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Elfen Lied's opening, Lilium, is a symphony sung in Latin.

Was it written/composed just for Elfen Lied (like for example, the opening songs for Pokemon)?

Gao
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Madara's Ghost
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    Good question! I always wonder whether Lilium and [Bratja](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ_ySPiAI1Q) (from FMA) were composed exclusively to Elfen Lied and FMA, respectivelly. – felipsmartins Jan 13 '16 at 18:25

4 Answers4

17

The answer is yes.

According to the pamphlet included in the Elfen Lied OST, the melody of Lilium just surfaced to MOKA, the two-person musician group who was appointed the music producer staff of the Elfen Lied anime TV production team, when they looked at Elfen Lied from a certain perspective: it's not that Lucy wants to be born special — what she desires, the mundane happiness, that which appears to be easily obtainable is in fact obtainable by only a small handful of people.

望んで特別に生まれたわけじゃない、欲しいものは簡単に手に入りそうでほんの一握りの人しか手に入れられないであろう、ありふれた幸せ……そんな角度からこの『エルフェンリート』を感じた時に、メインテーマである「LILIUM」の祈るような旋律が浮かびました。

MOKA later included rearrangements of Lilium in Ryugu Genka, Shinra Soloist, Felix Culpa and LILIUM MOKA☆ Produce Mixed Chorus.

Gao
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7

As is almost always the case with anime music, Lilium was composed just for Elfen Lied. KONISHI Kayo and KONDO Yukio collectively handled the composition, arrangement, and lyricwriting (and also did the rest of the soundtrack).

senshin
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    I don't know about Elfen Lied in particular, but I feel the answer in general is actually no. While songs are frequently "written for the anime" in the sense that the musician is often requested to write a song that will be used as the anime's opening, at the same time they are usually not "composed solely" for the show. The songs are intentionally written with generic-ish lyrics most of the time, with the idea that if it has appeal outside the anime, even people who do not watch will buy it, and they are using the anime as a vehicle for extra exposure for the group and the song. – Kai Dec 08 '14 at 20:30
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    @Kai I mean, sure, but that's not what the question was asking, as far as I can tell. Yeah, the music is often also commercialized separately from the anime, but it's still composed _for_ the anime as opposed to being pre-existing music that gets glommed on. – senshin Dec 08 '14 at 20:52
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Lilium was inspired by the poem 'Elfenlied' which is in the Manga, written by Eduard Mörike, and later adapted to a Lied by Hugo Wolf.

Krisla
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    Do you have something to back this up? I've read "Elfenlied" before, and it's somewhat different in tone and content from "Lilium". – Maroon Feb 16 '17 at 18:19
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Nope I don't think so guys.. maybe the music was composed solely for Elfen lied but the words (lyrics) are taken from the bible and other catholic prayers.. Like chapters of the bible Psalms and James and a prayer of the Holy Mary.. as the peeps before me have said yes the two yukio and kayo composed it but they themselves have said they have taken the words from the places which I mentioned above..

Jerry Alfred
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    But just because words in the lyrics are borrowed from other places doesn't make something an unoriginal piece of music. – giraffesyo Mar 23 '17 at 02:03