Welcome to the ZREO Archive

About ZREO

ZREO — short for Zelda Reorchestrated — was one of the most celebrated fan music projects in video game history. From the mid-2000s through the early 2010s, a dedicated community of composers and musicians transformed the iconic soundtracks of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series into sweeping, full orchestral arrangements, released entirely free of charge for non-commercial use.

Where the original game soundtracks were constrained by the hardware of their era, ZREO reimagined them without limits. Rather than a live orchestra, the team used the same production approach as top industry composers — songs written in MIDI and performed by high-end virtual instruments from studios including Spitfire Audio, EastWest, Vienna Symphonic Library, Cinesamples, Audiobro, 8DIO, Project SAM, and Soundiron. Full string sections, brass, woodwinds, choir, and percussion breathed new life into compositions by Nintendo legends like Koji Kondo and Hajime Wakai — and the results were often indistinguishable from the real thing.

The Albums

Over the course of its run, ZREO produced 21 albums spanning the full breadth of the Zelda series — from the chiptune themes of the original Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link through to Skyward Sword. Each album approached its source material as a complete orchestral work, not just a medley — individual tracks were arranged with the care of a film score, with motifs developed, varied, and reprised across the album.

Alongside the game-specific albums, ZREO also produced the ambient Soundscape trilogy — three volumes of atmospheric, meditative arrangements suited for study or quiet listening — and Battlescapes, a collection of the series' most intense boss and combat themes recast for a full orchestra. Open Symphony drew from contributions across the wider community, opening the project beyond its core team.

Twilight Symphony

ZREO's magnum opus was Twilight Symphony — an extraordinarily ambitious full orchestral retelling of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. A multi-year labour of love, Twilight Symphony featured over 50 tracks and was widely regarded as one of the finest video game fan music projects ever produced. Its scale, emotional range, and production quality drew comparisons to professional game soundtracks, and its release was celebrated across the gaming and fan music communities alike.

About This Archive

When the original ZREO website — ZREOMusic.com — went offline, its music became increasingly difficult to find. This archive exists to preserve ZREO's catalogue and ensure these recordings remain freely accessible. All 21 albums are available to stream in your browser and download as MP3 or OGG, in keeping with the original ZREO free-use terms.