Film scores are now common repertoire in symphony halls. But as perhaps an indicator of how video-game development these days increasingly resembles that of motion pictures (I’m no expert in the gaming arena, to be sure), the newest medium for symphony concert material is video-game soundtracks. From the Times, “Video Fantasy Replaces Mozart (But Who’s Keeping Score?)“:
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, which typically plays scores by composers like Beethoven and Brahms, will perform music tonight more often heard while keeping score.
The Philharmonic’s program will consist entirely of excerpts from the Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtrack music for “Final Fantasy,” a popular series of action-adventure video games.
It turns out that “Final Fantasy” developer Square Enix is producing the concert (they hired the Philharmonic and rented the hall, after convincing orchestra officials to go forward with the program), so in a way this particular concert is just as product-driven as music-driven, one of the critics in the article observes. But still, I have to admit, concerts like this–scores performed with projected scenes–are kind of cool. Related: Nobuo Uematsu website at Square Enix.
[Update (11 July): An excerpt of the concert will air on G4techTV’s Cinematech on Tues., July 13 at 10:30 p.m. EST. (Link via Sketchee.)]