Video Game Suite No. 1

Video Game Suite No. 1 was submitted to and selected for the 2013 Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Jean Coulthard Readings. It will be read for a public audience on March 20, 2013 at the Orpheum Theatre. The work has been composed as part of a directed study project at SFU under the supervision of Professor Janet Danielson.

Inspired by the music of Nobuo Uematsu, Video Game Suite No. 1 is an homage (and endearing caricature) to the video game music of Japanese role playing video games (RPG). Each movement illustrates a different scene in a typical RPG storyline and the movements are to be played without pause unless otherwise indicated in the notation. In the Overture, the protagonist’s story unfolds as he and his party journey across the continent, encountering conflicts and resolutions along the way. Arriving at The Great Vale, the party survey the landscape in awe: the sky is clear and before them lies a lush valley of verdant green. Situated on a secluded island is Dorgan’s Castle, a long-abandoned structure that holds a mysterious riddle in its deepest chambers. With the fate of the world in their hands, our protagonist and his party confront the main antagonist in Battle Theme. Recalling previous melodies in alternative orchestrations and treatments, the Ending Theme demonstrates the use of thematic and textural transformation, one of the defining characteristics of RPG music.