Forest Maze (Super Mario RPG) | Sheet Music, MIDI & More!
With the remake of Super Mario RPG, enjoy an orchestral cover for one of its classics, the Forest Maze by Yoko Shimomura - complete with sheet music & parts!
If you're after the sheet music, score, XML or MIDI for Forest Maze from Super Mario RPG, you can find links here!
This includes individual part scores for:
Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Cor Anglais
Bassoon I. II.
Contrabassoon
Horn in F I. II.
Trombone I. II.
Tuba
Suspended Cymbal
Triangle
Glockenspiel
Xylophone
Marimba
Harp
Choir (SA)
Violin I
Violin II
Viola
Violoncello
Contrabass
If you are one of my Patrons, you can now find the MIDI, XML, SIB files, as well as stems and multitracks I created for this transcription now available to download from your Patreon Google Drive folders!
Arranger's Note:
Although the original track was scored in C♯ minor, I took the decision to transpose this to D minor to make the arrangement significantly easier to read and to play.
Therefore, the track opens in D minor (D-F-A) before quickly jumping to the subdominant in a major key (G major; G-B-D). This "minor tonic to major subdominant" progression is the definition of the "Dorian" mode (D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D), a scale including a raised 6th (here, the B). The use of this mode invokes an "exploration of the unknown" aesthetic.
This drops down to F major (F-A-C), before rising back up to G (G-B-D) and followed by a perfect cadence into C major (C-E-G). Here, we could have easily returned back to the opening tonic of D minor. But Shimomura subverts our expectation and instead drops down into B♭ major (B♭-D-F) - now the flattened 6th (B♭) which negates the previous Dorian mode. Quite the maze of harmonies going on here!
This steps back up to C, giving us ample access to our tonic of D minor through a tertiary modulation to the dominant, A major (A-C♯-E), allowing a perfect cadence back into D (A to D).
Throughout this opening phrase, the general articulation is that of "bounce"; presented here with numerous staccato notes in both the melody and accompaniment, bolstered by the plucky pizzicatos of the strings. This material largely repeats at 0:12, with the melody taken over by the flute & violins, and a countermelody in the Cor Anglais.
By 0:22, we enter the B section with a darker instrumentation of bassoons, horns and middle strings taking the melodic role. On top of this, the marimba and xylophone decorate the harmony with upward arpeggios. Harmonically, we remain in D, but drop down to C minor (C-E♭-G), before stepping back up into D - now in major form (D-F♯-A) - and with added notes (C & E♭), creating a D major-minor 9th chord (D-F♯-A-C-E♭). This chord acts as a new dominant to allow a modulation into G minor (0:33; G-B♭-D).
Here, we have a recapitulation of the opening material, now in the subdominant key and with additional horn accompaniment. As this material repeats a 2nd time (0:42), Shimomura develops the idea to drop down to the submediant (here, E♭) rather than continuing the usual Dorian progression - a nice subversion of expectations. This little subversion is repeated once more (0:47), with the regular phrasing extended for an additional 2 bars (0:53) as we modulate to G major rather than G minor in preparation for our return to the D Dorian mode which swiftly follows.
Although with the release of the Super Mario RPG remake, Shimomura has now re-orchestrated this themselves, I did not have access to this version before making this video. So I took various creative liberties in orchestrating this, hopefully somewhat similarly to the choices Shimomura made.
