There is no instrument that has dominated the soundtrack scene quite like the pianoforte. If you think about it, it’s not really that surprising. Practically thinking, using a piano cuts labor costs – whereas it would normally take around five violinists (or ten piccoloists, but no one wants to listen to that many piccolos anyway) to sound ten different notes at once, one pianist can handle that, no sweat. But that’s beside the point. With a clear and crisp tone that can duplicate the delicate shimmering of bells or summon an impassioned thundering of notes, the piano is truly beautiful in its own right.
Since anime is also awesome and this post is on an anime music blog, I have to connect my obsessing over the instrument to anime somehow. That’s where notable piano solos in anime come in. Below are ten tracks (in no particular order) that I believe represent the best of piano in anime BGM. Before someone asks me “where’s Hisaishi’s ‘One Summer’s Day’, ‘Ashitaka and San’, ‘Sixth Station’, etc. etc..?”, let me clarify. When I said solo, I meant it literally. I know that a solo can still have an accompaniment, but to prevent myself from being overwhelmed by the sheer number of options, tracks with anything other than piano weren’t considered. With that cleared up, let’s get started! [Read more...]
