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The use of classical music in anime, television and television works is extremely common, and even in the subculture of Japanese acg culture, the footprints of classical music can be seen everywhere. In the world of the second dimension, classical music intervenes mainly in two ways. First, as the main elements of the plot and human setting, such as "Symphonic Lover's Dream", "Blowing the Bass Horn on the Bar", "April is Your Lie", etc., the story revolves around the orchestra, performers and music students who are closely related to classical music. Second, as background music, typical such as "Legend of the Galactic Heroes", many famous fragments of classical music are selected, and the sound source is often from the classic recordings of world-famous orchestras and conductors. In the interaction between classical music and two-dimensional culture, anime works quote scriptures and borrow the artistry and symbolism of classical music to lay out the plot direction and character psychology; and the traditional art form of classical music also has the opportunity to reconstruct its own connotation in the emerging cultural space.
However, this cultural interaction across time and space is not as easy as people think. Using classical music as an anime soundtrack is somehow more difficult than creating a soundtrack specifically for anime. Most of the classical works have been precipitated by history, shouldering too many cultural symbols, how to integrate these classic melodies into the two-dimensional plot without violating the sense of harmony requires repeated consideration by the soundtrack. The more common practice is fragmentation, where certain fragments of classical works are briefly quoted. Fragmented melodic fragments can appear in anime works as pure cultural symbols, or they can completely abandon their symbolism and only play the role of background music. For the former, the soundtrack often chooses the popular popular melody to match the theme of the anime, for example, in the "Evangelion" there are many times Bach's works ("Aria on the G String", "The First Cello A cappella suite", etc.), with the help of musical symbolism, echoing the strong religious metaphors in the plot; the latter, on the contrary, abandons the external meaning of classical works and invests the music itself in the new context of animation, such as "The Disappearance of Haruhi in Lianggong", although it quotes Satti's famous "Nude Dance", However, in the play, the music presents the psychological activity of the characters, so that it is no longer related to the composer's creative motivation.
Under such a qualification, classical music can usually only be spread in a short and flat way in the two-dimensional world. Symphonies, especially the large-scale symphonies of the Romantic period, are difficult to use as a two-dimensional soundtrack in a relatively complete form. On the one hand, these huge symphonic works lack a dense popular melody and cannot provide the audience with a high degree of recognition; on the other hand, because they have a perfect dramatic structure, it is difficult to fit the animation plot enough. As a result, symphonies are often used in anime and manga works in terms of seconds, and usually do not exceed 2 minutes. However, difficulty does not mean impossible, and once the anime works and symphonies achieve large-scale high synchronization, the effect is often amazing. In Evangelion, the 6-minute "Ode to Joy" segment at the end of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony provides the best footnote to the intense conflict and freeze-frame scenes in the play; in "The Melancholy of Spring in Lianggong", the climax of the play is accompanied by a magical chorus of Mahler's Eighth Symphony. These classic cases create the symphony's highlight moments in the second dimension.
As a phenomenon-level classic anime in Japan at the end of the last century, "Evangelion" has long since broken through the dimensional wall and has been widely praised for its high degree of artistry. This is a religious animation cloaked in mechs, and in the apocalyptic worldview constructed in the play, cultural symbols from Christianity are everywhere. In the first 24 episodes, the work tells the story of Shinji and others driving EVA to fight with the apostles of different forms in the form of a unit drama, and gradually enriches the background and character image of the characters; in the last two episodes, the work uses a lot of stream-of-consciousness and psychoanalytic techniques to deeply dissect the personality of the characters, and finally breaks through the wall of everyone's heart, that is, the at force field, and realizes the human completion plan.
In such a symbolic anime work, the background music plays a pivotal role. In addition to Bach's universal use, one of the most powerful classical scores in the series is from episode 24, The Last Messenger(s).) The "Ode to Joy" clip of "Bei Jiu" is used as a symbolic theme for the protagonist of the episode, Nagisa Kaoru. As the last apostle, Nagisa disguises himself as a humanoid to invade the core area of the EVA base in order to complete the task of his superior Seele. Nagisa sings the melody of Ode to Joy and develops a deep relationship with EVA driver Shinji. However, Nagisa herself is also full of contradictions, on the one hand, she is suspicious of seele, and on the other hand, she has hope for humanity. The entire intrusion process is accompanied by the exciting melody of Bei Jiu's "Ode to Joy", which shows a fierce battle between the eva-chu machine piloted by Shinji and the eva-2 machine controlled by Nagisa Kaoru. In addition to setting off the atmosphere of the battle, the music is more important to reflect Nagisa's idealistic feelings. When Ode to Joy chants, "Everything that is separated by the harshness of custom is reconnected under your magic; your gentle wings fly, and people unite as brothers," Nagisa understands Seele's conspiracy and ultimately chooses humanity, as well as her own death, "Living is my destiny, even if it will destroy mankind; but I can also die like this, for me life and death are equal, and my own death is the only and absolute freedom." In the end, Nagisa is held in the palm of her hand by the eva piloted by Shinji and puts her life at Shinji's disposal. The scene then enters a one-minute freeze-frame, where Shinji's inner conflict is entirely musical. In the solemn chorus, the dramatic tension of the whole play reaches its peak, until finally Nagisa is killed by Shinji. Here, the "Ode to Joy" of "Bei Jiu" is no longer simply a description of freedom, equality, and fraternity repeatedly sung in Schiller's lyrics, but is more used to portray Nagisa's sacrifice of life. Using the "Ode to Joy" that yearns for the ultimate ideal provides a commentary on Nagisa's dedication, and also makes Bei Jiu itself have a tragic and majestic color.
Unlike the serious themes of Evangelion, The Melancholy of Spring in Ryogu is more approachable in form. As the founder of Japanese otaku culture in the 21st century, the story of "The Melancholy of Haruhi in Ryogu" is set in the high school campus, and its many cute elements such as otaku dance, club, pride, and sanwu have a great impact on the later two-dimensional culture. Under the cloak of cuteness, the work also has a peculiar setting. The original author of science fiction, Tanigawa Ryu, constructed an idealistic worldview in the Haruhi Ryogu series: under the surface of normal campus life, the plot is set to run around the subjective will of the female high school student Haruhi Ryogu. Once the Ryogu Haruhi falls into melancholy, the real world will be swallowed up by the enclosed space of the other dimension.
In such magical colors, background music is particularly important. Shen Qianxiao, who is in charge of the score of the play, selected many symphony fragments. The episode "Sagittarius Day", about computer game matches, features Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7. On the one hand, the soundtrack pays homage to The Legend of the Galactic Heroes to set off the atmosphere of the battle, and on the other hand, borrows the ruggedness characteristic of the Russian style to hint at the paradox of the plot, in which the camera switches repeatedly between the illusory Galactic Battle Royale and the real computer game interface. In the final episode of "The Melancholy of Haruhi in Ryogu", Shen Qianxiao boldly inserted a complete choral passage from Mahler's Eighth Symphony. The soundtrack corresponds to one of the grandest dreams in the whole play. Completely disillusioned with the real world, Haruhi Ryogu escapes to a different dimension in his dream, where terrifying monsters are destroying the entire world. On the one hand, the role of "Ma Ba" is to use the confused sound to set off the strangeness of dreams, and on the other hand, it also hints at the religious characteristics hidden in the work. Haruhi Ryogu, who is set as the Creator of the World, has provoked religious fanatical worship both inside and outside the play with its powerful action, and the religious background of "Ma Hachi" is used to reflect this. The lyrics in the soundtrack excerpt "Ignite our reason with your light, fill our hearts with your love." Come, holy Spirit of the Creator. You are our comforter, God's supreme gift" aptly outlining the divine image of the spring day in the Cool Palace. After being substituted for such a drama, the original obscure "Ma Ba" also seems to have traces.
Admittedly, such highlight moments are rare in the two-dimensional world, but similar attempts are constantly emerging. In the hit "The Everyday Life of Pop and Pipi Beauty" at the beginning of last year, the last episode began by quoting a large section of Mozart's "Requiem" and Mussorgsky's "Night on the Wild Mountain", although these two soundtracks only played a role in setting off the plot, and there was no obvious internal relationship between the sound and the picture. If you reverse the perspective and think of these anime clips as an interpretation of the symphony in the two-dimensional dimension, it may also help to understand the music itself. After departing from the maternal womb of the creative background, classical music, as the most abstract art form, often needs to be combined with other carriers (drama, poetry, dance, film, etc.) to show meaning. And the ingenious symphonic soundtrack in the second dimension undoubtedly opens the door to a new world of meaning for classical music itself.