“At Zanarkand” is one of my favorite musical pieces from a video game – it has been since I heard it for the first time upon starting up Final Fantasy X, in fact. The piano version (both from the game and the arrangement from the piano collections CD) is beautiful, but recently I found a version performed by orchestra on YouTube – and it is absolutely stunning. In a number of places the strings add a gorgeous, bittersweet note to the piece that sends chills down my spine.

This orchestra also did a number of other pieces from Final Fantasy that are quite good, but this one is by far my favorite. If you’re interested in the others, just search for “Tour de Japon” on YouTube.

Anyways, if you’re at all interested, have a listen: