Music

(Do you know what this is?)

One of the main reasons why this series has impressed me that much is its music. There are actually two types of music in 'A Little Princess Sara', songs and background music.

The songs

There are three of them, a title and a closing song like in almost every anime of course and an additional song played in a dedicated episode. All songs are of japanese pop-music style but are quite soft and ballad-like. I have provided lyrics for all three songs. They are copyrighted, so be careful. Here you can also find the lyrics to two of the non-japanese opening songs.
On Ram Das' site, there are midi files to all Japanese songs. I have taken the three of them and have put them in a zip archive. But there are some more midi files stored here. Additionally there are MP3 versions of Hana no Sasayaki and Mizuiro provided by Christian Meyer. These are based on the German version of the series.

Hana no sasayaki (Whisper of a flower)

The title song is the only one which is oriented by the style of the background music in some way. Sometimes an instrumental version of the song can be heard in the series. Additionally, it is played at the very end of the series. Additional to Yocky's, there are two midi files of the title song, coming to you together with a small description (which is in Japanese). One version is a bit different from the original but is still very nice. Here are the two versions together with the descriptions:

Watashi no numeno katasumi ni saiteru
chiisana hana ni namae wa naikedo
Kanashii toki wa akai hana biraichimai
Megashira ni ateru no
suru to namida ga kiete yuku

Watashi datte, nakoo to omoottara
koe-o agete itsudemo nakeru kedo
Nune no oki ni kono hana aruku giri
Tsuyoku ikite miyoo to omou

Ashita wa kitto kyoo yori wa ii hito
inori-o komete hashizora-o miru to
Sabishiku tatte hitoribochi ja nai yo to
Sasayaite kureru no
Mune ni saiteru akai hana

Watashi datte shiawase hoshii kedo
Hoka ni motto daijina mono ga aru
Sore ga ai ka yasashii kokoro kara
ikite mireba wakaru to omou

Himawari (Sunflower)

The closing song does not appear in the series itself. Here is the midi file from Ram Das' site..

Tooi michi-o aruku toki uta-o utae bachikai
Michibata no hana tsuminagara
Dokoe tsuzuku michina no ka dare mo shiranai keredo
Ushiro nado furi mukanaide, yuku
Yowamushi wa niwa ni saku
himawari ni wara wareru
Donna toki mo taiyoo-o, mitsumeteru
Aa, haha no koe ga
Aa, chichi no koe ga
Aa, mimi ni, mata katari kakeru no
Kujike tara dame to

Tohku tsurai sakamichi mo nobari tsumetara owaru
Utsukushii keshiki ni aeru
Sore ga donna keshikika wa dare mo shiranai keredo
Yumeni mita shiawase irode, shoo
Nakimushi wa ni wa ni soku
himawari ni wara wareru
Donna toki mo hohoemi-o, wasurenai
Aa, haha no koe ga
Aa, chichi no koe ga
Aa, mimi ni, mata katari kakeru no
Kujike tara dame to

Aa, haha no koe ga
Aa, chichi no koe ga
Aa, mimi ni, mata katari kakeru no
Kujike tara dame to

Mizuiro (Colour of the Water)

This is an additional song played at a specific episode near the end of the series. It also appears in an instrumental version in another episode. And Sara once played it on her Ocarina. (Hm, from where does she know that melody?) By the way, the strange object at the top of this page is one. A Midi-file of the song is available online in two versions, one in uncompressed form or in a zip-file, one version the one from Ram Das' site.

MP3 version (872 KB)
And another one provided by "Serena" (flesch-baldin@t-online.de) (238 KB)

Hitori-bocchi wa itsu-mo samishii
Mado ni Ho'ozue mitsume-ru Wata-Gumo
Kaze yo Kotoba ga wakaru nara-ba
Toh'i Ikoku no Hanashi wo kikase te

Mizuiro no hiroi Sora e
Kotori no yo'o ni tobeta nara ba
Kanashimi wo Omoide ni kae te
Namida kara Sayonara ga deki ru

Uta wo utae ba sestunaku naru shi
Nagai Tegami wa Namida de nijimu wa
Kaze yo Watasi no Kami wo Yurashi te
Doko e kaeru no okizari ni shite

Mizuiro ni sunda Sora mo
Tasogare Doki ni natta nara ba
Kanashisa wo mata tsurete kuru wa
Kanashimi-Iro ni someta Mune ni

Mizuiro no hiroi Sora e
Kotori no yo'o ni tobeta nara ba
Kanashimi wo Omoide ni kae te
Namida kara Sayonara ga deki ru

Foreign opening songs

These are the lyrics to the French and the Italian opening song of the series. Both were sung by the Italian singer Cristina D'Avena. You can download both versions in the MP3 format. The French one is linked from Ram Das' site, the Italian was provided by DivideByZero.

French version (384 KB)
Italian version (2.85 MB)

Princesse Sarah (French version)

Music: G.B. Martelli
Lyrics: A. Valeri-Manera

Princesse Sarah, mignonne p'tite fille
Fraiche fleur que baigne la rosée
Toujours caressée, d'un vent très léger
Une fleur qui est forte et qui restera bien levée, levée

Refrain:
Princesse, Princesse
Tu es bien jolie
[Tu es bien jolie]
Tu viens à l'aide
De tous tes amis
[De tous tes amis]

Refrain

Douce Sarah, p'tite aux yeux pleins de joie
Le sourire est avec toi
Tu seras capable
Le sourire aimable
D'oublier le mal, ma p'tite chérie

Refrain

*** break ***

Princesse Sarah, mignonne p'tite fille
Tu as reçue dans le malheur
Toujours un bon coeur Un coeur dans lequel
Il y a la lumière
Et brille toujours l'arc-en-ciel, en ciel

Refrain

Refrain

Douce Sarah, p'tite aux yeux pleins de joie
Le sourire est avec toi
Tu seras capable
Le sourire aimable
D'oublier le mal, ma p'tite chérie

Refrain

Douce Sarah, les yeux pleins de joie

Lovely Sara

Sara o lovely lovely Sara
sei un fresco fiore che
che il vento non puo' spezzare no no
perche' questo fiore e' forte e mai cedera'
vivra'

Sara
Sara
Graziosa sei tu
dolce bimba di molte virtu'
Sara lovely Sara occhi blu
un sorriso hai sempre tu
con il quale affronti
tutti i contrattempi
che la vita ti riserva già
Sara
Sara
graziosa sei tu
dolce bimba di molte virtu'

Sara o lovely lovely Sara
oggi il vento non c'e' piu'
serena ora e'
la vita per te
e un arcobaleno ti splende di gioia
sul cuor
sul cuor

Sara Sara
Graziosa sei tu
dolce bimba di molte virtu'
Sara lovely Sara occhi blu
un sorriso hai sempre tu
con il quale affronti
tutti i contrattempi
che la vita ti riserva già
Sara
Sara
graziosa sei tu
dolce bimba di molte virtu'

lovely lovely Sara sei tu

The background music

Although the songs are indeed very nice and I liked them more than most other anime-songs, but the background music superscedes them in quality by far. Unfortunately I am not able to provide you with examples. WAVs would consume too much disk space and I am not skilled enough to create midi files. You must be content with a short verbal description here, sorry. But when you are willing to take a short trip to Ram Das' site, there is a small collection of midi files available there.

I think that with the soundtrack to 'A Little Princess Sara' composer Yasuo Higuchi has created a true masterpiece reaching the highest standards. I have never heard a soundtrack which fits the mood of a series or film that perfectly and is that expressive without being showy. Higuchi mostly uses classical instruments but manages to handle other instruments or sounds with the same subtlety on the rare occasions when he actually uses them. I was mostly impressed by the sophisticated rhythm patterns. But this is hard to explain. It is like floating down a river in a boat. The river can flow slowly or fast, it can change its velocity, again either gradually or apruptly and there can be currents or eddies which make your ride more interesting. For music it is very similar. The rhythm is not strictly bound to the measure. It is very dynamic and supports the melody in an ideal way. The melodies, not to be forgotten, are also great of course.

This is just my opinion: other parts of 'A Little Princess Sara' may be almost perfect. The background music is perfect. I cannot think of how the job could have been done better. For the first time there was not anything I could critisize.