Nobuo Uematsu

Originally posted by Wikpedia

In an influential paper ("BWV 565: a toccata in D minor for organ by J. S. Bach?", Early Music, vol. 10, July, 1981, pp. 330-337), Peter Williams argued that the work is not by Bach. In support of this view, he cites the following:

There is no autograph score.

The copyist who created the oldest known manuscript (Johann Ringk, 1717-1778) was a student-of-a-student of Bach, who had access to some of the Bach manuscripts and whose reputation is dubious: he is believed to have passed off inauthentic (as well as authentic) works under the composer's name.

The work abounds in fermatas and dynamic markings, not ordinarily used in organ music in Bach's day.

Lastly, Williams judges that various musical passages in the work are simply too crude musically to have been Bach's work.

William's views have more recently been endorsed in a book-length study by the musicologist Rolf Dietrich Claus, cited below.

This view is further endorsed by the proliferation of undisguised consecutive fifths in the piece (no less than 10 bars in), which Bach was always careful to avoid. Even if the piece were a transcription of a solo instrumental work, these fifths still form an integral part of the work.

Hmm... What to say?

You do know that only motives are used from toccata and fugue in D minor in the FFVI battle theme. It is also a common technique that composers use to use other's ideas and expand their own creative ideas on top of it. How do you think Bhrams composed his works? He was considered to be the next Beethoven, or better yet, what Beethoven would be if he didn't die, ie one of his works was claimed as 'Beethoven's Tenth'. Do a bit of reasearch before you get unneseccarily angry at people.

You do know that only motives are used from toccata and fugue in D minor in the FFVI battle theme. It is also a common technique that composers use to use other's ideas and expand their own creative ideas on top of it. How do you think Bhrams composed his works? He was considered to be the next Beethoven, or better yet, what Beethoven would be if he didn't die, ie one of his works was claimed as 'Beethoven's Tenth'. Do a bit of reasearch before you get unneseccarily angry at people.

But Brahms didn't take Beethoven's motives wholesale. Brahms' 1st symphony, which he spent 24 years (!) writing, was often called "Beethoven's Tenth" because many musicians saw it as an extension of Beethoven's style, not because he used motives from Beethoven's music. In fact, the most important common characteristic that linked the two was the darkly epic character of their major concert works.

One thing about music from the Final Fantasy that I've only recently come to realize is how thematically linked everything is. For example, in Final Fantasy X, one of the reoccuring themes is the "Song of Prayer", which plays in every temple in the game that you go to, and in some other important moments. The guardian of these temples are the "Aeons", which I believe are some sort of fragmented remains of some people when they die, or something like that (haven't played the game in a long time) - which also serve as the summoned creatures used in the battle sequences (a reoccuring theme since Final Fantasy 4, I think?). Anyways, though they represent a sort of mythical creature, they also have a sort of a human persona - which supposedly determines the voicing for the song of prayer (ie, one of the Aeons is represented by a boy, so the song of prayer is sung by a boy soprano), and I think there's a reiteration for all the standard choir ranges (SATBB), as well as a couple of choir versions (Men's Choir, Gregorian Chant, Women's Choir, and a grand Mixed Choir version). Playing through the game, it's easy to miss such a build-up, but when listening to the soundtrack (in chronological order), it's quite neat in that you can nearly feel the events in the game progressing through the music itself.

It also has thematical tie-ins of the series as a whole - the battle music are all "theme" variations of one another ("theme" containing melodic, harmonic, and rhythmical instances), the heroine/love interests seem to share a similar motif, the prelude, in it's various iterations, and probably more I haven't picked up yet.

Not to say that I'm a Nobuo Uematsu fanboy, but I'm quite impressed by how strongly programmatic it often is.

Nobuo is a great composer who most definately knows what he's doing: everything is well characterized in his incidental music (for games) and he is also great in the sense that he doesn't exactly stick to a style. However, he fails to deeply touch me, when Koji Kondo does that for me.

Nobuo is a great composer who most definately knows what he's doing: everything is well characterized in his incidental music (for games) and he is also great in the sense that he doesn't exactly stick to a style. However, he fails to deeply touch me, when Koji Kondo does that for me.

Ah, Koji Kondo. You know , an orchestra recently played the music he wrote for Super Smash Brothers melee, I own it, its pretty cool.

As for more on Noubu (and disconnected to M_is_D's quotes, most people would have different opinions on the composer if they'd look into The Advent Children Soundtrack, as well as all albums by the Black Mages. These are more advances things by Noubu, using higher quality stuffs, so ya, check these out before jumping to conclusions, Eumatsu-haters.

Uematsu wasn't even involved in any of the two albums you mentioned, it's just arrangements of his original music. And I think, while I OCCASIONALY enjoy the black mages, that it is (along with the advent children soundtrack) the most crappy stuff ever. :thumbsup: (many would agree)

Heh, I can hear the Rite of Spring in One Winged Angel. Some of the chords are very similar.

Hmmm... I didn't know he lifted themes. Hah...

Anyways, I have a book of the Final Fantasy X songs... Some of them can be nice, but they seem very simple and a little boring sometimes... It's for piano however, so that might make a difference...

I think some of his melodies are nice... I put 'em into Sibelius to get the jist of them, and for practice in Sibelius...

I like some of his stuff, but others of his seem rather boring...

Uematsu wasn't even involved in any of the two albums you mentioned, it's just arrangements of his original music. And I think, while I OCCASIONALY enjoy the black mages, that it is (along with the advent children soundtrack) the most crappy stuff ever. laugh.gif (many would agree)

I find Uematsu sounds VERY cliche with his piano works, but his orchestral music has definite interest to it. And yes, One Wing Angel - a brilliant piece of game music. I don't know how well it'd work in a concert or anything, but it's great game music. I don't hear Rite of Spring in it at all. I think the use of the choir disrupts that - of course, I'm used to the Advent Children version.

I'm not a gamer at all - the only reason I know Uematsu's music at all is I lifed them off a friend of mine's computer - the Advent Children and Final Fantasy Orchestral CDs.

I still love Kondo best :P

Hize,

I am not as advance in my wording as others so please bear this fact.

I have known of this composer that is taked about.

I brought the album FF3 came out on the gameboy.

some of the melody's here are more memorable than some songs on FF7 & FF8.

Brought FF8 before that years ago i taped to a tape recorder and categorise every song on FF7 as i was playing the video game.I perfere FF7 music to FF8(well i do like the 1st track intro vocals in FF8).

I have heard listened to his new I think his latest piece with a female vocalist and it is a pop song that could be heard on top of the pops(UK slush music).

Nothing against that but it was not for me.

Has composed some great pieces but there are many songs on the other hand i do not think are very good to my ears.

Michiru Yamane who composes's video games music as well.

And created the album:Symphony of the night which for me is her greatest work.

I got into orchestra music because of her and that album,strange as that is I was never brought into classical world as others are bred.For I know it is midi samples but at the time is was so much more.

I feel the pieces hold some amazing little melodys moonlight nocturne,dance of gold & dance of pales are great.And nearly all the songs are memorable well i do believe that.

(not the last one i cannot stand and was not composed by her)

And has some nice guitar parts to go in places.

great simple catchy melodys are to be found in the album.

Well i might stand alone on that here.

And now i feel i have diminished into the ground as an outcast

Have a good day

I think Uematsu is a genius. It isn't unheard of for a composer to take bits of works by other composers and use them. Bach was also a genius, and I think that if Uematsu was going to take excerpts from anybody, then who better than the greatest composer of the Baroque era? ...but Uematsu isn't always borrowing things, anyway. The only two things I've heard of are that and the lyrics from "A One-Winged Angel" which were all taken from different parts of the text of the great "Carmina Burana" by Orff (another genius, by the way). The music of the piece, however, is entirely original. Uematsu wrote a wonderful, moving SATB choral piece called "The Promised Land" that was in FF7:AC, and I think everyone should check it out. Uematsu is simply number one in video game composing, hands down.

-Adam

By the way, he also composed for Super Mario RPG if memory serves. I'll check wikipedia later.

Nobuo is definitely one of the greatest composers I have known. I do notice that some of his stuff is taken from other stuff (as well as some of some of his songs reflect his older songs), but the way he redoes some used motives and phrases are what gets to me.

The sad thing, my music style in composition reflects his style, slightly. It's like, someone hears my music and says, "Sounds a bit like Final Fantasy."

Either way, I kinda like Advent Children's version of One-Winged Angel. It's not often that you get a choir, orchestra, etc. to play with some rock instruments. I think some rock artist did it a while ago (I think it was Ozzy, and the song was "Buried Alone")