Transcultural Musical Encounters / 1: Jō Hisaishi and Yūji Nomi. Variation, Citation, and Emulation

This chapter is a discussion on the postmodern attitude that gives way, in Japanese animation, to musical scores based on multilayered systems of genres and forms. When an animated production needs a symphonic sound, composers usually borrow techniques and excerpts from the European classical repertoire. But, even though they are so widely exploited, the goal-oriented forms of the European symphonic language are not automatically applicable to the styles of Japanese animation. Moreover, the former do not fit well into the latter’s typical musical production process, which usually asks for an “image album”: a collection of preliminary music based on pre-production materials and art. Symphonic pieces in Japanese animation are variations on the image album music, which, in turn, often variates on borrowings from the western repertoire. This shift is described, in the chapter, through the works of two famed composers: Jō Hisaishi, whose scores for Hayao Miyazaki’s films are largely based on music that was first written in a somewhat concert-like form, and Yūji Nomi, who bases his variation routines on 20th-century neoclassicism.