It’s about time that video game music was taken seriously. It’s come a long way over the past thirty years, from MIDI bleeps and bloops (an art form in itself) to sweeping orchestral scores that rival the best film soundtracks. The last couple of years of Classic FM’s Hall Of Fame have included game scores, proving that not only are they hugely popular and have young people engaging with classical music, but they certainly stand up to scrutiny within classical music history.
If there’s any series that rises above the rest, it’s Final Fantasy. Each game in the extensive series creates a
distinct world with detailed lore and a score to match. Composed by Nobuo Uematsu, his music has
inspired the Distant Worlds series of
concerts that sell out worldwide, under the musical direction of Arnie Roth
(here performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra).
With fourteen games in the core series (alongside a plethora
of spin-offs), there’s hours of music for Roth and Uematsu to choose from,
with the repertoire list changing for each concert. Some favourites were of course missing from
this concert at the Royal Albert Hall and some games were under-represented (where
was Final Fantasy VIII’s ‘Waltz for
the Moon’ and ‘Liberi Fatali’, the series ‘Prelude’, or anything from IV or XII?), but the first half offered a varied mix of tunes that encapsulated
the differing styles of each game: the melancholic VII, the playful baroque IX,
the spiritual X and the grandiose
themes of the most recent XIV.
The concert opened with ‘Hymn of the Fayth’ from X – a haunting opener that featured
singing from local choir London Voices.
Also from X, ‘Zanarkand’ was
transformed from a piano ballad into a glorious orchestral piece. Hearing the mostly electronic sounds from the
games re-orchestrated breathed new life into the music (though an electric
guitar wouldn’t go amiss), the techno ‘Battle & Victory Theme Medley’
especially. Other highlights included ‘One-Winged
Angel’ and ‘Main Theme’ from VII, ‘Dear
Friends’ from V with brilliant live
classical guitar and ‘Answers’ from XIV
with stunningly powerful vocals from Susan Calloway. Each piece was accompanied by game footage
that brought back all sorts of memories (even if some, like the Don Corneo sex dungeon
scene from VII, were a little
inappropriate).
The second half was predominantly taken up by music from VI, to celebrate the twentieth
anniversary of its release. By
comparison to the first half it felt a little self-indulgent, though there were
still plenty of magic moments, such as Uematsu himself joining Roth onstage to
perform ‘Dark World’ from VI, as well
as the hall’s pipe organ being put to good use on ‘Dancing Mad’ from the same
game – a rare treat. There were also a
number of premieres for the concert series from IX – including ‘Rose of May’ and ‘Festival of the Hunt’. Ending the night with the ‘Chocobo Theme’ was
a welcome comic finale.
Alongside the music, Distant
Worlds proved how passionate Final
Fantasy fans are. Uematsu was
treated like a rock star with raucous cheers and shouts, the audience could be
heard discussing the games and their childhoods before and after, and numerous
cosplayers turned up in superbly detailed costumes. Spotting the various characters amongst the
crowd was half the fun of the evening (kudos to the Cid tribute who brought a
mop along with him).
Of course, nostalgia plays a large part in the appeal of the
concerts, but hearing the various themes performed by a full orchestra is a
treat for any Final Fantasy fan. More so, the concert proved the genius of
Uematsu, one of the great composers of the day no matter what your interest in
video games.
Now if you’ll excuse me kupo, I’m off to play the games all
over again. I could be some time.
4/5
4/5
