Some more music for you today as it’s awfully late and I feel like I’ve been busy all day today, even though the only thing I achieved in the daytime was to buy two shirts which actually look good on me. Oh, and record these two pieces, of course.
A bit of background on these pieces for those who aren’t familiar with them. Final Fantasy has been a big part of my life for many years – at least since Final Fantasy VII came out. I believe I’ve talked about the fond memories I have associated with this game in the past – the long, hot summer days, the thirty-six hour playing stint which culminated with my friend Woody and I suffering strange hallucinations of items that didn’t exist in the game – but the thing that’s stuck with me longer than the game itself is its music. FFVII was the first time I really noticed game music as a positive thing and, just to make this even more clichéd, it was One Winged Angel which impressed me the most.
After playing FFVII to death, I tracked down the previous games in the series, which I’d never experienced before, not really knowing what an RPG was before that point. I discovered that they, too, had great music, and not only that, there were piano arrangements available.
After a considerable amount of time searching, I managed to track down some dodgy scans of the piano scores for IV, V and VI. Later, I acquired genuine copies of the VII, VIII and IX books. The arrangements of the pieces are gorgeous – proper piano arrangements in a variety of styles rather than simple transcriptions. I’ve been playing them ever since and everyone seems to think that they’re very “me”.
Persona is a bit different. I came to Persona with the third game in the series a year or two back thanks to the Squadron of Shame. We even did a podcast about it. What struck nearly all of us about that series was its peculiarly quirky and enormously Japanese soundtrack. I was very interested to discover earlier this year that both Persona 3 and Persona 4 have piano scores available too. Unfortunately, they’re not nearly as well-arranged as the Final Fantasy scores, but they certainly sound good enough – for some pieces at least. The J-hip-hop tracks don’t sound particularly good on a piano, so there is no way I am ever playing any of them in public.
Much like Final Fantasy, the Persona games hold a very fond place in my heart. Rather than having memories attached to them, though, I found the stories of both games to be very emotionally resonant. I identified a great deal with many of the characters, as Persona deals a lot with friendships, personal identity and figuring out who you are, both in yourself and in relation to other people. While I can’t point a fake gun at my head and summon a mythical beast to do my bidding, I do at least understand what some of the characters have been through, and empathise with others. It’s rare that a game is written well enough for that to happen, so both games hold a special place in my heart.
Without further ado, then, here’s two more pieces for your delectation. Just like last time, iPhone users can click on the titles to hear the tracks.
*pauses* I wish I’d remembered to upload these tracks before I started writing this. *drums fingers* Tra la la la la…
Aha! They’re done. Here. *Enjoy* the *sauce*. And yes, I know there’s a couple of bum notes. I was in a hurry. 🙂
The Oath from Final Fantasy VIII
Heaven from Persona 4
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Thanks for Sharing, Mr. Davison!
I’m a closet game music geek; I associate a lot with various tunes. As, I guess, we all do. I just let the warm fuzzies take me more often than not.
For instance, collecting a bunch of notes in Super Mario Galaxy 2 resonated with the theme to Super Mario World.
Which made me smile.
I can’t be closeted about my love for game music, nor about my love for a good solo piano piece. These are fantastic, Pete! Your dynamics on The Oath are more subtle than other piano recordings I’ve heard of that it. MOAR! 😀
Beautifully played. The only thing I can play from FF is the Chocobo Song…
Thank you, all. Glad you like them. Did you check out the previous post, too? Three more tracks there.
Geez Pete. There’s a line in Shampoo Planet about the main character finding out after 15 years that his friend Harmony knows how to play the flute. That’s kind of how running into this sort of thing feels from the outside.
These are great performances, full of soul and nuance. As Jack Wall said once, “like watching a room full of teenagers sit in rapt attention to what is, essentially, classical music”. It’s always a privilege to see another side of a person you thought you knew revealed, and what better way to showcase than the universal language of Music. Good show.
Beautiful! And I love the stories / reasons you play them!