C.100 - [T] "Id (Purpose)" - Morisihita
Transcribed: 7th to 8th October 2016
I had been planning to transcribe “Id (Purpose)” from 2012’s "Fire Emblem: Awakening" for some time, simply as it was my favourite piece from the game and there were no full transcriptions available online. So, I decided to put my skills to use and make one myself!
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In early October I spent perhaps a couple of days to transcribe and make my own recording of “Id (Purpose)”. After contemplating how to put the transcription online, I decided to create a YouTube channel dedicated to video game “Transcriptions and Orchestrations” (“TandO” for short, which is what the channel name was at first before moving to “TandA” the following year, creating “Arrangements” instead of “Orchestrations”).
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Once the transcription was finished, I decided to tease the “Fire Emblem” subreddit about the transcription by first making another smaller transcription – of “Id (Return)” (see "C.101") which builds into “Id (Purpose)”. I teased “Id (Return)” on the subreddit on 15th October 2016.
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And a week later, I released the transcription of “Id (Purpose)” in another subreddit post, here.
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Here is a retroactive analysis of the track (at the time, I did not analyze the tracks extensively):
Analysis:
The track opens with a huge statement of the "Id" motif (heard previously throughout the game's soundtrack with the other "Id" themes), now decorated with swift semiquaver passages in the bassoons and cellos, melodic doubling in the choir, violins and trumpet (0:31) and Latin text.
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After the "Id" theme repeats, it concludes on a suspended 4-3 chord which never resolves (0:56) - Eb-Ab-Bb - before moving via an interrupted cadence into E major (or Fb major). We have now transitioned into the 2nd part of the "Id" theme, with sweeping 7th chords (1:02; B major 7th to D major 7th, to C# minor 7th).
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By 1:25, we begin to build back up for a return to the 1st "Id" theme, which is then repeated in all of its glory. By 1:57, we get another unresolved 4-3 chord (again, Eb-Ab-Bb), now extended further with increasing percussion and fleeting semiquavers as we progress into a new original section with another interrupted cadence (2:02).
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Here, we get floating added-note chords akin to "Id (Beginnings)", which swim around on top of the percussive (Purpose) underlay. This material is expanded at 2:17 with strings in octave unison, as more material is added to prepare for the abrupt shift into B minor with a brand new section (2:34).
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Here, remarkably, the tone of the track changes completely: the tempo has changed; the time signature has changed to 4/4 (from 3/4); and the melodies have switched from the "Id" themes to the main "Fire Emblem" motif (appearing in the alto entry at 2:49). This entire section is one big repetition of a circle of 5ths sequence, progressing from Bm - Em - A - D - G - C# diminished - F# - repeat. With each repeat, another choral voice is added, and the overall material increases, until we get to the climax at 3:31.
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The track slows down at 3:42, to prepare for a return to the original tempo and time signature of 3/4. On our return, we get more floating added-note chordal material, again akin to "Id (Beginnings)" and previously at 2:02. We modulate into A major briefly to allow the harmony to fall down back to the tonic of G minor seamlessly for the track's repeat.
It would be several months before I… return… to this YouTube channel and start uploading more content.
Reminiscence written on 3rd June 2017
Last updated: 19th September 2019