Isao Tomita
Japan, 1955–2016
Japanese composer (1932-2016), a pioneer of the synthesizer as an orchestral instrument. Snowflakes Are Dancing (1974) rebuilt Debussy on a Moog in vast, weightless electronic space and made him one of the most influential electronic musicians of the 1970s.
MusicRoots documents 4 artists who influenced Isao Tomita and 1 artist Isao Tomita influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.
Who influenced Isao Tomita?
- Wendy Carlos — Hearing Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach is what turned Tomita to the synthesizer; he bought a Moog and set about doing for Debussy what she had done for Bach.
- Claude Debussy — Debussy was Tomita's favourite composer and the subject of his breakthrough, Snowflakes Are Dancing - the tone paintings rebuilt entirely on synthesizers.
- Igor Stravinsky — Stravinsky was among the modern composers Tomita reimagined electronically, and the rhythmic bite carried into his own writing.
- Maurice Ravel — Ravel's orchestral colour was a natural fit for Tomita's synthesizer palette and one of the repertoires he made his own.
Which artists did Isao Tomita influence?
- Jean-Michel Jarre — Tomita's synthesizer orchestrations of 1974 preceded and fed the lush, wordless electronic albums Jarre built his career on.