Each theme reappears numerous times on the soundtrack in a various number of ways, some more effective than others. To say that there are only two recurring musical ideas in the soundtrack would be a mistake, but two themes stand above the rest in terms of their importance: “The Place I’ll Return to Someday” and “Melodies of Life”. One of the greatest strengths of the Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack lies in the two major recurring themes. Ultimately the soundtrack stands out as one of Uematsu’s finest, and a great musical accomplishment when compared to the entire music landscape. Rather, the Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack features some of Uematsu’s most colourful and characterized pieces, simultaneously maintaining more motivic unity than any work he created before or after it. Despite often being pointed out as Uematsu’s final hour, the work is not indicative of a composer on the decline. After all, it was the last game in the series that he composed entirely on his own, no small feat considering the soundtrack contains over one hundred songs and spans almost five hours. Many critics of composer Nobuo Uematsu point to his work on the Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack as the fading edge of his career’s peak. DigiCube (1st Edition) Square Enix (2nd Edition)