Nobuo Uematsu, the legendary composer behind all of the original Final Fantasy soundtracks, has told Zeit Online that it’s unlikely he’ll be composing a full score for a Final Fantasy game ever again. “I don’t think I have the physical and mental strength to do it anymore,” Uematsu, a self-taught musician, told the publication this week as part of a wide-ranging discussion regarding his influences, habits, and more.
Zeit Online asked (machine translation):
Can you imagine that one day nostalgia could grab you and make you write not just main themes , but an entire soundtrack for a Final Fantasy game?
To which Uematsu replied (machine translation):
As far as Final Fantasy is concerned, I’m still involved by writing the main themes for the games. But I don’t think I’ll compose music for a whole game again. You would have to give it full throttle for two or three years. And I don’t think I have the physical and mental strength to do it anymore. I think I’d rather use the time I have left to work on other projects that I love. Such as compositions like Merregnon or my band Uematsu Nobuo conTIKI .
Fan-favorite Final Fantasy tracks from Uematsu include:
Uematsu on “No Promises to Keep,” which he composed for FFVII REBIRTH:
- “As depicted in the song ‘Aerith’s Theme,’ Aerith has had a bit of an ill-fated and ephemeral impression within me.”
- “I understood from the beginning that this song is also related to Aerith, but the poignant melody from ‘Aerith’s Theme’ does not appear in this song. I wanted to depict the opposite of this, the strength at her core, hidden within Aerith’s heart. As I listened to the recording over and over again once it was finished, Aerith, who until then was a resident of a fantasy world, now began to feel like a real human being in the flesh.”
- “Loren Allred’s vocals, sometimes ephemeral and other times passionate and powerful, surely give life to the existence of Aerith. It has been a while since I’ve written a ballad that feels uniquely my own, and I’m happy to have done so. Thank you, Aerith.”