Symphonic Fantasies

Last updated
Symphonic Fantasies: Music from Square Enix
Orchestral concert tour by Merregnon Studios
SymphonicFantasies-banner.png
Conductor Arnie Roth
Composers Jonne Valtonen, Nobuo Uematsu, Hiroki Kikuta, Yoko Shimomura, Yasunori Mitsuda
ArrangersJonne Valtonen, Roger Wanamo
Venue Cologne (Germany), Cologne Philharmonic Hall
Album recordingsSymphonic Fantasies (2010)
Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo (2012)
Start dateSeptember 11, 2009
End dateOctober 6, 2016
Supporting acts Benyamin Nuss, Rony Barrak
Producer Thomas Böcker (Merregnon Studios)
Merregnon Studios concert chronology

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.

Contents

In 2012, five new performances were scheduled, taking stage in Tokyo, Stockholm, and a reprise in Cologne. These performances featured slightly modified versions of the original arrangements, and like the original concerts, were sold out. Another performance was held in London in October 2016 by the London Symphony Orchestra. The original concert and the Tokyo concert both sparked the release of an album. These albums, along with the concerts themselves, were heavily praised, both for the quality of the performance and for the quality of Valtonen's arrangements, which overlaid themes from multiple pieces rather than relying on a traditional medley.

Concerts

Production

Thomas Böcker and then WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne director Winfried Fechner began collaborating on orchestrated video game concerts in 2007, after Fechner had attended the Fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert held in Leipzig. [1] As their ideas and plans materialized, three projects were set in motion to determine the interest of a younger audience in classical music performance and the aptitude of the WDR orchestra in focusing on a new source of compositions. The first project was PROMS: That's Sound, That's Rhythm, held in early 2008, featuring a mixture of classical works and video game music, ranging from works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Morton Gould as well as arrangements of music from video games such as Shenmue and Castlevania previously featured in the Symphonic Game Music Concerts. The second project, held in August 2008, was a composer specific concert titled Symphonic Shades - Hülsbeck in Concert , focusing entirely on the works of German video game composer Chris Hülsbeck. [2] After the concert, Fechner revealed in an interview the existence of the third project, saying that he and Böcker would be involved in another concert of video game music the following September. [3] The third project was to be a concert of music from one game company, focusing on multiple titles released by the same developer. [2] This company was later confirmed to be Square Enix when Fechner announced Symphonic Fantasies as a video game music concert to take place on September 12, 2009. A website was set up for announcements, interviews and other concert information. [4]

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

Böcker later explained that the decision to focus on Square Enix was made due to the large library of games to choose from, all of which he felt had a distinct sound, and many of which were very well known in Germany. An emphasis was put on balancing out the concert program and the arrangements, so that the music would appeal to first-time listeners, classical music fans, and longtime gamers. The titles chosen to be featured in the concert were Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II from the Kingdom Hearts series, Secret of Mana , Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross from the Chrono series, and the Final Fantasy series. In order to select the pieces presented, the original composers were consulted to assemble a list of their personal favorites. [2] The composers were Yoko Shimomura for the music of Kingdom Hearts, Hiroki Kikuta for the music of Secret of Mana, Yasunori Mitsuda for the music of Chrono Trigger and Cross, and Nobuo Uematsu for the music of the Final Fantasy series. [5]

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

For the concert, Jonne Valtonen returned as the lead arranger; he had previously been the arranger for video game music concerts since 2005, including Symphonic Shades. He was given complete freedom to arrange the music based on the general outline given to him by Böcker. Valtonen spent six months on the arrangements, during which Valtonen studied each song and referred to the composer's original intended expression. [2] No Japanese guest arrangers were used for this concert in order to maintain a unique European take on the source material, but Valtonen brought in former classmate and close friend Roger Wanamo to assist on the arrangement of the music from the Chrono games. [2] [6] This was Wanamo's first time arranging video game music. [6] On March 9, 2009, it was also announced that Valtonen had additionally been commissioned to compose an original fanfare to be played at the start of the concert, and with a video preview of his composition was released. [4]

The arrangements in the concert were structured as suites, dubbed "Fantasies", with multiple songs from each game series positioned and arranged together to tell melodic stories rather than using the conventional medley structure more commonly heard in video game music arrangements. [7] The fanfare, titled Fanfare Overture, was done in a style of traditional fanfares with some accentuated textures in order to introduce all the elements of the orchestra. The Kingdom Hearts suite featured seven songs from the two titles, and was arranged as a romantic piano concerto. [7] [8] Secret of Mana featured six songs featured in the original game. [7] The arrangement made use of notable unique techniques in order to replicate the atmosphere found in the original game; for example, the choir was used to create "sound effects" such as floor vibration by foot stomping and simulating distant rain with their voices. [8] The Chrono suite featured ten songs from Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. [7] The suite featured a "crossing" of melodies, in which multiple melodies would be layered on top of one another, resulting in different well-known themes performed simultaneously in harmony. [8] The Final Fantasy suite contained eight songs from the first seven titles in the series. Unlike the other suites, it featured a simpler structure, focusing more on each individual theme rather than overlapping multiple pieces. [7] This was due to a request by Uematsu that the arrangement remain similar to those of prior Final Fantasy concerts . [9]

Original performance

Symphonic Fantasies performers at the end of the September 12, 2009 concert Symphonicfantasies.jpg
Symphonic Fantasies performers at the end of the September 12, 2009 concert

The orchestra received about two weeks of rehearsal time prior to their performances, more than any other game concert before. [10] The concert was originally scheduled to be performed on September 12, 2009 in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall in Cologne, but once the tickets were sold out, a second performance was added for September 11, 2009 at the König Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen. Ticket sales for the initial concert began on January 17, and half of them were sold within a week, with the remainder sold by April 2, 2009. [4] The concert was preceded by a Meet and Greet session that included the original composers as well as the arrangement team and guest artists for the show. The concerts were performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and WDR Radio Choir Cologne, conducted by Arnie Roth. [5]

Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg
Kingdom Hearts suite sample
Sample of the introduction of the Kingdom Hearts suite, featuring Benyamin Nuss on the piano.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Before each suite, the moderator would introduce the upcoming musical piece, as well as introduce the composer in attendance. Each "Fantasy" lasted for more than 15 minutes each. The Kingdom Hearts suite featured solo pianist Benyamin Nuss. For the Chrono suite, Rony Barrak joined the orchestra and performed on his signature darbuka. A surprise encore was performed after the final suite, which took the form of a medley of the final boss themes from each game. Rony Barrak returned on stage as a soloist for the encore. [8] No video screens or other form of tools were used during the concert, with only minimal lighting effects at certain parts for atmosphere being employed. The event was broadcast live on the WDR4 radio station, as well as through an online video stream, enabling a worldwide audience to watch the concert. [7] It was the first fully live-streamed video game concert. [11]

Later performances

Three years after the original performance, on September 14, 2011, during the Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix Japan announced on their website that the Symphonic Fantasies concert would be performed in Tokyo on January 7 and 8, 2012. They also announced that Benyamin Nuss, Rony Barrak, Jonne Valtonen, Roger Wanamo and Thomas Böcker would be in attendance. Böcker returned to produce the event, and Nuss and Barrak returned as soloists. [12]

The concerts were held at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Main Hall, and were performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus. The concerts were conducted by Eckehard Stier. In addition to the originally announced attendees, in attendance were guest of honors Hiroki Kikuta, Yoko Shimomura, and Yasunori Mitsuda, as well as guests such as video game composers Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yuzo Koshiro, Masashi Hamauzu, and Mahito Yokota. The concerts were featured extensively in the February issue of Famitsu as well as on their official website. [13] Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo was the first all-European video game concert production to take place in Japan. More than 4600 fans were in attendance, and the concerts sold out within days. [14] [15] The arrangements and tempo were slightly modified from the original concert, and the encore was changed by Wanamo to add elements from an additional Final Fantasy song. [16] [17] [18]

At the conclusion of the Symphonic Odysseys concert in Cologne by Merregnon Studios on July 9, 2011, the WDR announced that Symphonic Fantasies would return to Germany in 2012. The concerts were held on July 6 and 7, 2012 at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall. The concert was again performed by the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne and WDR Radio Choir Cologne, conducted by Niklas Wíllen. On March 26, 2012, Merregnon Studios announced that Symphonic Fantasies would also be performed at the Stockholm Concert Hall on June 9, 2012. The concert was performed by Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Katarina Choir, conducted by Andreas Hanson. [19] Like the other concerts, the 2012 European concerts were sold out. [15] Four years later, on October 6, 2016, the Symphonic Fantasies concert was performed in London at the Barbican Centre by the London Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Chorus. [20] Selections from the concert, along with ones from Final Symphony and Final Symphony II , were performed at Symphonic Memories concerts on June 9, 2018 in Stockholm, [21] March 14, 2019 in Oulu, Finland, June 6, 2019 in St. Gallen, Switzerland, December 1, 2019 in Kawasaki, Japan, and April 7, 2023 in Lyon, France. [22] [23] [24] The Kawasaki concert was released as an album by Square Enix as Symphonic Memories - music from Square Enix the following year. [25]

Set list

Set list
#SuiteOriginal pieces [7]
1."Fanfare Overture"
2."Fantasy I: Kingdom Hearts""Dearly Beloved", "Sora", "Hand in Hand", "Kairi", "The Other Promise", "Happy Holidays!", and "A Fight to the Death"
3."Fantasy II: Secret of Mana""Fear of the Heavens", "Into the Thick of it", "Eternal Recurrence", "Prophecy", "The Oracle", and "Phantom and... A Rose..."
4."Fantasy III: Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross""A Premonition", "Scars of Time", "Chrono Trigger", "Battle with Magus", "Peaceful Days", "Gale", "Brink of Death", "Prisoners of Fate", "Outskirts of Time", and "Frog's Theme"
5."Fantasy IV: Final Fantasy""Prelude", "Fighting", "One-Winged Angel", "Swing de Chocobo", "Phantom Forest", "Battle at the Big Bridge", "Final Fantasy", and "Bombing Mission"
6."Encore""Destati", "Meridian Dance", "Lavos's Theme", and "One-Winged Angel" (and "Dancing Mad" in 2012 concerts)

Albums

Symphonic Fantasies
Cover art for Symphonic Fantasies.jpg
Live album by
WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne, WDR Radio Choir Cologne, Rony Barrak, Benyamin Nuss
ReleasedSeptember 17, 2010
RecordedSeptember 12, 2009
Genre Classical, Video game music
Length1:12:30
Label Decca (Universal Music)
Producer Thomas Böcker

The September 12, 2009 concert in Cologne was recorded and released as an album titled Symphonic Fantasies. It was announced to be in production on April 15, 2010, and made available for pre-order. In an interview, Fechner stated the album was being mixed and edited at a "prestigious European studio". [26] This was later revealed to be Abbey Road Studios in London. [27] The album was first released in Japan on September 15, 2010, published by Square Enix Japan's own label under the auspices of Sony Music Distribution. The album was released in Europe on September 17, 2010, published by Decca Records. Both album versions feature identical track listings and production, with the only differences being the artwork and provided booklet. The artwork for the European album was designed by the German design house, schech, and features a cross between a violin and a game controller, while the Japanese cover has an image of a white book. [27] [28] Böcker produced the European album, and was a consultant for the production of the Japanese release. [29]

The album does not contain the encore suite, which was released as a single on iTunes on December 14, 2010. [28] [30] The album's five tracks have a duration of 1:12:30, with the encore track bringing it to 1:20:56. [28] Upon release, it reach position #13 on the German classical Media Control Charts for sales in September 2010. [31] The Japanese release reached position #102 on the Oricon charts and stayed on the charts for one week. [32] After the concert in Tokyo, a second album was released. Titled Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo, the two-disc album is a recording of that performance, including the encore. [16] The album, produced by Merregnon Studios and mixed by a team of sound engineers from Japan and Germany, was released on June 11, 2012. Its cover is a modified version of the original European album with a large red circle, and it includes a twenty-page booklet with comments from the original composers. The album's six tracks have a length of 1:20:50. [17] A new printing of the Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo album on two CDs or three vinyl records, as well as a double album combination with the Final Symphony concert album (2015) was released by Laced Records in December 2016. [33] The Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo album was re-released as a lossless digital album on Bandcamp for streaming and download on January 1, 2021. [34]

Symphonic Fantasies
#Track namePerformerArrangerComposerLength (Tokyo album)
1."Fanfare Overture"WDR Symphony OrchestraJonne ValtonenJonne Valtonen3:12 (3:09)
2."Fantasy I: Kingdom Hearts"WDR Symphony Orchestra
Benyamin Nuss		Jonne ValtonenYoko Shimomura15:28 (15:53)
3."Fantasy II: Secret of Mana"WDR Symphony Orchestra
WDR Radio Choir		Jonne ValtonenHiroki Kikuta17:42 (18:54)
4."Fantasy III: Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross"WDR Symphony Orchestra
Rony Barrak		Jonne Valtonen
Roger Wanamo		Yasunori Mitsuda17:39 (16:36)
5."Fantasy IV: Final Fantasy"WDR Symphony Orchestra
WDR Radio Choir		Jonne ValtonenNobuo Uematsu18:29 (18:37)
6."Encore: Final Boss Suite"WDR Symphony Orchestra
WDR Radio Choir
Rony Barrak		Jonne ValtonenYoko Shimomura, Hiroki Kikuta, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Nobuo Uematsu8:26 (7:41)

Reception

The initial event received widespread critical acclaim, with much praise given to the focused presentation, deeply developed arrangements and evolution of the concept. Audun Sorlie of Original Sound Version stated that the concert "exceeded all expectations" and further added that the event was "absolutely amazing". [8] Chris Greening of Square Enix Music Online concluded in his report that "Symphonic Fantasies ranks among the greatest musical and social experiences of my life. Each arrangement took listeners on an extended journey through the atmospheres, emotions, and melodies of their respective series." [7] Polish site GameMusic.net's Kamil Rojek said in his report that "Symphonic Fantasies is a significant turning point in the history of video game music concerts. It was a remarkable event that made great progress in breaking the boundaries between game music and traditional classical works." [35]

The composers themselves expressed great regard for the concert and the arrangement. Yoko Shimomura noted she was extremely pleased with Valtonen's arrangement of Kingdom Hearts, feeling it "very colorful and beautiful, just superb really". [36] Hiroki Kikuta stated that Valtonen's arrangement "defied the framework of regular orchestra and was a very experimental attempt," resulting in "free and unbound expression". [37] Yasunori Mitsuda expressed that he was "really amazed by its fantastic quality", [38] and Nobuo Uematsu said that it was "an exceptionally well-produced concert compared to most game concerts." [39] Uematsu was very taken with the unique arrangements of the other sections of the concert, especially the Mana portion, that he asked Böcker to take more liberties with the source material if the opportunity arose in the future; this led to the creation of the Final Symphony concert in 2013. [9] The composers also voiced their desire to bring the concert to Japan. [10]

The Symphonic Fantasies album garnered universal praise upon its release. Patrick Gann of RPGFan said that it was "the best game music arranged album of 2010. It may be the best in years, with the only things rivaling it being other recordings from the WDR." [28] Audun Sorlie of Original Sound Version called it "the best symphonic game arrangement CD you can get your hands on," and further added "for every game music fan out there, especially the ones with a taste for Square Enix, this is the definitive pick for you." [40] Chris Greening of Square Enix Music Online gave the album the score of 10 out of 10, and stated that it "offers a definitive tribute to Square Enix" and "certainly deserves a perfect score and an unconditional recommendation." [41] Benjamin Schmädig of the German site 4players.de said of the album "Symphonic Fantasies represents memories of great emotional moments. The orchestra and choir put in all their strength, all their subtlety in these moments." He further complimented Jonne Valtonen, saying that he "knows exactly how to arrange the known motifs in such an imaginative way that they tell the familiar stories from scratch." [42] Denis Brown of the German site OnlineWelten said that for Square Enix fans, it is an obligatory purchase. [43]

Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo was also praised upon release. Jayson Napolitano of Destructoid said that the "arrangements are brilliant and are some of the best in the business," and that the addition of the encore was an improvement over the physical version of the original album, though he felt that the sound quality "lacks some of the dynamics of the original release" in the bass regions. [44] Joe Hammond of Square Enix Music Online found the opposite difference in the sound quality, finding that the deep drum sounds had more impact than in the first album. [45] Stephen Meyerink of RPGFan felt that "the production and mastering on the album is stellar", and was pleased by the modifications to the arrangements between the original concert and the Tokyo concert, especially the slight increase in tempo. [16] Audun Sorlie of Original Sound Version also praised the changes, not only in the tempo but also in the arrangements, noting the more integrated piano in the Kingdom Hearts suite and the more impressive brass section in the opening fanfare. He also noted that, unlike the original performance and album, the recording of live audience did not include any laughter when the chocobo theme interrupted "One Winged Angel" in the Final Fantasy suite. He concluded that the album was worth purchasing even for owners of the first album. [46]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoko Shimomura</span> Japanese composer and pianist (born 1967)

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.

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 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. 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.

<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.

Music of <i>Chrono Trigger</i> Soundtrack of SNES 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 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.

The music of the video game Final Fantasy XII was composed primarily by Hitoshi Sakimoto. Additional music was provided by Masaharu Iwata and Hayato Matsuo, who also orchestrated the opening and ending themes. Former regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu's only work for this game was "Kiss Me Good-Bye", the theme song sung by Angela Aki. The Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack was released on four Compact Discs in 2006 by Aniplex. A sampling of tracks from the soundtrack was released as an album entitled Selections from Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack, and was released in 2006 by Tofu Records. Additionally, a promotional digital album titled The Best of Final Fantasy XII was released on the Japanese localization of iTunes for download only in 2006. "Kiss Me Good-Bye" was released by Epic Records as a single in 2006, and Symphonic Poem "Hope", the complete music from the game's end credits, was released by Hats Unlimited the same year. An abridged version of the latter piece, which originally accompanied a promotional video for the game, was included in the official soundtrack album. An album of piano arrangements, titled Piano Collections Final Fantasy XII, was released by Square Enix in 2012.

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.

The Mana series, known in Japan as Seiken Densetsu, is a role-playing video game series from Square Enix, created by Koichi Ishii. The series began as a handheld side story to Square's flagship franchise Final Fantasy, although most Final Fantasy-inspired elements were subsequently dropped, starting with the second installment, Secret of Mana. It has since grown to include games of various genres within the fictional world of Mana. The music of the Mana series includes soundtracks and arranged albums of music from the series, which is currently composed of Final Fantasy Adventure and its remake Sword of Mana, Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, Legend of Mana, Dawn of Mana, Children of Mana, Friends of Mana, Heroes of Mana, Circle of Mana, and Rise of Mana. Each game except for Friends and Circle has produced a soundtrack album, while Adventure has sparked an arranged album as well as a combined soundtrack and arranged album, Legend of Mana has an additional promotional EP, and music from Secret and Trials were combined into an arranged album. For the series' 20th anniversary, a 20-disc box set of previously-released albums was produced, as well as an album of arrangements by Kenji Ito, composer for several games in the series.

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

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 Cross was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, the main composer of Chrono Trigger and Radical Dreamers. Chrono Cross has sparked a soundtrack album, released in 1999 by DigiCube and re-released in 2005 by Square Enix, and a greatest hits mini-album, published in 2000 by Square along with the North American release of the game. Radical Dreamers, the music of which heavily inspired the soundtrack of Chrono Cross, has not sparked any albums, though some songs from its soundtrack were reused in Chrono Cross. An album of arrangements of Chrono Cross songs was first announced by Mitsuda in 2005, and later intended to be released to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the game in 2009; its release date was pushed back several times since then. In 2015, Mitsuda released an album of arranged music from Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross entitled To Far Away Times to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of Chrono Trigger.

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.

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

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 Shades – Hülsbeck in Concert</i> (album) 2008 live music album

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.

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

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.

<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. ↑ Greening, Chris (March 2010). "Interview with WDR Radio Orchestra Manager Winfried Fechner". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Greening, Chris (January 2009). "Interview with Symphonic Fantasies Producer (January 2009)". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  3. ↑ Fechner, Winfried (2008-09-09). "Fünf (weitere) Fragen an: Winfried Fechner" [Five (Further) Questions To: Winfried Fechner]. Symphonic Shades (in German). Merregnon Studios. Archived from the original on 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  4. 1 2 3 "Symphonic Fantasies". Merregnon Studios. 2009-04-02. Archived from the original on 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  5. 1 2 "Symphonic Fantasies". Merregnon Studios. 2009-07-23. Archived from the original on 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  6. 1 2 Greening, Chris (July 2011). "Interview with Roger Wanamo (July 2011)". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Greening, Chris (September 2009). "Symphonic Fantasies - Music from Square Enix :: Report by Chris". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Sorlie, Audun (2009-09-17). "Feels Like A Dream: Symphonic Fantasies Report". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  9. 1 2 Greening, Chris (2015-03-27). "Thomas Boecker Interview: Why Final Symphony Isn't the End". Game Music Online. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  10. 1 2 Greening, Chris (December 2009). "Interview with Thomas Boecker of Symphonic Fantasies (December 2009)". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2012-09-19. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  11. ↑ Woo, Eugenia (2016-10-25). "A chat with the man who brought video games to the concert hall". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2016-11-23.
  12. ↑ "Symphonic Fantasies - Music from Square Enix" (in Japanese). Square Enix. September 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  13. ↑ 『キングダム』、『聖剣2』、『クロノ』、『FF』……数々の名曲の調べがここに！ "Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo"開催 ["Kingdom", "Seiken 2", "Chrono", "FF" ... You can find many famous songs here! "Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo" held] (in Japanese). Famitsu. January 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  14. ↑ "Reingehört! Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo" [Heard In! Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo] (in German). JPGames. 2012-07-09. Archived from the original on 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  15. 1 2 Greening, Chris (June 2012). "Interview with Thomas Boecker: Going Universal (June 2012)". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  16. 1 2 3 Meyerink, Stephen (2012-07-30). "Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  17. 1 2 "The CD: Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo - music from Square Enix". MAZ Sound Tools. Archived from the original on 2011-09-11. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  18. ↑ Corn, Adam (2014-11-13). "Roger Wanamo Talks Final Fantasy VI Symphonic Poem". Soundtrack Central. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  19. ↑ Sorlie, Audun (2012-03-27). "Symphonic Fantasies Returns In Summer Of 2012!". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on 2012-07-18. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  20. ↑ "Milestones | Spielemusikkonzerte". Merregnon Studios. Archived from the original on 2015-12-25. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
  21. ↑ "Symphonic Memories brings Japanese RPG magic to Stockholm". Merregnon Studios. 2018-02-27. Archived from the original on 2018-04-26. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  22. ↑ "Tickets". Merregnon Studios. Archived from the original on 2019-02-05. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  23. ↑ "Event overview: Game Concerts announced for 2019". Merregnon Studios. 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  24. ↑ "Tickets". Merregnon Studios. Archived from the original on 2023-03-10. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  25. ↑ "Symphonic Memories Concert - music from Square Enix". Square Enix . Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  26. ↑ Greening, Chris (March 2010). "Interview with WDR Radio Orchestra Manager Winfried Fechner Part 2". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  27. 1 2 "The CD: Symphonic Fantasies - music from Square Enix". Maz Sound Tools. September 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  28. 1 2 3 4 Gann, Patrick (2010-09-10). "Symphonic Fantasies - music from Square Enix". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  29. ↑ Gann, Patrick (2010-08-03). "Interview with Thomas Boecker, Producer, WDR Orchestra Concerts". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2010-09-05. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  30. ↑ "Symphonic Fantasies: Encore (Final Boss Suite) - Single". iTunes. 2010-12-14. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  31. ↑ "Media Control Verkaufscharts". Media Control Charts. 2010-10-19. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  32. ↑ "Symphonic Fantasies-music from Square Enix" (in Japanese). Oricon . Retrieved 2013-03-10.
  33. ↑ Paquet, Ryan (2016-11-04). "Final Symphony and Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo Coming From Laced Records". Original Sound Version. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  34. ↑ "Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo". Bandcamp . Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  35. ↑ Rojek, Kamil (2009-09-12). "Report: Symphonic Fantasies". GameMusic.net. Archived from the original on 2011-12-17. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  36. ↑ Kotowski, Don (September 2009). "Interview with Yoko Shimomura (September 2009)". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  37. ↑ Greening, Chris (November 2009). "Interview with Hiroki Kikuta (November 2009)". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2013-02-26. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  38. ↑ Greening, Chris (October 2009). "Interview with Yasunori Mitsuda (October 2009)". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2013-02-26. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  39. ↑ Kotowski, Don (December 2009). "Interview with Nobuo Uematsu (December 2009)". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  40. ↑ Sorlie, Audun (2010-09-15). "Fantastic Achievements: Symphonic Fantasies Review". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on 2012-08-16. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  41. ↑ Greening, Chris (September 2010). "Symphonic Fantasies - Music from Square Enix :: Review by Chris". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2010-09-03. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  42. ↑ Schmädig, Benjamin (2010-03-10). "Special: Symphonic Fantasies" (in German). 4players.de. Archived from the original on 2011-08-30. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  43. ↑ Brown, Denis (2010-09-17). "Symphonic Fantasies & Benyamin-Nuss-Album erschienen" [Symphonic Fantasies & Benyamin Nuss Album Released] (in German). OnlineWelten. Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  44. ↑ Napolitano, Jayson (2012-07-16). "Note Worthy 004: Anarchy Reigns and Unchained Blades". Destructoid . Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  45. ↑ Hammond, Joe. "Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo :: Review by Joe Hammond". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  46. ↑ Sorlie, Audun (2012-06-22). "Returning To Perfection: Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo (Review)". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2013-02-28.

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.