A Dark Fall | Orchestral Cover

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Very difficult to choose one track from the absolute banger of a soundtrack that is "Fire Emblem: Fates". So here is an orchestral medley of both "A Dark Fall" and the more intense "(Fire)" variant, plus fully licensed sheet music & parts ready to be performed.

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➤ Analysis:

Fire Emblem Fates released as 3 separate games: Birthright, Conquest & Revelations. Birthright follows the Japanese-influenced "Hoshido" narrative; Conquest the European "Nohr" narrative; and Revelations follows neither. "A Dark Fall" is one of the final battle themes from the "Conquest" version of the game, appearing in chapters 22 - 26.

The track commences in C♯ minor (C♯-E-G♯) with a syncopated string motif harmonised in 6ths sitting atop a tonic pedal. This motif is almost always dissonant in harmony: the first chord is C♯-G♯-F♯-D♯ (a 9th sus4 chord with a soft dissonance from the F♯ & D♯). The 2nd chord progresses into C♯-A-G♯-E (an inverted major 7th chord); the 3rd is C♯-B-A-F♯ (another C♯ 9th sus4 chord, or an A major 9th add6). Thus, each of these chords is in conflict with itself - very apt given the battles that the track is used for (notably Takumi). The tonic pedal shifts to the submediant (A; 0:13), re-colouring the string motif above.

This section is largely repeated at 0:24, now with additional orchestration and a bagpipe countermelody complementing the syncopated string motif. The choice of bagpipes links back to Nohr's European influences which notably includes Bagpipes and Uilleann Pipes.

Moving into 0:45, we get a short bridge section into the dominant (G♯), with a solo Japanese Flute on top (here placed in the Piccolo). Underneath this solo, the harp and glockenspiel ascend and descend along a G♯ Phrygian mode (G♯-A-B-C♯-D♯-E-F♯-G♯) - modes being a characteristic trait of European Gregorian Chant.

The B section begins at 0:56, returning to C♯ minor, with the horns & violas taking material from the earlier bagpipe countermelody. A new instrument is added: the cimbalom - another European instrument - playing another syncopated chordal accompaniment.

We progress once more into the submediant (A; 1:16), with an A major 7th chord (A-C♯-E-G♯). Here, the bagpipes and violins play a statement of the "If" motif (the primary leitmotif used throughout the entire Fire Emblem Fates soundtrack). A surprising tertiary shift takes us into D (1:28), where we spiral chromatically into the secondary dominant (D♯; 1:37).

From here (1:39), we have an extended dominant pedal (on G♯) above which the bagpipes and violins play a rhythmically augmented version of the earlier harp Phrygian material (0:45). Then by 2:00, we reach the climax of this track - a crushingly emotive combination of choir and strings. The material here is an adaptation of the opening string ostinato, with all sorts of added note chords (9ths, minor 7ths, suspended 4ths, etc.) - every chord is a dissonance. The section is repeated at 2:21 with the percussion returning.

The "(Fire)" variant begins at 2:43, and follows an identical structure with several additional instruments and countermelodies (horns at 2:43, trumpets at 3:04, horns at 3:27, strings at 3:57, trombones at 4:20 and bagpipes at 5:01).

To finish, I wrote a short conclusive outro utilising the earlier string motif.

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The score was created in Sibelius 7.5, and the audio was created in Cubase Pro 10.

★Game: Fire Emblem: Fates
★Developer: Intelligent Systems
★Publisher: Nintendo
★Composer(s): Hiroki Morishita, Rei Kondoh, Takeru Kanazaki, Yasuhisa Baba, Masato Kouda

★Software: Sibelius 7.5, Cubase Elements 7, Cubase Pro 10, Adobe Premiere Elements 15, EastWest Sample Libraries, Vienna Symphonic Library, Musio

★Tags: Fire Emblem, Fates, Fire Emblem Fates, Fire Emblem Fates OST, Fire Emblem Fates Soundtrack, A Dark Fall, A Dark Fall (Fire), Takumi, 3DS

#FireEmblemFates
#FireEmblem
#ADarkFall