Tamashii no Refrain（新世紀福音戰士劇場版：死與新生 主題曲）-高橋洋子

Compared to A Cruel Angel's Thesis, the theme song of the first Evangelion movie "Death & Rebirth" is fairly unknown outside of Japan. Which is completely undeserved, because the powerful chorus in Tamashii no Refrain is simply unforgettable and it makes me shiver every time I listen to it.

The original song from 1997 had a synthesizer bass rhythm, which was continuing through the entire piece, but I occasionally used some rhythmical variations to make it a little bit more interesting for the piano. It is especially audible in the first verse 01:25 and in the second chorus 03:27

I was also experimenting how to arrange the majestic choir part in the bridge in 02:39. The first draft of my arrangement was actually just playing the chords without anything else added. But it didn't have the same spiritual atmosphere as the original song and I felt like something was still missing on the piano. After some thinking, I remembered there was a similar choir part from A Cruel Angel's Thesis. I included the same rhythmic pattern for this particular choir part as well and the piano was finally creating a sound I was initially looking for.

The second verse in 02:58 was deliberately arranged in a calm atmosphere to serve as a direct contrast to the earlier dramatic choir part. I let the music slowly build up until it reaches the second chorus 03:27, which is played in staccato this time. I was also thinking for a while how to arrange the finale because the original song's enigmatic ending is hard to translate into the piano. At the end, I decided to use a simple improvised melody line in 04:47 to bring this arrangement to a conclusion.

Until next week then!

Animenz

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Piano arrangement by Animenz

Original Song: Tamashii no Refrain (Soul's Refrain) / 魂のルフラン

Anime: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth / 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン劇場版 シト新生

Published by: Starchild Record (1997)

Composed by: Toshiyuki Oomori / 大森 俊之

Performed by: Yoko Takahashi / 高橋 洋子