#vincent ppb

I don't want all of the classical selections to be "oops, all piano" even if that's Vincent's instrument of choice, so I'm also sprinkling in some other stuff. This one is Ernst's The Last Rose of Summer "Étude No. 6" as performed by Midori on violin, the same instrument as Vincent's father. I'm no expert, but the bow work sounds insane in this. I also like to think Vincent is a character that has a fondness for roses, since he tends to wear a purple rose boutonierre on his jacket.

I know someone that's a big fan of the v-kei group Versailles, so I slipped a little of their music in, since I think it's symphonic metal-adjacent. First up from them is Sympathia. I think it fits well with the fact that Vincent has some complicated relationships to deal with in his life (especially with how he views his deceased parents). That theme somewhat continues with La Maritza by Therion, with the singer reminiscing about her father.

I'm not really sure if Vincent's really into Impressionism when it comes to classical music, but I like to think he has some fondness for more emotionally-driven pieces, to contrast Ashino's soulless approach to art if nothing else. So, we're going to have some Debussy. 12 Études, L. 136: 2. Pour les Tierces (I'm so sorry for these titles; I sure don't pick for classical music to be organized this way) as performed by Mitsuko Uchida caught my attention. Apparently, Debussy said in his time that his études are "a warning to pianists not to take up the musical profession unless they have remarkable hands", so yeah. This piece and the set it's from are supposed to be major skill checks and I respect that.

Dark Venus Persephone is something I chose to somewhat reference the Glory version of Vincent's mother, Lily (I specify the Glory version, since there will also be references to the Bureau version that's pulling the strings on the whole AI project). Basically, she's a beautiful and tragic figure that was gone before her time, fitting with this sort of song. METAL KINGDOM is next to amp up the energy a bit more, along with giving us some power of friendship vibes, since Vincent could really use that kind of positivity. I, Don Quixote as covered by Chrisopher Lee (yes, the actor that played Saruman in LotR, among other iconic roles; he was also a metal enthusiast and occasional opera singer) is next because no one can tell me that Vincent wouldn't have had some admiration for Sir Christopher Lee as a fascinating gentleman.

A Villain's Monologue and The Rapture (but it's Pink) are songs that I think could fit for either the true Lily in the Bureau or Ashton, since both of them have plans for Vincent and aren't interested in giving him any say in the matters (and some bits of each song kind of fit each character more). Hell, Ashino can count in this chaos, too, since he thinks Vincent's rigged to be chosen by us and plans to circumvent that himself (albeit without killing Vincent, which is a bit of a step up from Ashton's attitude).

This next one is very basic of me, but come on. Mozart's Requiem in D Minor, K. 626: Sequence: VI. Lacrimosa dies illa is such an iconic piece. If someone asks me what a requiem mass sounds like, I'd point to this. Death is Not the End comes next because death is practically a slap on the wrist for the AI characters in this story (as well as the player's avatar within the game, for that matter, since getting killed boots us back to the date selection screen with no lost progress). There also seems to be some reanimation stuff in there, so we could link that to Lily and the Bureau's plans.

Ghost is probably the weirdest song in this playlist, from a genre perspective, but it still feels on theme with the possibly supernatural aspect (especially if you take the music video into account, but this isn't about music videos) and the pessimistic doubt to it. Let's face it: Vincent's not exactly in the best situation in REBOOT, the game where we can finally get to know him. He's reluctant to reach out to his friends for help and his attempts to ask what's wrong with John and Kadsey lately have been brushed off in turn.

Next up is Chopin's 12 Études, Op. 25: No. 12 in C Minor as performed by Murray Parahia and I had decided to play a bit of a game in choosing that pianist. Usually, I look up a recommended artist for the solo pieces and pick something. For this one, I chose the piece and listened to several interpretations, picking out the one that spoke to me. This piece tends to also be called the Ocean étude and I assume it's from all of the arpeggios evoking rolling waves. Something about this specific interpretation sounds like an outpouring of grief to me, though I'm not sure if that was the intention from either Chopin's composition or Parahia's playing. Whatever the case is, this is the only version that nearly made me cry, so I knew this was the one. This was a fun little experiment and I'd recommend trying it, since interpretation in performance is very important to classical pieces. Also, this one ended up making me feel slightly more confident in my tastes, since I decided to look up info on Parahia and apparently his interpretations are extremely well-regarded in general.

Our Truth by Lacuna Coil us a song that gives me the vibe of "I reject your reality and I replace it with my own.", though I think we can hope for something more positive than what characters that have tried to change things have done so far.

Next is Beethoven's Sonata No. 14 "Moonlight" on C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2: I. Adagio sostenuto as performed by Paul Lewis. Moonlight Sonata is the other piece that Vincent plays in his route, but that one is if you reject his date. Of course, trying to reject him only ends up bringing us closer to him by some strange events and we get some delicious lore on top of that.

The Rabbit of the Moon by Moonlight Haze is next and I'll admit I chose that for Vincent's fondness for rabbits. It's about the Chinese fairytale of the jade rabbit, which I admit I only originally knew about since someone gave me a book about the Chinese zodiac that included that story. Not going to tell the whole thing here, but basically the rabbit is rewarded for the kindness of their attempted self-sacrifice to help a stranger.

This next one's actually pretty scandalous and would probably embarrass Vincent to no end: Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Yes, I know the title of the version I put on the playlist is in French, but I thought putting the translation would be convenient here. This feels like it could be a decent nod to the yandere end, since I haven't even really mentioned the REBOOT yandere ends in any playlists. They all play out pretty similarly (something I have speculations about), so I thought I'd just slip in something extra spicy for that. I imagine some of you may be confused by me saying that about this song, since it mostly sounds dreamlike, sweeping, and a bit romantic, but you'll know what I mean if you know either the poem it's based on or the ballet made later on to accompany the song (especially the ballet, honestly; that ending is bold, is how I choose to put it, and I'm not at all surprised that reactions to it had been mixed, since that was the same sort of audience that literally rioted at the premiere of Rites of Spring). This piece is something called a symphonic poem, which basically means it was made to evoke the feeling from some other piece of art- stuff like poems or paintings.

The other Versailles song I slipped into this is DRY ICE SCREAM!! [Remove Silence] and I like the energy in this one. This one comes off to me as a bit of a tragic love song and it's hard not to see everyone stuck in Glory as a bit tragic with what they're all going through, even if Vincent and John are less aware of the details.

The final song is Shared Hearts by Snow White Blood and Lilly Seth. It's a fairytale-themed song about an inseparable bond between sisters, but I chose it because of Vincent's found family: his friends and the player. Considering that in his true end, even if that's not the truest ending of the game, he finally reaches out for help and has renewed direction in his life, I really wanted something to reflect the bonds that support him. I hope that his ending stays happy.