|
''Final Fantasy VII'' is a role-playing video game developed by Square/ Squaresoft (now Square Enix) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Released in 1997, the game sparked the release of a collection of media centered on the game entitled the ''Compilation of Final Fantasy VII''. The discography of the ''Final Fantasy VII'' series includes not only the albums based on the soundtrack to the original game, but also the music albums released for the titles in the collection. The first album produced was ''Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack'', a compilation of all the music in the game. It was released as a soundtrack album on four CDs by DigiCube in 1997. A selection of tracks from the album was released in the single-disc ''Reunion Tracks'' by DigiCube the same year. ''Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII'', an album featuring piano arrangements of pieces from the soundtrack, was released in 2003 by DigiCube, and Square Enix began reprinting all three albums in 2004. To date, these are the only released albums based on the original game's soundtrack, and were solely composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu; his role for the majority of subsequent albums has been filled by Masashi Hamauzu and Takeharu Ishimoto. The ''Compilation of Final Fantasy VII'' began eight years after the release of ''Final Fantasy VII'' with the release of the animated film sequel ''Advent Children'' in 2005. The soundtracks for each of the titles in the collection are included in an album, starting with the album release of the soundtrack to ''Advent Children'' that year. The following year, Nippon Crown released a soundtrack album to correspond with the video game ''Dirge of Cerberus'', while Square Enix launched a download-only collection of music from the multiplayer mode of the game, which was only released in Japan. After the launch of the game ''Crisis Core'' in 2007, Warner Music Japan produced the title's soundtrack. The latest album in the collection, ''Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII & Last Order: Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack'', was released by Square Enix the same year as a combined soundtrack album for the game ''Before Crisis'' and the animated movie ''Last Order''. The original music received highly positive reviews from critics, who found many of the tunes to be memorable and noted the emotional intensity of several of the tracks. The reception for the other albums has been mixed, with reactions ranging from enthusiastic praise to disappointment. Several pieces from the soundtrack, particularly "One-Winged Angel" and "Aeris' Theme", remain popular and have been performed numerous times in orchestral concert series such as ''Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy'' and ''Tour de Japon: Music from Final Fantasy''. Music from the Original Soundtrack has been included in arranged albums and compilations by Square as well as outside groups. ==Creation and development== Nobuo Uematsu composed the music of ''Final Fantasy VII'' in less than one year, although he had taken two years to create the soundtrack for the previous title, ''Final Fantasy VI''. ''Final Fantasy VII'' was the first game in the series to be developed for the PlayStation, and while the media capabilities of the console allowed for CD quality music, Uematsu opted instead to use MIDI sounds.〔 This decision has been credited as giving the soundtrack "a very distinctive mood and feel", forming a strong association for listeners between the game and its soundtrack.〔 Uematsu has stated, however, that the move into the "PlayStation era", which allowed video game composers to use sounds recorded in the studio rather than from synthesizers, had "definitely been the biggest change" to video game music.〔 The first piece that Uematsu composed for the game was the opening theme; game director Yoshinori Kitase showed him the opening cinematic to the game and asked him to begin the project there. The track was well received in the company, which gave Uematsu "a sense that it was going to be a really good project".〔 He later stated in the liner notes for the soundtrack album that the music for ''Final Fantasy VII'' was his "greatest harvest" to date.〔 ''Final Fantasy VII'' was the first game in the series to include a track with digitized vocals, "One-Winged Angel". The track has been called Uematsu's "most recognizable contribution" to the music of the ''Final Fantasy'' series,〔 though the composer did not expect it to gain such popularity.〔 The piece, described as "a fanfare to impending doom", is said to not "follow any normal genre rules" and has been termed "possibly the most innovative idea in the series' musical history."〔 The lyrics of "One-Winged Angel", a Latin choral track that plays at the climax of the game, were taken from the medieval poetry on which Carl Orff based his ''Carmina Burana'', specifically "Estuans Interius", "O Fortuna", "Veni, Veni, Venias" and "Ave Formosissima".〔 Uematsu has stated that the intro of "One-Winged Angel" is based on Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze", and that the piece revolves around the image of Sephiroth〔 and despite the chorus and orchestra, he still thinks of it as a "rock piece".〔〔 He has said that "One-Winged Angel" is his favorite tune from the soundtrack,〔 as well as his favorite battle theme from any ''Final Fantasy'' game.〔 There was a plan to use a "famous vocalist" for the ending theme as a "theme song" for the game, but the idea was dropped due to time constraints and thematic concerns.〔〔 Uematsu has said that the soundtrack has a feel of "realism", which prevented him from using "exorbitant, crazy music".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Music of the Final Fantasy VII series」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|