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Deaf composer born of hibakusha parents releases Symphony Hiroshima - The Mainichi Daily News
Composer Mamoru Samuragochi, born of parents who were atomic bomb attack survivors and who has lost his hearing completely, released last month Symphony No. 1 "HIROSHIMA" on CD, a piece he said he composed out of his wish for a world without nuclear weapons.
The full-length work is comprised of three movements that play roughly 80 minutes in all. The symphony on the CD was played by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Naoto Otomo.
"I hope listeners will feel the darkness of hopelessness and a gentle light hope that comes after it," the 47-year-old Samuragochi said of his work at a news conference in Hiroshima city on July 21, a day after the release.
The Yokohama city resident says he learned music composition on his own. He has provided music for movies and popular video games such as "Biohazard" and "Onimusha" (demon warrior).
Samuragochi suffered migraines from his high school days. They became worse and at age 35, he completely lost his hearing in both ears.
Relying on the absolute pitch he has, he has continued writing musical pieces, finishing Symphony No. 1 in 2003. In 2008, the work was played for the first time at a concert held in commemoration of the meeting of parliamentary leaders of the Group of Eight major powers in Hiroshima in 2008.
The symphony was made into a CD as a work commemorating the 100th anniversary of record label Nippon Columbia Co.
The CD release was once about to be given up in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, he said. The disasters devastated eastern Japan and led to the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station which unleashed massive amounts of radioactive materials. But the CD was eventually released on July 20, ahead of the anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, in World War II.
"The nuclear plant crisis has revived before our eyes the horrors of radiation that may have been forgotten in Japan, the only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons," he said. "Now it is high time that people in the world once again look at Hiroshima."
Composer Mamoru Samuragochi, born of parents who were atomic bomb attack survivors and who has lost his hearing completely, released last month Symphony No. 1 "HIROSHIMA" on CD, a piece he said he composed out of his wish for a world without nuclear weapons.
The full-length work is comprised of three movements that play roughly 80 minutes in all. The symphony on the CD was played by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Naoto Otomo.
"I hope listeners will feel the darkness of hopelessness and a gentle light hope that comes after it," the 47-year-old Samuragochi said of his work at a news conference in Hiroshima city on July 21, a day after the release.
The Yokohama city resident says he learned music composition on his own. He has provided music for movies and popular video games such as "Biohazard" and "Onimusha" (demon warrior).
Samuragochi suffered migraines from his high school days. They became worse and at age 35, he completely lost his hearing in both ears.
Relying on the absolute pitch he has, he has continued writing musical pieces, finishing Symphony No. 1 in 2003. In 2008, the work was played for the first time at a concert held in commemoration of the meeting of parliamentary leaders of the Group of Eight major powers in Hiroshima in 2008.
The symphony was made into a CD as a work commemorating the 100th anniversary of record label Nippon Columbia Co.
The CD release was once about to be given up in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, he said. The disasters devastated eastern Japan and led to the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station which unleashed massive amounts of radioactive materials. But the CD was eventually released on July 20, ahead of the anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, in World War II.
"The nuclear plant crisis has revived before our eyes the horrors of radiation that may have been forgotten in Japan, the only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons," he said. "Now it is high time that people in the world once again look at Hiroshima."