Genius composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away on Tuesday, March 28. A real star in Japan, he was the pioneer of electronic music.
By NJ with AFP
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IHe was the pioneer of electronic music and the author of many legendary film scores. Ryuichi Sakamoto died on Tuesday, March 28, at the age of 71, following cancer detected in 2020, his team announced on Sunday. But despite this illness, the Japanese composer continued “to create works in his studio whenever his state of health allowed him to do so. He lived with the music until the end,” reads his official website.
This tireless multi-instrumentalist began his career in the 1970s with the cult trio Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). He subsequently created the music for Furyo, a subversive film about a prison camp in Asia during the Second World War, with David Bowie and Takeshi Kitano, where he also shone as an actor. A huge star in Japan, he has also worked with the avant-garde David Sylvian and Thomas Dolby or the beast of the stage Iggy Pop.
An eclectic musician, he won the Oscar for best film music in 1988 for having co-written that of the Last Emperor, by Bernardo Bertolucci, who collaborated with him several times, notably on his next film, A tea in the Sahara, in 1990. He later worked for Brian De Palma and Pedro Almodovar, and more recently wrote the soundtrack to The RevenantAlexander Gonzalez Iñarritu, in
The teacher
Born in Tokyo on January 17, 1952, he immediately discovered the world of culture and the arts, notably thanks to his father, a publisher of Japanese novelists, including Kenzaburo Oe and Yukio Mishima. Very early on, he discovered the piano, before becoming fascinated by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bach and Haydn. Before falling madly in love with Debussy.
He studied ethnomusicology and composition, which earned him the respectful nickname of “professor” in Japan. A nickname that suited him well, because this enthusiast liked to pass on his knowledge to the youngest. On the Japanese educational channel of the public group NHK, he taught music to children. He animated, from time to time, radio programs where he officiated as a discoverer of new talents.
“Art is long, life is short”
A long-time environmental activist, he had become a leading figure in the anti-nuclear movement in Japan. He had also organized, in 2012, a mega concert against nuclear power, near Tokyo. Five years earlier, he had founded More Trees, an NGO for sustainable forest management in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia.
As he had wished, the funeral will be reserved for his family circle. His team ends the release with “one of Sakamoto’s favorite quotes: Art is long, life is short – Art is long, life is short”.