This is a truly epic track... a labour of love. Wonderful.

It's beautiful, loved the transitions and overall theme. Thank you for sharing :)

From the live concert on 11 June 2022 at Woolwich Works, the London Video Game Orchestra performed fan favourites from Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Anno, Hollow Knight, and more!

06 Turrican 2 - The Wall - LVGO

CATS - Memory

A Symphonic Poem for a full Orchestra, entitled "The Creation of Hyrule".  It is based upon the music and Soundtracks of several games in the Legend of Zelda Series, and was inspired, in part, by the music of the Symphony of the Goddesses Concert.

In an attempt to become a part of the Symphonic Concert, I hit upon the idea of writing a Symphonic Poem.  A Symphonic Poem (or Tone Poem) is, by definition, a piece of Orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source.  While many Symphonic Poems may compare in size and scale to symphonic movements (or even reach the length of an entire Symphony), they are unlike traditional Classical Symphonic Movements in that their music is intended to inspire listeners to imagine or consider scenes, images, specific ideas or moods, and not (necessarily) to focus on following traditional patterns of Musical Form.  In short, the composition tells a story through the music.  I chose the name "The Creation of Hyrule" as the structure and scope of the piece was inspired by the Symphonic works of the composer Gustav Mahler, who equated his Symphonies as "Symphonic Universes", where each Symphony simulated the construction of a World.  I attempted, out of my love for this ideal, to replicate this in the music.

The work itself is half Composition, half Arrangement.  It contains original work of my own, as well as numerous themes from many different games in the Legend of Zelda series; some as they are in the game, others slightly altered, or even simply the melody/rhythm used, sometimes combined with work of my own to provide a contrapuntal counterpart.  But for the sake of the Disclaimer, I am attributing the work to Kondo Koji and Wakai Hajime Senseis, who composed the majority, if not all, of the themes included in this work.  Those themes are theirs, and NOT my own.

Games in the Legend of Zelda Series from whose respective Soundtracks this piece is constructed from include:

The Legend of Zelda
A Link to the Past
A Link between Worlds
Ocarina of Time
Wind Waker
Twilight Princess
Skyward Sword
Breath of the Wild

The Story portrayed by this piece runs as follows:

In the beginning, there was nothing.  The Song of Time plays alone amongst the mists of the Strings, and from out of it comes the Creation, as portrayed in Ocarina of Time.  As the Sun rises on the first day, the entirety of Hyrule, in all its splendour can be seen.  Then, into this idyllic world come the Gerudos, headed by Ganondorf, who usurp the land.  Link, the hero of the story, hears about Hyrule's plight and sets off on a journey to vanquish Ganondorf.  Coming across the Gerudo Fortress, he attempts to break in, but his assault is stopped by Ganondorf, who leaves him helpless.  Zelda comes across Link, and heals him of his wounds, taking him to the Great Fairy to strengthen him, and to turn him into the Hero he was destined for.  Finally, after taking hold of The Master Sword, he storms Hyrule Castle, encounters Ganondorf again, and after an epic struggle, defeats Ganondorf, and uses the Triforce to restore Hyrule back to its former glory.

Further Disclaimer:  Image is original Nintendo Artwork

The Creation of Hyrule

A set of eight Variations for Piano solo based upon the piece "Comptine d'un autre ete - l'apres midi", by Yann Tiersen, written for the French film "Amelie".  This was written for a special friend who has a strong love of the original piece by Tiersen :)

The concept of Theme and Variations in music is a formal technique, where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.  In solo instruments such as Piano or Violin, the limitations are greater due to a lack of forces that an Orchestra can provide.

While Variation forms in composition can include Ground bass, Passacaglia, Chaconne, as well as Theme and Variations, the first three of the aforementioned are typically based on brief ostinato motifs which provide a repetitive harmonic basis and are also typically continuous evolving structures.  Theme and Variation forms, on the other hand, are based specifically on melodic variation, in which the fundamental musical idea, or "theme", is repeated in altered form or accompanied in a different manner.  Theme and Variations structure generally begins with a theme (which is itself sometimes preceded by an introduction), typically between eight and thirty-two bars in length; each variation, particularly in music of the eighteenth century and earlier, will be of the same length and structure as the theme.  Even in the original Theme for this composition, the melody is repeated, played an octave higher the second time it is heard, making the theme itself a piece of "Theme and variation".

Variation forms can be written as "free-standing" pieces for solo instruments or ensembles, or can constitute a movement of a larger piece. 

Disclaimer: The Amelie poster picture is copyright of UGC-Fox.

Piano Variations on "Comptine d'un autre Ete" by Yann Tiersen

This is a Meditation for Orchestra and Chorus, entitled "A Vision of Fi".  It is an arrangement of a few Soundtracks from the Legend of Zelda Series.

The whole piece is centred around The character Fi from Skyward Sword, who is the spiritual essence of The Master Sword, the weapon Link uses to defeat Ganondorf/Ganon in many of the games in the LoZ Series.  The music starts off with the introduction of the original Zelda theme, and moves on to a quieter section where the Ballad of the Goddess is played, and then onto Fi's theme in its entirety, then throughout a number of pieces from various other games, all the time, with Fi's theme being played in the Flutes high above the music, as a reminder that while Link has the Master Sword on his many adventures, Fi is always there, and will always be synonymous with The Master Sword, created by the Goddess Hylia to destroy Demise and his incarnation, Ganon/Ganondorf.

Disclaimer:  All musical themes used in this piece are by Koji Kondo and Hajime Wakai, and are not my own.  Artwork in the image is original Nintendo Artwork

Zelda Meditation - A Vision of Fi

This is a Fantasia for Full Orchestra and Chorus; a Fantasia based primarily on Zelda's Lullaby.  It contains material from a few of the Game Soundtracks in the LoZ series.

In this piece I explored the different ways the Lullaby could be orchestrated and manipulated in terms of mood, timbre and contrapuntal manipulation, not just on its own, but with other themes closely associated to Zelda, most plainly in the central part, focussing on the endless relationship between Zelda, Link, and Ganondorf/Ganon throughout the whole series, and finally culminating, through its triumphant ending, the ultimate victory of good.

Disclaimer:- Original music is by Koji Kondo, Miho Fujii, Ryu Nagamatsu and Toru Minegishi.  Image art is original game artwork

Zelda Fantasia

An Arrangement of the "Menu 1" music from Super Smash Bros Melee.
Disclaimer: Original music is by Hirokazu Ando, Image is original game artwork.

SSBM - Menu1

Music from the third Urotsukidoji series.

04. “Losers”

This is an arrangement for full Orchestra of a few Hyrule Castle pieces from a few Legend of Zelda Games/OSTs.

Disclaimer - Original music is by Koji Kondo and Manaka Kataoka. Image is original Game Artwork

Hyrule Castle

This is a composition for Piano based on the Russian Folk Song "Korobeiniki".  This tune is best known as the Main Theme for Nintendo's GameBoy Game "Tetris", and even among the many traditional Folk Tunes in Russia, enjoys a longlasting popularity.  Inspired by the Rhapsodies of Franz Liszt, I wanted to turn this melody into a multi-tempo piece where the music slowly speeds up and crescendos into a huge tumult of a piece where the players hands are all over the Piano, finishing in a virtuosic finale.

Korobeiniki Rhapsody Op.18

This is a composition/arrangement for Brass Band; a Fantasia of Christmas Carols compressed into a single piece.  The first part starts out exploring the different pitches and timbres of the Band in "Good King Wenceslas" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", before moving into a slower, quieter section based on contrapuntal/polyphonic uses of the melodies from "Silent Night" and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", before a passage point loosely based on "The First Nowell" bring us to a Choral finale in the form of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "O Come All Ye Faithful".

Festive Fantasia

Composer, Conductor, Orchestrator, Transcriber, Video Game lover and Nintendo enthusiast!  Based in Maidstone, UK.

The Creation of Hyrule

Ben Emberley

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