Ryuichi Sakamoto

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence VIRGIN, 1983

You say: “One of the most beautiful pieces of instrumental music of all time.” @kerryjeanlister, via Twitter

Released in the wake of Yellow Magic Orchestra’s first breakup, Sakamoto’s debut film score, for Nagisa Oshima’s Japanese prisoner-of-war drama, is suitably melancholy, bittersweet and minimal, a collection of Oriental electronic tone poems sandwiched between two absolute masterpieces: the film’s main theme and its gorgeous companion piece, Forbidden Colours, sung by Japan’s David Sylvian. Sakamoto would go on to compose many other awardwinning scores (The Last Emperor; The Sheltering Sky) but this is the one that feels closest to YMO’s sonic aesthetic and Hosono’s idea of an exportable national exotica.