If, for the rest of your life, you could only ever play Zelda games on mute or listen to music from the franchise without ever playing again which would you choose? Brutal choice, we know. Sophie had it easy in comparison. Fortunately you don’t have to pick. We’re only thinking about that horrible hypothetical because Nintendo has reminded us just how much we love the Zelda score. The company posted a live performance by an orchestra featuring some of the very best songs from The Legend of Zelda franchise.
Nintendo of America uploaded a beautiful live performance that was pre-recorded in Tokyo, Japan. This medley concert was originally scheduled to be part of Nintendo Live 2024 TOKYO. It’s easy to see why. It features tracks from the entire history of the The Legend of Zelda series. That includes “adventurous arrangements from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and many more.”
Here’s the entire track list of the Legend of Zelda orchestra concert, which offers a wide array of music from across the long-running and beloved video game series:
- “Tears of the Kingdom: Main Theme (Reprise)”
- “The Ballad of the Goddess”
- “Zelda’s Lullaby”
- “Link’s Awakening Medley 2024”
- “Breath of the Wild: Main Theme”
- “Hyrule Castle”
- “Breath of the Wild: 2017 Nintendo Switch Presentation Trailer”
- “Ocarina of Time: Kakariko Village”
- “The Legend of Zelda Main Theme”
My favorite track from this performance? I’m old enough to have played the original Zelda when it came out. Nothing beats hearing the original theme song even after all these many years.
You can (and almost certainly will) put this video on in the background when you want to hear something beautiful. However, like The Legend of Zelda games themselves, this music is best enjoyed while looking at a screen. There’s something special about watching talented performers bring to life music that has accompanied generations of gamers as they worked their way through level after level, game after game. Why only choose to listen to these songs when that’s only half the experience?