Merregnon

Merregnon is a series of works combining orchestral music and fantasy fiction that have been intermittently produced as both live music concerts and album releases since 2000.[1][2][3] The third installment is Merregnon: Land of Silence, which was released as a concert film in 2021 before worldwide performances starting the following year. All projects were created, directed and produced by Merregnon Studios founder Thomas Böcker.[4][5]

Merregnon productions have drawn in numerous musical collaborators known for their work in video games, such as Yoko Shimomura, Chris Hülsbeck, and Yuzo Koshiro.[1][3]

Merregnon: Land of Silence
The score was composed by Yoko Shimomura

Merregnon: Land of Silence features original music by Yoko Shimomura and a story by children's author Frauke Angel.[1] The symphonic fairy tale in arrangements by Yasunori Nishiki and Jonne Valtonen was created to introduce families and younger audiences to orchestral music in the tradition of Saint-Saëns' The Carnival of the Animals and Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.[1][6] Lightly animated illustrations of characters and plot points accompany the music and narration. The work was first performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and filmed at the Stockholm Concert Hall in 2021, conducted by Andreas Hanson.[7][8] Worldwide performances are planned starting in 2022.[1]

While Merregnon: Land of Silence has an educational background, Böcker is particularly concerned with the entertainment aspect, one reason why the project draws on the aesthetics of video games and anime to appeal to a modern audience. Shimomura believes that those efforts are helping to "tackle some of the misconceptions around classical music."[6] In Böcker's view, the story is a symphonic fairy tale of "courage, perseverance, solidarity and above all, freedom."[7] In addition, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra made available further six videos in which the composer talks about her ideas and her approach to her work on the respective themes for the characters in the story.[7]

Reception

Merregnon: Land of Silence was described as a "symphonic anime" by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.[8] Deutschlandfunk spoke with Böcker in a radio feature entitled "Music education with a video game composer",[9] and Klassik Radio elaborated on the fact that Merregnon: Land of Silence is intended to introduce children playfully to the orchestral world, on an "enchanting adventure journey" in a "symphonic anime fairy tale for the entire family."[10] Böcker was invited to write a guest article for Gramophone about orchestral music and its power to inspire audiences young and old. In it, he emphasises the importance of a family concert that "entertains and promotes immersion", because according to him, "it awakens an enthusiasm that leads to spontaneous engagement with the subject, without any finger-wagging or other overtly educational components."[4] In an extensive article on Wired, Shimomura and Böcker were joined by Stefan Forsberg, executive director of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Forsberg points out that music by game composers is "a part of the daily lives of so many people around the world", and the author notes that Merregnon: Land of Silence could provide "a welcome hand for struggling concert halls."[6] In a webinar hosted by the German Embassy in Tokyo, Shimomura, Böcker, and Angel talked about the process leading up to the concert Merregnon: Land of Silence.

Merregnon, Volumes 1 and 2
Producer Thomas Böcker

In 1999, Böcker's interest in game music prompted him to approach composers around the world and invite them to collaborate on his original Merregnon CDs.[6][11] Merregnon, Volume 1 was released in 2000, distributed by synSoniq Records, featuring orchestral music and narration, as well as an accompanying booklet with text and illustrations.[12] Music from Merregnon, Volume 2 premiered at the first ever Symphonic Game Music Concert outside Japan in Leipzig, Germany, also produced by Böcker,[13][14] before the full work was released one year later in 2004 by Totentanz Records, distributed by SoulFood / Sony Music.[15] In 2005, Merregnon, Volume 2 was published in the Japanese market by Dex Entertainment, distributed by Sony Music Japan.[16]

Merregnon, Volume 1 used almost no live instrument recordings for its soundtrack, while Merregnon, Volume 2 featured 74 orchestra musicians. For most of the composers, this was new territory, so the project's music director for the second volume, Andy Brick, had to ensure that "everyone delivered a score that the orchestra could properly perform." Brick states that synthesizers and samplers, as in volume 1, "can do a lot that you just can't do with real instruments." His task was to help the composers transfer their sound visions to the orchestra.[17] Volume 1 and 2's principal composer, Fabian Del Priore, who developed many of the musical themes, confirmed that it gave him "a lot of experience in orchestration, notation and score writing."[18]

Reception

Both albums were highly praised by critics. The first CD was commended for its appeal in that it "impressively shows how pompous melodies and complex themes are able to attract especially young people", according to the German magazine Amiga Plus. The website Epic Sound noted that Merregnon "brings together some of the brightest young talents in the composing world" and Music4Games attested that the project "sets new standards in the world of videogame music." German gaming network Krawall found that "hardly has any music CD ever succeeded in creating such opulent pictures in the mental eye." A verdict that PC Joker joined in its review: "This disc is a hit!"[19]

The second CD received much acclaim as well, with the gaming website DemoNews writing that it was "simply breath-taking", magazine Nautilus admiring its professionalism and going on to say that "fans of the music from big silver screen epics will find a new treasure in Merregnon 2." MacLife went on to report "game music of Hollywood quality", while music magazine Astan, in addition to praising the music ("sounding like an epos to one of the big movies, like Troy and Gladiator"), described the booklet as "luxurious" and "simply beautiful and expensively designed." This was echoed by MangasZene ("a lovingly designed booklet"), additionally highlighting the "first rate music."[20] The German gaming website 4Players dedicated a large special to Merregnon 2 over several months, where various interviews were conducted with Böcker and the composers.[21]

According to Böcker, working on the two Merregnon albums was a "hallmark moment" that eventually led to the development and production of his Game Concerts series.[6]

Composers
  • Andy Brick (United States)
  • Allister Brimble (United Kingdom)
  • Jason Chong (Australia)
  • Fabian Del Priore (Germany)
  • Gustaf Grefberg (Sweden)
  • Olof Gustafsson (Sweden)
  • Markus Holler (Germany)
  • Chris Hülsbeck (Germany)
  • Yuzo Koshiro (Japan)
  • Jogeir Liljedahl (Norway)
  • Yoko Shimomura (Japan)
  • Rudolf Stember (Germany)
  • Jonne Valtonen (Finland)

References
  1. "Merregnon: Land of Silence". www.merregnon.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  2. "Release "Merregnon, Volume 1" by Various Artists - MusicBrainz". musicbrainz.org. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  3. "Release "Merregnon, Volume 2" by Various Artists - MusicBrainz". musicbrainz.org. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  4. "The power of video game music to inspire audiences - old and new". Gramophone. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  5. "Thomas Böcker - Game Concerts". www.gameconcerts.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  6. Ombler, Mat. "Video Games Inspire a Generation of Classical Music Fans". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  7. "Merregnon: Land of Silence". www.konserthuset.se. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  8. Weidemann, Axel. "Videospiel-Komponistin: Chopin und Super Mario waren meine Helden". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  9. "Yesterday I had the great pleasure of being invited to discuss Merregnon: Land of Silence with Susann El Kassar on Deutschlandfunk (German national radio program)". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  10. Radio, Klassik. "Sinfonisches Animé-Märchen für die ganze Familie". Klassik Radio (in German). Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  11. "Merregnon 2 - Special, Sonstiges, Thomas Böcker". 4Players (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  12. "MRRG1 | Merregnon Soundtrack Volume 1 - VGMdb". vgmdb.net. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  13. BoeckerBloggerNovember 24, Thomas; 2003 (2003-11-24). "The Making Of The First Symphonic Game Music Concert In Europe". Game Developer. Retrieved 2022-04-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. "First live videogame concert outside of Japan". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  15. "TOT23009 | Merregnon Soundtrack Volume 2 - VGMdb". vgmdb.net. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  16. "DECX-0018 | Merregnon Soundtrack Volume 2 - VGMdb". vgmdb.net. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  17. "Merregnon 2 - Special, Sonstiges, Andy Brick". 4Players (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  18. "Merregnon 2 - Special, Sonstiges, Fabian Del Priore". 4Players (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  19. "Merregnon.com || Official Website, Reviews CD1". web.archive.org. 2005-02-04. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  20. "Merregnon.com || Official Website, Reviews CD2". web.archive.org. 2005-02-04. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  21. "Merregnon 2 (PC): Test, News, Video, Spieletipps, Bilder". www.4players.de. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
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