Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. The original Final Fantasy video game, published in 1987, is a role-playing video game developed by Square, spawning a video game series that became the central focus of the franchise. The primary composer of music for the main series was Nobuo Uematsu, who single-handedly composed the soundtracks for the first nine games, as well as directing the production of many of the soundtrack albums. Music for the spin-off series and main series games beginning with Final Fantasy X was created by a variety of composers including Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta, Hitoshi Sakimoto, and Kumi Tanioka, as well as many others.
Music from the franchise has been performed numerous times in concert tours and other live performances such as the Orchestral Game Music Concerts, Symphonic Game Music Concerts, and the Play! A Video Game Symphony and the Video Games Live concert tours, as well as forming the basis of specific Final Fantasy concerts and concert series. The first such concert was the 20020220 Music from Final Fantasy concert on February 20, 2002, which sparked a six-concert tour in Japan entitled Tour de Japon: Music from Final Fantasy beginning in March 2004. A North American concert series titled Dear Friends - Music From Final Fantasy- followed from 2004 to 2005, and after its conclusion was followed with the More Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concert on May 16, 2005. Voices – Music from Final Fantasy was a concert held in Yokohama, Japan on February 18, 2006, focusing on vocal pieces from the series. The longest running Final Fantasy concert series so far is the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy concert tour, which began in 2007 and continues to date around the world. The latest officially licensed concerts are Final Symphony and Final Symphony II. All of these concerts have played only music from the main Final Fantasy series, and do not include music from the multiple spin-off series with the exception of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, the 2005 animated film sequel to Final Fantasy VII.
20020220 – Music from Final Fantasy 20020220 – Music from Final Fantasy was the first official concert devoted to music from across the Final Fantasy series. A previous concert, Final Fantasy Symphonic Suite, had been performed on May 20, 1989, for a limited audience to create an orchestral version of the soundtracks of Final Fantasy I and II, which have only been released together. The music of 20020220 was arranged for orchestra from the original songs composed by Nobuo Uematsu primarily by Uematsu himself and Shiro Hamaguchi, with "To Zanarkand" and "Yuna's Decision" arranged by Masashi Hamauzu, and was performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra on February 20, 2002, at the Tokyo International Forum. The orchestra was conducted by Taizou Takemoto, and the concert was hosted by Masakazu Morita and Mayuko Aoki, the Japanese voice actors for Tidus and Yuna from Final Fantasy X.
The orchestra played 17 songs over a period of almost two hours. The setlist ranged covered songs from the very first Final Fantasy game through Final Fantasy X, the latest game to have been released. Their rendition of "Suteki da Ne" from Final Fantasy X was accompanied by Japanese folk singer Ritsuki Nakano, known as "RIKKI", who sang the track in the original game. Similarly, "Melodies of Life" from Final Fantasy IX was performed by Emiko Shiratori, the original performer for the song in that game's soundtrack. "At Zanarkand" and "Yuna's Decision", both from Final Fantasy X, were solo piano pieces performed by Aki Kuroda, while "Liberi Fatali" and "One-Winged Angel" saw the orchestra combined with a small chorus. Kiyotsugu Amano performed guitar accompaniment for "Dear Friends" (Final Fantasy V) and "Vamo' Alla Flamenco" (Final Fantasy IX).
An album based on a live recording of the concert was released on May 9, 2002, by DigiCube, and was subsequently re-released on July 22, 2004, by Square Enix. The album spans 25 tracks over two discs and covers a duration of 1:47:27, and includes the initial tuning of the orchestra, the speeches given by the MC, and the songs themselves. The album was well received by critics and was termed an "amazing soundtrack" and "probably the best Final Fantasy arranged album ever made" by Robert Bogdanowicz of RPGFan. Liz Maas of RPGFan agreed; although she found there to be a lack of actual innovation overall, she felt the music was "wonderful" and the album as a whole "rather enjoyable". Patrick Dell of Soundtrack Central felt that the album was "wonderful" and "an impressive display", although he greatly disliked the performance of the choir. Dave of Square Enix Music Online was not as impressed by the album, saying that many of the performances were "lacking cohesion and direction", although he felt that overall it was "satisfactory" and "worth repeated listens". Sophia of Square Enix Music Online, on the other hand, felt that it was a "fantastic album" and a "must have".
Setlist # Title Original game 1. "Liberi Fatali"Final Fantasy VIII 2. "Theme of Love" Final Fantasy IV 3. "Final Fantasy I-III Medley" Final Fantasy I ("The Prelude", "Main Theme", "Matoya's Cave") Final Fantasy II ("Rebel Army Theme", "Chocobo Theme") Final Fantasy III ("Elia, the Water Maiden") 4. "Aerith's Theme" Final Fantasy VII 5. "Don't Be Afraid" Final Fantasy VIII 6. "Tina" Final Fantasy VI 7. "Dear Friends" Final Fantasy V 8. "Vamo' Alla Flamenco" Final Fantasy IX Intermission 9. "At Zanarkand" Final Fantasy X 10. "Yuna's Decision" Final Fantasy X 11. "Love Grows" Final Fantasy VIII 12. "Suteki da ne" Final Fantasy X 13. "The Place I'll Return to Someday" Final Fantasy IX 14. "Melodies of Life" Final Fantasy IX 15. "One Winged Angel" Final Fantasy VII Encore 16. "The Man with the Machine Gun" Final Fantasy VIII 17. "Final Fantasy Theme" Final Fantasy series
Tour de Japon Tour de Japon – Music from Final Fantasy (or Tour de Japon) was a concert tour featuring music from the Final Fantasy video game series that toured Japan from March 12 to April 16, 2004. The tour was built upon the success of the 20020220 Music from Final Fantasy concert, and featured seven concerts in six cities. The series of concerts featured music composed by Nobuo Uematsu and arranged by Shiro Hamaguchi. The orchestras were conducted by Taizō Takemoto, as the orchestra in 20020220 had been. Uematsu guest conducted the encores for each performance; he used a borrowed baton that he had snapped and taped together. Tour de Japon featured fewer non-orchestra performances than 20020220; "Opera "Maria & Draco"" featured the singing of Etsuyo Ota, Tomoaki Watanabe, and Tetsuya Odagawa, while Manami Kiyota and Yuji Hasegawa performed songs from Final Fantasy Song Book: Mahoroba during the intermission. Different orchestras were used in each performance; these were the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic, Kyushu Symphony, and Osaka Symphoniker Orchestra. One of the performances was recorded and released exclusively on DVD to Nobuo Uematsu Fan Club members.
Setlist # Title Original game 1. "Opening ~ Bombing Mission" Final Fantasy VII 2. "To Zanarkand" Final Fantasy X 3. "Ronfaure" Final Fantasy XI 4. "Aerith's Theme" Final Fantasy VII 5. "The Oath" Final Fantasy VIII 6. "You're Not Alone" Final Fantasy IX Intermission 7. "Ahead on Our Way" Final Fantasy V 8. "Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII" Final Fantasy VII 9. "Theme of Love" Final Fantasy IV 10. "Final Fantasy I-III Medley 2004" Final Fantasy I, II, III 11. "Opera "Maria and Draco"" Final Fantasy VI ("Aria di Mezzo Carattere") 12. "New Tune from FF7 Advent Children" Final Fantasy VII Advent Children ("Cloud Smiles") 13. "Final Fantasy Main Theme" Final Fantasy series
Tour locations Date City Country Venue Orchestra March 12, 2004 YokohamaJapan Minato Mirai Hall New Japan Philharmonic March 14, 2004 Tokyo Bunkamura Orchard Hall Tokyo City Philharmonic (noon and evening performances) March 19, 2004 Sapporo Sapporo Concert Hall Sapporo Symphony Orchestra April 2, 2004 Nagoya Aichi Prefectural Art Theater Concert Hall Nagoya Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra April 11, 2004 Fukuoka ACROS Fukuoka Symphony Hall Kyushu Symphony Orchestra April 16, 2004 Osaka Festival Hall, Osaka Osaka Symphoniker Orchestra
Dear Friends – Music from Final Fantasy
Dear Friends – Music from Final Fantasy was a concert tour featuring music from the Final Fantasy video game series that toured the United States from 2004 to 2005. The concert was the first Final Fantasy concert tour for North America and featured record sales and sold-out concerts. The series of concerts featured music composed by Nobuo Uematsu from the later releases of the series. The name of the concert series, in addition to being the name a Final Fantasy V piece that is played at the concerts, was chosen by Uematsu to represent his appreciation for the support given to him by fans of his music and of the Final Fantasy series.
The series was originally conceived as a single concert to be held on May 10, 2004, performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. The concert was hosted by James Arnold Taylor, the English voice actor for Final Fantasy Xs Tidus, and featured large screens hanging above the orchestra playing scenes relevant to the music being performed. Like the concerts before it, Dear Friends featured several groups and instruments in addition to the orchestra, including a guitar for "Dear Friends", castagnettes for "Vamo' Alla Flamenco", and piano for "At Zanarkand" and "Cloud Smiles", which at the time was not named and was only known to be featured in the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. The encore piece, "One-Winged Angel", saw the orchestra joined by a full choir, the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
The concert was termed "a complete success" by IGN, who commented that they "walked away impressed with the performance, the presentation, and the timelessness of Uematsu's compositions". The response to the concert was greater than expected, with tickets selling out in three days. After "many fans pleaded for another chance to see the concert", Dear Friends was expanded into a full concert tour the following year, conducted by Arnie Roth. Roth took on the role of conductor for the series after trying to get the show to be performed by his Chicago Pops orchestra, and hearing that other tour locations were hesitant about putting on the concert. He has said that he tried to add to the concerts his personal touch in the areas of "drama and timing". Different orchestras were used in each performance, though the format and setlist remained the same.
Setlist # Title Original game 1. "Liberi Fatali" Final Fantasy VIII 2. "At Zanarkand" Final Fantasy X 3. "Terra" Final Fantasy VI 4. "Theme of Love" Final Fantasy IV 5. "Dear Friends" Final Fantasy V 6. "Vamo' Alla Flamenco" Final Fantasy IX 7. "Love Grows" Final Fantasy VIII Intermission 8. "Aerith's Theme" Final Fantasy VII 9. "You are not Alone" Final Fantasy IX 10. "Ronfaure" Final Fantasy XI 11. "Medley" Final Fantasy I, II, III 12. "Cloud Smiles" Final Fantasy VII Advent Children 13. "Final Fantasy Theme" Final Fantasy series Encore 14. "One-Winged Angel" Final Fantasy VII