"Howl's Moving Castle"
Composed by Joe Hisaishi
Audio Clip - Opening Title

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the works of Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi, I suggest you get yourselves a starter kit consisting of "Princess Mononoke" and "Spirited Away". After that introduction, you'll be ready for this very nice piece of work for "Howl's Moving Castle", which is based on the concept sketches for the forthcoming animated film.

This score is melodic and richly textured. Hisaishi creates a focused tapestry of music full of thematic playfulness and does so without relying on the piano as he usually does in nearly all of his scores. With the assignment at hand for this, I can compare the assignment to that of a composer being brought on to write the music for a video game. Its with this creative freedom that Hisaishi is able to explore many different musical moods in a very smooth manner.

Always with a romantic touch, "Howl's Moving Castle" reminds me a lot of "Spirited Away" and "Castle in the Sky". If you're a fan of either one of this discs, than I am certain you will find enjoyment with this.

Of particular curiosity to me, is to see how much this score will evolve once it is added to the film. I am sure Hisaishi will revisit this project when the production cut of the movie is in place to make any necessary adjustments.

The Final Score Note: This is an orchestral, freely moving soundtrack that will lead you on a colorful adventure.

Please note that this review is from an imported release, and features ten tracks. The track listing is in Japanese, therefore I am unable to spell out the titles.

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