It was announced on November 16, 2016 that Yoko Kanno will be in charge of the score of the NHK 2017’s 56th Taiga drama: おんな城主 直虎 / Onna Joushu Naotora / Lady Lord Naotora.
November 19 update: They finally announced a new album on November 1st! Over 73 minutes of emotions!
おんな城主 直虎 | 音楽虎の巻 | サントラ
Onna joushu Naotora | Ongaku Tora no Maki | SANTORA
Lady Lord Naotora | The Scroll of the Music Tiger | Santora
(SAN = 3, TORA = Tiger, SANTORA = Soundtrack)
Release date: 2017-11-22
Total length: 73:15
Buy on Amazon Japan
Tracklist on VGMdb
August 22 update: A new mini-soundtrack was announced 3 days before its physical release and a few hours before its digital release. It’s dedicated to Ono Masatsugu’s character and features absolutely mindblowing tracks! Naotora’s music is getting better and better with each episode, it’s like the soundtrack is growing with the main character! And there are still 16 episodes left!
おんな城主 直虎 | 緊急得盤 | 鶴のうた
Onna joushu Naotora | Kinkyū Tokuban | Tsuru no Uta
Lady Lord Naotora | Urgent Special Disc | Tsuru’s Songs
Release date: 2017-08-23 (digital release on 2017-08-21)
Total length: 46:32
Buy on Amazon Japan
Tracklist on VGMdb
March 16 update: The second O.S.T. was unveiled on several Japanese shopping websites:
おんな城主 直虎 | 音楽虎の巻 | ニィトラ
Onna joushu Naotora | Ongaku Tora no Maki | NITORA
Lady Lord Naotora | The Scroll of the Music Tiger | Nitora
(NI = 2, TORA = Tiger = “TRA”in “soundTRAck”)
Release date: 2017-04-05
Total length: 72:32
Buy on Amazon Japan
Tracklist on VGMdb
NHK Taiga Dramas are annual, year-long historical fiction television dramas comprising of 50 episodes of 45 minutes except the pilot that lasts 1 hour. It will start airing on January 8, 2017 at 8pm on NHK.
This is the first time Yoko Kanno is in charge of a NHK Taiga drama.
There’s a 3 minutes trailer on the official website.
International artists were gathered to perform the main theme, featuring an unprecedentedly exceptional collaboration between Paavo Järvi who conducted the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Lang Lang, and the violinist Midori Gotō who’s representing Japan in the “Taiga drama traveler’s journal” corner program. The song production was completed on November 16, there was a press conference with Paavo Jarvi who conducted the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Lang Lang who performed the piano. A picture with Yoko Kanno was also shared on the NHK Symphonic Orchestra Twitter account:
（続き）パーヴォ @paavo_jarvi は記者会見でテーマ曲（菅野よう子作曲）について「フランス印象派のような抒情的なセンスを感じました。ラン・ラン @lang_lang 、N響とのコラボをお楽しみください」と語りました。（写真の中央は作曲者の菅野よう子さん。） pic.twitter.com/JHdTE3Ay5S
— NHK交響楽団 NHK Symphony (@NHKSO_Tokyo) December 5, 2016
“The song has lyrism that reminds me of French impressionists. I hope you’ll enjoy this collaboration between Lang Lang and the NHK Symphony Orchestra” commented Paavo Järvi.
A first soundtrack will be released on January 11!
Drama music tracks are often short but this time there are only 20 tracks. Track 1 is the opening version (TV version) of the main theme while the four last tracks are a 14 minutes long symphonic piece.
おんな城主 直虎 | 音楽虎の巻 | イチトラ
Onna joushu Naotora | Ongaku Tora no Maki | ICHITORA
Lady Lord Naotora | The Scroll of the Music Tiger | Ichitora
(ICHI = 1, TORA = Tiger = “TRA”in “soundTRAck”)
Release date: 2017-01-11
Total length: 68:58
Buy on Amazon Japan
Tracklist on VGMdb