“Destati”
the, ‘I can’t have enough fun writing about game music’ paper
by
Michael Chang
Prof. E. Upton
TA G. Woodworth
Getting Medieval
703037097
3/16/05
“Destati” (Awaken)
Yoko Shimomura’s “Destati” is the opening song on the soundtrack of the game
Kingdom Hearts by Square-Enix. Destati sounds extremely medieval because it uses
foundations of medieval sounding music already established by Carl Orff’s Carmina
Burana. The reason behind Shimomura’s choice of style in composing this piece was to
incorporate the universal scope of storytelling this game was trying to achieve.
Kingdom Hearts tells an unlikely story that mixes many Disney worlds, themes,
and characters, into a universe that cross paths with characters from the wildy successful
(and different) Square-Enix franchise called Final Fantasy. At first, Shimomura was
skeptical of the concept behind Kingdom Hearts. The reaction she had when first
approached with the project is one of astonishment and apprehension; she was writing
music in which Donald Duck fights against Cloud (Final Fantasy VII) and Sora (main
character) is solving puzzles with Winnie the Pooh. The project would demand
Shimomura to re-arrange music from all of the different Disney worlds that Kingdom
Hearts would re-visit (including but not limited to: Atlantis from Little Mermaid,
Agrabah from Aladdin, The Queen’s Court from Alice in Wonderland, etc) in addition to
writing completely new music to accompany the storytelling perspectives beyond that of
these worlds. She was looking for a musical style that would envelope these many worlds
yet not clash with the distinct style that is obviously Disney. The musical bridge between
all of these many dimensions was fantasy, because all of these universes were in their
own right, fantastic. Both (Final Fantasy and Disney) had magic, swords, dragons, and
their own versions of good and evil. Both were borrowing heavily from medieval themes,
and not surprisingly, one of the main over-arching musical themes “sounds medieval.”
Destati pronounces a distinct medieval sound that is very reminiscent of Carmina Burana:
O’ Fortuna.
Carl Orff was inspired to write musical compositions based on thirteenth century
poetry by ‘goliards’ (defrocked monks and minstrels). These ‘vagantes’ (vagrant
students, vagabonds) wrote poetry that were extremely liberal for their time, with subjects
ranging from the explicitly sexual, the praising of the beauty of nature, and the awesome
power of fate. After obtaining these in 1934, Carl Orff began work on Carmina Burana:
Secular Songs for Soloists and Chorus with Accompanying Instruments and Magic
Tableux. Since then Carmina Burana, especially the introductory O’ Fortuna had become
famous not only out of popularity, but was used in endless accompaniments to
commercials, movie trailers, Arthurian Legend, and Michael Jackson (InkPot). It is the
classic sound of raw barbaric medievalism a ‘la Carl Orff, with chanting, the layering of
string instruments, and the forceful clashing of the percussion moving the melody
forward to the climactic end. This style is often copied by modern composers to give the
same raw and barbaric medievalist sound we know today. Examples include E.S.
Posthumus (Menouthis, Pompeii) and epic duel music (“Duel of Fates”) from Star Wars:
Phantom Menace.
The similarities between O’ Fortuna and Destati are more than cosmetic, but let’s
get those out of the way first. Both pieces contain chanting (by male and female),
drumming, heavy use of strings and percussion, the instruments of old (except for
harpsichords and organs). The chanting is reminiscent of religious sermons (though they
would have never been carried out alongside women) and Gregorian Chant but with a
much more aggressive quality and chanting out-right anti-religious songs (at least, with
the case of O’ Fortuna). Both make use of ever-rising crescendo in pitch, tempo, and
velocity. Finally, both songs are in a medieval sounding minor key. Even the structure
from beginning to end is similar: a powerful opening with the first statement of the
melody and then immediately fading to a low, soft, and mysterious vocal chant. This
chant rises in pitch and increases in tempo as well as volume meanwhile repeating the
melody and variations of the melody. This repetition escalates toward the end, closing out
with a powerful clash. The strings and wind instruments always state the melody in a
layered format, echoing each other. The tonal sound and singing style of the vocals are
both very similar (Destati being longer and exiting softer than O’ Fortuna). I wouldn’t be
surprised if Shimomura played for the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra’s choir O’ Fortuna
before beginning to record Destati. There is a distinct operatic and theatrical sound: the
vocal chant of a female singer’s high pitch above the deep rumble of a the male singer
singing the same melody at a lower frequency that Destati is heavily borrowing from O’
Fortuna (audible in 2:50 of Destati).
Destati is in Italian as opposed to O’ Fortuna which is in a mix between Latin and
German. O’ Fortuna means “Oh Fortune” and the song is about fate (excerpt):
Latin/German
Sors salutis
et virtutis
michi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!
English translation
Fate is against me
in health
and virtue,
driven on
and weighted down,
always enslaved.
So at this hour
without delay
pluck the vibrating strings;
since Fate
strikes down the string man,
everyone weep with me!
Destati is translated to “Awaken”, and is played from the very beginning of the
story. The melody is used whenever the story is trying to convey a sense of power greater
than the characters involved:
Italian
Destati! Tendi la mano
E' giunta l'ora, destati
Le porte verranno schiuse
English (rough translation)
Awaken! Extend your hand
The time is now: wake up
The door will close, then open again
Su rimembra tu trepida
Su sveglia! Ehi ricorda
So remember the emotion
So wake up! And remember
Destati, destati
Forza, tendi la mano
Destati, destati
E' giunta l'ora
Awaken, awaken
Extend your hand
Awaken, awaken
The time is now
E ancora una volta
Apriranno le porte
Once again
Open the door
Su rimembra tu trepida
Su sveglia! Ehi ricorda
So remember the emotion
So wake up! And remember
Eh? Come? Non lo vuoi?
Tuttavia t'appartiene
Cio che hai perduto
Diventera uno!
Eh? Why? You don't want to?
It still belongs to you
That which you have lost
Will become one!
During Sora’s dream (from which the story opens), he extends his hand towards (his
friend) Riku’s hand. It is symbolic, asking Sora to join him on a reckless journey towards
the unknown. The powers that ripped apart their tiny island came from a door in a hidden
cave where he spent his childhood in as a secret hide-out. Nobody knew what the door
was, nor how to open it. On the door was a keyhole, and that, it was later explained,
every world has a keyhole allowing the his world to connect to other worlds. The keyblade that he was given has the power to open or close these doors, thus making Sora the
master of these worlds. He was chosen by the keyblade, thus involving the themes of fate
and powers beyond him and his companions. The concept of fate playing a big role in the
lives of people persist in both songs. The symmetry of themes between O’ Fortuna and
Destati are uncanny.
In both songs the use of foreign language are in the context of “a language you’re
not familiar with”, giving the sense of “old” (Upton) especially in old languages like
Latin or Italian. Though Destati is in Italian, it’s sung like vocal chanting from a gothic
cathedral, just like O’ Fortuna. This helps secure the near endless supply of gothic visual
branding found in Kingdom Hearts. Gothic architecture include the platforms Sora lands
on in his dreams (stained glass with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, old roman
columns, arch-ways), inside and outside the Hollow Bastion (Beauty and the Beast),
Halloween Town (Nightmare Before Christmas), and Merlin’s tower. The costume
designs were also “gothic” such as Ansem’s clothing, Sora’s “crown” necklace and
chains, the Heartless (some of which don knight helmets…), the weaponry characters
wield (wands, shields, and swords…) as well as the already medievalist characters such
as Maleficent (who turns into a dragon!). The decision to make this very critical melody
sound unmistakably medieval was probably out of clarity to define the game’s torrential
mix of medieval styles.
By re-visiting these Disney worlds, Kingdom Hearts must also explore the
medieval themes already established in these worlds: the clear distinction between good
and evil. This is described by Umberto Eco as the middle age of barbarism, “a land of
elementary and outlaw feelings… These ages are Dark par excellence, and Wager’s Ring
itself belongs to this dramatic sunset of reason. It is a shaggy medievalism, and the
shaggier its heroes, the more profoundly ideological its superficial naïveté” (p71). While
Sora and Mickey couldn’t be really described as shaggy, the characters and forces
involved in the story of Kingdom Hearts all have more or less a clear-cut definition of
good and evil, though this does not mean they are all completely one-dimensional. The
Heartless army lead by Maleficent and other Disney villains (and ultimately, all puppets
of Ansem) are unmistakably evil. On the other hand, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King
Mickey are unmistakably good. There are a few shades of gray, such as Riku who was
tempted by Maleficent’s offer to give him power, though he accepted only because he
thought it was the best way to save his friends. Kingdom Hearts is also medieval
Romanticism, with stormy castles, ghosts, as well as the decidedly fantasy/medieval
looking “Traverse Town”, a crossroad of sorts where characters whom have lost their
world is taking up residence. Destati was written as an over-arching theme to govern the
medieval scope of the entire story, but at the same time provide a powerful melody for
the theme of “fate”.
The melody for Destati comes into play several more times throughout the story,
and Yoko Shimomura has named every variation of it. “Dive into the Heart” is a
simplified version of Destati, with barely audible vocals heard (mostly chanting). The
theme changes into a lower pitch near 2:40, suggesting something big going on, but out
of your reach and control. “Dive into the Heart” is played when Sora enters his dream
and is told about his destiny.
Additional variations of Destati is played out at the last stages of the game, called
“The End of the World”, and “Fragments of Sorrow”. “The End of the World” is both the
name of the last chapter of the story and the title of the Destati variant. “Fragments of
Sorrow” is used whenever there is a battle at “The End of the World”, with a faster pace,
and more intense use of drums and trumpets. The theme for Destati is used here at the
very end of the story, coming full circle with Sora’s journey as he gets closer and closer
to fulfilling his destiny.
Finally, “Guardando nel Buio” or “Beyond the Door”, is a full battle song with
the Destati theme played behind the epic final battle (which, symbolically, happens after
Sora opens the final door with his key) between Sora and Ansem leading up to the very
end. Here the Destati theme is played with piano in the background (reflecting the world
that came before it, “Hollow Bastion”, which made extensive use of the piano), giving it
a magical twist. Guardando nel Buio takes the sweeping scope of Destati and turns it into
the music of a grand battle taking place between the forces of good and evil. It is broader
and less specific than the battle music “Forze del Male” (Force of Evil) because it takes
place in a much larger scope than the close-up, one-on-one conflict “Forze del Male” was
capturing. Again, Destati is used for its raw and unmerciful medieval sound signified by
Carmina Burana.
Destati opened Kingdom Hearts by very clearly setting up the stage for
medievalism to occur. The themes, so heavily linked to Disney and all that it entails,
required an anchor by which they are harbored to. Yoko Shimomura demonstrated that by
borrowing on the firm medieval grounds of O’ Fortuna, she was capable of giving the
story a strong and immediate medieval presence.
Bibliography
Lecture material by E. Upton and G. Woodworth
Biography of Yoko Shimomura
http://www.findword.org/yo/yoko-shimomura.html
Introduction to Carl Orff on InkPot by Adrian Tan with Ng Yeuk Fan
http://inkpot.com/classical/carminaburana.html
“Dreaming of the Middle Ages”, Travels in Hyperreality by Umberto Eco
published by Harcourt, Brace 1986 p.71
An arrangement of Destati by Josh Barron
http://www.squaresound.com/sheetmusic/kingdomhearts/joshbarron_destati.shtml
Kingdom Hearts Soundtrack Track Listing
http://www.gametrax.net/albums/777997/index.html
Rocketbaby’s interview with Yoko Shimomura
http://www.rocketbaby.net/interviews_yoko_shimomura.shtml
Lyrics for Destati
http://www.chudahs-corner.com/lyrics/kh_destati.html
Musical References
All of these songs are copyrighted by Square-Enix, uploaded here for references only, in other words don’t sue my ass…
Destati (orchestral)
http://users.design.ucla.edu/~mflux/posted/destati/destati.mp3
Fragments of Sorrow
http://users.design.ucla.edu/~mflux/posted/destati/fragments of sorrow.mp3
Forze del Male
http://users.design.ucla.edu/~mflux/posted/destati/forze del male.mp3
Guardando nel Buio
http://users.design.ucla.edu/~mflux/posted/destati/guardando nel buio.mp3
Visual Reference
Kingdom Hearts DVD Cover (left to right: Kairi, Sora, Donald, Riku, and Goofy)
http://www.toysnjoys.com/usps2/kingdomhearts.jpg