Famous Japanese musician and composer ryuichi sakamoto (1952 – 2023), although it happened on March 28, his death this Sunday was the name announced. pianists who know contemporary music better. In addition, he has had a prolific career as a writer and has always had a wide track record. continuous experimentation and its relation electronic music. Among his many works discography It has a number of memorable soundtracks to which it has received wide acclaim, including many memorable soundtracks. Oscar awards, Golden Globes And Grammys.
He had an intense relationship with Spain, not only because he has performed in major theaters many times in this country, but has also performed at festivals such as the advanced music festival Sónar, where he has been several times. He also worked with the film director Pedro Almodóvar and took part in his compositions she. 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
10 must-haves for Sakamoto
These are some of his great works ryuichi sakamoto: ten basics.
1. The Yellow Magic Orchestra’ (1978)
Disk Yellow Magic Orchestra It was the first work of the group of the same name founded by. Sakamoto next to you Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. They were one of the first groups. experimenting with synthesizers and therefore considered one of the first electronic music groups, later this label had a great influence on the development of various genres within it. Sakamoto’s first album had great repercussions especially in his homeland (Japan) and the USA. Sakamoto would also release his own album in the same year. first solo album Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Thousand Blade.
2. ‘B-2 Unit’ (1980)
This recording work is considered his best album. The compositions oscillate between progressive and minimalism. The most famous song of this work Riot in LagosConsidered the pioneer of electro funk.
3. Soundtrack ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’ (1983)
happened Sakamoto’s first soundtrack, in a movie in which he also acted as an actor. Although the reviews were very mixed at the time, it became considered a classic album. This work won him a BAFTA British Film Academy Award for Best Original Score.
4. Soundtrack ‘The Last Emperor’ (1987)
He worked with David Byrne and Cong Su to score the film’s score by Bernardo Bertoluci, and Sakamoto won his first Oscar for best original score. This creation earned him other major awards: Grammy and Golden Globe for best soundtrack.
5. Soundtrack ‘High Heels’ (1991)
Spanish film director Pedro Almadovar, music plays an important role in his filmography, Sakamoto for his movie Marisa Paredes and Victoria April. The bolero version is undoubtedly the most memorable of the soundtracks for this film. Think of me who is commenting comfortable light but he plays a transvestite Miguel Bosé on screen, the music is written by the Japanese composer.
6. ‘Mediterranean’ (Barcelona 92 Olympic Games)
Closing the 1980s as one of the world’s most famous musicians and composers, Sakamoto was chosen to compose music. opening ceremony Olympic Games related to Barcelona in 1992. It was a Catalan theater company. Fura dels Baus He is the one who chose him as the author of the main issue of the opening ceremony to add voice to the allegory of Jason and the Argonauts about his journey to the Pillars of Hercules in the Mediterranean. His Mediterranean was a 20-minute symphonic piece performed at the Barcelona Olympic Stadium by the City of Barcelona Orchestra (70 musicians and a 15-voice choir) conducted by him.
7. ‘Life’ (1999)
happened Sakamoto’s first opera An ambitious multi-genre and multimedia project featuring the collaborations of more than a hundred artists: from a German dancer and choreographer pin bausch to the English writer Salman Rushdie Spanish tenor Joseph Carreras, or movie director Bernardo Bertoluci. In it Sakamoto made a tour of the 20th century and for this he used recordings of the most iconic speeches of relevant personalities of the time, such as the British Prime Minister. During the Second World War, Winston Churchill or American civil rights activist Martin Luther King. Music performed by a symphony orchestra, string trio, a children’s choir, and male voices, among others, was accompanied by on-stage dance scenes and the projection of some of the most iconic images of the 20th century onto the big screen.
8. OST ‘Babylon’ (2006)
After a prolific career as a composer, the film’s soundtrack It was composed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Argentinean Gustavo Santaolalla. The film that uses parts of Sakamoto and won the Oscar for best original soundtrack. closing theme Bibo no Aozora, one of his contributions.
9. Soundtrack “The Revenant” (2015)
Here again, Sakamoto collaborated with Mexican director González Iñárritu in this thriller starring Leonardo di Caprio. He cooperated on this occasion. Alva Noto And Bryce Desner.
10. Farewell album ’12’
12 her last registration. It was published last February, just before his death. When he started cancer in 2021, the cancer had reached stage four. He was diagnosed with the disease (throat cancer) in 2014 and was pulled from the stage. He managed to overcome it and continued to compose. He was later diagnosed with the disease again in 2021, had surgery, but he already knew that this time he could not be cured. title disc twelve almost as a lament, it included the following text: “From now on, I will probably continue to keep this kind of ‘diary’ until my body gives up. are twelve instrumental compositions, each named them by the date he recorded, which he improvised when he gained some strength in the midst of his illness. All twelve pieces mix piano and synthesizer in a simple and minimalist style, with references to his favorite composers: Debuusy, Bach and Chopin.