Main Theme (Fire Emblem Engage) | Orchestral Cover

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Oh yes, embrace the corny! Enjoy this orchestral cover of the main opening theme to the recent Fire Emblem Engage.

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➤ Analysis:

Bit of a hectic one, this, as I had to rewrite it throughout the week as more of the OST was being released - so bear with me!

The track opens with an ostinato spiralling around a B Dorian scale (B-C♯-D-E-F♯-G♯-A-B), with the characteristic raised 6th present (the G♯). However, a G♮ also appears briefly (0:10), placing some doubt on this tonality. This is further blurred as additional notes are added to this ostinato (0:18), initially appearing triadic in nature, but also incorporating 7ths & 2nd intervals, further contributing to the uncertain tonality.

By 0:28, a high violin is added on a B, confirming some sort of tonal centre around the note B (but not offering us any detail as to the scale). This evidence comes moments later with the remaining string instruments being introduced and outlining B minor (B-D-F♯) and F♯ minor (F♯-A-C♯) triads, which suggests instead a B Aeolian mode (B-C♯-D-E-F♯-G-A-B).

With the entry of the orchestra (0:45), this is loosely confirmed with the presence of G♮s prominently in the bass. And in typical Fire Emblem fashion, the bassline and resulting harmony are remarkably adventurous, leading to some surprisingly extreme clashes. The bassline progresses as follows:

G - B - E - C - A; seemingly quite simple.

All while a B minor triad is maintained in the instruments above, creating some crushing chords (e.g. with the C in the bass and a B minor triad above, we have C-B-D-F♯, creating not only the semitonal dissonance of the B-C, but also the devilishly unstable tritone interval of C-F♯). These extended harmonies have become a staple of Fire Emblem soundtracks, but the reason they do not sound so abrasive is due to their tertiary nature (E - C - A are all intervals of a 3rd - tertiary modulations - essentially just extending whatever triad chord is held above and re-colouring it).

This goes even further at 0:55 with the bass progressing a 3rd lower to F♮ while still maintaining that B minor triad above, creating an even greater dissonance (F♮-B-D-F♯). Yet, it is not particularly grating to the ear, largely because it is then resolved from a B minor triad to an F major 7th with the sharpened 4th added (F-A-B-C-E), which is a pretty standard resolution for such a dissonance.

By 1:00, we are thrust into the main theme. Funnily enough, we now divert from our tonal centre of B and instead progress to the dominant minor (F♯). They achieved such a progression by simply stepping up a semitone from the previous F major 7th chord (F-A-C-E). From here, we are harmonically very stable, following a common "i - VI - VII - v" progression ("F♯m - D - E - C♯m") with some added notes for extra spice (e.g. D major 7th = D-F♯-A-C♯). However, the teasing of Dorian returns at 1:10 with a surprise shift into B major (containing that sharpened 6th, which here is D♯).

This is repeated with some small developments at 1:11 where we then transition into D via a tertiary 3rd (B to D; 1:22). Here begins the bridge before the chorus. Surprisingly, we have a loose tertiary modulation here from F♯ minor to D minor (D-F-A; 1:32), which is unexpected, but remains functional due to its tertiary nature (e.g. the F♯ falls to F♮, the C♯ rises to D, thus maintaining smooth voice leading).

Tertiary modulations appear in abundance for the rest of the bridge (E♭ - C - A♭, followed by G to B) explaining how these pretty extreme progressions can sound so smooth. This leads us to the chorus / climax in E minor (E-G-B).

And I'm out of characters, so ... uh ... and they all lived happily ever after. The end.

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The score was created in Sibelius 7.5, and the audio was created in Cubase using sample libraries from EastWest, Vienna Symphonic, Addictive Drums & Orchestral Tools.

★Game: Fire Emblem Engage
★Developer: Intelligent Systems
★Publisher: Nintendo
★Composer(s): Yasuhisa Baba, Kazuki Komai, Hiroki Morishita, Takeru Kanazaki, Fumihiro Isobe, Takafumi Wada

★Software: Sibelius 7.5, Cubase Elements 7, Cubase 10, Adobe Premiere Elements 15, EastWest Sample Libraries, Vienna Symphonic Library, Addictive Drums, Metropolis Ark

★Tags: Fire Emblem Engage, Opening Theme, Main Theme, OP, Intro Music, Orchestra, Orchestral, Orchestration, Arrangement, Remix, Cover, Sheet Music, Score

#FireEmblem
#FireEmblemEngage
#Orchestra