Pomp and Circumstance March #1 by Edward Elgar but it's actually the Main Theme from Fire Emblem, composed by Yuka Tsujiyoko ( ) and arranged for brass quintet by Daniel Romberger.
Hey, here's a video that absolutely no one asked for! I actually had this bizarre mashup idea in my head for a long time, (ever since I did the S.S. Anne video on my \"dannymusic\" channel) but given the recent changes to graduation ceremonies due to the virus (and given Three Houses exists), now felt like the right time.
Arrangement-wise, this actually posed several challenges! First, creating a brass quintet reduction of Elgar's original Pomp and Circumstance March #1 for orchestra, is a task in and of itself. But the real challenge was trying to figure out how to integrate the Main Theme from Fire Emblem in a way that still allows both pieces to still be recognizable.
While I was making this, I followed along with the orchestral score very closely and ended up taking pretty much everything but the most iconic melody from Pomp and Circumstance and making subtle harmonic changes as needed to integrate Fire Emblem into the first two strains of the march. For the trio, I replaced the most iconic part of Elgar's march with Fire Emblem but left the accompaniment texture the same and tweaked the second phrase of the Fire Emblem melody to fit Pomp and Circumstance's phrase structure. What's remarkable about the original piece is how nearly every motive (except the trio) fits together at the end seamlessly. Doing this arrangement gives me a huge appreciation for the original, and I did my best to encapsulate this culminating moment while also adding Fire Emblem.
Anyway, thanks to The Game Brass and Thomas for indulging in this quirky idea. And congrats to the graduates of 2020! Though the times may be weird right now, you have every reason to celebrate and look forward to a promising future!
