Music of the Final Fantasy series

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Music of Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy I and II
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XII
Tactics series
Compilation albums

The music of Final Fantasy refers to the soundtracks of the Final Fantasy series of console-based, usually plot-intensive Japanese role-playing games. The series' music ranges from very light background music to emotionally intense interweavings of character and situation leitmotifs. The music in the game is usually orchestrated. Its most important composer is Nobuo Uematsu. Final Fantasy is such a popular series that many accompanying albums and compilations have been produced.

Contents

[edit] Recurring themes

Although most of the music changes from game to game, there are several recurring tracks, or leitmotifs. The "Prelude", or "Crystal Theme" as some fans refer to it, is a track played at the beginning of most of the games, either on the title screen or in the opener. It is also the song played on the formation screen in the original Final Fantasy. It plays in the middle of the game on occasion, usually in the Crystal Rooms of Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V. In some games it sometimes plays after the credits, such as in Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX. However, during Final Fantasy VIII "The Prelude" was incorporated into the ending theme but with Final Fantasy IX it appears as a separate track on official soundtrack. "The Prelude" does make a proper appearance during Final Fantasy VIII as the game over music, which is appropriately titled "The Loser". A highly remixed version also appears in an early scene in Final Fantasy X. The track also appears in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars during the conversation with Culex, a Final Fantasy based boss.

Another important theme is the appropriately named "Final Fantasy" (aka "Prologue"), which was originally titled "Ahead on our Way", a title later given to the main theme of Final Fantasy V, although this game's piece is completely different. It serves as an opening theme in the original Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV."Final Fantasy" also plays during the ending of most games after the credits roll; however, it is currently not found in Final Fantasy XI, and is also absent from Final Fantasy X. In Final Fantasy XII, it is used on the title screen and during the load game screen (where one would load a game from their memory card), which would also mark the earliest the theme had appeared in a Final Fantasy game (most other games used it after the player had completed the opening mission and had set off on the game's main story, but not as a theme in an opening title sequence).

The fanfare played after battles is a recurring theme as well, as are the introductory notes and bass lines of the regular battle theme in most games. While the bass line vanished in Final Fantasy VII for the normal battle theme, it returned later in the track "Birth of a god" (It can be heard early on before the looping part of the track starts) and also in the final boss battle music of Final Fantasy VIII.

The Chocobo theme also recurs, in all Final Fantasy titles since Final Fantasy II. It is often remixed in a different way for each game. It is titled with the suffix "de Chocobo," and is prefixed by the name of the style it is played in. For example Techno de Chocobo  from Final Fantasy VI features a dance remix, while "Cinco de Chocobo" from Final Fantasy VII features a cool jazz remix in 5/4 time.

Moogles, who first appeared in Final Fantasy III, also have a theme generally associated with them that has appeared in various games, officially titled "Critter Tripper Fritter!?" on the 1987-1994 album. This music is also noteworthy as being the only traditional Final Fantasy anthem to have been present in the Gamecube title Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.

Another recurring theme on the game soundtracks is the presence of choir/orchestra ensemble Hymns pieces, resembling Gregorian Chant, pieces such as Hymn of the Fayth  from Final Fantasy X. Not all songs reappear multiple times. Some reappear once, and some reappear in pieces. For instance an unreleased dungeon theme in Final Fantasy II later received its debut in Final Fantasy VI. The Pandemonium Theme in Final Fantasy II later reappeared heavily remixed in Final Fantasy IX as well.

[edit] Final Fantasy III

The music of Final Fantasy III was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. Final Fantasy III Original Sound Version, a compilation of almost all of the music in the game, was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing in 1991, and subsequently re-released by NTT Publishing in 1994 and 2004. The soundtrack to the remake of Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS, Final Fantasy III Original Soundtrack was released by NTT Publishing in 2006, with revamped versions of the songs and additional tracks. A vocal arrangement album entitled Final Fantasy III Yūkyū no Kaze Densetsu, or literally Final Fantasy III Legend of the Eternal Wind containing a selection of musical tracks from the game. The tracks were performed by Nobuo Uematsu and Dido, a duo composed of Michiaki Kato and Shizuru Ohtaka. The album was released by Data M in 1990 and by Polystar in 1994.

The music received positive reviews from critics, and is lauded as one of the best soundtracks of any NES game. Several songs from the soundtrack remain popular today, and have been performed numerous times in orchestral concert series such as the Tour de Japon: Music from Final Fantasy concert series and the Distant Worlds - Music from Final Fantasy series. Music from the game has also been published in arranged albums and compilations by Square as well as outside groups.

[edit] Final Fantasy IV

The music of Final Fantasy IV was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Final Fantasy IV Original Sound Version, a compilation of almost all of the music in the game, was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing, and subsequently re-released by NTT Publishing. It was released in North America by Tokyopop as Final Fantasy IV Official Soundtrack: Music from Final Fantasy Chronicles, with one additional track. It has since been re-released multiple times with slight changes as part of the Final Fantasy Finest Box and as Final Fantasy IV DS OST. An arranged album entitled Final Fantasy IV Celtic Moon, containing a selection of musical tracks from the game performed in the style of Celtic music by Máire Breatnach, was released by Square and later re-released by NTT Publishing. Additionally, a collection of piano arrangements composed by Nobuo Uematsu and played by Toshiyuki Mori titled Piano Collections Final Fantasy IV was released by NTT Publishing.

The music was overall well received; reviewers have praised the quality of the original composition despite the limited medium, and reacted favorably to the arranged soundtracks. Several songs, especially "Theme of Love", remain popular today, and have been performed numerous times in orchestral concert series, as well as been published in arranged and compilation albums by Square as well as outside groups.

[edit] Final Fantasy V

The music of Final Fantasy V was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Final Fantasy V Original Sound Version, a compilation of almost all of the music in the game, was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing, and subsequently re-released by NTT Publishing after the game was brought to North America as part of the Final Fantasy Anthology. An arranged album entitled Final Fantasy V Dear Friends, containing a selection of musical tracks from the game arranged in multiple styles, including live and vocal versions, was released by Square/NTT Publishing and later re-released by NTT Publishing. Additionally, a collection of piano arrangements composed by Nobuo Uematsu, arranged by Shirou Satou and played by Toshiyuki Mori titled Piano Collections Final Fantasy V was released by Square/NTT Publishing, and re-released by NTT Publishing.

The music received mixed reviews; while some reviewers enjoyed the soundtrack and found it to be underrated, others felt it was only of middling quality. Several songs, especially "Dear Friends", remain popular today, and have been performed numerous times in orchestral concert series such as the Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concert series, named after the Final Fantasy V song, and the Orchestral Game Concert series. Music from the soundtrack has also been published in arranged and compilation albums by Square as well as outside groups.

[edit] Final Fantasy VI

The music of Final Fantasy VI was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Final Fantasy VI Original Sound Version, a compilation of all the music in the game, was released in Japan by NTT Publishing in 1994 and re-released by Square Enix in 2004. The album was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing in North America in 1994 under the name Kefka's Domain. Selected tracks from the official soundtrack were later released as part of the Music From FFV and FFVI Video Games album that was included with the release of Final Fantasy Anthology, and two EPs were produced containing character theme tracks entitled Final Fantasy VI Stars Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. A special orchestral arrangement of selected tracks from the game, arranged by Shiro Sagisu and Tsuneyoshi Saito and performed by the Milan Symphony Orchestra, was released under the title Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale by NTT Publishing in 1994 and 2004, and a collection of piano arrangements, arranged by Shirou Satou and performed by Reiko Nomura, was released under the title Piano Collections Final Fantasy VI by Square/NTT Publishing in 1994 and by NTT Publishing in 2001. Additionally, a single containing unused and remixed songs from the game was released as Final Fantasy VI Special Tracks by NTT Publishing in 1994.

The music received very positive reviews, with reviewers finding it to be one of the best video game music soundtracks ever composed. Several songs, particularly "Aria di Mezzo Carattere", remain popular today, and have been performed numerous times in orchestral concert series such as the Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concert series and the Orchestral Game Concert series. Music from the soundtrack has also been published in arranged albums and compilations by Square as well as outside groups.

[edit] Final Fantasy VII & Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

[edit] Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII: Original Sound Track is an album that contains the musical tracks from the game, performed by Nobuo Uematsu. It was first released on February 10, 1997, in Japan, by DigiCube, and was subsequently re-released on May 10, 2004 by Square Enix. A limited edition of the soundtrack was also released.

The most popular song from the game's soundtrack is "One-Winged Angel", a Latin choral track played during the battle with Safer Sephiroth. "One-Winged Angel" is the first music track in the Final Fantasy series to feature digitized voices. The music was composed by Nobuo Uematsu. The lyrics were taken from the same medieval poetry featured in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. The lyrics can be found in the songs "Estuans interius", "O Fortuna" ("Sors immanis..."), "Veni, veni, venias" and "Ave formosissima" ("Gloriosa" and "Generosa"). An orchestrated version, arranged by Shirou Hamaguchi, was performed for the Reunion Tracks album (with a sans chorus version included as a hidden track). "One-Winged Angel" was the first song in a Final Fantasy game to have spoken words instead of the "ah" sounds from previous songs like "Dancing Mad".

[edit] Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack is a soundtrack with similar songs to the original game, rearranged by Nobuo Uematsu and various other composers. The soundtrack contains three tracks from the original game's Piano Collections. It also features a host tracks from Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack, but rearranged in a rock style, notably "Let the Battles Begin!" and "Fight On!"

A former Japanese rock band Boøwy's singer Kyosuke Himuro's song "Calling", from his 1989 album Neo Fascio, was used in the ending credits. Tetsuya Nomura has noted that Himuro's music has been highly influential in his own work, and when asked about his contribution to the film, Himuro said that he was happy his work would be used in "the best CG movie ever made in Japan."

"One-Winged Angel" is also featured in this album as "Advent: One-Winged Angel". The style of the song is symphonic power metal. The song is played over the final battle scene between Cloud and Sephiroth. While the Black Mages performed the heavy metal portion of the arrangement, Koji Haijima conducted the orchestra. The song features different lyrics than those of the original from the Carmina Burana, though both versions are in Latin.

[edit] Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

Nobuo Uematsu had no part in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack. Instead, it was composed by Masashi Hamauzu, who worked with Uematsu on the Final Fantasy X soundtrack and is scheduled to compose the soundtrack for Final Fantasy XIII. The game includes two vocal songs, both performed by Gackt: “REDEMPTION”, the main theme song for the game, and “LONGING”, which is played while Vincent is battling Omega from the inside. Unlike most of the entries under Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus features no music from the original game.

[edit] Final Fantasy VIII

The music of Final Fantasy VIII was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Final Fantasy VIII Original Soundtrack, a compilation of all music in the game, was released on four Compact Discs by DigiCube in Japan, and by Square EA in North America. A special orchestral arrangement of selected tracks from the game—arranged by Shiro Hamaguchi—was released under the title Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Final Fantasy VIII, and a collection of piano arrangements—performed by Shinko Ogata—was released under the title Piano Collections Final Fantasy VIII.

The game's soundtrack is best known for two songs: "Liberi Fatali," a Latin choral piece that is played during the introduction to the game, and "Eyes on Me," a pop song serving as the game's theme, performed by Chinese singer Faye Wong. Reviewers were generally pleased with the music, although several cited issues while comparing the score to previous games or looking at individual tracks.

[edit] Final Fantasy IX

The music of Final Fantasy IX was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. It was his last exclusive Final Fantasy score. The Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack, a compilation of all music in the game, was originally released on four Compact Discs by DigiCube in 2000, and was re-released by Square Enix in 2004. A Best Of and arranged soundtrack album of musical tracks from the game entitled Final Fantasy IX: Uematsu's Best Selection was released in 2000 by Tokyopop Soundtrax. Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack PLUS, an album of music from the game's full motion videos and extra tracks, was released by DigiCube in 2000 and re-released in 2004, and a collection of piano arrangements of songs from the original soundtrack composed by Shiro Hamaguchi and performed by Louis Leerink was released as Piano Collections Final Fantasy IX in 2001.

The game's soundtrack is best known for the song "Melodies of Life", the theme song of the game, performed by Emiko Shiratori in Japanese and English. The song was released as a single by King Records in 2000. The soundtrack was based around a theme of medieval music, and was heavily inspired by previous Final Fantasy games, incorporating themes and motifs from earlier soundtracks. The music was overall well received; reviewers found the soundtrack to be both well done and enjoyable, though opinions were mixed as to the reliance on music of previous games. Several songs, especially "Melodies of Life" and "Vamo' Alla Flamenco", remain popular today, and have been performed numerous times in orchestral concert series, as well as been published in arranged and compilation albums by Square as well as outside groups.

[edit] Final Fantasy X

The music of Final Fantasy X was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu, along with Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano. It was the first Final Fantasy game in which Uematsu was not the sole composer. The Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack was released on four Compact Discs in 2001 by DigiCube, and was re-released in 2004 by Square Enix. Prior to the album's North American release, a reduced version entitled Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack was released on a single disk by Tokyopop in 2002. An EP entitled feel/Go dream: Yuna & Tidus containing additional singles not present in the game was released by DigiCube in 2001. Piano Collections Final Fantasy X, a collection of piano arrangements of the original soundtracks by Masashi Hamauzu and performed by Aki Kuroda, was released by DigiCube in 2002 and re-released by Square EA in 2004. A collection of vocal arrangements of songs from the game arranged by Katsumi Suyama along with radio drama tracks was released as Final Fantasy X Vocal Collection in 2002 by DigiCube.

The game's soundtrack is best known for the song "Suteki da ne", the theme song of the game, performed by Japanese folk singer Ritsuki Nakano, known as "RIKKI", in Japanese for both the Japanese and English versions of the game. The song was released as a single by DigiCube in 2001 and was re-released by Square Enix in 2004. The music was well received overall; reviewers praised the additions to the soundtrack by the two new composers for the series. They especially praised Hamauzu, both for his work in the original soundtrack and in arranging the songs for Piano Collections Final Fantasy X. Several songs, especially "Suteki da ne" and "Zanarkand", remain popular today, and have been performed numerous times in orchestral concert series, as well as been published in arranged and compilation albums by Square as well as outside groups.

[edit] Final Fantasy X-2

The music of Final Fantasy X-2 was composed by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi. Regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu did not contribute any of the music, despite having composed the majority of the soundtrack for the prequel, Final Fantasy X. The Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack was released on two Compact Discs in 2003 by Avex. After the release of Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission, an album entitled Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission Original Soundtrack composed of the songs added to the soundtrack for that game was released in 2003 by Avex. Final Fantasy X-2 Piano Collection, a collection of piano arrangements of the original soundtracks by Noriko Matsueda, Takahito Eguchi, Hiroko Kokubu, Masahiro Sayama, and Febian Reza Pane, was released by Avex in 2004.

A single by Kumi Koda entitled real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba, based on the theme song for the game and the ending credits song, was published by Rhythm Zone prior to the game's release in 2003. Another single, titled Eternity ~Memories of Waves and Light~ Music from Final Fantasy X-2, was released by Avex in 2003 along with the original soundtrack. It consisted of live arrangements of several of the game's songs, composed and arranged by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi. A set of three singles entitled Final Fantasy X-2 Vocal Collection- Paine, Rikku, and Yuna was published by Avex in 2003, with each single including vocal arrangements of songs from the game, sung by the respective character's voice actress.

The soundtrack received mixed reviews from critics; while several felt that the music was good and keeping in tone with the game, others found it to be odd and shallow. Several reviewers attributed the change to the lack of participation by Uematsu. Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission Original Soundtrack and Final Fantasy X-2 Piano Collection, on the other hand, were very well received by critics, who felt that they were far superior to the original soundtrack. The singles for the soundtrack were poorly received by critics, who found a few of the songs to be enjoyable but all of the singles to be overpriced.

[edit] Final Fantasy XI

Like the game itself, Final Fantasy XI's score is quite different from that of its predecessors. One major difference is the way that the music is presented: Because of the game's massively-multiplayer nature, most of the music in it is either for specific areas or battles, and only a few compositions were made for certain events or characters (usually only heard during cutscenes). Final Fantasy XI was scored by Nobuo Uematsu, Naoshi Mizuta, and Kumi Tanioka. With the majority of the music in the game's music being composed by Mizuta alone, this makes Final Fantasy XI the first main-series Final Fantasy game with which Nobuo Uematsu was not heavily involved. Most of the music that Uematsu composed for the game is used in cutscenes, which includes the opening CG cutscene; he also composed the chocobo and airship music, as well as one area-specific composition for East and West Ronfaure. As stated earlier, Mizuta composed the majority of the music for Final Fantasy XI, this includeds most of the area-specific music and all of the battle music. Tanioka compositions for Final Fantasy XI includes the themes for the different character races and genders of the game as well as the music for the Republic of Bastok and its surrounding areas (Gustaberg and the Metalworks).

The expansion packs, Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia, and Treasures of Aht Urhgan, were scored by Mizuta alone after Tanioka left to pursue other projects and Uematsu left Square-Enix to start his career as a freelance composer. "Jeuno -Starlight Celebration-", a holiday arrangement composed by Mizuta, was released on December 2004. "Distant Worlds", a vocal arrangement performed by Izumi Masuda, composed by Uematsu, and arranged by Mizuta, was later released in a July 2005 patch for Chains of Promathia.

[edit] Final Fantasy XII

The music of Final Fantasy XII was composed primarily by Hitoshi Sakimoto. Additional music was provided by Masaharu Iwata and Hayato Matsuo, who also orchestrated the opening and ending themes. Former regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu's only work for this game was "Kiss Me Good-Bye", the theme song sung by Angela Aki. The Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack was released on four Compact Discs in 2006 by Aniplex. A sampling of tracks from the soundtrack was released as an album entitled Selections from Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack, and was released in 2006 by Tofu Records. Additionally, a promotional digital album titled The Best of Final Fantasy XII was released on the Japanese localization of iTunes for download only in 2006. "Kiss Me Good-Bye" was released by Epic Records as a single in 2006, and Symphonic Poem "Hope", a "mini-symphony" of songs inspired by Final Fantasy XII, was released by Tofu Records in 2006. A version of the song group was included in the official soundtrack album.

The soundtrack received mixed reviews from critics; while several felt that it was a good soundtrack but lacking in substance, others disagreed, finding it to be an excellent album, though not without a few faults. Common complaints about the album were the large number of "filler" tracks, which seemed to be uninspired and hurt the soundtrack as a whole. However, several reviewers commented on the town and battle themes, finding them to be some of the soundtrack's strongest areas. The singles for the soundtrack were very well received by critics, who found them to be very enjoyable but short in duration.

[edit] Final Fantasy XIII

Still in production, this title's soundtrack is being composed by Masashi Hamauzu, though its main theme song will be composed by Nobuo Uematsu.[1]. Final Fantasy Versus XIII will feature music by Yoko Shimomura, who composed the music for Kingdom Hearts and its sequels and also worked with Uematsu and Koji Kondo in making the score for Super Mario RPG.

[edit] Final Fantasy Tactics and the world of Ivalice

Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata shared compositional duties for 1997's Final Fantasy Tactics. Director Yasumi Matsuno had previously recruited the two on his earlier tactics RPG projects, the Ogre Battle series.

Sakimoto returned to compose the series' Gameboy Advance outing, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, with a main theme being contributed by Nobuo Uematsu and additional battle tracks by Kaori Ohkoshi and Ayako Saso.

The soundtrack to 2007's Final Fantasy Tactics A2 was again handled by Sakimoto. It features original compositions and arrangements of FFTA and Final Fantasy XII tracks such as Penelo's Theme, Boss Battle, and The Salikawood done by members of Sakimoto's Basiscape crew including Masaharu Iwata, Kimihiro Abe and Mitsuhiro Kaneda, as well as an arrangement of Uematsu's main theme for the first FFTA.

[edit] Final Fantasy Unlimited

Final Fantasy Unlimited's music was composed by Nobuo Uematsu and Shirou Hamaguchi.

[edit] Arranged Albums

Starting with Final Fantasy VI: Grand Finale albums were released that contained orchestrations of a selection of tracks from the Original Sound Track. This practice was discontinued after Final Fantasy VIII, however Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack Plus contained a large number of orchestrated tracks. The Final Fantasy soundtracks have also joined the catalogue of the iTunes Music Store.

[edit] Public performances

From 2003 through 2005 Nobuo Uematsu put together several concerts titled Music from FINAL FANTASY both in Japan and US where he performed with an Orchestra ensemble and his own band: The Black Mages. [2]. This popular concert series has now been rebranded as PLAY! A Video Game Symphony. Uematsu composed the fanfare that opens every PLAY! performance around the globe. In Australia, Eminence Symphony Orchestra has also performed tracks from the Final Fantasy series.

Music from Final Fantasy was first performed outside of Japan as a part of the Symphonic Game Music Concert series in Germany. Final Fantasy music has also been performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. On November 17, 2003, Square Enix U.S.A. launched an AOL Radio station dedicated to music from the Final Fantasy series, initially carrying complete tracks from Final Fantasy XI in addition to samplings from Final Fantasy VII through Final Fantasy X.[citation needed]

In the 2004 Summer Olympics, the American synchronized swimming duo consisting of Alison Bartosik and Anna Kozlova were awarded the bronze medal for their performance to the song 'Liberi Fatali' from Final Fantasy VIII.

Several bands internationally perform and have released cover versions of Final Fantasy music, including nR Element, a eurodance techno-opera band, which released a dance vocal version of "The Promised Land" from Final Fantasy II and a trance remix of "Prelude."

[edit] Sheet Music Collections

Arranged for the piano and published by Japanese company DOREMI Music Publishing[3], music from the original soundtracks of every serial Final Fantasy game (with the single exception of Final Fantasy V) is available for purchase through the official SquareSound website. [4]. All songs in each book have been rewritten by Asako Niwa as beginning to intermediate level piano solos, though they are meant to sound as much like the originals as possible. The music from Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is available as well.

Additionally, the actual piano sheet music from each of the nine Final Fantasy Piano Collections albums has recently been published as nine corresponding music books by Yamaha Music Media [5]. Each book contains the original music, exactly as arranged and performed on the albums. Unlike the Original Score arrangements, these pieces are intended only for advanced players as they are generally much more difficult. Currently, the only separately available books are for games IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, and X-2, and are only available in Japan. The sheet music for Final Fantasy XI Piano Collections is thus far only available as part of the "Final Fantasy XI OST Premium Box Set" which is available for direct purchase from the online store of Square-Enix.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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