Ryuichi Sakamoto

Today we’re listening to Ryuichi Sakamoto, a Japanese composer and pianist from Tokyo. We’ve recommended him a few times before. The occasion for today’s rec is last week’s publication of of Sakamoto’s memoir, Music Sets You Free. The book is a twofer: it’s the English translations (by Sam Bett) of two autobiographical works by Sakamoto, the first from 2009 and the second from 2023, the year he passed away. We’re playing two piano records released around the time of those texts – 2009’s Playing the Piano and 2024’s Opus. Sakamoto studied piano intensively in elementary school and recalled being “shocked” by Debussy in junior high:

I was browsing through one of my uncle’s collections of records when I found Debussy’s String Quartet…. I snuck it home with me and played it on the stereo entertainment system, this huge thing built like a piece of furniture and covered up with lace. What I heard next was a total shock to me. This was different from any other music I’d heard before. Nothing like the Bach or Beethoven I liked. The second that I heard it, I was mesmerized. My affinity for Debussy was so strong that it blurred my sense of self. I started thinking of him, despite being dead for ages, as if his life and mine were one and the same. I thought I was the reincarnation of Debussy. It made me question where I lived and why I could speak Japanese. I even practiced the man’s signature, filling multiple notebook pages with his name.¹

Playing the Piano - Ryuichi Sakamoto (58m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Opus - Ryuichi Sakamoto (96m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

We wish you a great start to your week.

1. Music Sets You Free by Ryuichi Sakamoto, p. 34