streichorchester:
Yoko Kanno Action Music, Analysis Part 1 (Source (
Thread 57893)) - mega.nz (
https://mega.nz/#!vtYxwTzC!Nk90l_UGAmN5f-2-EJPjiCEvxN6ePor1-CoNyhWuTfE)
Yoko Kanno Action Music, Analysis Part 2 (Source (
Thread 57893)) - mega.nz (
https://mega.nz/#!y1B0haIa!Rt2NA9UMR_oGmfbABBUt1n5KDF16yfoCdjOMjjWX-FI)
�Vision of Escaflowne Movie - 04. Into GAEA (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2nriKVqaGk):
This piece begins with an a cappella rendition of Sora, a theme Kanno introduced Escaflowne for the release of the movie. The "Sora" theme from Escaflowne has an interesting backstory, so you might want to sit down. In 1991 Kanno had a concert performance of a non-soundtrack work entitled "The Creation" based on the Biblical stories of The Creation, The Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark, and The Tower of Babel. It is the only orchestral concert performance of non-soundtrack work she's ever had. This, along with her non-soundtrack, semi-religious album "Song to Fly," actually leads me to believe Kanno might be a Christian. Unsurprisingly at the opening of The Creation there was a major ripoff of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe ballet, but it seems odd that more than half of the work is dedicated to duets between piano and solo wind instruments with the orchestra just sitting there. There was no chorus, no huge show pieces for me to analyze, a seemingly non-existent brass section, and nothing to indicate Kanno would later go on to write things like Escaflowne except for a small theme that appears in a saxophone-piano duet in the fifth movement. This was the origin of the "Sora" theme note for note (see Tower of Babel), chord for chord, later to be heard amidst the Prokofiev-ian orchestral sets in the Escaflowne movie OST.
Ignoring for a second that someone with such mastery over the orchestra as Kanno chose to write an amateurish, very un-classical-like tone poem for an early public performance and CD pressing, I have to wonder how this opportunity come along for Kanno? Most of her fans are unaware of this work (the CD is considered a rarity) and it had no implications on her career to speak of. What exactly its purpose was and why it is only vaguely reminiscent of Kanno's later brass-heavy, chromatic action styles is a continuing mystery. At the time she had no fanbase to please, so my theory is that it is a student composition, or something she wrote for a credential that she chooses to keep hidden. It really does sound like something a student of composition/orchestration would write for graduation (as I did); complete with a mixture of solo writing, chamber writing, orchestral writing, and a reference to her favourite composer Maurice Ravel. The movements seem unrelated and there is no flow between them. If I had to guess I'd say each movement was a separate piece and simply a part of her student composition portfolio, later to arranged into this single concert work.
But it's by some divine miracle that Kanno chose to utilize the Sora theme for Escaflowne since it is a good theme and it works well with chorus. The Into GAEA track actually begins with the theme in a monotone rhythm, constantly hinting at it until 1:02 where it is then actually heard in its entirety. At 1:30 the chorus builds to a nice climax reminiscent of Vaughan Williams's Dona Nobis Pacem. Unfortunately, at 2:19 the entire ending is almost a note-for-note plagiarism of Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky (Battle on the Ice.)
For the Sora theme itself, it's kind of like Zoltan Kodaly's Romanian song Sz�p k�ny�rg�s (Beseeching) which are both performed by an a cappella chorus. Was this the original source of the tune, first heard with saxophone and piano, then later in its original choral construct? Again, it is a mystery.�
