Can this Let's Play of Eternal Sonata truly be just a dream?

I feel like there was a "take photos to sell for cash" mechanic in Baten Kaitos, too. Am I remembering that correctly?

In this, if you can only hold 12 photos, does that mean constantly running back to town to sell them?

I have no idea about the first question, as I have sadly not played either Baten Kaitos game (although I would like to someday).

As for the second question, well, not quite. There are a few mechanics concerning taking photos that I haven't gone over that discourage doing this, and it's also just not necessary. The way this game is paced means as long as you take decent photos and don't run from too many fights you'll have enough money to get by.

Anyway, here's a couple more pieces for your listening enjoyment:

Chopin - Prelude in A Flat Major, Op. 28 No. 17

Frank Bridge - A Fairy Tale

Frank Bridge was an English composer who was active primarily in the early 20th century. A noted pacifist, he was deeply disturbed by World War I, and this partially influenced the development of his musical style afterwards. He's also one of the few violist-composers I can think of (along with Paul Hindemith), which is notable in itself (most composers who play string instruments are violinists, for whatever reason).

You should.

I never found myself wanting for money in Baten Kaitos so the photos just kind of sat there and cluttered up my inventory. You need them for 100% collection.

Minor spoiler for Baten Kaitos:
You also need to wait 2 weeks for a magnus to age.

Welcome back, all! We last left off close to the end of the opening credits, so let’s finish those out.



Click to watch the cutscene

♪♪~ No music



Gotta say, that is a nice view.



Solf�ge: “Ritardando certainly is beautiful at night.”
Polka: “Do you think so?”



Solf�ge: “Yes, well things always seem nicer in our memories. It’s still just as beautiful.”



*Solf�ge turns and heads back to their house.*
Polka: “Is Ritardando really the same as it’s always been? Really?”



And there’s our title card.

*Suddenly...*



Hey, Frederic, you’re finally here! One quick question: where did you get that spectacular tuxedo?



Polka: “Who… who are you? And what are you doing out here this late at night?”



*The scene fades as we transition to another place...*



*Ludwika stands up.*



Ludwika: “The difference between dreams and reality may very well just be subjective.”
Doctor: “Oh? And what makes you say that?”
Ludwika: “Well, I don’t know. I guess it just came into my mind when I was watching Frederic’s face while he was sleeping.”



Doctor: “Only the individual can determine what is a dream and what is reality. Just because his eyes are closed that does not necessarily mean he is dreaming. However, if he comes to think that the world he’s in on the other side is the true reality then….



In real life, Chopin died on October 17th, 1849, a little before 2:00 a.m. That would give him just under three hours here. But of course, time operates differently in dreams than it does in the real world, and we have quite a ways to go yet before we see the end of Frederic’s journey…



♪♪~ A Faint Light Grasped in the Hand

Polka: “Oh. But then that must mean you’re like me and that you’re gonna die soon, too.”
Frederic: “Yes, you’re right. I’m afraid that may very well be true.”
*There’s a short pause.*
Polka: “So, what kind of magic can you use?”



*Polka giggles.*
Polka: “You’re a strange man, Frederic.”



Polka: “Okay, then if what you say is true, can you tell what I’m thinking about right now? If we really are inside your dream, then reading my mind should be easy for you.”



*The music stops. Polka’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t answer.*
Frederic: “I don’t blame you for feeling that way. No one likes to be hurt."
*There’s another pause. After a bit, Polka stands up.*



Frederic: “You want me to go with you to the forest? You mean, right now?”



It’s interesting to me that the game waited this long to state plainly its central premise – that it takes place almost entirely within the fever dream of a dying man, and not just any dying man, but a world-famous composer and pianist. It’s impossibly high-concept for any studio, let alone a comparatively small one making their first solo game, but I admire the developers for just reaching for the stars like this, even if it doesn’t always stick the landing.



♪♪~ Reflect the Sky, Bloom the Life

In any case, we have a forest to investigate; I’m sure whatever Polka wants to show Frederic must be important. But first…



Let’s look at our party’s stats. What, you didn’t think Frederic was just going to be a guest NPC, did you? Nope! He’s a fully-fledged playable character in his own right.



Frederic fights with a sword-sized conductor’s baton (yes, really), and in addition to some Light armor, he can equip a series of Coats that are unique to him; they’re somewhere in between Light and Medium armor. His ATK and MAG are pretty even and will continue to be so as the game progresses, and while his DEF and SPD are a bit lacking now, he’ll end up decently sturdy and quite fast later on. Until he catches up to Polka’s Exp total they’ll be trading back and forth on who’s the faster character.



Like Polka, Frederic comes equipped with a healing move, so we shouldn’t have to use many items at all. Sacred Signature isn’t as powerful as Polka’s Orange Glow, but it’s faster to cast, so it’s relatively spammable. His Piu Grave, meanwhile, is a close-range dark special that hits the enemy three times, each hit dealing progressively more damage. It takes 3.4 seconds to use, so it’s best to wait until the end of your turn before you do.



Here’s a look at Polka’s stats. Her ATK is pretty respectable, and her MAG starts high and only gets higher. Her DEF isn’t the greatest – especially since she can only equip Light armor – but unlike healer characters in other RPG’s, she can hold her own on the front lines if necessary. Like I said earlier, she and Frederic will be neck-and-neck in SPD for a while, and her Orange Glow is more potent than Sacred Signature but takes longer to cast (2.3 seconds).



Now then, let’s be off. If you didn’t grab the two items in this field when you first arrived in Tenuto, you can do that now. Hang on, is somebody over there?

Uh, good luck with that, dude.



“Hey that would make a pretty good desktop background” count: 5



Ah well, we shouldn’t need much Floral Powder anyways.



Despite it being pretty late, all the house lights are on and a couple people are still milling about. Let’s chat with them!



“If I can see the stars, the next day will be sunny. If I can’t, well then it’ll be rain.”
“Oh, my! There’s the night wind blowing. It feels so nice.”
“I wonder what tomorrow’s weather will bring.”

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.



Fair enough, that’s not the way to the forest anyway.



*Whinny*

Good to see you’re doing well, Hanako. Let’s check in with the people in the nearby house.



“The apples from our garden are really sweet. My mouth is looking forward to them already!”



“I’ll give you some once they’re ripe. Oh, but you better get them quickly or my sister will eat them all.”
“My younger sisters love apples, too.”

Come to think of it, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve had an apple. Maybe I’ll buy a few the next time I get groceries.



Rano: “Bananas!”
Sop: “Okay, Polka, next is ‘C’!”
Polka: “Um… hmm….”



Well, these are all technically fruits, and I’m pretty sure that your choice isn’t important here (it didn’t occur to me to check, alas). I’ll just go with cantaloupe.



Rano: “Durian!”
Sop: “Hey! No fair! It was my turn! I was going to say, ‘dates!’”

Hmm, what’s a good “e” fruit? Elderberry, maybe?



Rano: “And also, uh, it was a flying pumpkin.”

And just like that they’re on a completely different topic. Kids, eh?



Anyway, before we stop in and say hi to Solf�ge, let’s head down this way real quick.



Don’t mind if I do. Okay, now we can go talk to Polka’s mom.



♪♪~ No music

Polka: “This is Frederic.”
Solf�ge: “Oh!”
Polka: “What’s wrong, Mom?”
Solf�ge: “What? Oh, it’s nothing.”



Solf�ge: “Frederic, was it? You don’t look like you come from around here, is that correct?”
Frederic: “Uh, yes. A journey. I’ve been on a long journey searching for something.”
Solf�ge: “I see….”



Frederic: “Dinner? Oh, I couldn’t….”
Polka: “My mom’s stew is delicious. You should stay and try it!”



Sweet! Guess we’ll have that to look forward to when we’re done in the forest. This is an optional conversation; you can just head straight to the forest without heading into Polka’s house if you want. But you do miss out on a couple interesting tidbits of dialogue, and there are items here as well.



♪♪~ Reflect the Sky, Bloom the Life

Solf�ge: “You’re going to the forest? All right. But it’s pretty late, so come back soon.”

Will do. Wouldn’t want the food to get cold!



Polka’s room is pretty cozy. I’m uh, not sure why I’m turned around in this screenshot, but there isn’t anything by these curtains.



Polka: “Mom must have taken it. But she had promised that I could read it before bed.”

I wonder what she was reading. I’m not an expert in early 1800’s literature, but Jane Austen and the Bront� sisters fit in the time-frame of this game, at least.



One more for the road, why not? Time to head back outside.



He actually takes a sip out of his cup before talking to you.

“Look at that. I’ve got the full moon floating in my cup.”
“I can’t sleep on nights like these.”

I know what you mean. I’ve been staying up late making these updates. It’s nice to have a constructive way to use all this free time I have in present circumstances.



One last house and then we can head into the forest.

“Oh, well. I guess I’ve got no choice. I’ll get in the bed first and warm it up for her.”
“Yawn. Good night, Polka. See you tomorrow.”

Aw… =3



“All right, g’nite. I’m going to sleep.”

I’m surprised so many people are up so late, honestly. Little village like this, I figured everybody would be long asleep by now.



The wheel stops for no one.



No more dawdling – let’s see what’s in store for us in this forest.



♪♪~ Illuminant Lives

Wow, this place is gorgeous. There are what seem to be fireflies all over the place, and moonlight is shining through the canopy in several places. It’s a really striking area in motion.



Let’s get started.





This screen in the opening section is quite small – it’s about as big as what’s in the screenshot – and there’s nothing important in this tiny little stretch. But I do appreciate the brief change in perspective.



That swan-thing towards the top of the screenshot is what we’ll be facing in here, so let’s go get acquainted with it.



♪♪~ Leap the Precipice

This is what the battlefield looks like for this area. It’s mostly dark, with a couple patches of moonlight here and there, so if you want to use a healing move you’ll have to head to the middle of the battlefield.



Frederic: “How pitiful. You soulless creatures!”

I didn’t get many good shots of Frederic’s fighting style in this battle, but I can at least show off his basic moves.



This is why – everyone in the battle spawns pretty randomly on the battlefield, with your party vaguely on one side and the enemies vaguely on another. Sometimes this results in you having to hoof it over to an enemy and losing a lot of time. Polka can at least spam Shade Comet if this happens, but Frederic has no such luck; he’s mainly a melee combatant.



He can more than make up for it on his next turn, though. Frederic is the only character in the game with a four-hit melee combo, and it comes out pretty fast. There’s a brief pause in between combos, but that’s not much of a problem; if Frederic starts his turn next to an enemy he can easily rack up to 20 hits on them.



♪♪~ Well-Done

Frederic: “This is but a brief parting.”

Since there was only the one monster, this fight wasn’t much of a problem. Plus Polka just leveled up!



Polka: “Perfect!”

For her level-up animation, Polka just tosses her parasol into the air. It’s a good thing it comes back the next battle, because she throws it pretty hard!



I’ll just pop over onto this little side path and take this. Handy for difficult battles.



Back over on the main path, there’s another swan-thing.



Here’s Sacred Signature in action. One or two uses will patch us back up at this level.



And here’s Piu Grave, which is incredibly flashy. It’ll be seeing plenty of use for quite a while.



As for the enemy, L’Opera Knights aren’t too bad. Aside from a basic attack, they have three different special attacks; this one, L’Opera Tornado, hits everyone around it and also comes out the fastest, making it the most dangerous move at its disposal.



Moving on, we come to the second of five sections of Heaven’s Mirror Forest, counting the entrance we were in earlier.



Up ahead there’s a fork in the path, but we’ll have to deal with this L’Opera Knight first.



L’Opera Breath isn’t as damaging as L’Opera Tornado, but you’ll still want to guard against it.



L’Opera Breath, meanwhile, is the least dangerous of the L’Opera Knight’s specials. They’re all pretty easy to guard against.



Frederic: “*chuckles*”

This fight gave enough Exp. to push Frederic to his first level-up! For his animation he waves his baton back and forth a little, as if conducting a piece. Chopin was not a conductor in real life, but it’s a neat little touch.

♪♪~ Illuminant Lives

Now we can head down that fork in the path I mentioned earlier. We’ll just take care of this L’Opera Knight real quick…



L’Opera Knights also sometimes drop Angel Trumpets (as well as Peach Cookies), so you shouldn’t be hurting for revival items while you’re in Heaven’s Mirror Forest.



It’s hard to see, but there’s another chest off in the distance. Gotta take care of this enemy first…



Here’s a better look at Sacred Signature. It looks pretty cool!



Won’t say no to more healing items.



Onward to the next area. I’d say we’re about halfway through the forest now.



Down another side-path we find a weapon upgrade for Polka!



Granted, it’s not much – just a two-point upgrade over her starting weapon – but every bit helps!



This forest really is something, graphically speaking. If I weren’t concerned about it slowing people’s browsers to a crawl I’d show it off in .gif form; the fireflies are all continuously moving upwards, and there are other lights randomly twinkling as we go along. The interplay of different light sources is quite striking, and really helps elevate this area beyond being a Standard JRPG Forest.



Moving on, there’s another side-path off to the left here; me accidentally hiding behind the tree as the screenshot was taken doesn’t help spot it, but the enemy does.



We’ll just head down here, take some stairs…



And grab another one of these. I think we’re up to three now? Oh, I should have mentioned earlier – inventories are shared between parties, including what’s in your Item Set, which is handy.



Back on the main path, we’ll head through this cool little archway and into the next area.



This is the Middle North section of Heaven’s Mirror Forest; just one more and we’ll be at the end. For now we’ll head down this long, winding side-path…



And score our first accessory! There are a bunch of them in this game, and some of them are pretty useful, especially the endgame ones.



This one… is not. But we’ll put it on anyway for lack of other options, plus it’ll help Polka be a little less squishy.



No more side-paths after this; from here it’s a straight shot to the end of the forest.



I make sure Polka and Frederic are healed up (an easy task thanks to their light specials) and leave my Item Set alone; it’s fine as-is. Both of them are at level 5 at the moment, which should be more than enough for what’s ahead.



Here we are at last. Whatever Polka wants to show Frederic is just ahead.



Click for cutscene and boss fight

Huh, wonder why they stopped.



♪♪~ Rapid Fire

Oh, that’s why.



Time to throw down with this random hostile giant boar, I guess!



It’s coming right at us!



♪♪~ Opposition Resignation

Boss: Forest Boar
HP: 18,000
Those horns look like they hurt: They absolutely do.



Polka: “I know I can do it!”

This boss poses about the same level of challenge as Bread Gang; its attacks hit harder, but Polka and Frederic both have access to healing moves to make up for it.

The good news is that they’re both faster than the boss, so we can start hitting it right away. For the first half of the fight or so, Frederic is going to keep it busy at melee range…



While Polka pesters it from a distance with Shade Comet spam. This isn’t strictly necessary – to be honest I’m being overly cautious here – but the Forest Boar can’t attack both characters at once if they’re separated, which is good because its attacks hurt.



Pictured: Forest Boar’s most dangerous attack, Charge. The timing to guard it is a little tricky; you have to wait a bit before the prompt appears, and I panic and guard too soon every single time in the recording.



It deals a good chunk of damage and knocks the character down, and likely means the affected character will have to spend their next turn healing themselves. Forest Boar can use Charge to close the distance between itself and whoever it’s targeting, but my keep-away strategy pays off, and it doesn’t go after Polka until near the end of the fight.



Aside from Charge, it has a basic two-hit combo that it sometimes extends into three hits, as well as War Cry, an AoE attack that can hit anyone nearby. They’re both easier to guard against than Charge, so you shouldn’t have too many problems there.



The fight continues this way for a few more turns – Polka throws Shade Comets, I fail to guard against Charge and spend the next turn healing, Frederic beats it up with his fancy baton.



I decide now is a good time to bring Polka over to melee range and join the fray. The Forest Boar is close to defeated at this point, so it shouldn’t be able to harm her too much.



These are the boss’s other two attacks; they’re both four-hit combos and have the same animation, but Good Combo does slightly more damage.



We’ve got it on the ropes – just a little bit more and we’ll have this fight in the bag.



Polka goes over to attack it from behind and deals the final blow, defeating the Forest Boar!



♪♪~ Well-Done

Polka: “Phew. Huh!”

This boss is one of several to be rebalanced for the PS3 version of the game. It has fewer HP here than in the original release (25, 250), but in exchange it also gives less Exp than the original did (900). The amount of Gold is the same, though. Still, this is enough to push Polka to level 6, and it also does something else:



Our Party Level has gone up! This happens automatically at certain points of the game, and essentially it gives us extra benefits in combat in exchange for making the battle system a little more complicated. I’ll go over it in more detail next update.



Click to watch the cutscene

♪♪~ No music

*Polka starts dusting off her sleeves.*
Frederic: “By the way, you never told me if I’d answered your question correctly.”
Polka: “What?”



You seem awfully smug about that, Frederic. =p



Frederic: “Wait!”
*Brief scene transition.*



Frederic: “Flowers?”
Polka: “Just watch. They’re about to blossom!”



It seems barren now, but…



♪♪~ Pyroxene of the Heart



*The flowers bloom in a great burst of light.*



I would say this was definitely worth the trip through the forest.



“Hey that would make a pretty good desktop background” count: 6



♪♪~When We Are Together

Polka: “This is the only place they bloom in the forest.”



Polka: “When the sun is up, they stay in their buds, but they’re able to absorb sunlight with their leaves.”



Frederic: “They’re beautiful. Absolutely stunning. It truly is a wondrous sight.”



♪♪~ Your Circumstances

Frederic: “Death Lights?”
Polka: “The sun brings light, but the dark brings death. And these flowers bloom in darkness. So, darkness is evil, light is good. Whether you want to call them Heaven’s Mirror or Death Lights, that’s up to you Frederic.”

Polka: “Long ago, it was thought they looked like the light that guided people to death, since they blossom the opposite of regular flowers. Even now, a lot of people don’t like these flowers. To many, they’re still considered a bad omen.”



*Frederic doesn’t know how to respond to that. Polka then walks in front of him.*



Polka: “But, if you’re in your own dream, how can you be so completely positive that what’s happening is only a dream? And if what you’re experiencing in the dream is so realistic to you, how can you even tell what’s actually the real world?”



*The music stops; Frederic is shocked.*
Polka: “You were wrong. I was thinking about leaving Tenuto. I want to go out into the world and live my own life. Even if that life only exists inside your dream.”



Polka: “I just want to help people somehow. Like these flowers. Even though people call them Death Lights, they still blossom and struggle to live on.”



Frederic: “You’re going to leave the village? But where do you intend to go after you leave Tenuto?”



Polka: “Because right now, they’re hurting everyone in the village.”
*There’s a short pause.*



Polka: “Since you can’t use magic, it means you don’t have an incurable illness.”
*Frederic doesn’t respond; Polka starts walking out of the clearing.*
Polka: “Please, stay at my house tonight. I’ll tell my mom you’re coming.”



*Polka giggles and heads back to her house.*



Frederic: “Hmm...”



Seems like this conversation’s got the wheels in Frederic’s head turning on something, though it remains to be seen what exactly that is. In the meantime, I’m gonna call this update here. We have a long way to Forte ahead of us, so stay tuned!

Next time: The journey to Forte begins.

Glossary of Musical Terms

Piu Grave – This requires a two-part explanation. “Piu” is an Italian word meaning “more”, and grave is a tempo marking that indicates a very slow playing speed – around 25-45 BPM – making it one of the slowest tempos in music. So, “Piu Grave” essentially means “even more slowly”.

Opera – There is uh, way too much history for me to get into here with these little blurbs, but essentially, opera is a form of theater where music plays a central role in the production and all the acting parts are performed by trained singers. It originated in Italy at the end of the 16th century and soon spread throughout Europe, and it’s been a key part of Western classical music pretty much ever since. There are several different types of opera, each of which has their own histories, and just skimming the wikipedia page above can lead you down a rabbit hole if you’re so inclined.

Forte – A dynamic marking, meaning “loud” or “strong”; indicated with a fancy f.

And that’s it! Not many new terms this update. See y’all next time!

Kumquats are a K so I'm guessing you get a conversation about a wrong answer? Neat, I don't think I did any of this exploring when I played this.

But not a hot minuet?

Hmm... I will check this as soon as I get a chance!

arkofthecovenant.gif

Anyway, here's some more art, this time featuring Frederic.



Fancy! In real life Chopin was known to be quite fastidious when it came to what he wore, but I doubt he would have worn anything this extravagant. Sure as hell looks nice, though!



It's a bit hard to tell since it's upside down, but if you look closely you can see that a treble clef is worked into the design of Frederic's conductor's baton.

While I'm here, have some environmental art!



There's not a lot of it floating around online - at least not that I've been able to find - but I'll show off what I can.

The next update should be ready to go in a couple days. In the meantime, here's a few more pieces:

Chopin - Prelude in F Sharp Minor, Op. 28 No. 8
Prelude in B Flat Minor, Op. 28 No. 16

Leo� Janáček - On an Overgrown Path

Only one piece from a non-Chopin composer this time, because it's a.) actually a whole collection of pieces, and b.) pretty long, but still worth listening to! Leo� Janáček was a Czech composer active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to being one of the most celebrated Czech composers (along with Anton�n Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana), Janáček was also a noted folklorist, and his research into Slavic folk music considerably influenced his own style.

Welcome back to Eternal Sonata! Last time Polka made the fateful decision to travel to Forte to ask the Count about taxes on floral powder.



Click to watch the cutscene

♪♪~ No music

But I wonder what Allegretto and Beat are up to?



Let’s check in with them and see…

*Scene transition to the secret hideout...*



Allegretto: “It’s not like we’re going on a picnic, Beat. Don’t get so excited.”
Beat: “Yeah, I know that, Retto.”



Beat: “That way everyone can afford blankets, and cheese, and all the honey-covered bread they could ever possibly want! Then everyone can finally be happy! Right, Retto?”



Allegretto: “We have to uncover the real root of the problem.”
Beat: “Yeah, you said it! So, where are we going, anyway?”
Allegretto: “You mean you don’t know? Geez, I take back what I just said.”



Beat: “Hey, Retto! Wait up!”
*Beat moves to follow Allegretto up the ladder as the scene ends.*

Seems the two groups are like-minded, even if their goals don’t exactly line up.



♪♪~ The Mediocrity Sought Out By Everyone

That’s a good idea. Before that, though, I need to do a bit of menu maintenance.



First we’ll equip Allegretto’s new weapon…



Then we’ll finally take a look at the photos we took a couple updates ago.



Here we can look at the photos we’ve taken. These photographs are all fully-developed; I think boss photos fully develop as soon as the fight is over, but I’ll have to test that out later. You can technically sell photos that aren’t fully-developed, but that always results in single-digit sell prices, so it’s always preferable to wait for them to develop, which doesn’t take long at all anyway. Photos can have one of three ranks, with C-rank being the lowest and A-rank being the highest. A-rank photos sell for the most cash, while B-rank ones are pretty decent and C-ranks are almost never worth holding onto unless they’re boss photos. Thankfully you can trash any photos that you don’t want to keep.

The photo mechanic has been heavily rebalanced from the original release of the game; in the Xbox 360 original it was much easier to take A-rank photos, and photos were worth much more money, to the point where if you managed A-rank photos of the first few bosses you’d be set for the entire first half of the game. In the PS3 release, the requirements for A-rank photos are much stricter, and photos overall sell for less money.



These photos are pretty good, but not quite good enough for an A-rank. Having the subject fully in the frame helps, as well as capturing it in profile from a pretty close (but not too close) distance, and it being in the center of the frame. Having more than one subject in the frame also helps, as long as they aren’t facing away from you. Beyond that it can get pretty finicky, but in general it’s easier to take A-rank photos of standard enemies and harder (but worth more) to get A-rank photos of bosses.



Before we sell these photos, let’s go see how the kids are doing. There’s nothing new about the sewers so I’ll just cut to the end directly.



♪♪~ No music



Ad: “If we went outside to play, somebody’d probably take us away or something.”
“I’ll look after everybody while you’re away. Just leave it to me!”

Y’all better stay safe while we’re gone…



She then takes the Rat Tail we got from Bread Gang…

Lib: “Thanks! Here, I’ll give you this in exchange.”



Lib: “Thanks, Retto!”

This is the start of a trading sequence; there are actually two of them in Eternal Sonata, roughly one for each half of the game. The second is much more lucrative than the first, but it’ll be a while before we get to it, so we’ll focus on this one in the meantime.



Phony: “I hope you and Beat come back soon.”
“You have to come back soon, okay? Promise?”

We’ll do our best, but bureaucracy can be pretty slow in the best of times, let alone when it comes to taxes…



Sym: “I wanna be a baker if it means you can eat yummy bread like that every day.”

Freshly-baked bread is delicious, I’ll give you that. I could go for some right now…



Guess we won’t be opening this chest for a while. We’ll have to check it again once we’ve returned from Forte.



Okay, now we can go sell off our photos.



Not yet, but that’s why we’re here!



Sometimes when you go to sell your photos, the shopkeeper will say that there’s a photographer in the shop. That’s not the case here, but if it were, our A- and B-rank photos would sell for more money than usual… but our C-rank photos would sell for less. Since we have mostly C-rank photos, it’s actually a good thing that a photographer isn’t here.



Before I started selling photos, we had 325 Gold; after I sold all of them, we earned 690 for a total of 1,015, which is a little over three times what we started with. Conversely, selling off Polka and Allegretto’s old weapons only got us 10 Gold. Even with the reduced money from selling photos in this version of the game, it still pays to do it!



I briefly consider buying this armor for Beat, but I decide to hold off on it; we’ll be finding better equipment soon.



Instead I buy 10 Peach Cookies and one Angel Trumpet; we’ll have to be more reliant on items for healing since Beat and Allegretto don’t have any healing specials.

Now then, it’s time to talk to everyone before we head off; we won’t be back here for a while, after all.

“Why don’t you come back to the choir? I mean you had a pretty good voice.”

Ah, well, we just don’t have the time for it right now, man. Gotta see a Count about some taxes and whatnot. Wonder what the priest in the church has to say about that…



♪♪~ An Inspection Which Values Harmony

Priest: “Beat is still small, so don’t push him too hard. I wish you all the best on your journey.”

Don’t worry, we won’t. Thanks for the well-wishes!



♪♪~ The Mediocrity Sought Out By Everyone

“You may have already noticed this, but my brother is pretty good at making money.”

Oh, are you related to the guy who runs the item shop? Yeah, I guess he would be, being the only game in town and all…



“You again? These flowers aren’t for eating! Scoot, now! Scoot!”

Nobody said they were…



“Ever since pirates started appearing on Fusion River, they’ve suspended travel because it’s dangerous. If I can’t get to Baroque, how am I supposed to keep up with the latest fashions?”
“I wish a white knight in shining armor would come along and teach those pirates a lesson.”

Pirates, you say? It’s a good thing we’re heading to Forte on foot instead of by sea. Actually, I’m not sure you can reach Forte by sea anyway.



Wah ha ha!



“If you see him, grab him for me, would you? I need to teach him a lesson! He won’t be getting any dinner tonight, that’s for sure!”
“How can I talk if I don’t have my dentures in? Well, I always keep a spare set with me, of course. I’m not a dunderhead like my old husband.”
“Find my husband for me. Please!”

Uh, sure, we’ll keep an eye out for him.



“What does it mean to be macho?”

I’m not exactly an expert, but I would say you don’t have to be good at stereotypically “masculine” things like sports or whatever to be macho. Just follow your heart!



“I just can’t let myself sleep. Ah, I’m going crazy.”

This dude just really does not want to take a nap for some reason. Maybe he has an appointment somewhere.



A stick, you say?

*Handed over Stick*
“Ah, one just like this. If you put one into the ground you can measure the time there is in a day. The shadow of the stick moves, you see. Slowly, slowly, it gets long and narrow. And when it disappears, that’s the end. The end of a single day. Here’s something you can have that I had in my pocket. Do you like it?”



“Aah, I really did a lot of talking today. The sun’s about to set. I suppose I’ll get ready to settle in. It’s surprisingly warm beneath the eaves of the church.”

Despite what you might be thinking, this man isn’t the old woman’s husband, and we can’t give the dentures to her. He just, had them in his pocket. That raises… questions.



“But don’t fall in love with me because I’m so macho.”



Kids these days…



Still full of bugs, I guess. But that cave is nice and unblocked now, so let’s poke our heads inside real quick.



♪♪~ A Step

There’s not much to this cave – it’s just a straightforward path with one branch that currently doesn’t have anything in it. At the end…



Allegretto: “No, wait. This will take us to Tenuto Village. Better go back.”

Right. Polka and Frederic probably came through here earlier on their way to Forte. Anyway, we’re almost done talking to everyone – there’s just the lady in the house by the other exit from Ritardando.



“I wonder if he’s even thought once about his future. What he wants to be when he grows up and such.”
“I swear, that boy will make me old before my time.”

I mean, he’s just a kid from the sound of it; playing all day’s a pretty common occurrence!



That’s everything in Ritardando taken care of; time to start making our way to Forte!



Click to watch the cutscene and combat tutorial

♪♪~ Innumerable Animals





Allegretto: “Pictures?! Come on, don’t waste time on that stuff. You need to help me fight.”
Beat: “Hey, that’s not nice. Don’t say things like that! Taking pictures isn’t a waste of time.”
Allegretto: “Fine, fine. You can tell me all about it later. Come on, let’s get moving.”



Joke’s on Allegretto, taking photos is extremely helpful in fights. =V



That is a gnarly-lookin’ plant…



Also, despite what he said earlier, fighting in Agogo Forest will be pretty similar to the sewers, since Florite Mice are also here.



And speaking of fighting, there’s another tutorial waiting for us over there, so let’s go see what it has to tell us.



♪♪~ Leap the Precipice

This tutorial is pretty important; now that we’re at Party Level 2 we’ve unlocked one of the key features of Eternal Sonata’s battle system. But before we get into that, I should go over something else real quick that’s also important.

See, when certain enemies enter from light into darkness or vice versa, they change – either their stats change, or they get access to new attacks, or they could transform into a different enemy entirely, like this Very Very Empty changing into a Great Coconut when it entered the rock’s shadow here. These enemies are much tougher than their smaller counterparts, and have access to some strong attacks.



The Great Coconut can use Coconut Fall from anywhere on the battlefield, but it can only use Moldy Breath up close, which is good because it seriously hurts unguarded. Thankfully, the Great Coconut is very slow, and it takes a while to turn to face you. It also won’t really move at all – if it’s not close enough to use Moldy Breath it’ll happily spam distance attacks at you.



Now then, onto the battle system changes. For starters, we still have infinite Tactical Time, but whenever we start moving it instantly gets reduced to zero, so if we stand still our Action Gauge will still go down. We can still think about what we want to do at the beginning of a given turn, but once you start moving you’re committed to that turn no matter what.



But, more importantly, we have access to the Echo Meter! You can see it at the bottom right corner of the screen. Every four consecutive hits adds a notch to it, up to 16 hits; for the final two notches – 24 and 32 – you have to add eight consecutive hits. What does this do?



Well, the more Echoes you build up, the stronger your next special attack is, with a full 32-hit Echo Meter being the most powerful. Echoes are shared between everyone in the party, and the Echo Meter gets reduced back to zero when you use a special attack, so for tougher enemies and bosses you have to plan ahead a little depending on who’s special you want to use. Naturally, Beat’s long-distance rapid-fire shooting is great for building up the Echo Meter, and we’ll be making heavy use of this throughout the game.



With that taken care of, we can resume making our way through Agogo Forest.



Sweet, another one! I’ll put this on Beat until we find some better equipment for him.



Perfect, some more enemies – this is a good chance to show off the new specials we learned a couple updates ago.



If enemies happen to spawn close together, it’s a great opportunity to build up the Echo Meter super fast. These Florite Mice die too fast for me to take advantage of that, but there’s more of them in this area, so no big loss.



Beat’s rapid-fire attack in action. Like I said earlier, very useful for racking up Echoes.



And here’s the animation change for Rapid Shooter; Beat holds his hook gun in one hand, which somehow increases the damage it deals. I can work with that I think.



Here’s Sky Divider in action. It’s a two-hit light special, and it’s a fair bit stronger than Sun Slash; it also has a chance of causing knockback, which is quite handy for tougher enemies. The poor Mouse never had a chance.



Further along the path there’s a section where a bunch of enemies are hanging out. Time for more fightin’!



Beat: “I see a weakpoint!”

If you use a special while sitting on 24 or 32 Echoes, the character in question will strike a pose and say a unique line.



Needless to say, this Great Coconut’s day has been thoroughly ruined.



And here’s Fire Blast. It’s essentially a light-special version of Rapid Shooter, and the animation change applies to it as well. There are several specials like that in this game – light and dark counterparts of what’s essentially the same special – probably for budgetary reasons if I had to guess. Game development is expensive!



Just a couple more enemy groups and we’ll be in the next area.



This is the Great Coconut’s other long-distance attack; it’s the least dangerous move in its arsenal, but it’s also the fastest. I’d still prefer it to Moldy Breath, honestly; at least Smoldering Palm doesn’t hit three times!



Allegretto: “It’s over now!”

That is a very true statement.



3,200 damage in one go is nothin’ to scoff at at this point!



♪♪~ Innumerable Animals

Right, next area. Left is the way to go, but there’s a chest over this way to open first.



Don’t mind if I do.



Nothing off to the side there, so we’ll head on up those stairs.



More stairs up ahead.



I like the contrast between here and Heaven’s Mirror Forest – whereas that place was predominantly dark blue, Agogo Forest is an incredibly vivid green, with vibrant trees and plant-life everywhere.

Another split in the path ahead. We’ll go right first here, as well.



There’s an NPC down this way, but first…



Nice! The minor attack boost is just a bonus. I take the time to put the Copper Necklace on Allegretto; it’s not necessary to micromanage like this, but it’ll make me feel better. =V



“But the lush bounty of nature is more lush than I imagined! I’ve almost used up all my green paint!”
“The clouds in the sky are starting to look threatening. But I cannot leave this place! My inner voice cries out that I must not run! I’m almost out of time and paint! So many obstacles stand before me!”

It’s too bad we don’t have any green paint on us, we could help this dude out. Good luck, man…



Taking the left path from the intersection before, we find a save point. I put Vivid Shot back in Beat’s light special slot, and I change around the Item Set a bit, switching out a Floral Powder for two Peach Cookies. Allegretto and Beat are both at level 6, which should be enough for what’s ahead.



Onward!



Click to watch the cutscene and boss fight



♪♪~ Rapid Fire



Oh crap, it’s… uh, what is that exactly? Looks like a flying dinosaur...



I don’t think it’s here to invite us out to lunch, in any case.



♪♪~ Opposition Resignation

Boss: Baby Dragon
HP: 35,000 (PS3)/40,740 (Xbox 360)
Exp: 794 (PS3)/1,500 (Xbox 360)
That’s a weird-looking dragon: Just wait till you see what an adult dragon looks like.



Allegretto: “Don’t get cocky!”

The Baby Dragon is a step up in difficulty from previous bosses. Not only does it have noticeably more HP, it also fights smarter.



Of course, just like Bread Gang, it immediately goes for Beat. The bosses in this game must have it out for him or something…



Its basic attack is a two-hit combo. They’re both pretty easy to guard against, but I wasn’t facing the Baby Dragon so I had to take the brunt of it. That’s the least of your troubles in this fight, though…



Like with the Bread Gang fight, we’ll take out the other enemies first, building the Echo Meter in the process. We’re strong enough now that we can just defeat the Florite Mice with standard combos.



Crap, this is bad. The Baby Dragon has an annoying tendency to fly behind a character to use its strongest attack:



Fiery Breath. You can at least turn around to guard against future attacks, but you still have to endure the full force of this one. It hits everyone in an arc in front of the boss, so attacking it from behind with Beat while distracting it with Allegretto is a good option.



Beat: “The detail is just amazing!”

But first, it’s photo time! The targeting reticle will automatically point at enemies, but you might have to do some manual adjusting. It’s good to keep in mind that wherever the reticle is pointing is the center of the frame as far as photos are concerned.



I get pretty unlucky in this recording, and the Baby Dragon does this a lot in the first half of the fight. We still only have space for one Angel Trumpet in the Item Set, so I’d like to avoid KO’s wherever possible. On top of that, using an item takes a flat two seconds from the Action Gauge, limiting the amount of time we can build up Echoes.



Allegretto: “Cut through the cloud cover and rain upon them!”

The good news is that thanks to the Echo Meter we can hit back just as hard. With an almost-full meter we just dealt a little over 10,000 damage in one turn. That’s nearly a third of its health!



Now that Beat’s done taking photos he can join in for real. Note that these rapid-fire shots don’t add any time to the Action Gauge, so you’re stuck with a max of 15 hits a turn if you start shooting immediately. That’s still better than his melee combos for meter building, though!



Beat: “This’ll really hurt!”

And of course he can hammer the boss with his own powered-up specials, too.



The Baby Dragon has two more attacks aside from Fiery Breath, although they aren’t as dangerous. Knock Out is a four-hit bite that has a strong chance of knocking a character down unguarded, while Red Heaven is an AoE that hits everyone in a circle around it. Both of these are preferable to Fiery Breath, which it seems to use less as the battle goes on, at least in the recording I made.



From there it’s a matter of keeping up the pressure; once it starts hunching over you know you’ve almost won.



Finally, Allegretto slashes it from behind and deals the final blow!

♪♪~ Well-Done

Allegretto: “You’re all washed up!”

Heck yeah! The Stone Sword Hilt is to ATK what the Copper Necklace is to DEF. Allegretto and Beat also each gained a level from the fight, although neither learned a new special. Still happy with this, though.



Click to watch the rest of this update

♪♪~ Innumerable Animals

Beat: “So what? We can handle a little rain. I mean, the hideout’s roof leaks like crazy.”



So, every now and then – about once a chapter, with a couple exceptions – the game will take some time to talk about the Chopin piece that a given chapter is named after. This is one of those times. I’ll put some line breaks in between the end of a cutscene and beginning of these little presentations, and won’t be adding any of my own commentary to them; all the text will be straight from the game until it’s done. See y’all on the other side!




♪♪~ Innumerable Animals

Frederic: “You know, the rain makes the plants look even more alive.”



Yeah, I bet so. Certainly makes it a lot easier to water all those flowers than manually carrying water out to the field would.



We could continue on with Agogo Forest, but this is a good stopping place, I think; we can finish it off next time. See y’all then!

Next time: The trek through Agogo Forest continues

Glossary of Musical Terms

Ad lib – Short for “ad libitum,” a phrase in Latin meaning “at one’s pleasure” or “as you desire.” In music, it’s generally used to indicate that the marked passage can be played in free time, or if marked “repeat ad lib” to repeat a passage an arbitrary number of times.

Symphony – A large-scale piece of music, usually (but not always) written for orchestra. Traditionally a symphony is written in four movements, with the first movement being in sonata form, although there may be more or fewer movements depending on the piece in question, with wildly differing structures. Although usually written for orchestras, some symphonies are also written for concert bands. The word “symphony” can also refer to the orchestra that plays such works, i.e. Vancouver Symphony Orchestra or Boston Symphony, etc. Has a long and complicated history you can read more about in the link, if you’re curious.

Baroque – The Baroque era is a period of Western classical music lasting from about 1600-1750. Notable Baroque-era composers include J. S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, and many others. There’s too much history to get into here, but the link has a lot more info.

Fusion – The practice of taking elements from two or more genres of music and mixing them together.

Agogô – I think it’s referring to this, a bell instrument with origins in traditional Edo music and Brazilian baterias, and possibly the oldest samba instrument.

Nobody likes paparazzi - even in a fantasy world.

I am always down for learning about more Czech composers, neat!

I'm glad people have been following the links!

Anyway, here's some more art, this time of Beat.





Gosh, isn't he just adorable?



A closer look shows that his hook gun is modeled after a clarinet.

Today's a good day for more music, I think. First, a Chopin piece:

Chopin - Prelude in B Flat Major, Op. 28 No. 21

And in celebration of Pride Month, I'll be sharing links to pieces by LGBTQ+ composers, starting today with...

John Cage - Dream
Cage - In a Landscape

John Cage was an American composer active in the 20th century. He's most famous for being a major pioneer of aleatoric music - that is, music wherein some part of the compositional process or performance is left up to chance; his best-known composition, 4'33'', is a major example of this. He was also a pioneer of the prepared piano, which is a piano that has had its sound altered by putting various objects on or between the strings. Cage was gay, and his most frequent collaborator was his lifelong romantic partner Merce Cunningham, a dancer and choreographer whose works often served as inspiration for Cage's music.

Welcome back to Eternal Sonata! Today’s update is going to be a shorter one than usual, but the next should be closer to usual length. Anyway, last time our two groups were heading through Agogo Forest on their way to Forte, and it’s just started to rain…



♪♪~ Innumerable Animals

Before we move on, we’ll go ahead and open this chest.



An item you find now is an item you don’t have to buy later, am I right?

I also take the time to give Polka the Stone Sword Hilt, and equip Frederic’s new Bamboo Shaft; we’ll need the ATK boost to more effectively deal with the enemies here.



♪♪~ Leap the Precipice

Now that it’s pouring rain, the battlefield for Agogo Forest looks quite different from before; those patches of light near the glowing rocks are all you get, and sometimes there won’t even be a rock in the middle. Naturally, this means most of the VVE’s we see on the map are actually Great Coconuts in disguise waiting to catch you unawares.



We’ll have to take advantage of the Echo Meter to defeat these enemies with any sort of speed. The good news is that even with just two characters we can build meter pretty quickly, partially thanks to how fast Frederic’s melee combos are.



Frederic: “There is power within my melodies! Listen!”

Speaking of Frederic, his Piu Grave special is going to be doing some heavy lifting while we’re making our way through Agogo Forest; even at 24 Echoes he can do some serious damage to the Great Coconuts, much less a full meter.



That taken care of, we can start moving on through this area at last.



Score! This will help Polka’s survivability a fair bit. I’ll put the Copper Necklace on Frederic until we can find some better armor for him, which should be soon.



♪♪~ Well-Done

Frederic: “Let us rejoice, for now.”

Speaking of him, again, he picks up a new special at level 6! It won’t see much use in the forest (since it’s a light special), but I’m happy to have it all the same.



Now to just circle around back to the main path and follow it to those stairs…



Deal with some unfortunately bunched-up GC’s…



And be on our way. Side note, I really like the trails of water running down the slope throughout this area. It looks nice, especially in motion.



This small clearing at the top of the stairs is a good chance (and indeed the only chance I get) to show off Frederic’s new special.



It’s hard to tell here because it comes out so fast, but Coup de Grace is a single-hit attack that has strong knockback; it’s bad for building Echoes, but great for keeping enemies at a distance, and for forcing strong enemies and bosses to waste time getting back up and running to you again.



That taken care of, we’ll head onward once more.



These stairs lead further into the forest, but we’ll keep moving forward for now…



To grab this. Again, I’ll explain what exactly it does later – as soon as I find a good opportunity to do so – but for now just note that it’s helpful if you’re having trouble with the GC’s while you’re making your way through Agogo Forest.



Item acquired, we come to another fork in the road that leads to another item.



In this case it’s a new parasol for Polka that puts her ATK on par with Frederic’s. Very helpful!



That gotten, we’ll cross this bridge and move on to the next section of the forest.



L’Opera Knights show up again in this area, and unfortunately for them…



We’ve gotten a little bit stronger since Heaven’s Mirror Forest. They shouldn’t pose many problems to us anymore, but I’ll happily fight them and take their item drops.



Let us not allow the monster-fighting to distract from the fact that that’s a pretty cool tree stump.



Polka: “Stay away from me!”

Heck yeah, Polka! Show that GC who’s boss.



We’re almost at the end of this area…



Just need to head up these stairs and a little further on.

Before we beat up this GC for the item it’s guarding, can I just mention that I like the camera shots this area is using? Because I do, that previous angle on the stairs especially.



Anyway, let’s snag this new coat for Frederic and be on our way. You get fewer opportunities to buy new armor for him (at least that I recall), so it’s important to keep an eye out for equipment upgrades whenever you can.



I’ll use that save point in a little bit; first…



I should show off a section of the menu I’ve been ignoring up to this point. Now that we’ve seen one of Frederic’s piano pieces performed in-game, we can use this option to listen to them whenever we want.



In the original version of this game there were seven pieces, one for each of the first seven chapters; the PS3 port added an additional piece, which we’ll look at once we get to it much later. You can even reread the little presentations associated with each piece while you listen, if you want.



All that settled, we’ll move on.



Click to watch the cutscenes

♪♪~ No music



Frederic: “We should get out of this storm. Is there someplace around here where we can take shelter?”
Polka: “Hm, I don’t know.”



Oh? Maybe they’ll know somewhere we can get out of the rain. I’m sure Frederic and Polka are both thoroughly soaked right now.



Who’s this person? We haven’t seen them before…



“I am looking for something myself. But I’m learning that it’s not such an easy task when it’s pouring down rain like this.”



♪♪~ Pressure

Frederic: “What?!”



Whoa dude, slow down, we just met-



♪♪~ A Flicker Which Divides Light and Darkness

Uh, I guess this is happening now? Surely we can talk this out-



“I can’t stand the smell of this forest – the plants, the animals...”



“And the sweat, coming from you people!”



Polka: “*gasp* What are you doing?!”

That is a great question, Polka, and I feel like we’re about to get a really bad answer.



“Fugue,” huh? He sure is taking his sweet time sauntering over to us…



Alright, that’s more damage than we’re used to seeing, but we should be able to patch that right up on our next turn.



Okay whoa that’s a lot of damage. I’m guarding against this attack here, for reference, and it still took off a third of Frederic’s health. That’s really not good…



What the hell? We’re only doing single-digit damage to him and he’s not even reacting at all! I’m starting to get the feeling we’re in way over our heads here.



Oh crap I mistime guarding once and Fugue capitalizes on it immediately.



Uh, I just guarded too early. This is going to hurt.



That’s… more than Polka’s max HP in damage. In Frederic’s case it’s double his health.



“Ugh, I got dirt on my clothes.”

Yeah, I’m sure you were able to pick up on it pretty fast, but this is an unwinnable boss fight. Assuming you either a.) level-grind in Agogo Forest for an obscenely long time, or b.) find a way to cheat and give yourself higher stats, Fugue will just use an attack called Deus Ex Machina that will deal 125% of the target’s max HP in damage, KO’ing them anyways. Thankfully this is the only fight of its kind in the game.

♪♪~ No music



Fugue: “Thank you kindly for the workout. It helped me relieve some stress.”



Wow, what an asshole.



*Fugue walks off and the camera pans up as the scene changes...*



Ludwika: “Oh. Finally. It looks as though the thunderstorm has passed.”
*She turns and moves over to Frederic’s bed.*
Ludwika: “How is Frederic’s condition?”



Ludwika: “I hope he’s all right.”



Ludwika: “Perhaps he was startled by the lightning. Maybe that’s what caused his seizure.”
Doctor: “Yes, madam, that may very well be true. But I have a suspicion that that wasn’t the only cause.”



*The scene transitions once more, back to Agogo Forest.*



♪♪~ Innumerable Animals

Well, it looks like the rain has stopped, at least.



Allegretto: “Hey, Beat. Did I see you shaking back there?”
Beat: “What?! No way! I wasn’t shaking!”
Allegretto: “Oh? Really? You were hanging on to your camera for dear life, weren’t you?”



Excellent idea, Beat.



Before we start on that, however, I need to check something real quick.



Dang, not a single A- or B-rank photo in the whole set. I guess I wasn’t close enough to the Baby Dragon for any of them. Still, this will give us more money than not taking any photos at all, so we’ll hold onto them until we find a place to sell them.



Now that it’s not raining, the sun is free to shine through the canopy in all sorts of interesting and beautiful ways.



♪♪~ Leap the Precipice

And, of course, now that the battlefield is mostly light again, these VVE’s are completely screwed. Even if they happen to spawn in the shade as Great Coconuts, we can build up Echoes much faster with Beat, and Allegretto’s a stronger melee attacker than either Polka or Frederic.



Moving on. I won’t show the whole trek through the forest as Beat and Allegretto, but I will at least show the especially pretty areas we pass through.



It doesn’t take long at all to reach the next area, especially since we’ve already opened all the chests and don’t have to deviate from the main path for them.



Moving on through the tree stump area and up these stairs…



♪♪~ Well-Done

Sweet! I don’t get a chance to demonstrate it this time, but I’ll be sure to later.



A few more fights and we’re almost at the same place where Polka and Frederic were just a minute ago.



That’s odd, they’re not here. Maybe someone found them? That archway nearby seems like it leads to a settlement of some kind, so maybe that’s the case. First, though…



Wait, is this the husband of the old woman from Ritardando? The heck’s he doing all the way out here? And he’s stomping on something...

“I’ll show her! She’s not going to be doing much talking at all with her dentures in pieces! Hah!”
*At this point he notices us.*
“What? She said she’s not going to give me dinner? Oh no! She must be really mad! I better go back and apologize right now! But I smashed her dentures. If she finds out about that, she’s going to do even worse to me.”



“You’re giving me these? Thank you so much! You’ve saved my life! Please take this in return. It’s the least I can do.”



“I’m going to head back now. Thanks again.”
*He leaves.*

Green paint, huh? Y’all know what that means.



Time to backtrack!

Luckily that doesn’t take long, especially if you avoid battles on the way back.



*Handed over Green Paint*
“Oh! You’ve got green paint! And you’ll give it to me?! Thank you, stranger! Let me give you this in return!”



“What vivid green! My brush will dance with delight!”

Thanks for the pants, I think. We’ll find some use for these somewhere down the line, I’m sure.



But in the meantime, I think I’ll call it here. We'll learn what happened to Polka and Frederic soon enough...

Next time: The end of Chapter 1!

And since there was just the one new musical term this time, I’ll put it here instead of making a separate post for it:

Glossary of Musical Terms

Fugue – A compositional technique in two or more voices wherein a subject is introduced and then reappears in imitation several more times throughout the piece. The fugue is kind of a precursor to sonata form, since it’s usually written in an exposition/development/finale structure. It’s probably easier to hear an example instead of reading about it, and lemme tell ya, J. S. Bach has got you covered in that department in spades.

No new art this time, but I do have more music to share:

Chopin - Prelude in A Minor, Op. 28 No. 2
Prelude in G Major, Op. 28 No. 3

Julius Eastman - Gay Guerrilla

Julius Eastman was a 20th century American composer. His work can largely be classified under minimalism, although unlike most other prominent composers in that movement, Eastman was far more willing to use dissonance and avant-garde techniques in his music. Many of his pieces draw on his experiences as an openly gay black composer, and have overtly political titles reflecting this. Unfortunately this didn't play nicely with the classical music establishment and kept him from finding much work after the 1970's, and many of his scores were impounded by the New York City Sheriff's Office after an eviction in the early 1980's. He died homeless and alone in a hospital of cardiac arrest in 1990; no public notice was given of his death until an obituary appeared in the Village Voice eight months later.

Eastman's work has seen a resurgence in recent years, thanks largely to the effort of people who worked with him tracking down his scores and CD compilations like Unjust Malaise. But it's still shitty that his life was cut short, and that most of the previous paragraph was about the circumstances that led to his death. Black composers have an important place in the classical repertoire, and their voices deserve to be heard. Black lives matter.

While I'm here making this post so I can start the next update on a new page, let me ask a question: how many people are watching the videos I'm including with the updates? The views on them seem to be disproportionately low compared to how many people are reading this thread. I'm not saying folks have to watch them of course, but there's only so much I can get across with screenshots and dialogue transcriptions.

Anyway, new update incoming.