Princess Mononoke: Music from the Motion Picture

Princess Mononoke: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to Hayao Miyazaki's 1997 film, Princess Mononoke. The music was composed and performed by Joe Hisaishi, the soundtrack composer for nearly all of Miyazaki's productions, and Miyazaki wrote the lyrics of the two vocal tracks, The Tatara Women Work Song and its title song. The music was performed by Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Hiroshi Kumagai. The soundtrack was released in Japan by Tokuma Japan Communications on July 2, 1997, less than two weeks before the film came out. It was later released in North America by Milan Records on October 12, 1999.

Most tracks are identical, except for the main theme song heard at the end of the movie, which has been translated to English. A longer edit of the song, heard in the middle of the movie and featured on track 20 of the Japanese edition, has been dropped from the English edition. The Japanese version of the theme is sung by counter-tenor Yoshikazu Mela, while the English translation is sung by Sasha Lazard. The soundtrack has also been released in France, in its original Japanese form.

As usual with Studio Ghibli movies, additional albums featuring soundtrack themes in alternative versions have been released. The image album features early versions of the themes, recorded at the beginning of the movie production process, and used as source of inspiration for the various artists involved. The symphonic suite features longer compositions, each encompassing several of the movie themes, performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mario Klemens.

Tracklisting

 * 1) "The Legend of Ashitaka" – 1:39
 * 2) "The Demon God" – 3:51
 * 3) "Departure - To the West" – 2:33
 * 4) "Demon Power" – 0:36
 * 5) "The Land of the Impure" – 2:59
 * 6) "The Encounter" – 0:53
 * 7) "Kodamas" – 2:27
 * 8) "The Forest of the God" – 0:41
 * 9) "Evening at the Ironworks" – 0:39
 * 10) "The Demon God II - The Lost Mountains" – 0:57
 * 11) "Lady Eboshi" – 2:48
 * 12) "The Tatara Women Work Song" – 1:30
 * 13) "The Furies" – 1:28
 * 14) "The Young Man from the East" – 1:25
 * 15) "Requiem" – 2:22
 * 16) "Will to Live" – 0:32
 * 17) "San and Ashitaka in the Forest of the Deer God" – 1:39
 * 18) "Princess Mononoke Theme Song (Instrumental Version)" – 2:08
 * 19) "Requiem II" – 2:14
 * 20) "Princess Mononoke Theme Song" – 3:32 (not in the English release)
 * 21) "Battle Drums" – 2:47
 * 22) "The Battle in Front of the Ironworks" – 1:26
 * 23) "Demon Power II" – 2:30
 * 24) "Requiem III" – 0:55
 * 25) "Retreat" – 1:31
 * 26) "The Demon God III" – 1:14
 * 27) "Adagio of Life and Death" – 2:09
 * 28) "The World of the Dead" – 1:27
 * 29) "The World of the Dead II" – 1:33
 * 30) "Adagio of Life and Death II" – 1:07
 * 31) "Ashitaka and San" – 3:12
 * 32) "Princess Mononoke Theme Song" – 1:23
 * 33) "The Legend of Ashitaka Theme (End Credit)" – 5:03

Additional Facts

 * In 2009, award winning vocalist Jade Valerie, together with violinist Emiri Miyamoto, sampled the composition of "Princess Mononoke Theme Song" for the song "Crashing Down", for the project and album, Saint Vox.