Thus Spake Uematsu: Satirical Parody in the Opening Sequence to Final Fantasy VI

Abstract

This chapter examines the opening cue "Omen" from Final Fantasy VI as a satirical parody of both Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra and of Nobuo Uematsu’s own compositional language. As the opening track of the game, "Omen" foreshadows the rise and fall of both the Gestahl Empire and of Kefka, the game’s failed Nietzschean Übermensch. Furthermore, the musical cue contains harmonic, modal, motivic, and structural connections with the primary music of the game’s two primary antagonists heard later in the soundtrack. The second part of this chapter considers the opening rising fourth gesture as a satirical parody of Uematsu’s own musical devices, which results in the composer satirizing himself in addition to Strauss’ famous tone poem.