VentureBeat Describes History of Symphony of the Goddesses, Explores the Symphony-Planning Process

“The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses – Master Quest” has continued its run throughout Europe and North America over the last few months. With each performance that takes place, we hear about the amazing experiences the symphony offers from many satisfied fans. But exactly what goes into making this symphony event a reality? News site VentureBeat recently chronicled the history of “Symphony of the Goddesses” and the extensive planning process just one show needs to go through.

The article describes the surprising beginnings of “The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses.” The Zelda concert idea actually stems from symphony producer Jason Michael Paul’s work on a Final Fantasy symphony project called “Dear Friends.” Paul continued working on video game shows from there, which eventually led him to The Legend of Zelda 25th anniversary show.

VentureBeat describes in the article the planning process of the “Symphony of the Goddess” show in Toronto. Six months before the concert was set to take place, symphony directors began hiring their musicians. As one would be expected, some the musicians are video game fans, adding to the credibility of the event. One musician describes how the orchestra prepares for the Zelda music heard in the concert:

“‘The musicians did not see the entire score, but we were given MP3 recordings of each piece to practice with to get a sense of how it all fits together,’ cellist Chris Sharpe said. ‘It’s not typical to get recordings provided, but musicians are resourceful at finding recordings of unfamiliar pieces to practice with.’ (‘YouTube is a great resource,’ [associate director of operations for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Andrew] Mellanby said.)

Sharpe said he looked over the music without his cello at first, to get a sense of how hard it would be to play and the style. Next up was a quick practice, looking at tempo markings and the tricky bits where he’d need to spend the most time honing his performance.”

I would love to know what some of those “tricky bits” are in the Zelda compositions.

Surprisingly, musicians only went through one rehearsal; according to the symphony composer, the musicians are often able to “sight-read their music with no preparation whatsoever.” The article describes how even in this brief time to rehearse, the musicians also spent their time practicing Star Wars music for an event the following night.

The last section of the article describes the symphony event from the audience’s perspective:

“You saw no suits and evening wear; instead, it was more like a game con, with cosplayers, people in Zelda-themed shirts and jackets and tattoos, and hordes of fans clutching their 3DSes and favorite plastic Zelda clamshells from several generations of Nintendo consoles.”

The sights and happenings described in this section are rather representative of all “Symphony of the Goddesses” events. Hopefully by reading of what took place Toronto, you’ll find yourself excited to see a Zelda symphony as well.

“The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses – Master Quest” will continue touring throughout 2015. You can check out a full schedule of shows right here.

Source: VentureBeat