''Märchen'' is the seventh story CD, released by the fantasy

symphonic rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the ...

band

Sound Horizon Sound Horizon is a Japanese symphonic rock musical group with composer () as the leader and only permanent member. They describe themselves as a "fantasy band" and have released works that closely resemble classical suites. Their songs often ...

on December 15, 2010, through King Records. The normal edition debuted No. 3 and peaked No. 2 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

weekly albums chart. A limited edition sold over 40,000 copies in its first two days, 24,816 copies on the first day and 15,833 copies on the next.

Plot

Once upon a time, there was a woman named Therese von Ludowig who lived far from society in

Thüringen Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany's 16 states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

with her sickly son, März von Ludowig. However, März, being too naive to be wary of strangers, leads two men in plague masks to their home in the forest, who then condemn Therese as a witch and attribute the spread of the

Black Plague The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

to her. Although Therese attempts to fight them off, she is captured whilst März is tossed into the well outside their home, and she curses the world in her final breath before her execution. An unspecified amount of time later, with his once white hair stained black - "the color of dusk" - and having no memory of who he was, the reborn März, now "Märchen von Friedhof", emerges from the well after being awakened by a living doll named Elise. Elise compels Märchen to aid seven "princesses" in taking revenge throughout seven tales as a means of achieving her and Märchen's own revenge against the world. Each tale revolves around a deadly sin.

The Song of Dusk

Märchen having awakened at the bottom of the well knows not who he is nor why he exists, merely that he has been wronged gravely and must seek revenge. Though he has vague memories of being loved once, and loving in return, he is met with insistence that it is merely his imagination at work and that there are more pressing matters at hand. With no clear target, he follows the insistence of his companion Elise, and seeks out the seven Corpse Princesses through whom the two will achieve revenge against the world.

The Witch at the Stake

The tale of gluttony begins with a mother and child living together in poverty. The husband, a money loaner unable to provide for his family, has abandoned them, while the mother and child are accused of being witches and shunned by society. Even if abused, the child is happy to live with her mother and the animals in the forest - her only friends. But when even her mother abandons her, the child was taken in by a monastery where she became a nun. The monastery was destroyed soon after she took her vows, and so she decided to return home to find the answer behind her mother's actions. Finding the deranged old woman her mother became, the nun offers her a piece of bread, that the old woman greedily devoured. The nun then asks her mother if she recognizes her, but the old woman, having gone mad due to hunger and fear of persecution, lashes out and crucifies her daughter's body on an inverted cross. Finding his first "princess", Märchen decides to use two children to deliver an ironic punishment to the nun's mother. Hansel and Gretel are the young children of a poor woodcutter who find themselves lost in the woods and stumble upon the old woman's house. Having inherited her money-loaner husband's fortune, the old woman welcomes the children and feeds them out of regret for not having done so with her own daughter. Seeing Hansel gaining weight, Gretel deludes herself into thinking their hostess is a wicked witch who waylays children to cook and eat them. This results in the children shoving the woman into her oven, leaving her to die in the flames. The two leave to brag of their good deed to their friend Tom, as the three children take the old woman's house as their own. The story comes to a close with Märchen asking Elise if any old woman in a forest can be declared a witch, to which the doll expresses her disdain for cruel and dishonest children.

The Dark Landlady's Inn

A tale of greed that begins with a somewhat dim country girl born in a poor farming village before it was invaded by General Gefenbauer. Like the other children in her village who were sold away, she came to work for the aged and enigmatic landlady of the Black Fox Inn known for its famous liver dish. Unbeknowsnt to the girl is that the landlady harvested her livers from human corpses rather than buy them from a butcher to maintain her expensive lifestyle. When supplies run low the landlady goes as far to eventually hang the servant girl in order to use her liver as the number of available corpses dwindle. Lamenting that the country girl served as an unwitting accomplice, Märchen reanimates her so she can take revenge by taking the greedy landlady's liver as compensation. The story comes to a close with Märchen and Elise discussing the flaws of the landlady's get-rich quick scheme.

The Princess Sleeping in the Glass Coffin

A tale of envy that begins with the birth of a baby girl whose white skin, red lips, and black hair earned her the name of Snow White from her dying mother. Snow White's father, the king, eventually took for his new wife a cold-hearted and vain woman who possesses a magical mirror that attests she is the most beautiful in the land. But when Snow White reaches an age where her beauty overshadows that of her stepmother's, the jealous Queen has a huntsman take Snow White deep into the forest to kill her. As Snow White pleads for her life, the huntsman cannot bring himself to commit the deed and, taking the innards of a young boar to put the Queen's mind at rest, lets Snow White flee deep into the forest where she falls under the care of seven Dwarves. But the Queen having learned of the hunter's ruse, disguises herself as an old woman and convinces Snow White to eat a poisoned apple. While it is meant to kill her, Snow White merely falls into a deep slumber as she never swallows the bite of the apple, and it remains lodged in her throat. Coming across the glass coffin Snow White was laid to rest in by chance, noting she is not dead, Märchen bids the sleeping Snow White to wait for her fated love and the chance to take revenge. Time passes, and Prince Charming travels through the land before seeing Snow White in her glass coffin. Falling in love at first sight, the prince decides to take the coffin with him and orders the dwarves to carry it. But when the coffin is dropped due to careless handling, Snow White immediately wakes up as the piece of poisoned apple is dislodged from her throat. As she and Charming set up their wedding, Snow White decrees that her stepmother be punished by dancing until she drops dead in a pair of red-hot iron shoes. The story ends with Elise asking Märchen who is the fairest of them all, to which he responds that it is none other than Elise.

The Old and Unused Well of the Boundary That Separates Life and Death

A tale of sloth begins with a girl who is forced to do all the housework work by her stepmother and lazy stepsister after her father passes. One day, after being ordered to spindle wool by a well, the stepdaughter pricks her finger and attempts to wash her wound in the well, only to drop the spindle into it by accident. After running home in tears, her stepmother and sister chastise her and demand she get the spindle back, so the girl, fearing retribution from her stepmother, dives into the well after it. Detecting the stepdaughter's hesitation at taking revenge, Märchen offers her more time to mull over her choices as she wanders into the world of Mother Hulda, who offers the girl happiness and a way home as long as she works hard on her behalf. Eventually, Mother Hulda honors her promise and awards the girl's hard work and kindness by covering her in gold. When the girl returns to her own world, the mother sends her lazy daughter down the well to work for Mother Hulda so that she may be showered in gold as well. But the lazy daughter refuses to help in the chores her stepsister did and justly is punished by being forever covered with pitch, the dirt never coming off no matter how hard she may try to remove it, her and her mothers cries being accompanied by the chittering of plague rats. The story ends with Märchen describing it as the cutest revenge he's orchestrated thus far, Elise amusingly calls it a fate worse than death.

The Princess Sleeping in the Tower of Roses

A tale of pride begins with the birth of an infant girl, whose birth is commemorated with a grand ceremony to which many a fairy receives an invite. As the young princess receives numerous blessings from the attendants, one uninvited fairy, Alterose, arrives and curses the infant princess to die the moment she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel come the day of her 15th birthday. Luckily, the last of the fairy godmothers uses her magic to alter the curse into one of a deep sleep until awakened by a prince's kiss. Despite the king's attempt to thwart the spiteful fairy's curse, it comes to fruition years later when the naturally curious princess is drawn to a room where an old woman is working with her spinning wheel. Having listened to the princess's story, Märchen assures her that her prince will come. Years later, having heard the tale of the Wild Rose Princess, a prince comes across a tower covered in roses and reaches the chamber where the Princess lies asleep on her bed. Upon being revived by the prince's kiss, the princess orders for Alterose's banishment from the kingdom. Refusing to let the Princess have the last laugh, Alterose casts a final curse upon her, that she may abandon her future children in the wilderness. The story ends on Märchen and Elise commenting that injuring a woman's pride is a dangerous thing to do.

The Blue Marquis' Castle

A tale of lust that begins with a girl who had fallen in love with and married a Marquis by the name of

Bluebeard "Bluebeard" ( ) is a French Folklore, folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in . The tale is about a wealthy man in the habit of murdering his wives an ...

, however, it was clear her affections were not returned in kind. While questioning whether or not he was having an affair, she too began to see other men in an attempt to soothe her loneliness. Upon discovering his wife's unfaithful behaviour, Bluebeard murders her in a rage, and begins a cycle of taking new wives only to murder them when they discover his previous crimes. Upon hearing the original wife's recolletion of events, Märchen insists on repaying violence with violence. Guided on the path of vengeance, the voice of the original wife beckons to Bluebeard's current one, claiming that there lay treasure in the room Bluebeard forbade her from entering. Though she promised her husband she wouldn't, the girl enters the supposed "treasure room" only to find the murdered corpses of the Marquis's previous wives. Knowing of his wife's betrayal Bluebeard makes clear his intention of killing her as well, to which the girl begs that he allow her to pray one last time. As Bluebeard awaits outside her room for her to finish, the girl cries and screams for help until his patience runs thin. Just as he is about to strike, the girl's brothers arrive to rescue her, killing the Marquis and avenging his wives in the process. The story ends with Märchen pondering if revenge might be its own form of love whilst Elise expresses disgust at humans inability to live without love or lust.

The Crucified Saint

Märchen happens upon a church and senses a

restless spirit In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...

in the statue of Saint Solicitous, asking her to tell him her tale. Solicitous explains she was once a noblewoman named Elizabeth whose devotion to the boy she once loved was strong to the point of vowing before God that she would never marry another. Her brother however, attempted to arrange a political marriage for her regardless. Upon her refusal he instead decides to have her crucified for her insolence. Though Märchen sought to give Elizabeth a wrathful conclusion to her tale, she expresses having no intention for revenge and is only glad to see Märchen again as she reveals herself to be the childhood friend of his true self: März. Elizabeth's soul passes away peacefully, having fulfilled her wish to meet him once more and finding satisfaction in having lived and died herself and staying true to her love. The story ends with Märchen shaken into silence, as Elise screams and begs that he ignore Elizabeth's words and continue their quest for vengeance for all eternity. Märchen finally speaks only to tell Elise that it's time they stop.

The Song of Twilight

With Märchen's lost memory restored, it causes his mother's enchantment to be undone as Elise, a doll he once cherished as a boy, becomes inanimate once more. As Märchen carries her lifeless body away the two return to his mother's hut. Märchen realizes that his life will also fade and he will cease to be as dawn rises on the beginning of an enlightened age. Many years later, a group of children would come to the ruined remains of the hut and find the only proof that Marchen lived: A book titled ''Fairy Tales of Light and Darkness''.

Track listing

All tracks composed and arranged and lyrics written by Revo.

Personnel

Musician

Source:3 http://www.soundhorizon.com/information/index.html#101029 * Revo -

Composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

Lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

Arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

* Nishiyama Takeshi -

Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Steel Guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

(#1,5,8) * Yuki -

Classical Guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string (music), string instrument with strings made of catgut, gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the ...

(#1,3,4,8) * Saitō "Jake" Shingo -

(#2,6) *

Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...

(#7) * Hasegawa Atsushi -

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Igarashi Kōji -

Piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

Organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, Cembalo (#1,3,4,7,8) * Kawai Eiji -

, Cembalo,

Electronic Piano An electronic piano is a keyboard instrument designed to simulate the timbre of a piano (and sometimes a harpsichord or an organ) using analog circuitry. "Electronic Piano" was also the trade name used for Wurlitzer's popular line of electric p ...

(#2,6) * Matsumoto Keiji -

(#5,9) * Junji -

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

(#1,8) * Ken☆Ken -

(#2,6) * Abe Tōru -

(#3,4) * Abe Kaoru -

(#5,9)

Vocal, Voice

* REVO: Märchen von Friedhof * Miku Hatsune (

Saki Fujita , known professionally as , is a Japanese voice actress. She is best known for voicing Akagi in ''Kantai Collection'', Ayano Sugiura in '' YuruYuri'', Yukari Kotozume/Cure Macaron in '' Kirakira PreCure a la Mode'', Torako Koshi in '' My Deer Fr ...

): Elize * Ayano Kanami: The Nun * MIKI: Therese/The Old Woman/The Queen/The Stepmother/Alte-Rose * Kiriyama Kazuki: Hansel * Kobayashi Sayumi: Gretel * REMI: The Country Girl * Jimang: The Landlady/The Magic Mirror/The Huntsman *

Tomoyo Kurosawa is a Japanese actress and singer. Her major voice acting roles include '' Yuki Yuna is a Hero'' as Itsuki Inubozaki, ''Arknights'' as Amiya, '' Sound! Euphonium'' as Kumiko Ōmae, Otome Arisugawa in ''Aikatsu!'', Rebecca in '' Cyberpunk: Edgerunn ...

: Snow White * Yume Suzuki: The Prince *

Ceui Ceui (, born January 31) is a Japanese singer–songwriter originally from Chiba, Japan, though she grew up in Fukuoka. Ceui's name is derived from the Portuguese word for sky, céu. She has been singing since 2000, but made her major debut in 2 ...

: The Stepdaughter * Azumi Inoue: Mother Hulda/Aprikose * Chinatsu Ishii: The Stepsister *

Mikuni Shimokawa is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter. She is best known for her songs used for anime theme music, particularly the opening and ending themes of the Full Metal Panic! series. In addition to her vocal talents, Shimokawa can also play the pian ...

: Rose Princess *

Minami Kuribayashi is a Japanese singer, songwriter, lyricist and former voice actress from Shizuoka Prefecture. From 2016 to 2019, she performed under the stage name Minami. Her involvement in the game and anime ''Kimi ga Nozomu Eien'', where she voiced the rol ...

: The First Wife *

Akio Otsuka is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator from the Tokyo Metropolitan area. He is attached to Mausu Promotion. The astringent and calm quality of his deep voice has landed him many roles in films, dubbing, animation, and video games. He i ...

: Bluebeard * Joelle: Elisabeth

Voice

* Idolfried Ehrenberg *

Nobuo Tobita is a Japanese voice actor and narrator from Ibaraki Prefecture. He is represented by Arts Vision. He is most known for the roles of Kamille Bidan ('' Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam''), Albert Heinrich/004 ('' Cyborg 009'' (2001)), and Sueo Maruo ('' Ch ...

Miyuki Sawashiro is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. She has played voice roles in a number of Japanese anime/games including ''Beelzebub'', Bishamon in '' Noragami'', Petit Charat/Puchiko in '' Di Gi Charat'', Mint in '' Galaxy Angel'', Sinon in ...

* Asuka Tanii *

Tōru Ōkawa is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. While he went to a College of Art, Nihon University, he started his career as a stage actor, but after he moved to Mausu Promotion, his current agency, he came to focus on voice acting. Filmograph ...

* Yuichi Nakamura *

* Sascha

Illustration

* Yokoyan

Trivia

The story of the album features

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

stories, exploring the darker aspects of it. Well-known fairytales such as Hänsel and Gretel,

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

Mother Hulda "Frau Holle" (; ; also known as "Mother Holle", "Mother Hulda" or "Old Mother Frost") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in '' Children's and Household Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle ...

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

and

etc. can be found in the album. "Märchen" is German for fairytales. The number "7" has been presented several times in the album. 7 Tragic Stories, 7 deadly sins, 7 victims, 28 bonus tracks of 7 seconds each making the album total duration of 77 minutes as well as the album designed to fold out creating "七" (

Kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

for 7). Excluding the bonus tracks, when written in Japanese the tracks lengths are symmetrical, giving the track listing the appearance of a church. The lyric booklet is made to feel like an old book or a bible. All the songs with tragic stories contain the identical verse, but arranged in different style representing the similarities of the stories, for instance the common theme of revenge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchen 2010 albums Sound Horizon albums King Records (Japan) albums Music based on fairy tales