Regardless, that doesn’t put a damper on my enjoyment of this pleasant album. Having not played any of the Fire Emblem games (save for Birthright/Conquest), I lack context around where most of these arrangements originally played. That won’t detract from your listening experience, though, as Keiko, Yui, and Yumiko provide excellent musicianship on each track in which they appear. You might recognize some tracks from familiar games (“Id ~ Serenity” from Fire Emblem Awakening or “Father’s Back” from Path of Radiance), but a good chunk of the arrangements are from original music in FE games that never made their way stateside. Overall, for the rest of the tracks, you’re either getting a piano solo or a duet of some sort.
With arrangements like this, I doubt “Lost in Thoughts All Alone” will ever grow old. However, the treat in this arrangement is, after vigorous playing, the music pulls back a bit to introduce a soft section with tasteful pizzicato at 4:15. Yui’s technique is captivating, allowing her violin to truly weep, especially in sections around 2:35. There’s also a violin! One of the more notable tracks that I found the violinist Yui electrifyingly amazing on is - to no one’s surprise - the last track, “Lost in Thoughts All Alone.” I must say, this arrangement is very amusing, as the piece starts very softly only to invigorate your ears at 0:24 with powerful piano playing and lyrically soothing violin playing. Of course, there’s more than just piano and flute on this album. Regardless, I found this track bittersweet and handled very well between the performers. I’m very curious what’s happening when the original version of this track is playing during its FE game. While sadness encompasses the majority of this arrangement, there’s an interesting moment starting at 1:54 that happily ends the section (and again at the end of the piece). The performance between the two on this track is delicate, emotional, and strangely resolute. “Father’s Back” is a very sorrowful duet between pianist Keiko and flautist Yumiko. This is especially true when the duet is between instruments, such as in the very next track.
Whenever I hear melancholic piano playing between two registers like in “Encounter,” I’m always reminded of an intimate duet between family, friends, or lovers. This loneliness is only for a moment, as “Encounter” fleshes out towards 1:31 with lower register chords/arpeggios. Once the introductory section of the piece passes (0:00-0:13), we are presented with a beautiful, lyrical, and solitary middle-high playing register section that gently tugs at the heartstrings. Take “Encounter” for example: a lonely, yet full-bodied track that arranger-performer Keiko delivers to her audience.
While it might seem that I’m jesting with such a claim (just a tiny bit), this album does offer several attractive arrangements that make it a worthy addition to any music lover’s home. I should note that I am both favorably biased towards piano music (I played piano in college) as well as very critical, so you can expect a fair revi- wait a second, “Lost in Thoughts All Alone” is on this album? Never mind folks, this is the best piano arranged album of 2017! Well, since we happen to need that and more Fire Emblem album reviews, it would only make sense I would follow up my if ~Hitori Omou~ / Renka review with Fire Emblem Music Collection: Piano ~Faith & Engagement~. I’ve stated in one of my previous reviews that the world needs more piano music.
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