Somei Satoh

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Somei Satoh (b. Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, January 19, 1947) is a Japanese composer.

In the post-Takemitsu era, Somei Satoh has steadily been gaining notoriety as one of Japan’s most internationally celebrated and significant composers of contemporary traditional music (gendai hogaku). A largely self-taught musician, he came to the technical elements of music not from the usual perspective of western proportions and balance of harmony, counterpoint and orchestration, but rather from a deep understanding of the philosophies of Shinto and Zen Buddhist beliefs. This background reveals a music that delights in the world of infinite spaces and suspended time. His works are fragile in their clarity and simplicity, but are not simplistic or facile. His work represents a kind of sculptural minimalism infused with the lyrical sense of Romanticism.

He studied at Nihon University of Art in the early 1970s and is essentially an autodidact in composition.

He lives in Tokyo.