Get Videogame Music into the Classic FM Hall of Fame
This week the camaraderie of gamers has been on show as we’ve grouped together and called for a PC port of Dark Souls. The following petition has reached 68,000 people so far and Namco Bandai have said they are considering the port. While that decision is being made though there is another campaign on the rise, getting videogame music into the Classic FM hall of fame.
Last Friday, the imaginatively named Get Video Games Music into the Classic FM Hall of Fame Facebook page was set up to urge people to make this the first year the 300 track hall of fame features music written for videogames. The page suggests that people vote for Aerith’s Theme by Nobou Uematsu, a stunning orchestra piece from Final Fantasy VII, with one of their three votes to make sure at least one videogame song makes the cut. So far the page has only 272 followers but with 7 weeks of voting left that number is sure to rise.
What makes this a worthy cause is that it is clear that the person who set up the Facebook page isn’t trying to troll Classic FM listeners or mock videogame music but is trying to get videogame music the recognition it deserves.
Classic FM currently plays scores from films alongside more traditional classical works but currently doesn’t play any from videogames. It’s hard to imagine that this is purely down to the quality of the music because songs like A Link to the Past by Kenji Kondo and To Zanarkand by Nobuo Uematsu could easily slot into most neo-classical symphonies.
While it may not be the most prestigious of awards getting a few tracks into the Classic FM Hall of Fame would not only lend a bit more credibility to game soundtracks but, more importantly, would take them to a new audience. Without the bias of hearing it in a videogame people might be able to appreciate the music for what it is.
And while just hearing names like Jack Wall, Nobuo Uematsu and Kenji Kondo alongide Chopin, Bach and Mozart is incentive enough. We owe it to all those people who will never pick up a controller, to bring them the great scores that they will miss otherwise.
Go check out the Get Video Games Music into the Classic FM Hall of Fame Facebook page and vote on the Classic FM Hall of Fame.
6 thoughts on “Get Videogame Music into the Classic FM Hall of Fame”
I do like a bit of Classic FM, and I certainly love the works of Nobuo Uematsu among others, but I despise Facebook, so my support is in spirit only.
On the plus side, the folks at Classic FM don’t have the ‘it must be 200 years old to be worthwhile’ attitude that some fans of concert music have, so they would have no problem playing these pieces if they get sufficient votes.
Grr, no edit option. Having read the post properly this time, I’m now off to Classic FM’s page to vote :D
Problem: even if symphonic orchestrations of these songs do indeed exist, does the music ‘count’ if it was originally composed in a more simplistic way, for fewer instruments on simplistic sound chips? Surely Nobuo Uematsu isn’t even the person who arranged the symphonic versions at the 2002 concert?
Genuine question. Perhaps they’d have more success focussing on more complex themes from more modern games?
Interesting point. I would assume that if everyone voted for the same arrangement of a track then it wouldn’t matter. I do agree though that it would be best if people voted for songs that were originally created as orchestral pieces, such as the Battlefield 3 theme or Aerith’s Theme from FF7.
Incidentally, Nobuo Uematsu did do the arrangements for the 20020220 concert. He would later do even more symphonic versions of Final Fantasy songs which culminated in the worldwide Distant Worlds tour. Randomly he has also released two albums featuring prog-metal versions of FF music with his band The Black Mages.
I always knew that video game music was great within the context of each game itself, but I never really appreciated the music as stand alone pieces until I found this guys tumblr page: http://fyeahvideogamemusic.tumblr.com/archive
I had never really listened to much classical music before apart from the obvious but I started listening to more and more music on his page and it has really changed the way I enjoy classical music now.
When I first found his page you could request pieces from specific games and he would upload them. Since then I think the page has become a lot more popular and im not sure you can still do this. Still the quality and range of music he puts up is great!
I know that the World of Goo soundtrack is immense, but doesn’t really fit into the ‘Classic FM’ style. Shame!