Final Fantasy IX "Ceremony at Terra" 3:46

We're standing on ceremony for Bluelighter's earnest FF9 medley for solo piano! (Includes a live video, no less!) For Bluelighter -- after recently focusing on an unfamiliar Uematsu theme from The Last Story -- this was an opportunity to work with an Uematsu theme full of nostalgia, AND also smoothly slide in two more themes as creative cherries on top:

"Here is a piano arrangement of some themes of FF9, composed by Nobuo UEMATSU. Theme of "Terra" was a lot declined in the game, but Terra's version is certainly my favorite version. Uematsu managed to put a lot of emotion in this one with a minimalist instrumentation. I could play the zone in loop just to listen this melody when I played the game.

So, this arrangement is mainly based on "Terra". I used also the introduction of "An Irrevocable Past", the same theme with additional ingredients. Finally, I took from "Ceremony of the Gods" whose melody in fourths call back "An Irrevocable Past".

About the arrangement, I've a little reviewed harmony of Terra's theme. But I've kept haunting atmosphere with a repetitive and sad rhythm.

At the middle, the arrangement wins in intensity, with introduction of "Ceremony" and "Irrevocable Past". The melody here has religious sonorities, IMO.

The culminating point of "Terra" comes after. And the arrangement concludes by "An Irrevocable Past". Enjoy!"

Since this involves three themes, let's also consult with Bluelighter's arrangement breakdown, shall we:

• "Part 1: 0'00 ("Terra" 0'00-0'07) -> arpeggio
• Part 2: ("Terra" 0'07-0'57) -> rhythm
  • A) 0'10
  • B) 0'40
• * Part 3:
  • A) 1'07 ("Terra" 0'57-1'15)
  • B) 1'25 ("Terra" 0'07-0'57) -> arpeggio
  • C) 1'47 ("Terra" 0'57-1'15)
• Part 4: animated
  • A) 2'03 ("Ceremony of Gods" 0'20-0'55, winks to "An Irrevocable Past" 0'00-0'12)
  • B) 2'15 ("Ceremony of Gods" 0'20-0'55)
• Part 5: 2'28 ("Terra" 1'15-1'45) culminating point of the piece
• Part 6: ("An Irrevocable Past" 0'00-0'12)
  • A) 2'56 (animated)
  • B) 3'07 (soft)
  • C) 3'17 (main rhythm to conclude)"

Very engaging intro; you could immediately tell this was going to be a nice interpretation with these swung rhythms. The arranger seemed to come up aces full when it came to prophetik music's judgement - 100% affirmation, with particular appreciation for the medley's style and cohesion:

"opens with some beautiful descending arpeggiated action, and settles into a 12/8 feel before starting with the Terra melody (really the main theme of the game in various forms). i really appreciate the space added to the melodic representation. the ascending blocks in the left hand are nice too. at 1:25 we get the melodic represented an octave up, which i think is a good choice as you move away from the left hand block for a bit each time - a nice break.

about two minutes in we get the Ceremony of Gods section, which has some stacked/blocked chords in a way that feels very chant-like - neat idea. there's a quick transition to the Terra theme complete with a fun new landing chord in here, and then the track moves out on An Irrevocable Past as an ending vehicle.

it'd be easy to believe that these were all the same piece of music originally. the transitions are seamless and the performance is excellent as expected. this is a layup, excellent work."

In some other highlights, those were cool stops of the swing at 1:25 & 1:36 for nice bits of contrast, then sounding a measure more forceful at 1:48. Slick transition at 1:56 in the brief pivot to "Ceremony of the Gods", and then another smooth shift to "An Irrevocable Past" at 2:56. For such a low-key, steady mood here, fellow judge Hemophiliac also felt this piece was firing on all cylinders:

"The subtle changes and execution here are awesome, Guillaume.

The variation in the left hand was done to perfection, changing up the part right when it needed to happen. As you said, it has the "religious sonority" you were talking about with the parallel intervals with An Irrevocable Past. Dynamic and evoking of divinity.

I also have to mention the time sig adaption, great choice to change it up. This alone contributes so much to both feeling like the original and new at the same time.

So expressive, great work."

What else can I say that doesn't pale in comparison to the respect from two talented musicians in judges proph and Hemo? Like them, I loved the delicate and measured yet personalized piano approach, Guillaume, you made it sound effortless. :-)