Interview: Producer of "Symphony of the Goddesses" Talks Bringing the Music of "Zelda" to E3

Image via Complex Original

Nintendo spent most of 2011 celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of the first Legend of Zelda game, and apparently they've got no plans to stop.

As part of the festivities, music producer and Zelda fanatic Jeron Moore helped arrange 25 years of melodic history into one 45-minute compact disc that was released inside the special edition of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The album is called, appropriately, "The Legend of Zelda: 25th Anniversary Symphony", and it's one of the finest orchestral interpretations of video game music we've ever heard.

Samples from these arrangements were performed as part of a surprise concert at Nintendo's 2011 E3 press conference and at a series of concerts last Fall in Tokyo, LA and London. But The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses is really "meant to carry the banner going forward," Moore said.

With Symphony of the Goddesses, Moore and his cohorts at Jason Michael Paul Productions, including Chad Seiter (who Moore insisted poured just as much love into the Symphony as he did), have brought those arrangements and much more to live audiences across the country. They'll be working their magic again at Los Angeles's Greek Theatre on June 6, the Wednesday of the gaming mega-convention E3.

As hardcore Zelda fans ourselves, it was a very special treat to catch up with Moore and chat in detail about exactly what went into the symphony, and what each section means to him.

Symphony of the Goddesses is arranged like a traditional symphony, but the music has also been matched up with visuals from the games. Much of the saga's story is conveyed to the audience.

"Every Zelda game has almost kind of been a retelling, you know, and it has sort of taken on a new form each time, but certain things are always the same," Moore said. Zelda and Link are almost always reborn, while Ganon/Ganondorf, who Moore said is "like the smoke monster from Lost" to him, usually breaks out of a mystical prison, or is otherwise unleashed upon an unsuspecting Hyrule.

At the center of this story, according to Moore? The three goddesses, Nayru, Farore and Din, credited with the creation of Hyrule and of the mystical Triforce. That's what the Symphony is really all about.

"We've got two hours to take people through a journey," Moore said. "And really that's what Zelda is for the fans: a journey. It's very personal."

"What has ended up in the Symphony is really what I feel are absolutely critical in telling the story," he added. "How do we maintain the integrity of this and have it make sense?"

Overture

The Symphony begins with an overture, and in fact, you may have heard it before, though "it's bigger and better than it's ever been," Moore said.

It's the same overture that was played at E3 2011, but "when you hear it at the show," Moore said, "you're hearing it in the most ideal way."

It introduces the audience to the series' main theme, as well as some of the other elements that are reprised throughout the show.

Interludes

Following the overture are the interludes, which come in several flavors.

First off is "kind of a retro dungeons medley…that takes us through A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Zelda 1 and Zelda 2," Moore explained.

The memorable "Kakariko Village", which has been heard in ALttP, Ocarina of Time, Four Swords Adventures, and Twilight Princess, comes next. "You can't put on a show without playing that piece," Moore said.

This section concludes with an ocarina medley called "Songs of the Hero", different from the ocarina medley performed at the shows in Tokyo, LA and London, that covers everything from the "Song of Time" to the "Serenade of Water" and the "Song of Storms".

"You start hearing all these themes sort of spin around together," Moore said. "And then it comes to a huge climax."

Prelude: "The Creation"

That climax is only one of many, but before the Symphony's proper movements can begin, the prelude sets the stage.

"It's that eerie, atonal piece of music that you first heard in Ocarina of Time," Moore said. "We introduce the concept of the goddesses with that piece."

You may not know what he's talking about, but you'd definitely know it if you heard it. The main theme also makes an appearance during this portion, as well as the "Triforce Chamber" theme that'll strike a chord with ALttP fans.

"That mysterious piece definitely relates to the goddesses," Moore said.

Movement 1: The Ocarina of Time

The first of the Symphony's four movements is a crowd favorite. Ocarina of Time is hailed by many as the ultimate Zelda game, despite its experimental status as Link's very first 3D adventure. It's only natural to begin the symphony's proper movements with its iconic score.

"We don't showcase every theme in the game—that would be impossible," Moore said. Instead, he outlined the game's story, choosing music to go along with each important section.

"You can't just kick off Ocarina of Time with the main theme, because that doesn't really get you into the story and how the whole saga begins," Moore explained. This movement begins with Link's dream sequence from the game, which Moore and co. scored "like a motion picture" since it originally had no music.

That scene decrescendos and leads into the game's soothing title screen music. Next comes the "Hyrule Field" theme, followed by "Lost Woods" (and the introduction of Saria) and "Sheik's Theme", then building up to the final confrontation.

"It's gorgeous," Moore described.

Again, the "Triforce Chamber" theme from ALttP, which Moore said they established "as a musical representation for the goddesses", pops up throughout. "You're going to recognize it, but it's much bigger, and there's a lot more going on musically," Moore said.

Movement 2: Wind Waker / Movement 3: Twilight Princess

Movements two and three approach the tales of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, respectively, with equal reverence and love, Moore explained. But he didn't have much to say about them—mainly because many fans have already heard the two movements on the "25th Anniversary" album.

But when talking about these two movements, Moore did reveal exactly what part Zelda series composer Koji Kondo played in creating the arrangements.

"For the '25th Anniversary Symphony', we had actually developed a lot of this content already. And Nintendo kind of cherry-picked—Koji Kondo actually chose what he wanted from what we'd already developed, and organized it in the way he wanted with the arrangements that he was providing," Moore said.

Moore said he was gratified by what little criticism "Kondo-san" had overall. "I'll go to my grave saying that he is one of the most melodically talented composers in all of the video game industry," he gushed. "East or West."

Intermission / Intermetzo

In between the Wind Waker and Twilight Princess movements are the intermission and the intermezzo, during which the orchestra takes on a new arrangement of the series' "Fairy Fountain" track.

It's not the one from the "Anniversary" disc, Moore said. "In some ways it's similar," he explained. "In other ways it's actually bigger. We bring in the orchestra. It gets huge."

Movement 4: A Link to the Past

The final movement in particular provided a unique challenge for Moore, as ALttP has by far the least orchestral score of any of the games in the Symphony. After all, it was developed for the Super Nintendo, a system with comparatively primitive musical output capabilities. But it wasn't all bad, Moore explained.

"There was a lot of freedom involved, actually, because [the songs] were pretty basic. But the nice thing about the 16-bit stuff was that it used some orchestral samples," he said. "You could tell what things were—what Koji Kondo was intending to be as strings, or as trumpets."

"We definitely tried to keep the original intention in place, while enhancing it and expanding on it," he continued. "And of course Kondo-san was there with us the entire way."

Finale / encores

Moore was hesitant to go into detail about the Symphony's finale, though he did say that it reintroduces the main themes and "ends on a really triumphant note".

He was even more tightlipped about the possibility of encores. That in and of itself can be viewed as an answer, but Moore said he'd rather leave it as a surprise and let you experience it for yourself. We have to admit we didn't push him too hard—we don't want it spoiled for us before the E3 show, either.

Moore did have one thing to add, and that was to make sure we understood that "it's really been a labor of love" for him.

To check out the Symphony of the Goddesses' full schedule and buy tickets for the June 6 show at the Greek, head to the official site.

And don't forget to leave a comment below or on Twitter.

Image credits go to Stephen Tucker, Jeron Moore, Brian Costa, and Andrew Craig. Pictured above is the show's talented conductor, Eimear Noone.