Of Kingdoms, Cathedrals, and Melodies

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I’m not a man of culture, but I am a man of POP culture, and whenever something makes me giggle, then I’ll likely gravitate towards it like a moth to a flame. I came across a musical performance that was to be delivered by candlelight, so this piqued my interest. Furthermore, the performance involved the musical scores from the Legend of Zelda- a video game that has become the bedrock of the Nintendo corporation. As an aside, did you know that Nintendo was founded in 1889? Mind blown!

I was having a moment of metaphysical angst and conflicting philosophical emotions because the concert was to take place inside a cathedral. That’s right! For me to enjoy the melodies of yore, I’d have to enter a church, and if you’re familiar with my writings, you know how that usually ends up.

In any case, I had previously attended a Gregorian chant concert in this church and survived, so I was not worried about burning up on the spot. God, I figured, was not about to smite a customer. I was planning on taking a lot of pictures of this beautiful cathedral, but as it appears to be the fashion nowadays, the lights were off, so the place was dark and not conducive to a photo-shoot.

In case you’re wondering, I did have a companion. And no, I’m not going to tell you who it was. Let’s just call her… Jezebel. Suffice it to say, I was feeling very sinful as I entered the cathedral. Although, let’s face it, in all likelihood, the audience was full of pagans and heathens. After all, the Legend of Zelda is chock-full of Demons, Gods, magic, rune reading, spell casting, and so forth.

As I entered the holy premises, I checked my hands to see if there was any smoke rising from my skin, but thankfully all was good with the manager upstairs, so Jezebel and I were ushered into the corresponding aisle that had no assigned sitting. First come, first serve? We got some great seats, but had we arrived a bit later like we had been planning, we would’ve gotten some crappy seats, and given that I had paid premium prices, I would have uttered a few ungodly phrases right there and then. Thankfully, someone must’ve been watching over us that evening, and we ended up with a relatively good view.

Here’s where expectations meet the asphalt, in a manner of speaking. I realized that the cathedral was an intimate space with not much room for an entire orchestra. So, I figured it’d be just a few instruments that together bring into harmony the tunes from the Legend of Zelda. As it turned out, it was only one piano performer, who did a fantastic job of it, given the limitations. During his performance, he paused briefly to discuss the music from the games a bit and the making of the melodies, which apparently included a nod to bolero. A wonderful performance that was only tempered by our expectation that there would be more instruments during the event.

A word about the set. One of the show’s main attractions was the candles. They created a wonderful shimmering atmosphere that unfortunately disappeared when one sat down because the candles were low on the floor, so the audience couldn’t really see them unless they were close. The candles needed to be placed at different heights to create a truly magical effect for everyone. As it was, unless one was seated on the front rows or aisle seats, the candles were not visible, only the glow on the walls and piano.

The piano player did a great job given that he didn’t have an orchestra to back him up with all the drums and twinkling instruments common in Zelda scores. So, in that sense, it was masterful of him to still bring out the essence of the pieces.

At the end of the show, we were allowed to take pictures and videos. I kept the phone down low because I didn’t want to disturb those around me, so I focused some of my filming on the Gothic architecture of this historic church in the heart of the city.

It was a night to remember enveloped in the magic sounds from the kingdom of Hyrule.

After the cathedral, Jezebel and I went out for drinks and snacks.

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