“Light of Silence”, from 1995’s Chrono Trigger, for example, boasts a somewhat cheesy sound palette of digital synths and MIDI reproductions of orchestral instruments. Tonight’s arrangements revealed the latent structural complexities in even the most primitively instrumented of Uematsu’s creations. As such, his work for the medium has ranged from tinny 8-bit soundtracks to full-scale orchestral recordings. Uematsu began composing for video games in the late 1980s and still writes today. It certainly is a crowd-pleasing exercise, but there’s more going on than that. The sceptic would say that this is a watering-down of the concert experience, a crowd-pleasing exercise that diverts orchestras and audiences from the classical repertoire that should be enjoyed in concert halls. Their level of enthusiasm reached such a pitch that they jumped the gun with applause on at least one occasion, beginning their acclamation during a dynamic lull in one of the pieces. The audience – avid gamers all, mostly young and casually dressed – clamoured for not one but two encores.
It’s not surprising, then, that the London Symphony Orchestra’s makeover of Uematsu’s music tonight received nothing short of a rapturous reception.
Final fantasy orchestra tour 2017 series#
One woman’s children had been played Uematsu’s music by their primary school teacher as they learned to write poetry one couple had convinced the organist at their wedding to play his music (their wedding was held in St Paul’s Cathedral!) two people told how Uematsu’s music for the Final Fantasy video game series had helped them cope with learning difficulties. There are stories from members of tonight’s audience that beggar belief, showing just how far and deep this level of fandom goes. One wonders whether any of those clairvoyant friends could have foreseen the sheer adulation with which this composer’s music – originally intended as a mere supplement to another media, the video game – would go on to inspire. “I have a few psychics amongst my friends,” says Nobuo Uematsu, revered composer of video game music, via his translator at a pre-concert talk before tonight’s Symphonic Odysseys concert.
0 kommentar(er)
