BY KIYA VAN DER LINDEN-KIAN
Final Symphony
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
28 September, Hamer Hall
Drawing on some of the memorable moments and music from the series, Final Symphony is a concert featuring a trio of works: a symphony; symphonic poem; and a piano concerto that can be easily accessible to a wider group of audiences – beyond the world of gaming alone. The Final Fantasy series includes some of the most recognisable and lauded video games. Since the initial franchise release in 1987, the game has inspired a devoted fan base, which has persisted through its 21 years.
The pieces in this celebration were all drawn from different Final Fantasy games, with the symphonic poems being based on themes from Final Fantasy 6; the piano concerto from Final Fantasy 10; and the symphony from Final Fantasy 7. These concerts are a great way to introduce the symphonic concert experience to an audience that wouldn’t normally go to the orchestra.
The orchestration was intelligent – the concert was easily divided into different parts, making it easy for the audience to digest. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra did a fantastic job of capturing the feel of the games and immersing the audience inside them. People were moved, some to tears, at some of the themes. The average age of the viewer was comfortably in the 18-30 demographic and Hamer Hall was near sold out, proving the adage that “if you give the people what they want, they will come”.
Part of the appeal of the music of Final Fantasy is in its different approach to writing music. In video games, the music acts as a magnifier, lending itself to exaggerate the moments on screen. As such, the music of Final Fantasy, and of many video games, tends to be effects-based. This gives the music a certain liberty, rather than following the stricter rules of tonal harmony or other theoretical compositional structures (for example, serialism). The music can be shaped to create and amplify any effect.
Given that the music is made to accompany visuals, you would expect that a comprehensive light show or visuals of some design would be present during the concert. Unfortunately, the visuals that were provided left a lot more to be desired. The producers had clearly gone to the trouble of programming some patterned, coloured lights to move at the beginning of each work – but they would then remain static after the first minute! We were left looking at a weird mix of purple and green with circles; leaving the feeling that visuals could have been utilised more effectively. Having stills from the games, or even artists renderings of locations and characters, would’ve provided the audience with an extra connection to the games and related more to the music.
The show finished with two encores. Both had fun little moments of audience interaction, which helped to break down the formality between the performers and audience. This kind of informal ending was excellent. It’s encouraging to see big conventional orchestras like the MSO moving in this direction, as I think it makes the concert experience more relatable. I only wish they had spread these moments throughout the concert and not left them all for the end, as it felt a bit ‘tacked on’. Saying that, I still had a great time and I look forward to seeing more of these concerts in the future.
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Image: Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster Original Soundtrack via wishsu/Flickr, CC-BY-2.0. Nintendo image JD Hancock via Flickr CC BY 2.0.
