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Music of the Final Fantasy VII series

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Music of Final Fantasy

The music of the video game Final Fantasy VII was written by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. It was initially released as a four CD soundtrack album and later expanded upon through orchestral and piano arrangements published on the Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks and Piano Collection Final Fantasy VII records, respectively. More music connected with the Final Fantasy VII storyline was created when Square Enix launched the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, an ongoing series of prequels and sequels to the original game. Uematsu's involvement in these releases has been limited.

Creation and influence

Uematsu composed and produced the music of Final Fantasy VII in eight months, though he would have preferred to spend at least a year on the task. While the media capabilities of the PlayStation allowed for CD quality music, the artist opted for MIDI, citing faster loading times as the reason for its use: "I prefer better sound [quality] but recorded sound needs time to read, sound chips don't. [With sound chips, the] Music changes more quickly and smoothly. I don't want players to feel stress, so I chose sound chips".[1]

"One-Winged Angel"

File:Final Fantasy VII - A One-Winged Angel.jpg
"One-Winged Angel" is played during the fight with Sephiroth in his "Safer" form.

"One-Winged Angel" (片翼の天使, Katayoku no Tenshi, lit. "an angel with wings on one side") is a Latin choral track, which is featured during the game's decisive confrontation between the protagonists and the primary antagonist Sephiroth. The title "One-Winged Angel" is a reference to the single large wing that is part of the form Sephiroth takes during that battle.

"One-Winged Angel" is among the most recognized tracks from the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack, as it has been rearranged several times and was also the first piece of music featured in a Final Fantasy game to include digitized vocals (as opposed to synthesized ones). Although a vocal track, titled "Approaching Premonition," had already been written as early as 1994 for Final Fantasy VI, it was not included in the finished game (it later appeared on the album Final Fantasy VI Special Tracks). The lyrics of "One-Winged Angel" were taken from the medieval poetry Carl Orff based his Carmina Burana on, respectively the songs "Estuans Interius", "O Fortuna" ("sors immanis"), "Veni, Veni, Venias" and "Ave Formosissima" ("gloriosa" and "generosa"). Uematsu has stated in an interview that the intro of "One-Winged Angel" is based on Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze".[2]

While the original soundtrack version of the song features digitized voices, the music is still performed entirely by synthesizers. A fully orchestrated arrangement by Shirou Hamaguchi later appeared on the Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks album (see below). This version was further expanded by Kenichiro Fukui for the movie Advent Children, blending the classical performance with heavy metal elements. This version, titled "Advent: One-Winged Angel", was conducted by Koji Haishima, the rock portion was performed by Nobuo Uematsu's band the Black Mages. The song features alternate (still Latin) lyrics in this incarnation and again, it is used to signify a climactic battle.

As of 2007, "Advent: One-Winged Angel" has been performed live by the Black Mages on two occasions. First during the More Friends concert in Los Angeles, California, with the CSUF University Singers and the World Festival Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arnie Roth and later at the Voices - Music from Final Fantasy 2006 concert in Japan, this time with GYA and the Prima Vista Philharmonic Orchestra, again conducted by Roth. The song was played twice on that evening, as part of the regular set and as an encore. During live performances, a bridge near the middle of the track is expanded with a short synthesizer solo performed by Uematsu.

Additional versions of "One-Winged Angel appear...

Albums

Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack

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The Final Fantasy VII Original Sound Track was originally released on February 10, 1997 through DigiCube and later re-released directly by Square Enix on May 10, 2004, after DigiCube's bankruptcy in 2003. Composed by Nobuo Uematsu and produced by Uematsu and Minoru Akao, the soundtrack spans four discs and has a combined duration of over four and a half hours.

A limited edition was released as well. It contains illustrated liner notes with several pictures of Uematsu's workspace, and personal effects, various cut scene and in-game screen shots from the game, and a discography. Unlike the regular edition, the track listing is printed in a separate booklet, featuring artwork by Yoshitaka Amano that depicts Final Fantasy VII characters Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough. The CDs are housed in a white box seated inside a black cover. The box is decorated with the Final Fantasy VII "meteor" logo. The limited edition also features a special listener survey.[3][4]

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Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks

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Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks is a single disc album that comprises a selection of tracks from the Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack. It was initially released through DigiCube on October 22, 1997 and later re-released by Square Enix on February 23, 2005. While the record was never published outside of Japan, the music is available in the North American iTunes Store.

Unlike previous single disc releases that complemented Final Fantasy soundtracks (such as Dear Friends and Grand Finale), most music on Reunion Tracks was taken from the original soundtrack unchanged. The songs "Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII", "Aerith's Theme" and "One-Winged Angel", however were fully re-recorded with an orchestra and choir. The album also contains a hidden track, which can be accessed by rewinding from the start of the album. It is a solely instrumental version of the "One-Winged Angel" arrangement, without the choir. The arrangements were created by Shirou Hamaguchi who later on produced Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinocec, an album featuring orchestral treatments of Final Fantasy VIII themes.

"Aerith's Theme"
The orchestral arrangement of a character theme.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

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Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII

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Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII is an album dedicated to piano arrangements of selected Final Fantasy VII themes. Unlike other Piano Collections released to complement the soundtracks of previous and later Final Fantasy games, this one was published relatively late after the original soundtrack, being initially released through DigiCube on December 3, 2003 and later re-released by Square Enix on May 10, 2004. Some of the arrangements on this album were also used on the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children soundtrack (see below).

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Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack

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Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack of the animated sequel to the original game, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. It spans two discs and was released September 28, 2005, containing new material created specifically for the movie, as well as re-recordings of familiar themes from the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack (some of them taken from the Piano Collections album). The ending theme "Calling" was written and performed by former Boøwy vocalist Kyosuke Himuro.

The regular edition comes in a standard jewel case, with a double-sided tray to house both discs. The limited edition comes packaged in a slipcase with a metallic-brushed look, alternate cover art, featuring the Advent Children renditions of Cloud Strife and Sephiroth and a ten-page booklet containing credits and lyrics.[5][6]

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Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack

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Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII entry Dirge of Cerberus. It spans two discs and was released on February 15, 2006. Masashi Hamauzu took over composing duties from Nobuo Uematsu, orchestrations were provided by Yoshihisa Hirano. Koji Haishima conducted the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, which was used for about half of the soundtrack. The soundtrack also contains the songs "Longing" and "Redemption" by Japanese rock musician Gackt and was released through the artist's current label, Nippon Crown. A character which was modeled on Gackt's likeness, called "Genesis" also appears during an optional ending of the game, for which the artist provided voice acting and motion capturing.

The limited edition of the soundtrack includes a "Cerberus Complete Case" box which is designed to hold the soundtrack, along with the game disc and the limited edition of the "Redemption" single (which comes with an additional DVD). The soundtrack marks new territory for Hamauzu, combining his signature impressionist chords, jazz and electronic ambience, marches and instrumental solos with a dark, cinematic atmosphere. However, it features no music, re-arranged or otherwise, from the original game and it is the second time, series regular Uematsu was not involved with the soundtrack of a Final Fantasy title (the first being Final Fantasy X-2). The Dirge of Cerberus soundtrack is also one of the few in the series to feature completely English track titles in the Japanese release.

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Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Multiplayer Mode Original Sound Collections

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A supplemental soundtrack, titled Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Multiplayer Mode Original Sound Collections was released through the Japanese iTunes Store and the Square Enix Music Download page on August 22, 2006. It contains 27 tracks, including some music from the single player game which did not appear on the previous soundtrack album, all the music from the multiplayer mode and two tracks composed by Ryo Yamazaki for the North American release of the game.

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Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Special Disc

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The Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Special Disc is one of three promotional soundtrack samplers that were given out to attendees of the Square Enix Party 2007, along with a box to hold the set. Each CD contain two songs from an upcoming games scored by Takeharu Ishimoto. The other two discs contain music from Dissidia: Final Fantasy, It's a Wonderful World and Monotone.

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References

  1. ^ "Nobuo Uematsu interview by Bob Rork". nobuouematsu.com. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  2. ^ As mentioned in the behind-the-scenes feature "The Distance" on the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children DVD release.
  3. ^ "Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack limited edition release information". ffmusic.info. Retrieved 2006-04-18.
  4. ^ "Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack review and release information". rpgfan.com. Retrieved 2006-04-18.
  5. ^ "Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack release information". cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  6. ^ "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Original Sountrack review and release information". rpgfan.com. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
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