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When the gaming industry was still in its infancy, and amazed kids stood wide-eyed in front of all those colorful moving things, no one would have ever thought that one day a video game would be considered a form of art. But critics change their minds over time, or rather, old critics die and new ones take their place, writing the exegeses that their generation deserves.
Then, when flashing glitz was accompanied by background music, composers had to make do with the limited tools of the time: for instance, the NES could only generate 5 types of wave, two of which were used for sound effects, and the music therefore had to remain within the narrow limit of 3 channels (with the SNES the channels would become 8). But art, as someone said (Gide?), is born from limitations, and now there are those who try to recreate the sound of classic games using 8-bit synthesizers, often with interesting results. On the other hand, soundtracks of this type are often rearranged for 'real' instruments and sold exactly as is done for films.
This album - I finally get to talk about the album, even though a bit of historical introduction was necessary - is the soundtrack of Final Fantasy IV, for Super Nintendo (the game was released in America under the name Final Fantasy II, which often causes a lot of confusion). All the tracks, as the title subtly suggests, have been arranged (by a certain Maire Breatnach) for traditional Celtic instrumentation, and the result is - perhaps leaving aside some particulars - perfectly successful.
The opening track is "The Prelude", which became famous in its time for making many people fall in love with Uematsu's music - legend has it that it was composed in five minutes, as they were late for the release date of the very first Final Fantasy. The "Prologue" - one of Uematsu's best pieces ever, in my opinion - also contains an original bridge perfectly integrated into the main theme; this occurrence also happens in other tracks, like the Celtic jigs serving as interludes in "Giotto, The Great King" and "Illusionary World". Other interesting pieces are the waltzes of "Into the Darkness" and "Dancing Calcobrena", one haunting and the other more sunny, both characterized by whirling melodies, light to listen to, but inherently anything but uninteresting. The album also features the romantic-emotional moments of "Theme of Love" (the leitmotif of Rosa, the protagonist's companion), "Welcome to Our Town!", and "Rydia". If the first two are tracks that enjoy an excellent melody and a nice chord progression, the third is a bit TOO romantic-emotional, and I find the Céline Dion-style arrangement with choirs and guitar counterpoint unbearable.
It could end here, but to our delight, they wisely chose to include as the closing track "Troian Beauty", which I consider without much trouble the best piece of the album (and the video game). The arrangement is perfect: it does not distort the original and retains all its class. A three-four time piece that is, all things considered, quite simple, demonstrating how Uematsu's music is based on a humble and sincere sense of melody more than anything else, a characteristic whose importance is often forgotten.
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