While these melodies have been a part of the lives of millions of players around the world for decades, it is only today that the very first major exhibition dedicated to video game music has opened in a national institution, and not just any: the Philharmonie de Paris, one of the temples of academic music.
Entitled “Video Games & Music, the music of which you are the hero”, the exhibition offers a historical, technical, and cultural immersion into video game soundtracks through an immersive setting complemented by many playable terminals. I had the pleasure of visiting, and I appreciated the good balance between entertainment (children will have a blast!) and popularization. While it is certainly a proposal geared towards the general public, who cannot bury visitors under mountains of overly detailed information, as a first approach to the subject, it is in my view a success. Added to this is the immense pleasure of seeing this long-ignored – and even scorned – genre finally enjoying public recognition.
The doors opened today and will close on November 1st: you can learn more on the Philharmonie’s website.
Certainly, for full transparency, I must add that I contributed only partially to this event, as I am one of the authors of the accompanying catalog, co-published by Third editions and the Philharmonie (I did not participate in the exhibition itself). The book was designed as a complement that delves into the main themes of the exhibition: technological evolution (a chapter I signed), the composition and integration process, the counter-cultural aspect of video game music, rhythm games, and the genre’s existence outside of games. It also features numerous interviews with musicians and sound specialists as well as a portrait gallery of some composers.
The catalog is available on-site and in all bookstores. You can find it here.
Concert Program
In addition to the exhibition, the Philharmonie de Paris will offer several video game concerts during the month of June. You can see the list on this page, but I would like to draw your attention to the “Symphonic Selections” concert taking place on Thursday, June 25th at 8 p.m. The program will be dedicated to Final Fantasy and Nobuo Uematsu, featuring two pieces from the Final Symphony concerts: the symphonic poem “Mono no aware” inspired by FFVIII and the piano concerto adapted from FFX in the first part. In the second part, a French premiere: the symphonic tale “Merregnon: Heart of Ice” newly composed by Nobuo Uematsu. This is a narrative work, with the album (recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra) set to be released in June as well, but the first single was recently published.
