Music in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, part six
[Part one | Part two | Part three | Part four | Part five | Part six]
I’m back! Let’s talk about video games and music, shall we?
First, some housekeeping. I’ve fixed a couple of typos and other minor issues in my earlier Ocarina of Time transcriptions — namely, “Zelda’s Lullaby” from part two, and “Prelude of Light,” “”Nocturne of Shadow,” and “Requiem of Spirit” from part three. Thanks to commenters Newcomer and Kyle for catching my mistakes, and please do let me know if you find any more!
Meanwhile, commenter Jeff has taken issue with my assertion in part four that the melody from “Sun’s Song” is never harmonized — as he rightly points out, it’s featured in the short theme that precedes the Hyrule Field music at dawn. Take a look (excuse the lazy rhythmic transcription of the flute part):
![](http://cruiseelroy.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/sunrise.png "\\"Sunrise\\" Theme")
And here’s “Sun’s Song” again for reference:
As you can see, the D in the “Sun’s Song” motive has been demoted to a grace note in the “sunrise” theme, removing any suggestion of minor tonality from the Dm triad. The fragmented, fluttering, and irregular flute part does little to function as a melody, but instead floats over the top of the harmony like birdsong.
Meanwhile, the accompaniment features an arpeggiated ostinato of the tonic chord (G major) over a descending I-♭VII-VI-♭VI bassline. Beatles fans may recognize this move from “Dear Prudence,” which does the same thing in D major:
Was the homage intentional? Probably not; I-♭VII-VI-♭VI is a very common move. Then again, you never know: “The sun is up / The sky is blue / It’s beautiful / And so are you”…there is a reasonable thematic connection.
Finally, the “sunrise” theme concludes with a dominant gesture that leads directly into the G major Hyrule Field music — and also the G minor Termina Field music, as the same theme appears in Majora’s Mask. Those pieces, however, are for another day.
Thanks again to everyone who has commented on this project so far. More to come!
[Part one | Part two | Part three | Part four | Part five | Part six]
Hmm. So what you’re saying is… Kondo ripped off The Beatles? =P
Hmph. :-P
Actually, according to the Wikipedia page (which cites a dead link), Paul McCartney is a fan of Koji Kondo’s. Who’s to say who ripped off whom? ;-)
If you’ll excuse a small tangent, that “Dear Prudence” sample illustrates what has always bugged me about listening to The Beatles on headphones: the stereo is never well balanced. I don’t know if this was present in the original recordings or if it only turned up in the digital remaster… but it’s really hard on the ears sometimes.
Well, The Beatles were making albums when stereo recording was still a new technique — they’re experimenting with the technology as much as anything else. There’s a lot of good discussion about stereo separation here, if you’re interested.
I’m so glad to see the return of your Zelda music posts!
I’m a relative rube on the piano–I’ve only been playing for about eight months!–and I know nothing about music theory. But I’ve always been a huge fan of Kondo’s music. Your posts are very interesting, if a little over my head. I’m trying to absorb as much information as I can.
You just keeping confirming my belief that even the simplest of things–say, snippets of video game music–can unlock the ideas behind grand thoughts (like those of music theory).
Excellent work. Please continue! :)
Thanks, Jes! I think there’s another post or two yet in Ocarina of Time, so you won’t be disappointed.
If you’re looking for a primer on music theory, you could do worse than Ricci Adams’ Musictheory.net. You’ll have a leg up with your piano experience, and it makes this sort of in-depth analysis much more fun (and less enigmatic)!