Inside The Score - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Serenade of Water

Sacred drops

The warp song that you learn at the furthest place from its intended target. The Serenade of Water is taught at the most ethereal of locations found within the game, an unique room full of the wonder that only light being reflected through multiple crystals can provide (sadly, the strange room was ditched from the remake). The only purpose of the weird, unprecedented chamber is to make the cinematography of the cutscene that ensues more beautiful.

Each time we have encountered Sheik, her lines reflect the relationship Link has with the respective sage of the temple and how their perception of the relationship has developed in the span of seven years Link was absent. In the case of Princess Ruto of the Zora tribe, the lines of Sheik speak of how the feelings of the princess for Link have matured alongside a newfound sense of responsibility; like this room, her romantic feelings have taken on new lights too and she has become a true leader for her people. Thus, the title of the piece alludes to the themes of love, usually from a paramour to another; a serenade is any kind of calm, light composition that in our minds symbolizes a classic proof of love, an infatuated lover singing it below while the other half is on the balcony tearing up.

“Time passes, people move…. Like a river’s flow, it never ends… A childish mind will turn to noble ambition… Young love will become deep affection… The clear water’s surface reflects growth…”

A serenade is the appropriate type of music that connects her with the Hero of Time just like the passionate bolero reflected the friendship with the sage of fire—who even went so far as to name his firstborn in honor of the savior of the tribe.

Musical Analysis

Structure: Section 1 / Section 2

Time Signature: 3/4

Tempo: 90 (ritardando to 75)

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

The Serenade of Water, the sublime and more delicate cousin of the Minuet of Forest, is the shortest of the question motifs, being only five notes. Both of them make use of the Dorian mode in 3/4 to immerse the listener in an ethereal bliss and both of them end with the same coda harmony—you could easily fit the ending of the minuet on the serenade and vice versa. Unlike the minuet, the serenade does away with the percussion and marking the tempo with quarter notes in favor of the “cascading trickling water” accompaniment that connects it as a bridge between the Zora’s Domain cue and the impending Water Temple cue. They also have the particularity of being reused in other future games

We meet again in the score the i – IV chord transition: The Dorian Dm to G, after that, the piece goes for the Mario cadence always favored by Koji: Bb – C – D; a strong finish in a major chord. It is the exact same chord progression from the Minuet of Forest but in a different key. Kondo had to write a question motif for each one using just the limited set of five notes of the controller and still managed to create two distinct melodies out of the same chord progression—the piece might be based around D because it’s also the focus of the Ice Cavern cue, making the cutscene to gameplay transition smooth.

In Section 1 the melody goes against the current of cascading arpeggios, rising slowly and steadily by constant quarter notes. The voice leading of the melody is also the guiding light of the modal chord movements. It is the most apt piece for the lyre that Sheik carries around

The stunning visuals of the cutscene complement the ethereal nature of the music, with this melody Link is prepared to embark to a temple in the truest sense of the word, where he will actually have a religious experience and find enlightenment at the temple of wisom.

The piece was used as the basis for the character of queen Rutela in Twilight Princess.

It sounds even more sacred. Thank Mr. Dorian for that. The opening chord is played with the same ethereal choir sample from the Water Temple and Zora’s Domain