Reddit user aVeryLittleStoat has made an interesting discover.
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild’s Guardian Battle theme is an inversion of the classic Zelda song Zelda’s Lullaby.
So I was listening to the BOTW soundtrack and came across this piece (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JsHo5sc0OU) and noticed at about 21 seconds you hear a piano play the notes of Zelda’s lullaby, starting on the same high note (a high B) as is used in the intro to the Guardian Battle theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq3nncuA1Ak). That got me thinking there might be a connection between the two pieces.
First thing I thought was they are both in 3 time (probably a coincidence), and then I looked at the main notes being played in the Guardian theme. The piece mainly hammers out the notes B, F#, and A (in that order).
B to F# is a fourth down; F# to A is a minor third up.
The notes in Zelda’s lullaby are B, D, and A (in that order).
B to D is a minor third up; D to A is a fourth down.
Both tunes go up a minor third and down a fourth, just in different orders – they’re sort of inversions of each other!!!
This makes sense as Zelda’s research was critical in restoring the guardians and the ancient Sheikah technology, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the same theme has been scattered throughout the other more technological-sounding pieces in the game…
What do you think of the way the game reuses music?