Listening to composer Joe Hisaishi‘s music is amazing in itself, but there’s even more depth when you watch the master himself at work. Today, we’re checking out his performance and the music for “One Summer’s Day” from the 2001 Oscar-winning film “Spirited Away.”
The piece is celebrated for its lush harmonies and evocative orchestral arrangement that features the piano. One listen and you’ll understand why.
Hisaishi has scored over 100 films, with many knowing him for providing the musical heartbeat to Studio Ghibli films directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Even among the soundtracks for “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Princess Mononoke,” and “Howl’s Moving Castle,” the song “One Summer’s Day” stands out as a favorite among audiences. (As of this article, it’s been streamed on Spotify over 98 million times.)
Hisaishi captures your imagination from the very first notes, so let’s analyze the first four chords.
“One Summer’s Day” begins with four rolled chords on the treble staff, beginning with a Fmaj9. The notes of the chord are F, A, C, E, and G, but the way the composer voiced the notes makes all the difference: he builds the chord with stacks of fourths and fifths.
In the left hand, we have the root of the chord, F, and the fifth, C. In the right hand, he continues the chord with A and E, which are a fifth apart and create the third and seventh of the chord. Spreading the root, third, fifth, and seventh out like this gives the chord an open, airy quality while retaining the bright quality of a major 7th chord.
The 9th is a chord extension, meaning it builds the chord out further than the 7th. In the key of F major, the 9th is G. The 9th is an interval that often feels unresolved, but not in an overtly dissonant way. It evokes an air of mystery or longing, and Hisaishi places it in the middle of the voicing, creating a small cluster of notes that contributes to the emotional ambiguity.
The next chord is another 9th chord: Cmaj9/E. Again, Hisaishi uses fourths and fifths to create an open sound, but this time he puts the third, E, in the bass. Putting the third of a chord as the bass note in a voicing is called First Inversion. This gives the chord a smoother bass line as the progression continues.
The third chord of “One Summer’s Day” is a Bbmaj9/D. It has exactly the same voicing as the previous chord and continues the bass line walking down the scale.
So far, everything has been in the key of F. We began on the tonic (Fmaj9), moved to the V chord (Cmaj9), and then the IV chord (Bbmaj9). The fourth chord is what really grabs your attention.
It’s a Bm11/C#. This adds another chord extension called the 11th. The notes in the chord are B, D, F#, A, C#, and E. Half of those notes don’t belong to F major, creating a jarring aural sensation. The chord is also built completely by stacking fourths, starting with C# in the bass.
Joe Hisaishi tells an entire story with just four chords, proving again what a masterful composer her is. Take a listen and follow along with the sheet music for “One Summer’s Day” by Joe Hisaishi.
