Hear today's full episode by clicking "Listen" above or find "Intermezzo" from your favorite podcast app.
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.
So far we've heard how the emotional impact of Joe Hisaishi's scores have helped drive plot themes in "My Neighbor Totoro," "Kiki's Delivery Service," and "Spirited Away." Today we'll look at Howl's Moving Castle, a Japanese anime film directed by Hayao Miyazaki and scored by composer Joe Hisaishi in 2004.
One of Joe Hisaishi's most popular songs is in this film. "Merry-Go-Round of Life" is a waltz that makes you feel like you're on a spinning carousel — that constant change of view corresponds with the ever-changing moving castle. It's lighthearted, like the magic in the film, but is contemplative at the beginning, inviting you to look into the deeper themes.
Joe Hisaishi - "Merry-Go-Round of Life"
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.
