Revo Performs ‘Guren no Yumiya’ From ‘Attack on Titan’ & Is Joined by Guests on Day 2 of Orchestra Concert Series

On June 29 and 30, Revo put on a series of concerts, “Revo’s Orchestra Concerts,” at Hitomi Memorial Hall, in Tokyo’s Showa Women’s University. Revo leads two groups of artists: Sound Horizon, which tells original stories through the use of musical suites and is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its debut this year, and Linked Horizon, which he created for collaborations and tie-ups with other works, such as the Attack on Titan anime. In this concert series, Revo performed pieces from both groups along with a full orchestra. There were four shows over a two day period—two during the day and two at night. In this article, we’ll be looking at the June 30 performances.

The “Revo’s Orchestra Concert” series presented not only works by Sound Horizon, but also Linked Horizon’s “Guren no Yumiya” and “Akatsuki no Requiem,” from the TV anime Attack on Titan, “Onward Into the Light: An Overture,” used in Square Enix’s fantasy RPG BRAVELY DEFAULT, “MOON PRIDE,” a Momoiro Clover Z song for which Revo wrote the lyrics and wrote and arranged the music, and more. It was almost like a retrospective of the best pieces Revo had created over his long career. Conductor Hirofumi Kurita led the 70 members of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in a powerful performance that conveyed Revo’s sweeping worldview.

In the first part of the show, all the pieces were performed entirely by the orchestra, except when Revo took the stage to speak. Toward the middle was a discussion between Revo and a music critic. For the daytime performance, he spoke with Akihiro Tomita, and at night he spoke with Akimasa Munekata. In part 2, guest singers performed “Guren no Yumiya,” which Revo himself sang in 2013 on NHK’s 64th Kohaku Uta Gassen. The guest singer for the daytime show was SAK., while for the nighttime show it was voice actor Yui Ishikawa. The show came to a close with Revo inviting guest performers and guest speakers to join in a performance of “Sunawachi…Hikari wo mo Nigasanu Ankoku no Chou-juu-ryoku” and “Eikou no Idou Oukoku – The Glory Kingdom.”

Revo makes use of his classical music background in both his Sound Horizon and Linked Horizon pieces, but with this concert series performed entirely by an orchestra, these sensibilities have finally come into full bloom, elevating expectations for Revo’s future as a musician. The great cheers of “Bravo!” from the audience of fans were a testament to this.

—This article by Akimasa Munekata first appeared on Billboard Japan