Joe Hisaishi has been a master of film scoring for upwards of 25 years, yet his wonderful music remains undiscovered by the majority of ardent film score fans – a true shame, given that most of his scores are easily as potent in their dramatic power and delightful in their thematic construction as the best scores by famous western composers. He has rightly been called by many the “John Williams of the Orient.”
Along with Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea and I Want To Be A Shellfish, Hisaishi penned yet another delightful score in 2008, one which has been sadly neglected by not only the film score community but also many fans of Hisaishi: it is called Okuribito, also known as Departures in English. Drenched with Hisaishi’s trademark charm and delicate orchestrations, and featuring a surprising amount of restraint, the score remains one of 2008’s hidden film score gems and an easy recommendation for any admirer of the music of Joe Hisaishi.
Rich Blend of Elements in Hisaishi's Scores
Hisiashi’s music has been likened to the music of famed Italian composer Ennio Morricone and, more recently, Alexandre Desplat. Indeed, such comparisons are not unjustified, for there is an undeniable elegance and compositional integrity common to each of these composers. But Hisaishi differs from those excellent artists in that his music always features a brilliant blend of several elements: rich orchestrations, memorable, highly-developed themes, and unique merging of western and eastern musical styles. The resulting auditory experience, on display in Departures as much as in any Hisaishi score, is always a rich and rewarding one, with extremely high replay value.
Beauty and Energy in Departures Soundtrack
Departures maintains a dramatic balance between slow, sustained string passages and sprightly waltz-like cues, although the former side of the score is definitely more prominent than the latter. Lively, thrillingly elegant cues such as “Gui – Dance” and “Okuribito – Ending” are welcome infusions of bouncing energy into a predominantly dramatic score. Even so, however, the cues featuring the score’s more emotionally intense passages are no less beautiful.
Wonderful Main Theme and Orchestrations
The surpassing beauty of the score is unmistakable: Hisaishi gives his primary theme a series of variations in lengthy cues which are simply stunning in their dreamy, exquisite loveliness. Featuring a large string orchestra with prominent roles for cello, piano and harp, the score fairly swoons with passion, and like all Hisaishi scores, the main theme (performed most often on sonorous solo cello) is instantly memorable and totally malleable. In such cues as “Ave Maria – Okuribito” and “Okuribito – Memory,” the main theme receives fully-rendered, gorgeous statements by the entire ensemble, with the aforementioned “Okuribito – Ending” finishing the album in extremely strong fashion.
Never throughout its many variations does the theme become tiresome or unattractive, and it maintains a fresh infectiousness in all of its appearances. It does not have the sprightly cheeriness of Hisaishi’s beloved Kikujiro soundtrack or his Studio Ghibli scores, but in this respect it greatly resembles Hisaishi’s other great drama score of 2008, I Want To Be A Shellfish, whose beauty and grandeur is similarly grounded in serious emotion.
Summary
In sum, Hisaishi’s output of 2008 has been capped off nicely with yet another masterpiece in the form of Departures, and the score is an extremely strong one by any measure. Hisaishi continues to entrance with his talent for conjuring up marvelous themes, his brilliant originality, and his rich orchestrations, and every new score written by him proves a thrilling experience: Departures is yet another prime example of Hisaishi’s outstanding excellence in his field, and it comes heartily recommended.
See also: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea Soundtrack Review and I Want To Be A Shellfish Soundtrack Review
 |
 |
