Fantasia on Merry-go-Round of Life by Joe Hisaishi (from Howl's Moving Castle) for guitar

Fantasia for classical guitar “The Wizard” on Merry-go-Round of Life (from Howl’s Moving Castle) by Igor Sirotinsky/Joe Hisaishi.

Big thanks to Jacob Ramos for his commission and inspiration to undertake this project. And special thanks to Historische Huizen Gent, Museum Hotel d’Hane Steenhuyse (Ghent), and Mr. Frédéric De Schryver.

This is Part One of my most extensive work to date—an 8-part Suite loosely based on the themes from Studio Ghibli’s 2004 animated feature, ‘Howl’s Moving Castle.’

The first movement is a set of variations on the main theme from the film. I aimed to capture the world of wonder, wizardry, and magic, offering a musical portrait of one of the main protagonists of the story—Wizard Howl.
The entire suite can be best described as Musical Illustrations, a musical journey through the enchanting world created by Miyazaki and Diana Wynne Jones, the writer of the original novel upon which the film is based. Each movement draws inspiration from a scene or character in the story.

The music begins with an Introduction, inspired by the opening scene from Studio Ghibli’s ‘Howl’s Moving Castle,’ where the Walking Castle, Howl’s magical home, makes its first appearance. A steampunk-inspired Castle emerges from the mist, gradually revealing its intricate moving parts and mechanisms. The music mirrors the Castle’s movement with slow, heavy chords resembling steps and fast, repetitive harmonics conveying clockwork movements of gears and wheels.

The main section starts with an intro based on the elements of the descending sequence from the original short introduction, utilizing recognizable elements and motives from the main theme.

I introduce the main theme in a varied way, adding extra melodic lines in other voices.

It is followed by Variation I.

The ‘refrain’ undergoes significant changes from the original version too, infusing it with more energy to create a drastic contrast with the first theme.

After the B section of the theme, a bridge follows, serving as my second version of the descending sequence of repeated note patterns from the original intro.

Variation II closely follows Hisaishi’s own variation of MgR from the ‘walking in the air’ scene, where Howl holds Sophie, and they both fly above the town.

The next B section incorporates melodic and harmonic alterations compared to the previous version, modulating to a new key of C♯ minor.

Here begins the second significant block of variations in C♯. Each time, I introduce new melodies, but all are related to the MgR theme and incorporate elements from the main theme.

The third bridge is a yet new version of the original intro theme. This time, I use harmonics once again as a musical element to evoke the magical atmosphere of the Castle.

It is followed by a return of the version of MgR from the beginning, marking the start of the pre-last block of variations.

Theme A is followed by a new B section, similar to its previous version before the C♯ minor block. This time, it briefly modulates to D♯ minor before returning to the original key of G♯ minor. I then interrupt it with a new theme of my own before reaching a short cadenza.

The cadenza serves as yet another bridge, this time to the final set of variations in various keys that forms its own inner arch: g♯, g♯, f, G♯, g♯.

The last variation is closely related to one of the original variations by Hisaishi himself. It calms and slows down the flow of music, leading to the Coda.

The coda is the last iteration of the MgR theme, split between two voices in the form of call-and-response. I aimed to evoke one last time a sense of magic at the end. To bring an arc to the beginning, I repeat the opening MgR motif in a new, more unstable form, resulting in a modulation to D♯ major before the music ends, similar to how it was done in the original.

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