GAMEPLAY: New Release Spotlight

  This week on Gameplay, we’ll enjoy some exciting new 2020 recordings from two classically-trained ensembles that specialize in performing the music of videogames!

We’ll hear themes from games like Super Mario Sunshine, Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy 7 arranged for brass ensemble, string quartet, woodwinds, steel drums, and much more.

We’ll hear selections from The Game Brass, a brass quintet who collaborated with many of their musician friends on their summer-themed July release, BRASSINO ISLES Tropical Cruise, and from The Videri String Quartet, whose album Bits and Bytes pairs classical masterworks like those of Dvorak, Haydn, and Shostakovich with videogame masterpieces, letting them exist side by side and meaningfully connecting these musical worlds.

Credit By source: Bandcamp.com

Join us for this adventure on Classical IPR Saturday at 1 p.m.  The full episode will be posted online later the same day.

Generous support for the music heard on this program comes from the Robert T. and Ruth Haidt Hughes Memorial Acquisitions Fund. Special thanks to Michael Culler for engineering assistance.  Keith Brown is GAMEPLAY’s host and executive producer.

 
Episode tracklist:

1. Koji Kondo, arr. Thomas Kresge - “Delfino Plaza” (Super Mario Sunshine) - The Game Brass

2. Yasunori Mitsuda, arr. David Peacock - “Wings” (Xenogears) - Videri String Quartet

3. David Wise, arr. Thomas Kresge - “Surf City” (Battletoads) - The Game Brass; Banjo Guy Ollie, banjo/mandolin/bouzouki

4. Gareth Coker, arr. David Peacock - “Ori and Naru” (Ori and the Blind Forest) - Videri String Quartet

5. Grant Kirkhope, arr. Thomas Kresge - “DK Island” (Donkey Kong 64) - The Game Brass;Dan DeSimone, flute; Kristin Naigus, oboe; Soundole, clarinet; Bassonify, bassoon; Felipe Fournier, bongos

6. Nobuo Uematsu, arr. Dashiel Reed - “One Winged Angel” (Final Fantasy VII) - Videri String Quartet

7. Masashi Hamauzu, arr. Thomas Kresge - “Besaid” (Final Fantasy X) - The Game Brass; PurpleSchala, piano

8. Austin Wintory, arr. Eli Bishop - “Nascence and the Road of Trials” (Journey) - Videri String Quartet

9. Koji Kondo, arr. Thomas Kresge - “Yoshi’s Island” (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island) - The Game Brass, Francis Mundangepfupfu (of steeldrumbands), steel pan/percussion, steel pan arrangement

10.  Kenta Nagata, arr. David Peacock - “Dragon Roost Island” (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) - Videri String Quartet

11.  Yasunori Mitsuda, arr. Thomas Kresge - “Home Guldove” (Chrono Cross) - The Game Brass, Videri String Quartet