ReMix:Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars "Adagio pour Mallow" 4:27

After a series of revisions that date back to 2009, we're proud to post newcomer Thomas B. Yee's gorgeous orchestral arrangement of "Sad Song" from SMRPG. The artist writes:

"The track is titled "Adagio pour Mallow" and remixes "Sad Song" from the much-beloved SNES classic, Super Mario RPG. This is actually a resubmission of a track from back in 2009, then titled "Mallow's Lament." One of my earliest childhood memories is of playing Super Nintendo with my father and older brother. Though it consisted of little more than 16-bit beeps and boops, the music of those early adventures were the earliest spark that inspired me to become a composer. I have carried those soundtracks with me on my musical journey ever since, and one of the most vivid scores in my memory is that of Super Mario RPG, composed by Yoko Shimomura.

Fast forward a decade or so. The next major step in influencing me to pursue the path of a music composer occurred when I was principal percussionist in the Youth Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth. I often had the opportunity to sit back and drink in the orchestral repertoire of all flavors being played, and I continued to soak in that music like a sponge. My absolute favorite composer was Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and it was his Symphony Pathetique (no. 6) that decisively sent me down the composer's path.

Given the two above essential moments in my story, this piece is a natural result of my unique musical personality and voice. I have taken the theme of one of the main characters of Super Mario RPG (Mallow), titled "Sad Song," and orchestrated it in an exhilarating and epic fashion. The style hearkens back to the glories of the Romantic Era - especially to Tchaikovsky. Above all, I hope to have brought this simple-but-powerful melody into dramatic realization with the dynamic power of the orchestra. I humbly submit "Adagio pour Mallow" for your consideration, and I sincerely hope that the arrangement will receive your favor and approval."

First off, I have to mention that I'm a diehard fan of Skrypnyk's trip-hop/downbeat arrangement of this source; it's probably my favorite OC ReMix in that particular style, I revisit it all the time, and gee whiz do I wish he'd do some more game arrangements in a similar vein. It's a great source with a timeless melody that's filled with melancholy, though, and hearing it rearranged in a symphonic setting with all the trappings of Romanticism is both interesting and moving. Thomas's last submission of this track had some odd panning issues that he's thankfully fixed, and while there remain some production nitpicks, the overall presentation serves the arrangement quite well. With a very flamboyant, dramatic style that fits with the school/period, this ReMix raises the stakes and puts a very serious, passionate spin on the theme. Emunator writes:

"The arrangement here is quite nice, constantly evolving and adding in new elements to keep things fresh. There's a lot to appreciate on multiple listens. There are some notable production issues stemming from the level of reverb that's drenching the entire track, and some instances of slightly less-than-realistic sequencing going on, but as Mike notes, they're mitigated for the second half of the track when the instrumentation is more fleshed out."

Ditto that; it's a pretty ambitious arrangement, so some cracks in the sample armor were bound to be exposed at some point; there's room for improvement, but it's an easier area to work on than something more fundamental like part-writing. I really enjoyed the changing instrumentation that Thomas keeps introducing throughout the piece, and the heightened sense of emotion & drama that come with such changes. It's been 3+ years since our last SMRPG mix, so it's also good to see the game back on OCR's homepage. Major respect to the ReMixer for keeping with this arrangement, believing in it, and revising/refining it to really let it shine. Enjoy!