Inside The Score - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Get Medallion

The heroic Item Get cue

The companion piece to the Spiritual Stone cue which will accompany us for the adult dungeons is this one that follows the cinematic of the medallions descending from the sky into the hands of the hero; the first one is on the house.

After a short explanation of the current situation by the sage Rauru and the shock of seeing Link as an adult for the very first time, we are presented with the first of six medallions that will become symbols of success for the duration of the adult portion of the game. The first one is given as a token for reaching this milestone and it comes alongside the last of the recurrent acquisition fanfares.

They symbolize the connection with the seven sages which are not the conventional old men in robes like before but actual fleshed out characters (and the majority actually being young women) that we interact with in some capacity as a child. Since this seems to be a realm outside time and space, and based on some events seen in game we can infer that these sages are no longer bless us with their presence.

Musical Analysis

Structure: Section 1

Time Signature: 4/4

Tempo: 75 (ritardando to 50)

Melodic and Harmonic Profiles: G Mixolydian; G Aeolian/Minor

This one is more fanfarey than the longer and more mystic Spiritual Stone cue, focusing on brass and a less angular harmony. As it is standard fare for fanfares, the main melody of the cue tends to ascend to a climax, but in similar fashion to the cue of the Master Sword, the piece has a descending bass contrasting with the melody and generating extended harmony with sevenths and ninths.

As usual the glockenspiel does rapid arpeggios to create expectation and a sense of winning a prize. Meanwhile, the descending chords of the piece point to the major Andalusian cadence which is none other than one of the most recognizable motifs in The Legend of Zelda music, the Zelda Cadence [I – bVII – bVI]—you technically need the V at the end—yet it surprises by going an extra whole step down, which extends the cadence, ending it on C instead of the normal cadence which would end on a D chord; maybe it is because of the fact that it has to adapt to the duration of the little medallion cutscene. In the same way, the glockenspiel is doing the Mario Cadence [bVI – bVII – I], the opposite of the Zelda Cadence thus fusing the two most important Kondo harmony progressions into one due to the contrary motion of the voices.

The chords can be simplified to G – F – Eb – Db – C (The Zelda cadence would be G – F- Eb – D). With the melody notes and the glockenspiel arpeggio you would get some maj7/9 harmonies.

Koji Kondo could probably have gotten away with using a single cue for both the spiritual stones and the medallions but he went the extra mile and conjured a second track that further establishes that the state of affairs has changed.

Soon, Link will find the results of being absent from Hyrule for seven years, but before that, he will encounter a very special ally that will help him for the remainder of the adventure; as well as being his new music teacher.