Need help with this left hand octave section; and how does one play "ominously"?

[bustthewave]

Hey guys, so I started learning this song about 4 days ago or so. It's, to me, a really dynamic and interesting piece, and i do think there is a measure of brilliance in it (on both the part of the original composer, and the piano arranger).

Title: Dancing Mad
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu
Arranger: Michael Huang

He did this arrangement about 10 years ago I think, and it's been freely available on his website, www.fantasyreborn.com ever since.

The original song is from a game called Final Fantasy Six, which dates back to the mid 1990s, when game composers were forced to use poor synths in place of actual instruments. Despite this however, Final Fantasy Six has one of the most beautiful and dynamic soundtracks in video game history which equalled in complexity the game's themes, characters, and philosophical ideas.

I say this simply so people don't discount the validity of this particular piece because of it's origins (not that the community here does that, because you guys don't... I just wanted to garner some appreciation for it ).

So I'll start with what I'm struggling with right now.

The octave work I'm talking about begins on measure 30.

This is the first time in this song where the challenge seemed more than just a "practice makes perfect" issue. I can say my technique is most likely the issue here, as my hand and wrist become strained after just one measure. I don't struggle with octaves when they hit at the same time, but this staggered octave work is completely new to me, and the speed seems mildly insane (which I guess goes well with the song's title).

The second part is a question of interpretation. I would use the original source, or a quality pianist's take on the piece typically if I wanted to figure out possible interpretations, but the only decent "recording," is clearly a digital synth, and I feel like it's not giving a clear representation of the arranger's intent with this.

Here's the sheet for it -

Here's the arranger's original music upload of this piece -

The octave work is right at one minute in. The "ominous" part, is at the very beginning.

Here's the original song in all of it's synth glory -

As I practice this, I'm thinking heavy sustain, slow, rising dynamics to the point of pounding the keys. Though maybe I'm misinterpreting the idea of "ominous." The song is the "last boss'" theme, which if this were an opera or a movie, it would be I guess equivalent to the climactic piece. It's 4 movements each showing variations on the villain's themes throughout the game.

I'm wondering though if using a drastic rise in dynamics with heavy sustain would be appropriate given the contrapuntal nature of the song; since isn't contrapuntal music typically played with little to no sustain, and fairly even dynamics? Maybe I should just record something and post the video for feedback .

Thanks in advance .