Cruise Elroy

[Part one | Part two | Part three | Part four]

This post continues analyzing the songs in Ocarina of Time and theorizing about Koji Kondo’s intentions with them.

Before reading, I encourage you to check out the comments on my last post. Hopefully the discussion between Ben Abraham and I can clarify what I was saying, as well as point out where I might have gone wrong. I’m grateful to have the perspective of another music student on this, and I’d like to thank Ben for engaging with me.

Now, on to business! We have three more songs to look at from the “child Link” portion of the game. Here’s the solo ocarina version of “Zelda’s Lullaby”:

And here’s a harmonized version, transcribed from the Hyrule Castle Courtyard background music:

The harmony is, in my opinion, very well done — there’s a great chromatic bassline from C down to A in measures 4-7, seamless modulations between G major and C major, and a somewhat rare (for Kondo) tritone substitution in the penultimate bar. But that’s not what I want to focus on here.

With the conspicuous absence of the iconic “Hyrule Overture,” “Zelda’s Lullaby” is the closest thing Ocarina of Time has to a theme song. Link is required to play it more often than any other piece, and the melody can be heard during several plot points throughout the game.

Significantly, it’s also the only ocarina song that isn’t an Ocarina of Time original — “Zelda’s Lullaby” was in A Link to the Past as well. That means it’s the only piece that we know predated the five-note restriction.

Why is that significant? Given its prominence, I think it’s very likely that “Zelda’s Lullaby” dictated — at least in part — which pitches were chosen for the five-note palette.

My guess is that Kondo knew he would at least need A, B, and D to work with for “Zelda’s Lullaby,” and added the lower D and F so that he would have the minor triad D F A to work with also. It’s just my pet theory, but it would explain why five of the twelve ocarina pieces are written in some form of D minor harmony.¹

Next let’s look at “Song of Time”:

There’s nothing too complex going on here; in fact, this phrase functions very much like “Song of Storms.” The trigger motive is an inverted D minor triad (A D F) which firmly establishes the harmonic area, and the answer motive continues in the same vein. Let’s move on to the Temple of Time background music, which features the “Song of Time” melody:

There are three things to note here, and two of them are obvious just from looking at the score. First, there’s no harmony. In music theory we call this monophonic texture — a single melody without accompaniment. Second, the phrases are of irregular length. You’ll note that I transcribed the piece without meter, and if you count up the number of beats in each phrase you’ll see why — there are no consistent metrical divisions. (I used bar lines to separate phrases.)

The third item of interest is the strong sense of modality. While in “Song of Storms” we could only deduce the D Dorian mode through analysis of the harmony, here it’s placed front and center in the melody. Every time a B♮ appears, Kondo has approached it by half step from above. The upshot is that the Dorian raised sixth is emphasized, and any sense of modal ambiguity is obliterated.

The monophony, irregular phrase length, and strong modality are all characteristic of a genre of music called plainchant, of which Gregorian chant is the best known variety. I think Kondo has captured the spirit of the style quite well; he really shows off his range with this one.

Finally, let’s look at “Saria’s Song”:

Like “Epona’s Song,” this is a bit ambiguous without harmony. The trigger motive outlines a tritone (F-B), and the answer motive cadences with an arpeggiated E minor triad (B G E). Here’s the Lost Woods background music, which features the “Saria’s Song” melody:

This is one of my favorite pieces of Kondo’s. Harmonically, it’s dead simple.² The only real surprise is the turnaround on the III chord at the end, and even the III-IV progression isn’t so unusual.

It’s the melody that makes this one of the catchiest songs in the game. The F-B tritone over the F major chord is a great hook, and the insistent “ti-ti ta” rhythmic pattern is arresting. There’s a remarkable amount of intensity generated in a very short piece. I don’t have any greater point to make here, but Darunia is right — what a hot beat!

Next time we’ll take a look at the songs Link learns as an adult.

1. Having two octaves of the same pitch available — D, in this case — is also compositionally useful. Two of the ocarina songs are in D major, which means that nearly three quarters of the pieces use D as a tonic.
2. So simple, as it turns out, that several of the chords sound to me like they’re missing thirds. I’ve reflected that in the transcription, but have assumed diatonic harmony in the analysis for the sake of convenience.