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Welcome to Intermezzo from Interlochen Public Radio, where we take a few minutes to bounce some ideas around about classical music.
This week, Christy L'Esperance and her co-host Isaac talk about the wonderful worlds within Studio Ghibli movies — classic animated works with timeless characters and stories — through selections of the film scores, composed by Joe Hisaishi! We'll check out music from a different film each day.
Today, we'll begin with a film defined by its creatures — "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988).
There's a section of Joe Hisaishi's score to My Neighbor Totoro titled “The Path of the Wind.” This is one of the main themes and it plays during travel sequences. It's kind of the glue for the connection between Mei and Satsuki and nature — especially the magical forest spirits.
The girls are going through a challenging time, with a mom who's sick and a move to a new home. They find comfort during these physical and life journeys in the natural world and their own creative imaginations, and this music is a reminder of that theme when it appears.
Joe Hisaishi - "The Path of the Wind"
Catbus and Totoro
This week's Mystery Melody
It's time to test your ears. Each week we have a mystery melody that we have to figure out together. It relates to our topic. (We'll make the melody less mysterious each day.)
If you know the mystery melody, text your name and the title and we’ll give you a shout out on Friday. The number to text is (833) 490-4718.
