Composer Evan Call’s musical awakening arrived with the kind of acoustics most producers spend careers trying to re-create.
“I remember seeing a performance when I was 14 of folk music that was actually in a cave with the natural reverb,” says Call, 37. “They played psaltery, which is basically a medieval instrument you can play bowed or plucked, and the hammered dulcimer.
“To me, that sounded like magic, if magic were a sound.”
More than 20 years later, Call channeled that early awe into the score for the anime “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.” Built around European folk instrumentation, his music deepens a story about what comes after the hero’s journey ends. The second season of “Frieren” is currently airing Friday nights on Nippon TV.
“I don't usually get an opportunity to do that kind of music for most shows,” he says. “I thought ‘Frieren’ would be a great opportunity to lean into that old realm.”
Since moving to Japan in 2012, Call has composed for anime, video games and television, including NHK’s 2022 taiga drama “The 13 Lords of the Shogun.” His most recognizable scores — “Violet Evergarden,” “My Happy Marriage” and now “Frieren” — create space for reflection alongside the action.
“When I write my melodies, I think like I’m writing sentences,” he says. “Why does it go up, and go here, then go down and back up? Is there a meaning in this melody or not, and if there isn’t, I think it’s not good enough.”
They have proven good enough with listeners, as they have become beloved around the world. Concert tours devoted to “Violet Evergarden” have proven successful in recent years, and an orchestral performance of “Frieren” will take place at London’s OVO Arena on May 21.
In 2025, Call celebrated his catalog with a concert dedicated to his work, which was later released as an album. “It’s the thing I’m most proud of,” he says. “I wanted to let people listen to the music I’ve done for lesser known shows that I’ve worked on over the years and present them in an orchestra setting.”
Call grew up in Lincoln, Northern California, where he started playing bluegrass guitar as a teenager. His mother’s eclectic taste helped nurture an early affinity for folk music. He was also a regular at Renaissance fairs, drawn by a fascination with fantasy novels.
“There were people there playing music,” he recalls. “I remember one guy named Legendary Big Gerry, and he played hammer dulcimer. I bought a couple of his albums, and still listen to them today.”
After attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Call moved to Japan. Soon after arriving, he met composer Junpei Fujita, which led to his joining the music production team Elements Garden. His first solo scoring job followed with 2014’s “Tokyo ESP.”
“The producer for that show told me to focus more on melody, not atmosphere,” he says. “This one song called ‘World On Fire,’ which I put a big effort into creating a catchy melody, shifted how I work on music in Japan.”
That shift crystallized with 2018’s “Violet Evergarden,” about a former child soldier who becomes a letter writer. Call incorporated the viola de gamba on the track “Never Coming Back,” its mechanical nature echoing the protagonist’s prosthetic hands, and wove typewriter sounds into the score to mirror the act of writing. It was also where his “melody as sentence” philosophy fully took root.
“Like choosing your words carefully, like you're in a conversation with friends to express your feelings ... that’s something represented in ‘Violet Evergarden’ and ‘Frieren,’ too — the thankfulness for those around you,” he says. “It’s like I’m trying to have a sincere conversation with the listener when I craft melodies.”
For “Frieren,” Call had to establish the show’s entire sonic language from the outset. The score moves fluidly between sweeping orchestral passages and stripped-back folk instrumentation, sometimes within the same cue. Subtle orchestration choices carry emotional weight: A clarinet conveys warmth and softness, he says, while an oboe cuts more boldly. Uilleann “Irish” pipes, fiddle, tin whistle and hammered dulcimer recur throughout.
“For example, a song that’s really inspirational to me is (American folk song) ‘Oh Shenandoah,’” he says. “I think that has a similar vibe as the world of ‘Frieren,’ a nostalgic and folky feel that’s like, ‘Ahhh, I’m coming home.’ I wanted to see how I could represent that feeling in a full soundtrack.”
The second season builds on that foundation. Character themes intertwine to signal what Call describes as “the passing of the torch.”
“Up until this point in the season, the episodes have been very relaxed, so the music was a little more friendly,” he says, though more “super epic stuff” lies ahead as the stakes rise.
He also worked as an arranger with singer Milet to create the ending themes for both seasons of “Frieren,” most recently the soaring “The Story of Us.” Call says the challenge with that song was balancing its role over the credits with its place in her broader catalog.
While “Frieren” has become his most visible work overseas, Call’s recent output reflects anime’s expanding global footprint. He composed for the “Pokemon” franchise — a childhood favorite — for a short film released on Pokemon Day (Feb. 28) last year about a son mailing a letter to his father. He has also had the opportunity to see firsthand how many his fantasy-tinged compositions have reached.
“I mostly work alone, so I’m always kind of by myself,” he says. “I went to Anime Expo in Los Angeles last year and I was in a 7,000-capacity hall where I talked to (fans). It was crazy. You get a true appreciation for this stuff, and how it’s bigger than what I do in my little bedroom.”
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