Final Fantasy music

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Final Fantasy music refers to the soundtrack of the Final Fantasy series of console-based, usually plot-intensive Japanese role-playing games. The series' music ranges from very light background music to emotionally intense interweavings of character and situation leitmotifs. Its most important composer is Nobuo Uematsu. Final Fantasy is such a popular series that many accompanying albums and compilations have been produced.

[edit] Recurring themes

The music in the game is usually orchestrated. Although most of the music changes from game to game, there are several recurring tracks. The Prelude, or "Crystal Theme" as some fans refer to it, is a track played at the beginning of most of the games, either on the title screen or in the opener. It is sometimes played at the end of a game instead, as is the case in Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX. It is even played in the middle of the game on occasion, usually in the Crystal Rooms of Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V. It is also the song played on the formation screen in the original Final Fantasy.

Another important theme is the Prologue, which was originally titled Ahead on our Way (The latter title was given to the main theme of Final Fantasy V, although this game's piece is completely different). Prologue is usually played during the ending of most games after the credits roll, however it is currently not found in Final Fantasy XI. It also served as an opening theme in the original Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV and as an introductory theme slightly altered during the beginning scenes of Final Fantasy X. In Final Fantasy XII, it is used on the title screen and during the load game screen (where one would load a game from their memory card), which would also mark the earliest the theme had appeared in a Final Fantasy game (all other games used it after the player had completed the opening mission and had set off on the game's main story, but not as a theme in an opening title sequence).

The fanfare played after battles is a recurring theme as well, as are the introductory notes and bass lines of the regular battle theme in most games. While the bass line vanished in Final Fantasy VII for the normal battle theme, it returned later in the track "Birth of a god" (It can be heard early on before the looping part of the track starts) and also in the final boss battle music of Final Fantasy VIII.

The Chocobo also recurrs, in all Final Fantasy titles since Final Fantasy II. It is often remixed in a different way for each game. It is titled with the suffix "de Chocobo," and is prefixed by the name of the style it is played in. For example "Techno de Chocobo" from Final Fantasy VI features a dance remix, while "Cinco de Chocobo" from Final Fantasy VII features a cool jazz remix.

Moogles, who first appeared in Final Fantasy III, also have a theme generally associated with them that has appeared in various games, officially titled Critter Tripper Fritter on the 1986-1994 album. This music is also noteworthy as being the only traditional Final Fantasy anthem to have been present in the Gamecube title Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.

Another recurring theme on the game soundtracks is the presence of choir/orchestra ensemble Hymns pieces, resembling Religious music, pieces such as Hymn of the Fayth (help·info) from Final Fantasy X. Not all songs reappear multiple times. Some reappear once, and some reappear in pieces. For instance an unreleased dungeon theme in Final Fantasy II later received its debut in Final Fantasy VI. The Pandemonium Theme in Final Fantasy II later reappeared heavily remixed in Final Fantasy IX as well.

[edit] Final Fantasy IV

Final Fantasy IV: Original Sound Version contains the game's original musical tracks by Nobuo Uematsu. It was released in Japan only on June 14, 1991. Another album, entitled Final Fantasy IV: Celtic Moon was released on October 28 of the same year, and it featured Celtic performances of the music in the game by Máire Breatnach. Some of the more famous tracks include the Boss Battle theme, which was remixed for Super Mario RPG as well, and the Theme of Love. Final Fantasy IV Piano Collections features piano music based on the original soundtracks.

[edit] Final Fantasy V

Final Fantasy V: Dear Friends features a selection of tracks from the game, arranged with a mixture of live instruments, synth, and vocals by Angelit in English and Sami. The Final Fantasy Concert series, entitied Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy took its title from the ending theme of Final Fantasy V.

[edit] Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI Original Soundtrack is an album that contains the musical tracks from the game, created by Nobuo Uematsu. It was released in Japan on March 25, 1994, and in the US under the title Kefka's Domain on July 1, 1994. It is one of the more notable sountracks in the series because it contains the only opera ever written for a video game: The Dream Oath. One of the best-known songs from the soundtrack is Aria di Mezzo Carattere, the song Celes Chere sings in the opera. The song was performed on the album Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale by Svelta Krasteva in Italian. Another memorable theme, entitled Dancing Mad, is a four movement piece that doubled as the theme played during the final battle, and is heavily influenced by the organ, which is the instrument Nobuo Uematsu plays in his band The Black Mages. It is possible that it was arranged to have a choir sing parts of it, as the first two movements have "vocal noises" similar to those sung in Aria di Mezzo Caraterre. There is a remix album called Final Fantasy VI: Special Tracks. Final Fantasy VI soundtrack is also memorable for being the only Final Fantasy game where every person and place had its own separate piece of music, like a theme or leitmotiv. ^[1]

[edit] Final Fantasy VII & Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

[edit] Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII: Original Sound Track is an album that contains the musical tracks from the game, performed by Nobuo Uematsu. It was first released on February 10, 1997, in Japan, by DigiCube, and was subsequently re-released on May 10, 2004 by Square Enix. A limited edition of the soundtrack was also released.

The most popular song from the game's soundtrack is "One-Winged Angel", a Latin choral track played during the battle with Safer Sephiroth. "One-Winged Angel" is the first music track in the Final Fantasy series to feature digitized voices. The music was composed by Nobuo Uematsu. The lyrics were taken from the same medieval poetry featured in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. The lyrics can be found in the songs "Estuans interius", "O Fortuna" ("Sors immanis..."), "Veni, veni, venias" and "Ave formosissima" ("Gloriosa" and "Generosa"). An orchestrated version, arranged by Shirou Hamaguchi, was performed for the Reunion Tracks album (with a sans chorus version included as a hidden track). One-Winged Angel was the first song in a Final Fantasy game to have spoken words instead of the "ah" sounds from previous songs like Dancing Mad.

[edit] Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - Original Soundtrack is a soundtrack with similar songs to the original game, rearranged by Nobuo Uematsu and various other composers. The soundtrack contains three tracks from the original game's Piano Collections. It also features a host tracks from Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack, but rearranged in a rock style, notably Those Who Fight (Fighting) and Those Who Fight Further (Still More Fighting).

A former Japanese rock band Boøwy's singer Kyosuke Himuro's song "Calling", from his 1989 album Neo Fascio, was used as the theme song to this highly anticipated movie. Tetsuya Nomura has noted that Himuro's music has been highly influential in his own work, and when asked about his contribution to the film, Himuro said that he was happy his work would be used in "the best CG movie ever made in Japan."

"One-Winged Angel" is also featured in this album as Advent: One-Winged Angel. The style of the song is symphonic power metal. The song is played over the final battle scene between Cloud and Sephiroth. While the Black Mages performed the heavy metal portion of the arrangement, Koji Haijima conducted the orchestra. The song features different lyrics than those of the original from the Carmina Burana, though both versions are in Latin.

[edit] Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

Nobuo Uematsu had no part in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack. Instead, it was composed by Masashi Hamauzu, who worked with Uematsu on the Final Fantasy X soundtrack and is scheduled to compose the soundtrack for Final Fantasy XIII. The game includes two vocal songs, both performed by Gackt: “REDEMPTION”, the main theme song for the game, and “LONGING”, which is played while Vincent is battling Omega from the inside. Unlike most of the entries under Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus features no music from the original game.

[edit] Final Fantasy VIII

The Final Fantasy VIII original soundtrack received much critical acclaim from video game critics, who often described this music by Uematsu as one of the most enjoyable aspects of the entire game. A key theme which was used throughout the game as a musical motif is called "FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC", and this appears in different styles throughout the game. It is first heard in the Introduction CG sequence, entitled "Liberi Fatali". It uses a full orchestra and choir, and is similar to the piece entitled "One-Winged Angel", from Final Fantasy VII.

A love theme, called "Eyes On Me", is also used. It was released as a single in Japan, and won an award for the best pop record of that year. It is sung by Faye Wong. The melody is used as an instrumental love theme, and also as a memorable waltz. Another recurring theme is called "Ami", and is often heard when the characters on-screen are reflecting on their child-hoods or their friendships.

The album is available, and is spread over four discs, with an accompanying booklet containing an interview with Nobuo Uematsu.

[edit] Final Fantasy IX

This was the final soundtrack that was composed by Nobuo Uematsu entirely. It was released in Japan on August 30, 2000. The most notable track is entitled Melodies of Life, and it is a vocal arrangement sung by Emiko Shiratori. It also appears numerous times throughout the game, sung by Garnet Til Alexandros XVII. Another popular track is entitled You Are Not Alone!, and it is played during a sequence in which Zidane Tribal is trying to find out who he really is.

It should be noted that in Mt. Gulug, the song played is a remix of the music played in Gurugu Volcano in the original Final Fantasy. Similarly, various arrangements of Kuja's Theme are based on Intension of the Earth from Final Fantasy V.

[edit] Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X was the first of the series to feature other composers besides Nobuo Uematsu, the composers Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu. It features a song by the music artist Rikki, entitled Suteki Da Ne. The song "Otherworld," a hard rock piece heard during the game's opening FMV was composed, in part, by Alex O. Smith. The synthesization in this album was a great improvement over the previous albums, as it utilized the audio capabilities of the PlayStation 2. Each character had their own theme, and this often came into play when a story passage concerning that character was presented. A recurring motif was the Hymn of the Fayth (help·info). A Thai-style choir, singing a six-line hymn, was used repeatedly in varying forms. Another highly credited track was called To Zanarkand. A piano melody, which is first used in the introduction to the game, it is reincarnated in several different forms, but is generally used to refer to the city of the Zanarkand, a site of pilgrimage, and the ultimate destination of the main party. It appears, scored for full orchestra, in the Ending Theme.

Final Fantasy X: Original Soundtrack is a four-disc album released only in Japan (Now World Wide). It contains tracks that were played in the Japanese release of the game but not other releases.

[edit] Final Fantasy X-2

Composed by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi. The music deviated from all of the previous soundtracks in the series, breaking several traditions. The soundtrack contains a lot of pop and rock-influenced guitars, with battle themes using electric guitars as opposed to strings and brass. The soundtrack is a great deal more upbeat than any Final Fantasy soundtrack in the past, with bouncy, melodic, and overall happy songs. None of the themes from Final Fantasy X were reused or arranged. The classic Final Fantasy victory fanfare, which had been used in all the previous games in the series, was also dropped (a different fanfare was used). The classic Chocobo theme was not used either; there are only traces of it in the Chocobo theme used. This soundtrack featured two vocal tracks: Real Emotion and 1000 Words, performed by Kumi Koda in the Japanese version and Jade (from Sweetbox), for the international and English version. Most Final Fantasy original soundtracks until Final Fantasy X-2 had only one theme song. Nobuo Uematsu, who had composed on all previous Final Fantasy games, was not involved in this soundtrack. Neither were Masashi Hamauzu or Junya Nakano, the composers featured on Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack. Certain pieces from Final Fantasy X and the series in general were arranged for the album, however.

Vocal Collections. Along with the main release of Final Fantasy X-2's soundtrack, there were also releases of singles sung as if by each of the three main characters. These songs were based upon many themes found within the game, such as "To You" (translated) which can be seen to be based upon "Yuna's Ballad" from the game soundtrack itself.

[edit] Final Fantasy XI

Like the game itself, Final Fantasy XI's score is quite different from that of its predecessors. One major difference is the way that the music is presented: Because of the game's massively-multiplayer nature, most of the music in it is either for specific areas or battles, and only a few compositions were made for certain events or characters (usually only heard during cutscenes). Final Fantasy XI was scored by Nobuo Uematsu, Naoshi Mizuta, and Kumi Tanioka. With the majority of the music in the game's music being composed by Mizuta alone, this makes Final Fantasy XI the first main-series Final Fantasy game with which Nobuo Uematsu was not heavily involved. Most of the music that Uematsu composed for the game is used in cutscenes, which includes the opening CG cutscene; he also composed the chocobo and airship music, as well as one area-specific composition for East and West Ronfaure. As stated earlier, Mizuta composed the majority of the music for Final Fantasy XI, this includeds most of the area-specific music and all of the battle music. Tanioka compositions for Final Fantasy XI includes the themes for the different character races and genders of the game as well as the music for the Republic of Bastok and its surrounding areas (Gustaberg and the Metal Works).

The expansion packs, Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia, and Treasures of Aht Urhgan, were scored by Mizuta alone after Tanioka left to pursue other projects and Uematsu left Square-Enix to start his career as a freelance composer. Jeuno -Starlight Celebration-, a holiday arrangement composed by Mizuta, was released on December 2004. Distant Worlds, a vocal arrangement performed by Izumi Masuda, composed by Uematsu, and arranged by Mizuta, was later released in a July 2005 patch for Chains of Promathia.

[edit] Final Fantasy XII

Recently released, the Final Fantasy XII soundtrack is composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, Hayao Matsuo, Yuji Toriyama, and Nobuo Uematsu. The music is very fantasy-based and contains much of the original Final Fantasy feel, as well as a completely orchestral soundtrack. It also shares a number of striking similarities to another Square Enix game, Vagrant Story. Many tracks from earlier Final Fantasy games were rearranged into Final Fantasy XII such as Nobuo Uematsu's "Battle with Gilgamesh" or "Clash on the Big Bridge" from Final Fantasy V.

[edit] Final Fantasy XIII

Still in production, this title's soundtrack is being composed by Masashi Hamauzu, though its main theme song will be composed by Nobuo Uematsu.[1]. Final Fantasy Versus XIII will feature music by Yoko Shimomura, who composed the music for Kingdom Hearts and its sequals and also worked with Uematsu and Koji Kondo in making the score for Super Mario RPG.

[edit] Final Fantasy Tactics and the world of Ivalice

Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata are the primary composers in all of these games (Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance) (in collaboration with others).

[edit] Final Fantasy Unlimited

Final Fantasy Unlimited's music was composed by Nobuo Uematsu and Shirou Hamaguchi.

[edit] Music List

(incomplete)

Final Fantasy I & II Original Soundtrack
All Sounds of Final Fantasy I & II
Final Fantasy III Original Sound Version
Final Fantasy III Legend of Eternal Wind
Final Fantasy III Original Soundtrack (Nintendo DS Version)
Final Fantasy IV Original Sound Version
Final Fantasy IV Piano Collections
Final Fantasy IV Celtic Moon
Final Fantasy IV Minimum Album
Final Fantasy IV Official Sountrack: Music from Final Fantasy Chronicles
Final Fantasy V Original Sound Version
Final Fantasy V Piano Collections
Final Fantasy V Dear Friends
Final Fantasy V + 1
Final Fantasy V Mambo de Chocobo
Final Fantasy VI Original Sound Version
Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections
Final Fantasy VI Grande Finale
Final Fantasy VI Special Tracks
Final Fantasy VI Stars Vol. 1
Final Fantasy VI Stars Vol. 2
Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy VII Piano Collections
Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks
Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus Original Soundtrack
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Redemption: Gackt
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy VIII Original Soundtrack
FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII Piano Collections
Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack Plus
Final Fantasy IX Piano Collections
Final Fantasy IX Uematsu's Best Selection
Final Fantasy IX Melodies of Life - Emiko Shiratori
Final Fantasy Tactics Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced Original Soundtrack
White Melodies of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy X Official Soundtrack
Final Fantasy X Piano Collections
Final Fantasy X Suteki da Ne - Rikki
Final Fantasy X feel/Go dream Yuna & Tidus
Final Fantasy X Vocal Collection
Final Fantasy X Promo CD, Music From
Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy X-2 Piano Collections
Final Fantasy X-2 International Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy X-2 Vocal Collection Paine
Final Fantasy X-2 Vocal Collection Rikku
Final Fantasy X-2 Vocal Collection Yuna
Eternity ~Memory of Lightwaves~ Music From Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy XI: Rise of the Zilart Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy XI: Music from the Other Side of Vana'diel: The Star Onions
Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy XII Symphonic Poem: Hope
Final Fantasy XII Kiss Me Good-Bye - Angela Aki
The Best of Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack
Music from Final Fantasy Anthology
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - A Musical Journey
Final Fantasy Vocal Collection I - Pray
Final Fantasy Vocal Collection II - Love Will Grow
Final Fantasy Mix
Final Fantasy, Music Inspired by
Final Fantasy N Generation Best Collection
Final Fantasy S Generation Best Collection
Potion: Relaxin' with Final Fantasy
Potion II: Relaxin' with Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy Tour de Japon
The Black Mages
The Black Mages ~The Skies Above~
20020220 music from FINAL FANTASY. This album features music performed at a live concert on February 20, 2002, hence the name. Compositions by Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu and arranged by Shirou Hamaguchi. It was produced by DigiCube on May 9, 2002 (SSCX-10065/6).

[edit] Arranged Albums

Starting with Final Fantasy VI: Grand Finale albums were released that contained orchestrations of a selection of tracks from the Original Sound Track. This practice was discontinued after Final Fantasy VIII, however Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack Plus contained a large number of orchestrated tracks.

[edit] Public performances

From 2003 through 2005 Nobuo Uematsu put together several concerts titled Music from FINAL FANTASY both in Japan and US where he performed with an Orchestra ensemble and his own band: The Black Mages. [2]. This popular concert series has now been rebranded as PLAY! A Video Game Symphony.Uematsu composed the fanfare that opens every PLAY! performance around the globe.

Note, Play! is currently having a tour in US. (5/06) [3] [4]

[edit] Sheet Music Collections

Arranged for the piano and published by Japanese company DOREMI Music Publishing[5], music from the original soundtracks of every serial Final Fantasy game (with the single exception of Final Fantasy V) is available for purchase through the official SquareSound website. [6]. All songs in each book have been rewritten by Asako Niwa as beginning to intermediate level piano solos, though they are meant to sound as much like the originals as possible. The music from Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is available as well.

Additionally, the actual piano sheet music from each of the five Final Fantasy Piano Collections albums has recently been published as five corresponding music book by Yamaha Music Media [7]. Each book contains the original music, exactly as arranged and performed on the albums. Unlike the Original Score arrangements, these pieces are intended only for advanced players as they are generally much more difficult. Currently, the only available books are for games VII, VIII, IX, X, and X-2. (See SquareSound.com for citations)

[edit] Trivia

Nobuo Uematsu, composer of most of the soundtracks, has left Square Enix after decades together to create his own freelance company called Smile Please. The music for the latest game, Final Fantasy XII, was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, though Nobuo Uematsu contributed the closing theme, called "Kiss me good-bye". Uematsu will also be composing music for Hironobu Sakaguchi's MistWalker company. However, his ties and connections with Square Enix are still keeping him to compose for the main pieces.

Each game has one or two songs that are continually remixed within the game itself. For example, in Final Fantasy VI Terra's theme is not only present in the overworld map, but is also played when the party is under timed presssure in a quickened remix. In Final Fantasy VIII, the FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC chants heard in Liberi Fatali are found in many other tracks on the album. Another example is in Final Fantasy IX, where the game's main theme, Melodies of Life, is the basis for several songs, including the overworld theme and Garnet/Dagger's theme.

"Theme of Love" from Final Fantasy IV is used as an instructional piece in Japanese schools.

[edit] References

^ Final Fantasy Extreme site staff (2006). Nobuo Uematsu Interview. [website G wie Gorilla Interview]. Retrieved on September 20, 2006.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e

Final Fantasy series

Final Fantasy • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • X • XI • XII

Compilation of VII • X-2 • Adventure • Crystal Chronicles • Mystic Quest • Tactics • Tactics Advance • Others

Airships • Class system • Creatures • Crystals • Designers • Items • Limit Break • Magic • Minigames • Music • Races • Weapons and armor

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Category: Final Fantasy music