Video Game Music Vocalist Creates Beautiful Zelda’s Lullaby, Ballad of the Goddess Vocal Arrangement

There are many connections between the various songs within the games of the Zelda franchise, but two in particular have a unique connection. Although many fans are well-acquainted with the iconic Zelda’s Lullaby and the more recent Ballad of the Goddess, fewer are fully aware that the latter song uses the exact same notes as the former just played in reverse. Admittedly, there is a good deal of added instrumentation and rhythmic/temporal variation in the Ballad of the Goddess, but the main melodies use the same notes. One extremely skilled musician took this connection to the next level, bringing the two mellifluous tunes together to make a stunning arrangement.

Jillian Aversa is a vocalist, songwriter, and soloist – and a committed Zelda fan, no less! She tours with the phenomenal Video Games Live concert event, contributing to their albums through franchises as varied as God of War, Halo, Civilization, and, of course, Zelda. This video features Aversa herself, dressed in full Zelda garb, in accordance with the games from which the songs she sings come, as well a notably silent Link (played by Jeremy Waters).

Aversa’s part alone is an arrangement of the main melodies Zelda’s Lullaby and Ballad of the Goddess (created by her and her husband, Andrew), and is set to “lyrics” in a fabricated Hylian dialect, based on existing Zelda lore. The orchestration itself (i.e. the instruments accompanying Aversa), was created by Wilbert Roget II, and performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic.

This arrangement can be heard live in Video Games Live’s upcoming tour in venues all around the world, and you can check here to see when and if the show is coming to a town near you. If you’re not so lucky as to live near these venues, or unwilling to travel to see the concert live, you can also listen to this song on the recently released Video Games Live Album, Level 4, on iTunes.

Alongside this theme, other fantastic pieces of video game music can be heard on the album, including themes from Donkey Kong Country (partially arranged by series composer, David Wise no less!), the Opera Aria from Final Fantasy VI, themes from Cave Story, and many more. Or, if you’re simply looking for more Aversa’s work, check her out on bandcamp, iTunes, or Amazon, where you can both the above piece, as well as her other albums. She’s even got a music video that sets lyrics to Ocarina of Time‘s Forest Temple’s theme.

The quality of this arrangement is astounding on all accounts, capturing the atmosphere suggested by both of its composite songs quite well, aided in no small part by the inspired directing Landon Donoho and the superb costumes of The Zelda Project. Are you captivated by this performance? Who among you will be seeing this live? Would you like to see Aversa and Video Games Live tackle other Zelda themes?