Final Fantasy: Symphonic Suite (Compilation)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Game music is nothing of what it was the mid '90 or even the late '80. This time it can compete even with film music and classical music, just because now these days it gets the chance to be composed by orchestra's, and importantly has got the ability to convey its sense of wonder through commercial publicized soundtrack albums. Yet, even when they aren't composed by orchestra's, they receive the performance any composer wanted in the first place. Final Fantasy: Symphonic Suite is one example of music re performed by an orchestra to give it that scope the composer meant in the first place. However, the difference as you compare it with the Nobuo Uematsu you know and love of Final Fantasy VIII is, that it is exactly 11 and 12 years written before the wonderful film music like score of the eight chapter. This means of course don't expect the same brilliance or mature composition because it is nothing of that scope. It is however still wonderful music for such a midi level game console sound system and this orchestra gives it at least scope where it had just nothing in the game. And even if it doesn't listen like Final Fantasy VIII, the first and second game offer their set of spectacular moments and wonderful game music overall, easily to be enjoyed by whoever that holds the music of Uematsu heavy above heart.

This self made compilation piece is again just a creation of our imagination, to give the man the chance to receive attention even in film music circles. And if you are fed up with these game score reviews, it is still a piece of music that often eclipses movie scores overall in their originality and entertainment, if not even to speak of the time that was obviously needed to write the music. 'Final Fantasy II - Main Theme' starts the score and is a piece for choir and orchestra, the theme itself is repeated and each time it receives a light choral back up. It is already a nice theme to begin with and will be repeated at the end of the score equally so. 'Final Fantasy II - Battle Scene 2' is in the end a piece which I call simply cool stuff. It has a beat, some good chosen sound effects and an overall feeling that it simply is fun. 'Final Fantasy I - Opening, Street, Matoya's Cavern' are several pieces linked together, one of them which was performed on the Final Fantasy VIII and More Final Fantasy score, honestly better with the performance of The Tokyo Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, because here it doesn't get the scope that orchestra created. Still the choir again is heard briefly and it ends with a short set of fanfares of some bravura. The highlight of the disc is 'Prelude Final Fantasy I - Main Theme, Kao's Shrine', a piece which mixes a lovely string theme with a more brass laden 2nd theme into a wonderful suite, even ending again with some wonderful firework at the end. It is the highlight and the piece that shows mostly the capabilities of Uematsu as composer, even at that age.

Perhaps the minor downfall is 'Final Fantasy I - Gurg Volcano / Final Fantasy II - Dungeon, Empire Army's Theme' if you speak about thematic melody. It is however a piece which impresses more because of its bombast of harsh brass and whirling strings. It is a piece which shows that not everything needs to have melody to make a point. And the return of the main theme in 'Final Fantasy II - Rebel Army's Theme' is what ends the score, again in good fashion. The theme is repeated with more emphasis on choir and it once more ends with a set of choir and timpani. Truthfully, simply speaking of melodic material, Final Fantasy: Symphonic Suite deserves much more then those 3 stars because it embarrasses a lot of 3 star scores of movie music. Its melodic beauty and lovely development is better then what most composers would have come up with. Yet, of course game music isn't set to actual boundaries and therefore the music can flow easily through its tone to the perfect ending. Final Fantasy VIII therefore easily listened more as film score, simply 'Liberi Fatali' was composed during an actual film animation scene and is breathless in its complexity and development. In this case it simply listens as good as it needs to. Of course this music can't compare itself with chapter 8, or what he wrote for latter entries. It is obvious that Uematsu matured as composer and Final Fantasy I and II don't have that maturity yet. However, it is still wonderful to listen to music. Performed through an orchestra it is now wonderful to listen to film music which in the end deserves a moment of your time. Only to make you realize that Final Fantasy VIII is so much better then this, hard to believe yet completely true.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Final Fantasy II - Main Theme (4.14)

2. Final Fantasy II - Battle Scene 2 (5.04)

3. Final Fantasy I - Opening, Street, Matoya's Cavern (6.08)

4. Final Fantasy II - Finale (5.24)

5. Prelude Final Fantasy I - Main Theme, Kao's Shrine (8.14) Excellent Track

6. Final Fantasy I - Gurg Volcano / Final Fantasy II - Dungeon, Empire Army's Theme (5.05)

7. Final Fantasy II - Rebel Army's Theme (5.15)

Total Length: 39.28

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