As usual, when I grow fond of a certain anime, I inevitably end up writing some piece of sheet music for it.  Here is my arrangement of the background music track “Melancholic Sana”, which contains a theme used quite often in the anime.

Sheet Music

Mp3 Recording (Doesn’t match the sheet music note for note)

The anime is of course, “Kodomo no Omocha”, Kodocha for short.

I’ve uploaded it both on youtube as well as in mp3 form right here.

The piece is primarily in an ABABA format.  It opens with the primary motif, which is based heavily on a flowing, arpeggiated progression up and down the minor pentatonic scale – played by the celesta in the opening portion.  This motif isn’t really “thematic” in its basic sense, but a repeating melody does exist – a short phrase which descends on the violins atop this texture (around 0:10 is where it makes its first appearance).  To me, it brings to mind the boats haphazardly moving atop the waves, which are themselves represented by the arpeggiated backdrop.  I suppose that there are many different ways to view Hokusai’s painting, some people would envision music that is purely destructive and violent.  I, however, think there is a gracefulness and elegance to the waves as well, and I wanted this to be represented in the composition.

Harmonically, the piece is based primarily on the pentatonic and whole-tone scales.   Both the main motifs are pentatonic in nature, but the transitions between them often traverse through the whole tone scale – an example, can be seen right when the first A section completes (around 1:30).  This leads to the section at around 2:00, which is an introduction to the melodic motif that will characterize the B section.  However, it is played in the whole tone scale and seems to build to a climax – before suddenly disappearing and being replaced by a graceful pentatonic theme on the flute.  The effect that I was trying to have was to seemingly build towards a harsh, whole-tone climax at 2:11, but instead subvert the expectation by introducing the gentler B theme at that moment of tension.

The development of this new theme reaches a climactic point at around 2:55, the waves crash down,  and we roll right into a powerful restatement of the A theme, now transposed up to F# Minor.  This tumultuous passage once again softens and we have a moment of calm at around 3:30 onwards.   The A theme repeats itself in this passage, though the execution is quite different now.  What we are leading to is the combination of both the A and B motifs into one final climax.  This occurs at around 4:20.  The B melody is repeated in a full forte by the violins, except the backdrop is now based around the minor pentatonic scale, with the harp replacing the celesta in sweeping up and down the scale.  When I was writing the climax, I didn’t want to just do a straight, violent, harsh passage.  I think there is a certain positive, majestic quality to the moment captured in Hokusai’s painting, something quite beautiful and not entirely violent, despite the fate of the boatmen.

My hope with this piece is that it will be the beginning of several compositions, all based around parts of Hokusai’s “Views of Mt. Fuji“.  I have to admit, though, that completing a piece like this takes so much time and effort that it will probably be a long, long time until the next one is finished.  Regardless, I’m fairly happy with the output of this one.

And here is my piano arrangement:

http://www.omohide.com/music/yasashisa.pdf

I will be uploading a full performance of the piece to my youtube account later, but for now, here’s a small, rushed, snippet of the opening:

http://www.omohide.com/music/yasaishisa.mp3

I really like the chord progressions in this one. The entire thing has a very youthful, optimistic tone to it, but those A-flat minor chords popping it add a nice bittersweet quality. A great way to end the film, and a song that really cheers me up whenever I hear it.

(Low quality montage of: The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, Memories of Gondoa, The Forgotten Robot Soldier, The Destruction of Laputa)

The original Laputa had about 30-35 minutes of score for its length of around two hours.  One of the things which stuck most in my mind when I first watched the film was the silence that was so prevalent throughout, including dramatic sequences that in Hollywood films would have exploited with plenty of bombastic music.  When Laputa was brought over for release in America, it was decided that the long stretches of silence might make American viewers uncomfortable.  Many will disagree, but in the end, the result was commissioning Joe Hisaishi to rescore the entire film, bringing the runtime up to about an hour of music.  There is a potential here for an endless debate about altering a classic film in such a way.  Some people will argue that the charm of the original is lost with this fresh symphonic score (which is a lot more sophisticated in composition, echoing Hisaishi’s current style, than the original).  Others will find it to be a welcome update to a dated score.

I’m not going to spend most of this review on this debate, instead I will evaluate this as a fresh Hisaishi composition rather than some sort of infringement upon my purist Ghibli tendencies.  As I always watch Ghibli films with their Japanese track, my experience and enjoyment of the film is not altered by this rerecording.  If there’s one noticeable change that disturbed me in particular, it was “Pazu’s Fanfare”.  In the original, Pazu gets up in the morning and plays his solitary trumpet on the rooftop as the camera pans across the mining town.  In the USA soundtrack, after a bar or two, his lone trumpet is suddenly joined by a phantom, nonexistent lyre for a duet in the corniest Disney tradition.  We can only be thankful the mining town doesn’t suddenly break out into song with Broadway accompaniment.

“The Girl Who Fell From the Sky” is the track that I think most of us were looking forward to the most.  This is the music which backs the opening credits with a lush, beautiful rendition of Hisaishi’s main Laputa theme.  The rerecording was worth it just to get our hands on this track.  Even though Hisaishi’s orchestration skills back in the Laputa days weren’t what they are today, his knack for melody is evident in this theme, which is my favourite Hisaishi melody – bittersweet, moving….just wonderful.  You can imagine how rewarding it is to hear it updated like this.

There is something of a secondary theme in the score which appears throughout the score.  We hear it first as a tinkling piano near the end of “The Legend of Laputa”.   It is a somewhat melancholic melody, very evocative.  It reappears in other tracks, such as “The Forgotten Robot Soldier”.  Despite the film having a heavy load of action and chase sequences, there are some very beautiful images and ideas throughout, such as the mentioned “Forgotten Robot Soldier” that the track represents.  You’ll notice that I’m not mentioning the action cues all too much, and that’s because action music doesn’t really interest me.  It’s these understated and bittersweet moments that really make both the film and the soundtrack shine.

“The Destruction of Laputa”, in the original film, was a piece for solo choir, and this version has been updated to be more dynamic and with a fuller orchestral accompaniment.  I’ve been tepid about direct comparisons so far, but this is one case where I do prefer the new version.  The emotion of the bittersweet theme in its expansive new rendition is just beautiful.  The juxtaposition of this choral piece with the crumbling and destruction of Laputa is also one of the most effective decisions Hisaishi/Miyazaki have ever made, music-wise.  My only complaint is that I still don’t feel like the Laputa theme is explored to its most dramatic orchestral heights in the score, even with this track.  Now, the presence of Kimi o Nosete, the closing song which makes full use of the main theme, could offset that, but it is not present on the U.S. score for whatever reason.

Let’s talk about Kimi o Nosete for a moment.  Without a doubt, this is one of my favourite songs from any Ghibli film.  It is so remarkably moving, tear-jerking, uplifting, and the lyrics are wonderful as well.  The song wouldn’t be complete, however, without the vocals of Azumi Inoue.  In her prime (AKA around the time of this recording), not only did she possess a crystal-clear, pure voice, but her own skills as a singer add so much to the song, which cannot be said for a lot of contemporary-style singers.  Just listen to the myriad of anime songs out there these days, would anyone notice if the generic pop singers were switched?  But the shape of her phrases, the passion of her chorus, her whispered variations on repeated lyrics (“chikyuu wa mawaru...”)….these are the marks of an artist.

If you are a Hisaishi fan, I couldn’t imagine why you would pass on this soundtrack.  We can argue about its use in the film all we want, but at the end of the day, you have about an hour of new Hisaishi material featuring one of his greatest melodies.  There’s really no reason to pass on this one.  I have to wonder, though, what the Japanese Hisaishi fans’ reactions to this rerecording have been.  Has it become a popular import?  Are they grateful for this new material?  Or is it a source of dissatisfaction, to see old classics tampered with for American rerelease?  Whatever the case, the soundtrack alone gets a definite recommendation from me.

#5 – Honey and Clover

The strange thing about this choice is that I think that I would have found this song irritating if I had heard it out of context.  Yet with Honey and Clover as a backdrop, everything about it seems to be a perfect fit, even Yuki’s slightly neurotic high pitched singing.  One of the nice things about this piece is how the vocals build up to a climactic instrumental (the moment with the soaring strings) instead of the other way, which is more typical in vocal music.

#4 – Haibane Renmei

Haibane Renmei’s OP, “Free Bird”, stands out pretty well in the crowd of uninspired pop openings of most anime series.  Here is an OP that not only isn’t pop, it isn’t vocal music at all.  It’s a short, Celtic influenced instrumental arrangement for guitar, violin, and a few other instruments.  And personally, I think that was a great choice for a show like Haibane Renmei.  Too bad no trend has appeared – I think a show like Seirei no Moribito could have used an instrumental opening instead of the vocal music….I just feel it would have matched the tone of the series a little bit better.  Musically, “Free Bird” can be just a tad repetitive due to the repeated use of the I-v chord change, but the use of it is really one of the things I like best about it, so I’m not complaining.

#3 – Planetes

Everything about this OP is well-done.  The song itself has a great feel to it – very motivational and inspiring, and it’s paired well with images on screen – the characters, astronomy-related images from history, and of course, space itself.  It all comes together perfectly.  It also reminds me of the intro theme to “Star Trek Enterprise”.  Now, I’ve actually never watched a single episode of any Star Trek series, but I do remember the opening theme to Enterprise quite well.  It did a somewhat similar – mixing a very uplifting song with shots of human achievement in astronomy.  I thought it was a good idea, but I believe fans of the show disliked it and preferred an instrumental opening like the other Star Trek series.  Well, I can’t blame them.

#2 – Maison Ikkoku

Obviously I’m not completely free of bias since Maison Ikkoku is one of my favourite series.  But what I really enjoy about the song is the combination of the somewhat sad lyrics with the music, which ends up giving the song something of a bittersweet tone.  It’s also a song which relates directly to the series it opens, instead of just being random pop music like a lot of anime.  The main chord progression of the chorus is a favourite: IV, V, iii, vi, ii, V, I.  The Japanese seem to love it too, since I can name quite a few other anime songs I’ve heard it used in.  The most current one is the OP from Kimi ni Todoke.

#1 – Elfen Lied

I don’t know if I’d call myself a fan of “Elfen Lied”.  There were certainly moments that really moved me but it had it’s share of elements I disliked.  But disregarding that, I don’t think I have ever heard an anime OP as well done as “Lilium”.  This is beautiful music.  My favourite moments are the first major chord in the chorus as well as the C section at 1:30.  Haunting.

A little bit of trivia – back when I was first getting into my digital music hobby, one of my first projects was to do a (mediocre) recreation of the music box version of Lilium.  I posted it on my Soundclick, had about four or five people ever listen to it, then forget about it.  During the course of looking up Lilium for this article, I noticed that someone actually uploaded my arrangement onto youtube (giving no credit to me) and that it has over half a million views.  Wow.  Of course, it sounds a bit amateurish to my ears now, but I won’t pretend I’m not a little bit peeved that someone did that without ever telling me and didn’t give any credit to me at all.  Regardless, I’m glad that people enjoyed it, however amateurish it was (listen to those strings at the end.  Ugh.)

Honourable Mentions:

Kimagure Orange Road – Night of Summer Side
Seikai no Senki

I’m alive, just very inactive.  Here’s my latest musical project, my own take on “Corridor of Time” from Chrono Trigger, a sort of “cover”, I suppose.  I think I did a nice job with the background upon which the melody plays, acoustic guitar and marimbas playing against a bed of percussion highlighted by the tablas (trying to keep the Hindu feel of the original).  I use a flute instead of a sitar because a sitar is just hard to fake and an obviously artificial one sounds somewhat “cheesy”.  Please excuse the egotistical piano solo injected in the middle, I could not restrain myself.

This really is a wonderful piece to work with, and it’s hard to make it sound anything less than good on the merits of the composition itself.  I do hope that I’ve contributed something, though, with this “remake” of it.  Enjoy!

Link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/theowne/videos/1/

Audio Link: http://www.omohide.com/music/Corridor%20of%20Time%20(www.omohide.com).mp3

Youtube Link: (Subscribe!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvDRdy5cGmM

I don’t really know what the words “Night of the Summer Side” means or what the intent of the lyricist was, nor do I care all that much for the background artists who start randomly interjecting with English lyrics.

“Orange Mystery” was the second OP for the series.  It’s fairly good as well.  However when they start pumping out phrases like “oh baby, baby, tell me that you need me” I start to turn it off.  Not really a fan of those kind of lyrics, which I guess bother me more since they’re in English and I understand them fully.

Of course, neither can compare with Kanishimi yo Konnichiwa, pleasant, bittersweet, meaningful, relevant to the story, a perfect compliment to the series it starts.  And naturally, it helps to be associated with an anime as great as Maison Ikkoku.

First, a rerecording of Arabesque No.1 by Claude Debussy.  My first video of this piece was done in 2007, so it’s been two years.  My approach to this piece hasn’t changed too drastically.  I take a very light and somewhat brisk pace, keeping the pedal relatively light throughout to discourage blurring.  Yes, it’s Debussy, but this an early Debussy piece that is charming and pleasant, and the patterns in both hands shouldn’t be lost in a harmonic mush.  The descending pentatonic figure that is basically the “theme” of the piece should be free to “flutter”.  The piece is in a familiar A B A format with a coda at the end, and I try to keep the A sections relatively straight in terms of tempo, allowing for some rubato in the right hand depending on phrase.

The B section is given a bit more freedom with free rubato and pauses between phrases.  The section at 1:28 is marked forte in the original score, if I recall correctly.  I typically take a “the score is law” approach, but I far prefer this phrase to be whispered in a delicate pianissimo, so I hope Debussy will forgive me for that change.  3:13 is the true climax of the piece despite its dynamics, and should be given a gentle character.

The Girl with the Flaxen Hair , Claude Debussy

One of Debussy’s simpler and more accessible pieces of music.  A great deal of it is played with soft dynamics, but it shouldn’t be played so gentle and slowly that it becomes a lament.  This is a nostalgic and sweet piece, and should be played with the youthful and innocent quality that embodies Debussy’s vision of the “Girl with the Flaxen Hair”.

I try to keep the opening light on the pedal.  Setting up the rhythm of the main melodic motif is most important, as it manifests itself numerous times later on.  0:58 is sometimes rolled, but I never do so.  In fact I hardly roll any chord in this piece.  1:10 is the climax.  Be careful not to rush, as it should be savored.  1:20 is a wistful reflection, a hushed pianissimo does wonders.  The ending I use in my video is not in the original piece.  I adapted it from the violin transcription by Heifetz.  I feel that it’s a delightful way to end this piece, though purists would probably despise it.

By the Lake at Wallenstadt, Liszt

Liszt is known for his majestic and difficult pieces such as La Campanella or his Hungarian Rhapsodies.  A lesser known aspect of his work were delicate tone poems like the one I perform here.

The opening phrases set the backdrop of small waves crashing gently onto the land, and you find yourself at Wallenstadt, looking upon the peaceful lake.  From the flowing water rises a gentle melody in the right hand.  I try to gradually increase the volume of this melody to give the impression of it having been there all along, alongside the waves.  The melody is repeated again, this time in octaves.  I try to resist the temptation of using drastic dynamics changes to keep interest.  The melody should be gentle all the way through.  At 0:54 is really where the character changes significantly.

Don’t be afraid of reaching fortissimo between 1:13 and 1:30, as it will make the gradual return of the initial melodic ideas afterwards so much more refreshing and familiar.  The same applies at 2:25 before the coda.  The final appearances of the main motif should be gentle and sweet.

Er, okay, that was a bit overdramatic, but it’s a bit hard to not get emotional when you watch over 500 musicians come together under the baton of Hisaishi Joe to perform the beautiful and evocative pieces of music from the greatest animated films of all time.  Hisaishi’s music won’t always satisfy listeners who are constantly searching for musical innovation or complexity, but they will satisfy by a mile anyone who is searching for music with sincerity and heart.  Beyond that, I can’t think of any other composer who can so effectively bring to music the nostalgia, wistfulness and childlike wonder we all retain within us even as we grow older.

The concert (well, the abridged video of it that I watched) begins appropriately with the music from Nausicaa.  It isn’t one of my favourite Ghibli films, but the haunting main theme suits it very well it’s beauty is accentuated by the followup from the Ritsuyukai choir.  Then comes the “Requiem” including that very memorable section where the children’s choir sings a melody, mouthing “la la la”…the familiar simple phrase, but quite a moving effect when combined with the orchestra.

The next score featured is one of my absolute favourites from Hisaishi and in my opinion, his most accomplished work.  That is Princess Mononoke, of course.  Here the pieces I am so familiar with are rearranged to include the choir.  It is a treat, as always, to hear the wonderful melody for Ashitaka rendered by the full orchestra.  Unfortunately, like many pieces in the concert, it is an abridged version.  The majestic orchestral swell is as powerful as ever, however, the unquestionably powerful effect of a Japanese-influenced melody brought to life through the orchestra.  The title song was also played, sung by the soprano, Masako Hayashi, who appears on stage between the children’s orchestra.  Her voice was crisp and clear, but the wonderful surprise came when the full choir joined in and brought the song to heights unattained in the original recordings.   This section of the concert was certainly my favourite.

The abridged renderings of the scores for Kiki, Porco Rosso, and Ponyo were all very good.  Ponyo definitely got a lot of “screen time” at this concert.  It does have some very beautiful moments, including what is, in my opinion, another absolute highlight of the show, and that is the rendering of “Rondo of the Sunflower House”.  I believe this song is from the image album and not the actual score…..regardless, it is in my opinion the best song associated with Ponyo, even surpassing the opening theme, “Umo no Okaasan”.  It has a simple and charming melody, but even better, is sung by Hisaishi Mai, the daughter of the composer.  If you’re afraid that this is a case of family preference trumping talent, you do not have to worry.  The gods of music ensured that Hisaishi’s daughter was given a remarkable talent for voice.  Her voice is as pure and beautiful as is her singing.  I consider her to be the best singer at this event.  (And I can certainly see the resemblance).

The score for Howl’s Moving Castle…..well done, but I don’t have much to say here because I’ve never been a big fan of the film itself and thus am not too familiar with the score.  The Spirited Away segment followed, and while I don’t understand the omission of the closing theme, “Itsumo Nando Demo” or any pieces from the score, there were other songs which were sung by a pop singer, Ayaka Hirahara.  The song itself was quite nice, but I’m afraid I simply don’t like her somewhat pop-oriented style of singing.  There just seems to be too much emphasis on stylizing the melodies instead of simply singing them and letting the beauty of the composition itself carry the performance.  I’m not sure how to write out my thoughts on this clearly, but perhaps some of you understand what I mean.  I find “purity” more impressive than “style” in this sort of singing.  That said, if you can get beyond that kind of singing, she has a nice voice and it was a good performance.

Next was the Totoro section, beginning with the sublime “Path of the Wind”.  Unfortunately this was cut short and does not last long at all, which was a heavy disappointment.  The concert organizers went all-out and arranged some beautiful visuals to accompany this piece, including bathing the ceiling in green forest-like imagery.  The music is cut short by the introduction of “Sanpo”, the iconic title music from Totoro.  This is a curious arrangement which brings in various members of the choirs as well as soloists at different points.  I didn’t think that the first half was very strong, but as the orchestra swelled and it grew to a grander scale, Hisaishi convinced me that this rearrangement was a good idea.

The show closes with the other iconic theme from Totoro, and a heavy applause from the audience.  But not only that, Miyazaki himself comes up from the audience with flowers for his long-time collabarator.  Here you can see the adoration and respect that the Japanese audience have for Miyazaki. Young, old, male, female, a grin breaks out on everyone’s face.  As he walks through the aisles, the people on either side have amusingly shocked reactions, their mouths open at the presence of Miyazaki near them, there is a loud visible “oooh” from the crowd, and the applause grows even louder.  This man truly is a legend.

Actually, the concert is not over.  There were two encores.  Unfortunately neither of them were presented in their entirety on the video that I have.  I was able to view the final half of “Ashitaka to San”, and it is an absolutely beautiful rearrangement which includes the heavenly children’s choir singing the melody.

One of the things I like most about this concert is watching Hisaishi conduct.  He is a no-nonsense conductor.  He does with a very steady hand movements and never makes overtly dramatic poses.  Furthermore, he is all smiles throughout the concert, and comes off as a genuinely nice and friendly person.

I am still on a search to a find recording of this concert, but until then, boy am I glad that I became aware of it’s existence.