Inside The Score - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Sonata of Awakening

The first stage of awakening

It’s not surprising that the first song we learn on the first stage of awakening for the hero is aptly called the ‘Sonata of Awakening’, a tune taught to Link by a monkey who seems to be the one with the least of a monkey mind in the entire room. He is captured and is about to get cooked, so Link better hurry up to the first dungeon in his adventure.

The songs that will allow Link entrance to the mere four dungeons of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask are the equivalents to the warp songs Sheik used to teach us; ocarina melodies which are self sustained short compositions not meant to loop that are magically orchestrated and are usually played as a duet between Link’s ocarina and other instrument. They are also named after traditional styles and forms of music, some for aesthetic reasons, others for true musical characteristics.

A sonata is type of musical composition, usually for a solo instrument or a small instrumental ensemble, that typically consists of two to four movements, or sections, each in a related key but with a unique musical character. On this track, the name is used only as an ornamentation without any pretension to be an authentic sonata; the term is very vague though, so technically anything goes as long as it remains instrumental.

But a duet with whom? There is no one else around this time but Link; well, not quite right. He still carries with him the souls of creatures from Termina with unfulfilled business and, coincidentally, they used to be musicians just like the Hero of Time. On this world, the ocarina Link posses will surreally adapt to the instruments owned by its host mask, the Deku having the perfect anatomy to play all kinds of horns and pipes. The tunes also follow the same format established by the warp melodies; the first member plays the phrase and the second responds. After that, the theme goes for a quick cadence.

Musical Analysis

Structure: Section 1 / Section 2

Time Signature: 4/4

Tempo: 94 (ritardando to 74)

Melodic and Harmonic Profiles: G Phrygian Major (Section 1); D Aeolian/Minor; D Ionian/Major (Section 2)

The Sonata of Awakening is the most positive of the ocarina tunes from Majora’s Mask, being focused on the major profile from the ocarina scale: D F A B and Upper D (in this case the last three notes). The composer keeps getting melodies out of his reliable scale.

The sense of wonder and curiosity for what is to come is automatically imbued within the harmony movement with the pseudo minor feel of G major to Bb major, going back and forth in order to emphasize this unique profile—a chord movement Koji was yet to use in his ocarina melodies— the I – bIII is special because it doesn’t commonly appear in the traditional music scales; it sounds heroic but with an extra dimension of dignity and responsibility added. This harmony movement forms the basis for the main themes and sensibilities of the Metroid and Star Fox series, which have a more militaristic feeling or a duty to be fulfilled, a feel that isn’t quite as bright or nostalgic as the Ionian/Major profile nor as dark and mournful as the Aeolian/Minor; it lives in between, still maintaining a sense of mystery and ambiguity—this is due to the scale using two minor tetrachords but opting to play the first degree as a major chord.

And even so, in this framework Koji Kondo fits once again the classic Mario cadence, the three triumphant major chords that must always end his self sufficient ocarina melodies—say goodbye to this cadence after this tune—the full progression being:

G – Bb – G – Bb – G – Bb – C – D

The song is made richer by way of using the strings to provide a countermelody, and each accompanying instrument having clearly defined roles, like the harp playing arpeggios going up, the pizzicatos marking the beginning of each bar and a bass-chord accompaniment pattern for the low strings. Also, the Deku pipes are a different sample from the usual brass sounds the games have been employing.

However, the world of Termina not only offers warp song equivalents, the proper warp song of this world is, ironically, a basic three repeated note pattern song, like the ones Link used to learn when he was beginning his adventure in Ocarina of Time. This time the owl made sure to provide the hero with more elaborate means of transportation.