Harmonious Transformations from Ryuichi Sakamoto to Harry Hosono: Analyzing the Works of Two Musical Legends in Japan

One of those who listened to Johannes Brahms's first symphony is said to have asked the composer, "Doesn't this melody remind you of the one from Beethoven's Ninth?" To which Brahms cheerfully replied, "Even a donkey could understand that." Although I couldn't verify the accuracy of this famous anecdote or trace its source, there's a story about Ryuichi Sakamoto, who, upon hearing a tune from a television commercial, felt uncomfortable, suspecting that someone had deliberately imitated his compositional style. When he inquired about the composer, he discovered it was Haruomi Hosono, with whom he had spent four and a half years as bandmates until the end of the previous year. This anecdote was later confirmed in a radio talk between Sakamoto and Hosono, accompanied by laughter.

Now, let's listen to that piece.

This piece was used in the following commercial featuring the legendary Japanese actor Ken Takakura.

It evokes a mysterious floating sensation, reminiscent neither of Sakamoto's "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" nor of Erik Satie's "Gymnopédies." When a commercial producer asked Harry Hosono to write a piano piece in Sakamoto's style for an advertisement, he created this, murmuring, "If that's the case, you should just commission it from him instead of me."

Previously, I analyzed aspects of this piece that reflect Sakamoto's style and posted an article about it on this blog. At that time, I felt a sense of pride in my musical analysis skills; however, upon rereading it recently, I realized it wasn't as remarkable as I had initially thought. Therefore, I would like to reanalyze this piece.

[In this analysis, both pitch notation such as C, D, and E, and scale degree notation like Do, Re, and Mi will be presented, with a particular emphasis on the latter. While scale degree notation can be cumbersome for pieces that frequently change keys or employ polytonality—since it requires adjustments to the scale degrees with each key change—embracing this aspect can enhance our understanding of the music's structure and illuminate the composer’s (often unconscious) thought processes during composition.]

This short score represents the scale degrees for all the notes in the first measure of the piece "Normandia." In my previous analysis, I explained that the chords consist of "Re, Fa, La, Do," with the melody "Ti, La, Si, Do, Re, Do" layered on top. However, I now view it differently. Rather, it is the interval of "Fa and Ti" (an augmented fourth!) that forms the core of the overall sound in this measure.

Please try playing the following sequence of notes from the bottom up and then down again. Feel free to repeat it as many times as you like.

A, C, E, F#, G, F#, E, C

Re, Fa, La, Ti, Do, Ti, La, Fa
(in the scale degrees of G major)
.

Doesn’t it feel somewhat languid yet elegant? When you play it repeatedly without the F# (scale degree "Ti")…

A, C, E, G, E, C

Re, Fa, La, Do, La, Fa
(in the scale degrees of G major)
.

It feels rather emotionless—just an ordinary broken chord. However, when you reintroduce the F# (scale degree "Ti")…

A, C, E, F#, G, F#, E, C

Re, Fa, La, Ti, Do, Ti, La, Fa
(in the scale degrees of G major)
.

Now, there’s emotion coming back. The combination of "Fa-Ti" (augmented fourth interval) and "Ti-Do" (minor second interval) beautifully intertwines instability and poignancy, evoking a sense of languor and elegance.

It changes keys here (in the fifth measure), and the chords also shift.

The chords in this measure consist of the following notes. Since it’s in C major, I’ll use scale degree notation:

Fa, Ti, Do, Mi, Fa, Mi, Do, Ti.

This progression has a slightly different nuance from the previous one, yet retains a refined languor. Compared to the earlier one, it feels somewhat more masculine while still maintaining a languorous elegance. This is due to the harmony of "Fa-Ti" (augmented fourth) and the pairs "Ti-Do" and "Mi-Fa" (minor second intervals).

We'll take another look at the same sheet music.

I'd like to refer to the progression from Ⅵⅿ７ to Ⅳ△７ (in this case, Aⅿ７ to F△７) with the addition of tension notes as the Ryuichi progression, because it stands out to me among the harmonic progressions with tension notes that he often employs.

Harry Hosono appears to have consciously used this progression from Ⅵⅿ７ to Ⅳ△７ in a Sakamoto style. However, when one plays it, it feels more like he’s integrating it into the overall resonance of the entire sequence of notes that have been outlined above, rather than simply inserting tension notes into the Ryuichi progression.

Let’s compare “Normandia” with its source track, Sakamoto’s “Perspective,” focusing especially on their intros. While the intro of “Perspective” is constructed from the seven-note sequence “Fa-So-La-Ti-Do-Re-Mi” (in the key of F♯ major), the opening two chords of “Normandia” features two sequences: “Re-Fa-La-Ti-Do” (in the key of G major) and “Fa-Ti-Do-Mi” (in the key of C major).

I feel that “Normandia” showcases how the meticulous and talented Sakamoto’s lyrical piano composition has been transformed in a different way by the naturally gifted Hosono.

Harry and Ryuichi: one has already passed away, yet both remain extraordinary musicians to me.