Composer John Paul Hayward has such great memories of playing Square Enix's classic Chrono Cross that he created an orchestral tribute to Yasunori Mitsuda's soundtrack, imagining what it would sound like if John Williams had arranged it. John's album, Cross Symphonic, was released in November 2019, on the exact date Cross was released in 1999. John told me it was an incredibly ambitious project.
Chrono Cross has a complicated story, involving visits by the main characters to parallel universes and timelines, where the outcomes are different. John chose among Mitsuda's many themes and used them as departures for his own arrangements to tell the story of Cross as if it were a symphony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btJywAJkZ4c">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btJywAJkZ4c
Cross Symphonic is available on Bandcamp, and other digital outlets, and John is also planning a vinyl release.
Episode tracklist
All tracks by John Paul Hayward, adapted from Chrono Cross themes by Yasunori Mitsuda
Perfomed by CMG Music Recording and The Game Brass
Cross Symphonic: Torn Between Worlds; The Hermit and the Dragon; Battle for the Frozen Flame; The Antidote; The Orphan Dreamer; Betrayal; Duel with the Dragon God; Scars of Time
Follow John on Twitter
Follow Kate on Twitter
Subscribe to Music Respawn in Apple Podcasts and Spotify!
Thanks to Dick Roberts for production assistance
