[zierts]

Originally Posted by LiquidAcid

See post #22.

Oh, thanks. I missed this somehow.

These are all interviews I could find on composition duties in the game:

Originally Posted by Koji Kondo (Wired)

As far as composition, I did the above-ground theme in New Super Mario Bros., and the music from the demo scene in Twilight Princess.

Either he's not aware that "Teaser Music #1" made it into the game (not "Teaser Music #2") or the CD's credits are wrong.

Originally Posted by Koji Kondo (Zelda.com)

The process of creating the E3 trailer was fascinating. Three people (including me) each composed a different approach to the trailer’s music. Then we asked one of Japan’s most extraordinarily gifted composers and music arrangers, Michiru Oshima, to work her magic on all three pieces, envisioning how an orchestra could wrap its many instruments around the general music. We then recorded each of the three orchestrations with famed conductor Yasuzo Takemoto on hand, who you might know as the conductor who stood command over the amazing 2002 Smash Bros. concert in Japan. I did have a chance to personally conduct when we recorded a chorus for one possible version of the trailer. Though I’d studied music, I hadn’t studied classical music, so I’d never used a conductor’s baton before (outside of the one in The Wind Waker, that is!), and it was incredibly fun.

Here he says there were three composers, each of whom composed a piece of teaser music. Also directly contradicts the CD's credits. This also confirms there is a "Teaser Music #3" which was never released. Note that Yasuzo Takemoto is a misreading of Taizo Takemoto.

Originally Posted by Mahito Yokota (Japanese Iwata Asks)

『トワイライトプリンセス』（※8）のときもオーケストラの曲を担当しました。

Originally Posted by Mahito Yokota (English Iwata Asks)

I was in charge of the orchestral songs for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as well.

Since plural markers are seldom attached to nouns in Japanese, Yokota could have meant "I was also responsible for an orchestra piece when we did Twilight Princess" or "I was also in charge of the orchestra pieces when we did Twilight Princess". Some Iwata Asks interview translations are outsourced, so there may be a possibility the English translation for this comment was done externally and the translator couldn't check back with Yokota. Still, we just have to trust the translator in using the plural here. I'm not yet proficient enough to judge immediately whether this is more likely to be singular or plural but I also have a feeling it's the latter (and Yokota would probably have used 一曲 if he'd meant to say "one piece of music").

Originally Posted by Toru Minegishi (Iwata Asks)

Previously, I was involved in the sound development for the Animal Crossing and Zelda series, and with Twilight Princess I worked as main composer.

Sounds like he did most of the character themes and motifs...

Originally Posted by Toru Minegishi (Zelda.com)

Under Mr. Kondo’s supervision, I’m in charge of all the field and dungeon music in Twilight Princess.

...and generally most of the non-cutscene stuff.

Originally Posted by Takumi Kawagoe (Iwata Asks)

Minegishi-san in the sound section created a musical score of the tune Takano-san hummed to him! (laughs)

This talks about the shop theme in all its variations. Takano-san is the screenwriter Mitsuhiro Takano.




Asuka Ohta probably did cutscene work. Koji Kondo mostly just sat there and nodded in approval.




Edit for RBMNintendoGamer's finds:

Originally Posted by Toru Minegishi (liner notes)

While this is a field BGM, I arranged it to be more valiant-sounding while riding Epona to match the stateliness of the horse. In addition, a certain majestic melody is played only at this time. The latter half, around 1:14, is what is commonly called the "Advantageous Theme". We originally created this tune to play during boss battles when Link is at an advantage, such as when he reveals the boss's weak point. Later in production, I appropriated this melody for the latter half of the Hyrule Field BGM. It can also be heard a number of other situations when Link is being given encouragement, so see if you can find it.

Talking about "Hyrule Field (Main Theme)" as per the video captions.

Originally Posted by Koji Kondo (liner notes)

This is a secret, but while I said I created lyrics for the title theme in Hylian, the lyrics don't actually mean anything; I just used a series of sounds that would sound good together. It's a secret to everybody.

Talking "about other tracks and the overall soundtrack" as per the video captions.

Originally Posted by Toru Minegishi (liner notes)

This track is a variation that alternates the Main Theme and Midna's Theme, both of which were originally in quadruple meter, over a sextuple meter piano piece. While there is a tragic situation where Link is running through the rain carrying a dying Midna, it also foreshadows the fact that they will grow closer over time. Since Midna is a princess who was turned into a monster, the request I received for Midna's Theme was that it should be a sad but ominous melody, a tune that is both familiar and elusive.

Talking about "Midna's Lament" as per the video captions.

Originally Posted by Toru Minegishi (liner notes)

This game begins with the line, "Tell me... Do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls?", so while I retained the atmosphere of previous works in the series, I also added elements that were melancholy, tragic, and majestic, etc., and emphasized the feeling of speed and movement in the main theme and battle music.

Talking "about other tracks and the overall soundtrack" as per the video captions. Further confirms his involvement with the battle music.

Originally Posted by Asuka Ohta (liner notes)

While I only created several tracks, of these I put the most effort into the music for the scene that depicts the heartbreaking relationship between Midna and Link.

Talking "about other tracks and the overall soundtrack" as per the video captions. Corroborates her involvement with the cutscene music and her minimal work on the game. Doesn't confirm which piece she is talking about though. Could be the scene where Zelda sacrifices herself for Midna, or where the Mirror of Twilight is repaired. The most likely candidate are cutscenes before, during or after the final battle, however, what with Ohta being credited for Zelda's theme.




Edit 2: Looking into the releases of the elusive "Orchestra Piece #1" / "Teaser Music #1" and finding a supposed composer breakdown for the HD Original Soundtrack got me interested in the confusion about who composed the three orchestra pieces for the trailers of Twilight Princess.

To start off, here's the orchestra pieces associated with their proper titles:

• "The Legend of Zelda: Orchestra Piece #1" / "Teaser Music #1" / "The Legend of Zelda: Orchestra Piece (Teaser Music) #1" (henceforth "Teaser Music #1")
• "The Legend of Zelda: Orchestra Piece #2" / "Teaser Music #2" / "The Legend of Zelda: Orchestra Piece (Teaser Music) #2" (henceforth "Teaser Music #2")

As far as I can see, the numbers never changed on any album releases over the years (#1 was always the longer one, #2 was always the shorter one), so we can at least rule out any additional confusion about that.

Next up, here is all the Twilight Princess teaser, trailer and game footage that may or may not use the orchestral pieces:

• E3 2004 on-stage trailer (May 11, 2004): music is an arrangement of "Riddle Of Steel / Riders Of Doom" from the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack by Basil Poledouris. I can't find this version anywhere outside Zelda trailers. This upload by Lost Woods on YouTube claims the arrangement "was written by Basil Poledouris himself and was made specifically and exclusively for Nintendo, along with other Conan-style pieces used for different OoT commercials." And that the "person singing at the beginning is Zoë Poledouris, the daughter of Basil Poledouris". I can't confirm if any of this is true but none of it can be found anywhere else (this site claims that not only Poledouris's music was used for Ocarina of Time trailers). The uploader has put a lot of effort into researching Zelda trailer music, though.
• E3 2004 off-stage trailer (May 11, 2004): Music is unknown. It's a sequenced/in-game-synthesized composition that sounds similar in style to "Teaser Music #2".
• GDC 2005 trailer (March 10, 2005): Music is unknown. May be performed by a live orchestra. Could this be the third orchestra piece "Teaser Music #3" or is it stock music? Music is "Crusade" by Jeremy Sweet and Michael Whittaker as per the findings by Lost Woods on YouTube. Awesome!
• E3 2005 trailer (May 17, 2005): Music is "Teaser Music #1".
• E3 2006 trailer (May 9, 2006): Music is an alternate arrangement of "Hyrule Field Main Theme" played back by an external synthesizer.
• Wii demo scene (November 1, 2006): Music is "Teaser Music #1". Originally released as Movie 2 on the official website before the game's release. Also the same as the Wii demo scene that plays after the game's title screen.
• GameCube demo scene (December 2, 2006): Music is "Teaser Music #1". It plays after the GameCube version's title screen and has in-game footage different from the Wii version. It's the original, unmirrored version of the game's map data (the Wii version was mirrored to accommodate motion controls for right-handed players).
• Movie 3 (December 5, 2006): Music is "Teaser Music #2". This is sometimes called the launch trailer even though both the Wii and GameCube versions had already been released by then.
• Twilight Princess HD staff credits: Music is "Teaser Music #2". The demo scene after the title screen seems to have been cut in the HD version by the way.

Confused yet? Good, then you're ready for the composer credits which are even more confusing.

As mentioned above, Koji Kondo's interview on Zelda.com makes it sound like "Teaser Music #1", "Teaser Music #2" and a potential "Teaser Music #3" had three separate composers, each composer working on their own orchestral piece. As per Koji Kondo's comment in the Wired interview, he did the "music from the demo scene". If we are to assume the singular is correct here and it's not "demo scenes" (as in cutscenes) he meant, the two interview statements combined would mean that Koji Kondo did "Teaser Music #1". However, the HD Sound Selection credits both Koji Kondo and Mahito Yokota for "Teaser Music #1" (casually contradicting the Zelda.com information about three separate composers, too). As Aifread mused, the CD credits could mean that Mahito Yokota composed and arranged a synthesizer version of "Teaser Music #1" and Koji Kondo was only credited for the reuse of "Zelda's Theme" that was originally composed by him. But that would again contradict Kondo's combined interview statements which seem to confirm him as the sole composer. Furthermore, Mahito Yokota's statement in the Iwata Asks interview implies he was responsible for all Twilight Princess orchestral pieces (as composer or arranger?) and not just for one. Add to that the vague Wii and GameCube staff credits:

TEASER MUSIC ORCHESTRATION
MUSIC
Mahito Yokota

ARRANGEMENT
Michiru Oshima

What teaser music? "Teaser Music #1"? Or all three of them? Koji Kondo's Zelda.com interview implies that Michiru Oshima arranged all three pieces for orchestra. But having Mahito Yokota compose the base music for all three pieces would contradict both of Koji Kondo's interviews once more. Plus Michiru Oshima is credited again for ENDING MUSIC ARRANGEMENT (= "Teaser Music #2") in the HD staff credits. So the teaser music bit in the Wii and GameCube staff credits probably refers to just one piece, "Teaser Music #1".

Add to that Koji Kondo's sole credit for "Teaser Music #2" on the HD Sound Selection (again contradicting the statement about separate composers) and I really don't know what to believe anymore. Kondo also mentions in the Zelda.com interview that he had a chance to conduct a chorus for the recordings. A chorus is used in "Teaser Music #2" but not in "Teaser Music #1". Take that as you will.

And here comes the kicker. I found another comment in The 30th Anniversary The Legend of Zelda Game Music Collection (which only has "Teaser Music #1" on the disc but not "Teaser Music #2", mind you) that confuses matters even more:

"Teaser Music #1" was used in a movie when the title was first revealed to the public in 2004. The impressive graphics and music were praised by media the world over. This musical piece was used in the demo after the title screen in Twilight Princess and as the staff credits BGM added to the HD version Twilight Princess HD.

This is wrong on so many levels. The E3 2004 off-stage trailer sounds more like "Teaser Music #2" and not at all like "Teaser Music #1". It's correct that the demo scene after the title screen uses "Teaser Music #1" but the added HD staff credits use "Teaser Music #2" instead.

Taking all this into account, it could be that there was an internal numbering mistake on the orchestral pieces after all. This would mean that we can't trust the credits for the orchestral pieces anymore. At the very least I'm starting to doubt some information and the translation of Koji Kondo's interview on Zelda.com.

The booklet of the Nindori release of "Teaser Music #1" has a photo of Koji Kondo with some text next to it. I haven't given up hope just yet that this has more information on the composers of the orchestral pieces. If anyone can provide some higher-resolution scans, I'd be happy to translate the text.

I'll try to find the corresponding Nindori issue (Vol.136 of August 2005) in the library my own though it's not guaranteed it will have the CD with the booklet or any useful information in the magazine itself.

EDIT: I finally got around to check this issue out in the library. Page 97 and 98 are covers for the CD which you can cut out. And page 98 has liner notes by sound producer Koji Kondo. He confirms who composed "Teaser Music #1":
「私のサウンドチームで作曲、アレンジャーには、日本の映画で有名な大島ミチルさんという方にお願いしまし た。」
"My sound team composed it, and for the arrangement, I/we asked someone by the name of Michiru Oshima who is famous for her work on Japanese films."

So he flat-out confirms that he did not compose it. He mentions earlier, though, that he wanted to include Zelda's Theme in it. But I don't think he actually wove this into the track. So there you have it once and for all: "Orchestra Piece #1" / "Teaser Music #1" was composed by Mahito Yokota. It's safe to assume that Kondo did "Orchestra Piece #2" / "Teaser Music #2" as per the Sound Selection credits. The composer of "Orchestra Piece #3" / "Teaser Music #3" remains a mystery and we'll probably never get to hear that track (or they recycled it for a later Zelda game).