Ryuichi Sakamoto Is Selling Sheet Music to Fight a "Flood of Independent Transcriptions or Arranged Versions"

The composer says your notation is full of "wrong notes and harmonies"

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Jan 20, 2022

Even the most ardent listeners of Ryuichi Sakamoto make mistakes when it comes to transcribing music from his past performances — an issue the beloved Japanese composer will now look to remedy through selling sheet music via his own "Score Store."

On the site, which launched last month, Sakamoto writes that he sought to give people greater access to his concert scores, and correct inaccuracies with fan-created sheet music.

He explains, "Usually, I am the only one playing, so I have never created proper piano scores until now. It has resulted in a flood of independent transcriptions or arranged versions with the wrong notes and harmonies. I have started to think that, at my age, it is about time I document these pieces properly."

Today, a pair of new transcriptions have arrived in the store: "Parolibre," which first appeared on Sakamoto's 1986 album Futurista, and "MUJI2020," which he composed for the Japanese retailer in 2020 to mark their 40th anniversary. A comb through the list of published scores also finds sheets "Andata" from 2017 album async, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" from the 1983 film of the same name, and more.

Sakamoto writes that the scores "can be played on piano or any other instrument," and should one want to find accompanists to take the pieces in new directions, the PDF files remain unprotected by passwords.

Sakamoto celebrated his 70th birthday earlier this week (January 17). Last January, the composer revealed that was diagnosed with cancer a second time.

Thanks to Resident Advisor for the tip.

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