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Final Fantasy Music refers to the soundtrack of a series of console-based, usually plot-intensive Japan ese Computer Role Playing Game s. The series' music spans 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 Compilations and various Album s were produced. RECURRING THEMES Although most of the music changes from game to game, there are several recurring tracks. The ''Prelude'' is a track played in the beginning of most games, either on the title screen or in an opener. It is sometimes played at the end of a game instead, as was the case in '' 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 IV '' and '' Final Fantasy V ''. 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 '' as well as a track from '' Final Fantasy VII ''). ''Prologue'' is usually played during the ending of most games after the credits roll, however, it was notably absent from '' Final Fantasy X ''. It also served as an opening theme in '' Final Fantasy IV ''. The fanfare played after battles is a recurring theme as well, as are the introductory notes of the regular battle theme in most games. Finally, the Chocobo theme is recurring. 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 "Electric de Chocobo" from '' Final Fantasy VII '' features a rock remix. Another recurring theme on the game soundtracks is the presence of choir/ orchestra ensemble Hymn s pieces, resembling Sacred Music , pieces such as from '' Final Fantasy X ''. FINAL FANTASY VI Final Fantasy VI Original Soundrtack is an album that contains the musical tracks from the game, performed 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. The most popular song from the soundtrack is Aria Di Mezzo Carattere , the song Celes Chere sings in the opera ''The Dream Oath''. 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 arrainged to have a choir sing parts of it, as the first movement has "vocal noises" similar to those sung in ''Aria di Mezzo Caraterre''. FINAL FANTASY VII Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack 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 Final Fantasy VII Original 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"). FINAL FANTASY VIII This 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 . FINAL FANTASY IX Again, another collection by Nobuo Uematsu , and features another vocal piece. Though "Melodies of Life" is only featured in full at the end of the game, it can be seen throughout in the forms of many arragements. FINAL FANTASY X This four-disc album, released only in Japan (and contains tracks that were played in the Japanese release of the game but not other releases) was the first of the series to feature composers beside 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 musical capabilities of the PlayStation 2 . One of the most memorable motifs of this game was probably the ''Hymn of the Fayth''. A Thai-style choir singing a six-line hymn, this was used repeatedly in varying forms. Each character had their own theme, and this often came into play when a story passage concerning that character was presented. Another highly credited track was called ''To Zanarkand''. A piano melody, which is first used in the introduction to the game, it is also 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-2 Composed by 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 the soundtracks from Final Fantasy I through Final Fantasy X, had no part in this soundtrack. Masashi Hamauzu or Junya Nakano , the composers featured on Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack, had no part in the soundtrack either.
FINAL FANTASY XII Not yet released, this title, featuring 100 tracks, feature the vocals of Angelina Aki. Japanese release date is expected to be May 31st, 2006. FINAL FANTASY TACTICS AND THE WORLD OF IVALICE Hitoshi Sakimoto is the primary composer in all of these games ( Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance ) (in collaboration with others). COMPILATION ALBUMS
PUBLIC PERFORMANCES From 2003 through 2005 Nobuo Uematsu put together several concerts titled “''.Uematsu composed the fanfare that opens every PLAY! performance around the globe.
TRIVIA
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