Zelda II "Temple" 16-Piece Brass Band

“Temple” from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, composed by Akito Nakatsuka (中塚 章人) and arranged for sixteen-piece brass ensemble by Daniel Romberger.
“Main Theme” from The Legend of Zelda, composed by Koji Kondo (近藤 浩治) and arranged for sixteen-piece brass ensemble by Daniel Romberger.

📯 Part of the Horns of Hyrule!

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Performed by The Game Brass and friends, featuring:

🎵 John Robert Matz: Piccolo Trumpet in A, Bass Trumpet in B-Flat
[http://www.johnrobertmatz.com]
🎵 Avery Yonehiro (jazzthatbrass): Trumpet in B-Flat
[   / @jazzthatbrass3484  ]
🎵 Nathan Banegas: Trumpet in B-Flat
[  / nbnegas  ]
🎵 Brooke Ferd (Medllix): Trumpet in B-Flat
[   / medllix  
🎵 Robby Duguay: Flugelhorn, Video
[http://www.robbyduguay.com]

🎵 JohnStacy: French Horn
[   / thejohnstacy  ]
🎵 Danny Flam (From ConSoul Big Band): French Horn
[   / consoul  ]
🎵 Lauren Stacy: French Horn
🎵 Alana Yee: French Horn
[   / flashdementia  ]

🎵 Daniel Romberger (DannyMusic): Arrangement, Trombone, Video
[   / dannymusic  ]
🎵 Eric L.: Trombone
[   / ericltrombone  ]
🎵 Allison Martin: Trombone
[   / @allisonmartin  ]
🎵 Becca Patterson: Bass Trombone
[https://www.rebeccapattersonmusic.com/]

🎵 Abigail Lannan (GoofyEuph): Euphonium
[   / goofyeuph  ]
🎵 Isaac Smith: Tuba
[   / @isaacsmithcomposer  ]
🎵 Alex Hill (TankTopTuba): Tuba
[   / adeadcomposergaming  ]

🎵 Thomas Kresge: Mix
[https://www.kresgemusic.com/]
🎵 Vidya: Gameplay Footage
[  / vidya_james  ]

Watch more game soundtrack covers performed on brass here:    • Game Music on Brass Instruments  

Notes from Daniel Romberger about this arrangement:
I really like arranging tunes from NES games (even though this one was made popular by Super Smash Bros. Melee) because there is so much opportunity to add color. An interesting thing about the temple theme (and most of the Zelda II soundtrack) is that nearly all of the phrases of the melody come in identical pairs. This kind of writing makes sense for the original game since it's a way of getting more mileage out of the same material. However, it presented an additional challenge when I was doing the arrangement. I didn't want to restate the phrases exactly because wanted to have a broader emotional arc for the piece. So I did my best to introduce variation through dynamics, orchestration, and even syncopation (like at the part 45 seconds in). Working with an ensemble of 16 brass forces provided a lot of opportunity to do this, and I hope you find the emotional narrative of the arrangement satisfying while still being faithful to the original tune.

Fun fact, this is actually my third time arranging this piece. The first time was for Zeldathon Forces as the final part of a big Zelda II medley (since it was noticed that that soundtrack doesn't get as much love). However, we never managed to coordinate a time where all the musicians could play together since there was so much going on at the marathon. Then, over the previous winter, I visited Alex and re-arranged this part of the Zeldathon medley for brass quintet. We played it through at his house but haven't recorded the quintet version yet. There are some ideas from each of the two previous versions (such as the cameo of the Zelda I dungeon theme) that made it in here as well, and maybe we'll record the quintet version of this theme at some point later.

Also, there was some debate about calling this the Zelda II dungeon, palace, or temple theme; we went with "Temple" since that's how it's known in the Super Smash Bros. series even though "palace" seems to be how the dungeons are known now. This theme is the second of the Horns of Hyrule project; hope you enjoy what comes next!

#Zelda35 #Brass #HornsOfHyrule