is a Japanese

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

of contemporary music. His compositions mix Japanese court music with European romanticism and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

. His musical career began with an experimental, mix media group called "Tone Field" in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He studied at

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

of Art in the early 1970s and is primarily

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...

in composition. In 1972 and 1981, Satoh produced two other experimental projects, the latter involved placing eight speakers approximately one kilometer apart on nearby mountain tops overlooking a huge valley. In 1985, he collaborated with theater designer Manuel Luetgenhorst to stage his music at The Arts at St. Ann's in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He wrote his violin concerto for

Anne Akiko Meyers Anne Akiko Meyers (born May 15, 1970) is an American concert violinist. Meyers was the top-selling classical instrumentalist of 2014 on Billboard's traditional classical charts. Early life and education The daughter of an artist and a colleg ...

. He currently lives in

Compositions

;Orchestra * ''Sumeru'' (1982) * ''Homa'' (1988) * ''Ruika'' (1990) * ''Toward the Night'' (1991) * ''Glimmering Darkness'' (1995) * ''Kami no Miuri'' (1995) * ''Burning Meditation'' (1995) * ''Listening to Fragrances of the Dusk'' (1997) * ''Firefly Garden'' (1998) * ''Kisetsu'' (1999) * ''From the Depth of Silence'' (2000) * ''Kyokoku'' (2000) * ''Violin Concerto'' (2002) ;Vocal music * ''Stabat Mater'' (1987) ;Works using Japanese musical instruments * ''Chinmoku'' (Silence) (1977) * ''Kaze no Kyoku'' (Music of the Winds) (1979) * ''Ki No Koe'' (Voice of Tree) (1982) * ''Kamu Ogui Goto'' (1989) * ''Kougetsu KOUGETSU'' (1990) * ''Snayou'' (1991) * ''Tamaogi Koto'' (1994) * ''Hi No Kyoku'' (1996) * ''Usuzumi'' (2004) ;Chamber music * ''Litania'' (1973) * ''Hymn for the Sun'' (1973) * ''Kagami'' (Mirror) (1975) * ''Cosmic Womb'' (1975) * ''Incarnation II'' (1978) * ''The Heavenly Spheres are Illuminated by Lights'' (1979) * ''Birds in Warped Time II'' (1980) * ''Hoshi No Mon'' (A Gate into the Stars) (1982) * ''Kaze No Kyoku II'' (Music of the Winds II) (1984) * ''Hikari'' (Light) (1986) * ''Toki No Mon'' (A Gate into Infinity) (1988) * ''Shun-Shu-Ka'' (Lament for Spring) (1989) * ''Lanzarote'' (1993) * ''Incarnation I'' (1977) * ''Uzu'' (Vortex) (1988) * ''Recitative'' (1991) * ''Innocence'' (1996) * ''Choral'' (2000) ;Electronic music * ''Emerald Tablet'' (1978) * ''Mandara'' (1982) * ''Mantra'' (1986) * ''Tantra'' (1990)

Awards

* Japan Arts Festival, 1980 * Asian Cultural Council, 1983

References

External links

Somei Satoh (Zen-On Contemporary Composers)
from Lovely Music, Ltd. site

1947 births 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians 21st-century classical composers 21st-century Japanese composers 21st-century Japanese male musicians Contemporary classical music performers Japanese classical composers Japanese contemporary classical composers Japanese male classical composers Living people Musicians from Miyagi Prefecture Nihon University alumni People from Sendai {{Japan-musician-stub