Joe Hisaishi’s Symphonic Suite The Boy and the Heron for piano and orchestra is recomposed from his Golden Globe-nominated original soundtrack for the Academy Award-winning animated film and is presented in its world premiere recording with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, of which Hisaishi was appointed Composer-in-Association in 2024. Rather than using the full orchestral palette, Hisaishi opted for an unobtrusive, minimalist style, full of repeated patterns – notably on the solo piano, supported at different times by an ensemble including strings, brass, tuned percussion, and electronics. Speaking about the process of recomposing his original score, Hisaishi says: “I usually create a suite based on a soundtrack in the same year as a film is released. This time I waited a little longer, and then decided to entirely rewrite the music for the concert hall. The Symphonic Suite is therefore a standalone piece, completely independent from the film.”