The Legacy of Japanese Composers
Yoshihisa Hirano



Fugues, Chorales, Twelve tones and an onslaught of counterpoint in general... welcome to the astonishing music world of Yoshihisa Hirano, a composer that exemplifies that art and commerce are not contradictory categories. There’s no excuse for not pursuing the boundaries of recorded music composition and applying centuries-old musical experimentation with modern tendencies within media music. His approach to media scoring was once a possible approach in western media scoring as well, but is now almost completely gone thanks to safe-testing, lowest-common-denominator-seeking, for-profit humiliation of a once noble and artful profession that reached the deepest places of hearts and minds of thousands of people.

Thank the gods there's still one “western” industrial nation left that still conducts media scoring like yesteryear, while embracing modern tendencies, but never abandoning century-old cultural foundations of music.

For every media product of Japan, there’s at least the chance it receives a musical score that channels the very best musical traditions of long-gone musical eras and the complexity of musical academics. No other media composer on earth uses this chance like Yoshihisa Hirano. Every minute of his music is filled to the brim with interesting things going on that the average film music lovers and the 12 semester music academic can enjoy. Superficial is never the case with his music.

No composer is safe from exceptions of course, but he usually gives his media projects a distinct and unique musical identity, not unlike Taku Iwasaki, albeit a bit more unified in sound. He has MANY devices he loves to repeat in numerous works and yes, I’ll admit there’s quite an overabundance of Gregorian chants and baroque techniques but it NEVER is boring.

Most of his scores are recorded in a small studio and written for a chamber orchestra-sized ensemble, so keep that in mind. I would even go so far as to say that as an aspiring composer, you should study some of his scores as a masterclass of chamber composition and arrangement in media music. His use of percussion is also noteworthy and even worthy of study if you ask me. He trumps just about every other media composer alive in that field. Unfortunately, his only chance at a full symphony orchestra was as an arranger for Final Fantasy XIII. It’s a shame because he above all others should get the chance at a solo Warsaw score more than any other. His absolute mastery of the orchestra would be a blast to listen to with a full-sized orchestral ensemble.

Now diving into his body of work, of course everything is in FLAC if possible.

But before we begin, a toast (and rep) to tangotreats, nextday, Herr Salat and Akashi-san for providing certain scores in FLAC and saving me yet again the trouble of ripping cds:


Part I – Cacophonous Depths



Broken Blade (“Break Blade”) and Real Dive (“RD Sennou Chousashitsu”) are masterclasses in vocal writing and Hirano’s favorite devices appear at their strongest here as well. In essence Broken Blade is more fantasy than scifi, exemplified later in my collection, with a beautiful impressionistic love theme as a counter to the frantic heroic fanfares and apocalyptic bravado. Real Dive has sublime use of percussion and piano.

DEATH NOTE is perhaps his most popular work and the one that put him on many people’s radar. While the recording circumstances are tragic, the music itself is an instant classic, used in the show to tremendous effect. It’s a gothic horror masterpiece with masterful use of choir and brass.

Meine Liebe and Ouran Highschool Host Club are masterclasses of reinterpreting classical works (something Hirano loves to do) with one’s own voice. The results don’t need to hide behind the originals at all, they can sit right alongside them. Absolutely beautiful and putting a smile on my face every time. This excellent music should not be forgotten and is thankfully studied and applied by dozens of old and upcoming Japanese composers. But still beyond tragic that the place where it originated from seems to have no place for it anymore. This level of class can only be found in Japanese Late-Night-Anime, apparently.

Silk Boy Yuto is a fantastic score, using almost the whole Chinese repertoire with a bigger orchestral ensemble then what we are used to by Hirano. Much more brass heavy as well. Beautiful heroic themes and fanfares interplay with sublime Asian romanticism and baroque intersections.


Part II – Dissonant Adventure



Super Robot Wars OG –Divine Wars- is a furious tour de force of operatic orchestral bombast with some of my favorite action pieces from Hirano with much Christian kitsch. A precursor to Broken Blade and equally delicious.

HunterXHunter and Tanken Driland are a blessing. Both masterclasses of descending from carefree romantic adventure into atonal madness and terror. It’s almost unbelievable what he did for “children’s entertainment” . Many of my favorite Hirano compositions can be found in HxH and Driland, including the masterpiece of glooming terror “Theme of Kage” or the gorgeous happy-go-lucky Hero’s stroll “Adventure Princess”.

The Book of Bantorra is a cross of DEATH NOTE and Tanken Driland, continuing with gothic atmosphere and apocalyptic moments of dread, intersected by beautiful piano concerto moments. As usual, excellent usage of choir. Not his absolute best but still great music.


Part III – Introspective Atonality



Stormbringer is Hirano’s take on a superhero score… meaning much dissonance amidst heroic themes and bravado. Good stuff.

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de is a traditional film score with much Japanese flair. His usage of percussion is excellent as always and it’s full of lyricism and beauty. A nice change of pace.

Top Secret and his Hajime no Ippo scores are a departure from his usual trademarks in a sense. Sure, rock and Jazz were parts of his other works as well, but here they really come into their own. Sch�nbergian dissonance rock and jazz describes it best.
His beautiful string (quartet) and piano pieces are still here but the hectic, fast, rhythmic electronic chaos is dominant. Fascinating scores to say the least.

Pin to Kona shows Hirano’s adaptability. He is a master of a thousand styles, now playing the “TV drama” sound with such sincere intent you would not believe it’s him at first glance, but arrangement and typical devices give him away. But remember, many composer are struggling with being better than just achieving that drama sound, and Hirano plays this card with such effortlessness that it almost ridicules his peers.

The remaining scores are good carefree fun that put a smile on your face. Jazzy and quirky with much musical humor. Right now Hirano kind of dwells in this mode but I’m sure he will return full-force sometime soon. Bayblade was his major debut score, and it still holds up today but is nonetheless dwarfed by his following efforts.

Last year he was busy with two solo piano albums, and they are both excellent brain food. A treat for your synapses, one being a complex labyrinth and the other a more straightforward “flowery” expression.


Part IV – Discordant Appendix



Finally we have his arrangements for Final Fantasy XIII and a custom score I did for myself first and foremost many years ago: Dark Souls 2.

Hirano’s music really is magical (not in a pixie-dust kind of way but more in a Nimh-like way).



Composer Profile: Yoshihisa Hirano



Education: The Juilliard School of Music and Eastman School of Music (USA)

Occupation: Composer, Arranger, Orchestrator, Solo Artist

Similar Western Composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Arnold Sch�nberg

Style: Baroque, Classic, Modern


LINK IN DESCRIPTION (https://mega.nz/#!Y2ogXJiT!dNI8VoSRRRcHeYAo3iS5rhQ-RrXGbEYYPb45011pjqk)

Thank you for that collection!
I have one question : In your Dark Souls II custom playlist, would it be possible to know from where does "Wrath of the Ivory King" come from?

That would be Rex Tremaende from Tanken Driland.

OK, thanks for the info!

Thanks for the post! I'm really enjoying meeting and discussing each of those composers, and though I've known Hirano before from Hunter x Hunter and Death Note, this is the first time I listened to his work so extensively.

Also, this is just a side note, but I wouldn't really define any of his works as Romantic. While he gets somewhat close with some of his more passionate and adventurous tracks, his works never truly break away enough from the classical repertoire to capture the theatrical qualities that are often implied from the Romantic movement. What is the logic behind him being defined as that?

Yes you're right. Romantic is definitely not the word to describe Hirano. At least not by the historic music term. I mentioned it more in regards to "Japanese romanticism" in his Harukanaru Toki no Naka and other works and his recent drama sound that tries to be more contemporary. But its best to not use it to describe his body of work.

I've said it in another thread but these descriptions are more overview than true analysis. And sometimes I make mistakes ;) Afterall, nobody else on the planet sounds like Hirano.

To be fair, the way he intermixes more classical techniques with a few post-classical techniques (definitely not modern though) kind of reminds me of Rachmaninoff in a way, which is as romantic as it gets. So there might be value to this comparison.

host club? i din know! wow...hahahahah.... to me, i feel its a bit dfren than his other music... cool
thanks for sharing

I don't get it, what is this custom dark souls 2 soundtrack?

Wasn't that by sakuraba? Sorry i'm confused cause i don't see hirano credited anywhere in the dark souls soundtracks

It's just an alternate soundtrack for the game I use when playing it. I remastered Hirano's music to sound more "big" and I also wanted to show that his music is really suited for Dark Fantasy games (shame he only worked on FF13).

DEATH NOTE is perhaps his most popular work and the one that put him on many people�s radar. While the recording circumstances are tragic, the music itself is an instant classic, used in the show to tremendous effect. It�s a gothic horror masterpiece with masterful use of choir and brass.

What happened during the recording sessions? I loved Death Note, didn't focus so much on the music but moreso the story and that friggin' ending (hate it so much I still can't stand it :p).

You can hear "clicking sounds" in the recording which is something that should never ever happen.

Huge thanks for putting everything together! I loved his work on Hunter x Hunter and Death Note... he added a ton to those already great shows!


You can hear "clicking sounds" in the recording which is something that should never ever happen.

I noticed that as well... Those "tics" sound like a metronome, but I have no clue how they ended up in the music recording.
Was it due to the circumstances of his involvement? Like, was he hired last-second to replace some of Hideki Taniuchi's music?

Man, why is it so impossible to find Hajime no Ippo tracks in lossless

Vinphonic, I have a question about your Custom soundtrack for Dark Souls 3. But first I really thank you for this custom which helped me to create the atmospher I need, while playing the game.

And my question: What's the name of track you choose for Medir boss battle (Medir I and Medir II) and who is composer of this track?

Late response:

Those noises in Death Note aren't metronomes.

I've no idea what they are, but they're definitely not metronomes; the score in general is mastered badly, but the clicking noises are through the roof in Domine Kira. It's a big, big shame.

Metronomes do show up in scores from time to time, though - the best example I can think of is in Sahashi's Gundam Seed. This cue particularly:

https://picosong.com/wQY87/

There it is right from the beginning; tick, tick, tick, tick... Not sure what it's doing in the recording - most scores of this nature would be recorded with a click-track playing in the musicians ears to aid sync, but this sounds like an actual physical metronome sitting there in the recording studio with the orchestra.

Odd. :)

Now I'm sad cause I remember Sahashi's Ultra Brothers :(


@suro-zet: That would be the anime Chain Chronicle by Masato Coda.

@suro-zet: That would be the anime Chain Chronicle by Masato Coda.

Thank you for your reply :)