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