Ben Emberley
Composer / Conductor / Arranger Orchestrator / Organist
Composing is a big part of my love of music; I have been composing for over 20 years, and my output consists of Organ works, String Quartets, Piano Sonatas and Choral pieces. Although my main form of composition is contrapuntal, the ability to create sounds and experiment with different musical ideas is a skill I have always valued. I can compose music ranging from a solo instrument to a full orchestra, across a wide variety of genres and styles.
One of the ways to help bring my music to the world is to perform it, i.e. to conduct an orchestra, and this is a skill that I cam constantly learning, having studied it at University, I am furthering my studies with Conducting Teacher Peter Stark..
Orchestration is a really curious and exciting aspect of creating music as you’ve literally got the World at your feet. It’s like painting, but with notes – each instrument is like a shade of a colour on an artist’s Palate, and the many different instruments, and the countless ways they can be played offer an infinite possibility of sounds one could create. In my time at University, my Orchestration projects were focussed on medium to large Orchestras. The excitement of having limitless possibilities and the potential that this discipline has is one of the most endearing and appealing things in music.
When I had been to see the Legend of Zelda – Symphony of the Goddesses Concert for about the third time, I was so impressed and overcome with the whole idea (it is such an incredible idea to take Video Game music, arrange it for Orchestra and then to have it performed as a formal music Concert! It’s a really powerful testament to how important the role of music is in making a good game), that I decided I wanted to be a part of it, but had no idea how to get into the Musical scene. So, I decided to start writing a piece of my own: A Symphonic Poem called “The Creation of Hyrule”, that was part composition, part arrangement of the countless songs and tunes that define The Legend of Zelda Series. It took me just over a year to complete the 55-minute long work. After determining the size and dimensions of the Orchestra, spending months on transcribing the various tunes I wanted to use, and with a few tweaks and manipulations to the score, adding to it a somewhat contrapuntal nature, I succeeded in creating an epic piece of music that told the story of the Creation of the world of Hyrule, and the ensuing story behind the whole of the series.
After presenting some excerpts of the score to the Producers, I was asked to meet their Producer the next time the Concert came to the UK, where I had written yet another piece, a Symphonic Movement for Skyward Sword. This led to me living my dream of providing music that was performed in the Symphonic Concert, and was one of the most fulfilling and joyous moments of my life. I hope that this can be the start of a long and wonderful journey into a magnificent and glorious venture.