[News] Symphonic Game Music Concert 2010: Official Thread of Joy and Faintings

Still enthused by Symphonic Fantasies? Pull yourself together: Seems the concert was successful enough for the WDR to almost immediately reveal their plans for a follow-up next year.

Quote:

On September 24, 2010 (Friday) the WDR Radio Orchestra will present a new concert with music from video games at the Philharmonic Hall in Cologne, Germany.

"We will continue!", Winfried Fechner, manager of the WDR Radio Orchestra announces. "We were overwhelmed with letters and e-mails. The excitement of the fans is phenomenal. The positive feedback on Symphonic Fantasies is beyond our wildest expectations!".
"Now I am extremely glad to say: Yes, we will continue to produce video game music concerts. The next one will take place on September 24, 2010 at the beautiful Philharmonic Hall in Cologne. The WDR Radio Orchestra and I are already much looking forward to it!", he adds.

Date is a bit surprising as the holidays will be over by then. Saturday is perfect for the ones with a long journey ahead, but for Friday...I'll have to find a way to skip school.

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I very much hope for a Saturday concert to be announced when the ticket sale starts. I never had any problem with Leipzig's events because they were within the holiday frame, but Saturday is just so much more convenient for Cologne. Who knows? Maybe the Philharmonie already has a concert on September 25th.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Bumping this to make everyone go nuts: no new information at all.

Seriously, though. I overheard this conversation in the radio talk show Domian last night and thought I'd post it here. German Gamingforcists can follow the girl talk about her biggest dream that has to do with game music concerts...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Don't know. She also said the Cologne concert took place last year. Maybe it was just her being nervous. Or she called from the future.

Anyway, I can't imagine her dream being that far off. If she is a talented singer and receives some kind of musical education, I can see her entering a choir that performs for game music concerts. It'd probably be harder to enter just one single concert, though, unless she has some good relations.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Sheesh, had to happen at a time I didn't check the official sites for two days... Turns out my seat was already taken, though I got a good substitute for it.

Tickets are selling like hotcakes, that's for sure: Blocks B and D are almost completely taken.

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Originally Posted by monferd

they have the nerve to sell tickets without even saying what the concert is about?

Well, obviously they can afford. And I guess the title is a pretty good giveaway of what to expect.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Dallista

I'm still hoping there'll be a second performance on Friday, either in Koeln or somewhere else in the area. Thursday just isn't a good day for me. :-(

If there is a Cologne Philharmonic Hall concert on Friday, I'll buy an additional ticket and give my Thursday one to the poorest GFF member.

Originally Posted by Hamu-Sumo

Furthermore it's scheduled that more details will be revealed in February.

That's great! I'm just hoping for early rather than late February, the tension is killing me.

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I have already posted it on CetraConnection (where people are also eagerly awaiting the announcement of details) but, well, relevant here as well:

The State Choir Latvija, which some of you may know from the marvelous soundtrack of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, will be the choir for this year's main concert. I'm absolutely stoked to hear their live performance!

Originally Posted by Hamu-Sumo

"We're going to send out a news instantly we have the permission of all participants." was the answer to my (ironic) question whether they wait for all tickets being sold.

I kind of expected a second concert to be announced after the first event sold out, along with the musical focus as it is guaranteed ticket pusher. Judging from the original news at the official website and how it was changed from "Details" zu "Erste Details", I guess they were expecting to be able to announce it in February but couldn't make it for the reasons you mentioned above. The answer you received, of course, raises the question what "participants" refers to. If it is game publishers, then a company-centric concert is unlikely.

My only hope is that the program won't be held back as long as last year, it just seemed unreasonable. I still think Symphonic Shades was perfect in terms of information policy. All compositions to be performed were known by April 2008. It may not be possible for each concert that early (as seen above...), but I still prefer to know the titles as soon as possible. Also, the Fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert had one genuine surprise in that the performance by Michiru Yamane came totally out of the blue. Her performance was so enjoyable partly because nobody expected it at all: the only "surprise" announced was the one prepared by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, his piano and vocal solo. Another great one was the encore in Symphonic Fantasies. Totally unexpected.

I would love to see both of these aspects, early announcements and genuine surprises (if there are any planned), combined for future events. Because one certainly can't deny there is a considerable amount of hype among fans of the series and...what better way to keep it going than fan service.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Sad to hear Mr. Fechner is retiring. He's a very likable and passionate man.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Thomas Böcker

The WDR is a public-broadcasting institution, in fact one of the biggest in Europe. If one of the ensembles, such as the WDR Radio Orchestra, is doing a production, policy is that it must be broadcast on radio.

Whoever decided on that policy should be sent a bouquet. A big one. Probably also some food.

That said, Symphonic Legends will see another live video and radio broadcast.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

"Fanfare for the Common 8-bit Hero" should have had Nuss on the piano, as well, according to this interview. "The Legend of Zelda - Symphonic Poem" has a prominent piano played by an unidentified woman who does not seem to be part of the orchestra (at least she is not listed with the musicians).

You can find a detailed list of performers, composers (those are a bit inclusionist at times) and arrangers here.

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Originally Posted by Kishin

So Nuss failed miserably like last time? I wonder what was the reason this year.

Honestly, huh? He made only one noticeable mistake last year in the Kingdom Hearts suite (which was corrected in the CD release, by the way ), and I did not recognize a single mistake from him this year. The only one that messed up a little is the trumpeter in "Super Mario Bros. (Retro Medley)", who was asynchronous during the "Aboveground BGM" from New Super Mario Bros. – and I don't even know if it was his fault.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by LiquidAcid

Anyway, where do the credits from the encore come from? Especially the arranger credit. And looks like I totally blacked out when Erdenberger said 'Ludendo'. Did he really say that?!

Taking all composers from the source material into consideration because no single track credits exist. Could be that some didn't actually compose the music in there. All unreferenced people in the "Arrangers/Orchestrators" columns are based on creator comments.

And no, Erdenberger didn't read "Ludendo" (mirroring the "mit Zu...satz F as if S...FX...-Chip" moment which was pure comedy gold ), but it was displayed as the title in the video stream.

Originally Posted by AkumuHau

Being young, ridiculously talented and full of potential qualifies as miserably failing these days? I didn't even hear any screw-ups and I was there.

He was a little nervous during the interview, but that's it. *shrug*

I was speaking idiomatically.

Released my recording in the game rips thread, for anyone who's interested.



EDIT: For the Germans among us, a little picture puzzle, humbly provided by pronunciation expert Ralph Erdenberger.




Tip:

Spoiler:

It's a Japanese greeting.

Solution:

Spoiler:

Ohio Guss-Ei-Maß!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Anybody know what song the strings from that moment on play? It's so damn familiar but I just can't seem to nail it. I thought it might be "Battle" from Majora's Mask, but that's not exactly it...

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Opfer

It's Twilight Princess. In my rip, the thing is called "King Bulblin & Lord Bullbo". It's the theme from the battle on the Bridge of Eldin.

It's definitely not that one, but rather a song with a slow and menacing transition. Could be a battle theme, though I am not sure.
I just know that I've heard those string notes somewhere before, and it drives me crazy that I can't get myself to remember it. :/

Here's a MIDI with the section isolated from the rest of the orchestra.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

The MIDI you posted is basically the ordinary battle theme of Twilight Princess. Plays when enemies are around. In the FLAC gamerip I downloaded from somewhere I don't remember anymore, it is Track 1-19 and titled "Battle Second Half".

Listen at the 2 minute 10 second mark.

Well, looks like embedded videos play from the start. Click here if you're lazy.

Ding, ding, ding, right answer! Thank you so much for putting this to rest!

Spoiler:

I suck for not remembering this, suck major.

Originally Posted by Opfer

Ah, okay, sorry, I thought you were talking about the section in the video that starts right after that one.

That is actually the last battle theme from Twilight Princess, "Ganondorf Battle Second Half". By the way, Toru Minegishi is a genius when it comes to battle music.


I've started compiling a composition breakdown some days ago, but this time it's a lot harder than last year. The arrangements are much more intertwined this year and I don't know every track's title or origin. This is what I've got so far:

06 - Super Mario Bros. (Retro Suite)
	0:00-1:16: "Water Land" from Super Mario 64
	1:00-2:11, 2:14-2:19: "Athletic BGM" from Super Mario Bros. 3
	2:12-2:13, 2:19-2:26: "Underground BGM" from Super Mario Bros.
	2:20-3:13: "Koopa Stage BGM" from Super Mario Bros.
	3:13-3:19: "Koopa's Defeat Fanfare" from Super Mario Bros.
	3:19-5:01: "Aboveground BGM" from Super Mario Bros.
	4:01-4:23: "Aboveground BGM" from New Super Mario Bros.

10 - Metroid (Suite: Samus Aran - Galactic Warrior)
	0:00-2:57: Original composition
	2:57-3:07: "Crateria: The Space Pirates Appear" from Super Metroid
	3:07-3:44: Original composition
	3:44-4:19: "Tourian" from Super Metroid
	4:19-4:46: "Theme of SUPER METROID" from Super Metroid
	4:46-4:59: Original composition
	4:59-5:22: "Big Boss Confrontation BGM (Ridley, Draigon)" from Super Metroid
	5:22-6:05: Original composition
	6:05-6:48: "Theme of SUPER METROID" from Super Metroid
	6:48-6:58: Original composition

27 - Encore (Currendo. Saltando. Ludendo)
	0:00-2:03: "Staff Credits" from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
	1:38-2:03: "Ending Staff Roll" from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
	2:03-2:29: "Ending Staff Roll" from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
	2:40-3:29: "Super Mario Galaxy" from Super Mario Galaxy
	2:57-3:01: "???" from LylatWars
	3:29-3:33, 3:49-4:13: "Big Blue" from F-Zero
	3:49-4:13: "Aboveground" from The Legend of Zelda
	4:14-4:52: "Ending BGM" from Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
	4:53-5:25: "The Starship Travels" from Super Mario Galaxy 2
	5:25-5:52: Original composition

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by LiquidAcid

I don't think anyone has already mentioned it here:

In the Polyneux podcast (interview with Thomas Böcker) here Böcker has stated that the concert is going to become available in the WDR Mediathek at some time.

This essentially means that we're going to get a (remastered?) recording of the concert that does include the video stream.
I think especially Audi was interested in something like that

Schon GEZahlt?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

They really upped the ante this year with the celebrity performers:

Gabriele Pauli



...and Hideki Kamiya!



Consider me amazed. I said wow.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.