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.
I’ll start off this post with a link and video. When I really enjoy a film or series, and I also happen to enjoy the music and/or identify it strongly with the work in question, I typically feel compelled to write sheet music for it. Maison Ikkoku is certainly no exception. So here is some sheet music for a piano arrangement of “Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa”.
Now, let’s continue on to the general music review. Maison Ikkoku is an older series, so the music may sound a bit outdated at times. For example, there are several string pieces that I think are quite good compositions but the older recording gives them a somewhat harsh quality. But the melodies retain a…..
Sample clips montage (lowered quality) : “Hinata Inn Theme” , “Hinata Hot Springs Station” , “Serious”
Regardless of whether you like Love Hina or not, listening to this symphonic score will make you realize how sad it is that most anime series don’t seem to have large music budgets.Many of them toss some synths and piano solos into the background and call it a day.As a show, Love Hina is as divisive as a series can get.Some people swear by it and call it the greatest anime ever, while some people consider it a worthless extended fanservice scene (stretched through 25 episodes).I’m not going to get into that debate about the show itself in this post.What I am going to do instead, though, is praise the absolutely fantastic symphonic soundtrack (score) which was produced for the second……(continued)
“Angels in America” is a miniseries by HBO which is based on a play written by Tony Kushner. It revolves around the various relationships of a group of people during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.Without explaining the plot, let me just say that it is indeed quite an odd show.This adjective is also commonly used by his critics to describe Thomas Newman’s music – what a coincidence.
“Angels in America” seems like the perfect project for Newman. It is a drama at its core, but with quirky aspects to numerous scenes and characters.Thus, while Newman’s dramatic side can shine, he also brings his more unique side (such as in “American Beauty”) to the table, but on a larger scale, effortlessly merged with the orchestra…continued)
Username: Theowne Real Name: Prasanth Interests: Studio Ghibli, French classical music, mathematics and physics, piano, Japanese language/poetry, Indian classical music. Occupation: Computer Engineering Student Location: Toronto, Canada
Contact: Feel free to strike up a convo at " theowne [AT] gmail [DOT] com. Omohide?: The old spelling of omoide, meaning "memories". It is pronounced "o-mo-ee-day", and is inspired by the film "Omohide Poroporo".
