon, Volume 1 used almost no live instrument recordings for its soundtrack, while Merregnon, Volume 2 featured 74 orchestra musicians. For most of the composers, this was new territory, so the project's music director for the second volume, Andy Brick, had to ensure that "everyone delivered a score that the orchestra could properly perform." Brick states that synthesizers and samplers, as in volume 1, "can do a lot that you just can't do with real instruments." His task was to help the composers transfer their sound visions to the orchestra. [25] Volume 1 and 2's principal composer, Fabian Del Priore, who developed many of the musical themes, confirmed that it gave him "a lot of experience in orchestration, notation and score writing." [26]
Both albums were highly praised by critics. The first CD was commended for its appeal in that it "impressively shows how pompous melodies and complex themes are able to attract especially young people", according to the German magazine Amiga Plus. The website Epic Sound noted that Merregnon "brings together some of the brightest young talents in the composing world" and Music4Games attested that the project "sets new standards in the world of videogame music." German gaming network Krawall found that "hardly has any music CD ever succeeded in creating such opulent pictures in the mental eye." A verdict that PC Joker joined in its review: "This disc is a hit!" [27]
The second CD received much acclaim as well, with the gaming website DemoNews writing that it was "simply breath-taking", magazine Nautilus admiring its professionalism and going on to say that "fans of the music from big silver screen epics will find a new treasure in Merregnon 2." MacLife went on to report "game music of Hollywood quality", while music magazine Astan, in addition to praising the music ("sounding like an epos to one of the big movies, like Troy and Gladiator"), described the booklet as "luxurious" and "simply beautiful and expensively designed." This was echoed by MangasZene ("a lovingly designed booklet"), additionally highlighting the "first rate music." [28] The German gaming website 4Players dedicated a large special to Merregnon 2 over several months, where various interviews were conducted with Böcker and the composers. [29]
According to Böcker, working on the two Merregnon albums was a "hallmark moment" that eventually led to the development and production of his Game Concerts series. [13]
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.
Yoko Shimomura is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games such as the Kingdom Hearts series. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several games there, including Final Fight, Street Fighter II, and The King of Dragons.
Christopher Hülsbeck, known internationally as Chris Huelsbeck, is a German video game music composer. He gained popularity for his work on game soundtracks for The Great Giana Sisters and the Turrican series.
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.
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.
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 composed primarily 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 game Final Fantasy VI was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Final Fantasy VI Original Sound Version, a compilation of all the music in the game, was released in Japan by NTT Publishing in 1994 and re-released by Square Enix in 2004. The album was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing in North America in 1994 under the name Kefka's Domain. Selected tracks from the official soundtrack were later released as part of the Music From FFV and FFVI Video Games album that was included with the release of Final Fantasy Anthology, and two EPs were produced containing character theme tracks entitled Final Fantasy VI Stars Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. A special orchestral arrangement of selected tracks from the game, arranged by Shiro Sagisu and Tsuneyoshi Saito, and performed by the Milan Symphony Orchestra, was released under the title Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale by NTT Publishing in 1994 and 2004, and a collection of piano arrangements, arranged by Shirou Satou and performed by Reiko Nomura, was released under the title Piano Collections Final Fantasy VI by Square/NTT Publishing in 1994 and by NTT Publishing in 2001. Additionally, a single containing unused and remixed tracks from the game was released as Final Fantasy VI Special Tracks by NTT Publishing in 1994.
PLAY! A Video Game Symphony was a concert series that featured music from video games performed by a live orchestra. The concerts from 2006 to 2010 were conducted by Arnie Roth. From 2010, Andy Brick took the position of principal conductor and music director. Play! was replaced by the Replay: Symphony of Heroes concert series.
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 eight 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.
Press Start -Symphony of Games- is a series of Japanese video game music concerts introduced in 2006. It was initiated by several industry professionals and is sponsored by the Japanese publishing company Enterbrain.
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.
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.
Symphonic Shades - Hülsbeck in Concert is an album featuring a mastered and mixed recording of the concert of the same name, held in Cologne, Germany at the Funkhaus Wallrafplatz on August 23, 2008. It features music composed by German video game composer Chris Hülsbeck, arranged and orchestrated by Jonne Valtonen, Yuzo Koshiro and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi. In addition to live recordings, the album also features new studio recordings of the piano piece Turrican 3, performed by Benyamin Nuss in his first collaborative effort with Merregnon Studios. The concert was also broadcast live on radio, marking the first time a video game concert has been broadcast on air.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.