Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Last Emperor

[antenorguimaraes]

Do you guys know a link to download the song, or the entire album?

[emi2023]

wonderful music ^____^ .

[waqwaqsx]

There are KANBUN (Old sentences of China are learnt) in the junior high school and the high school in Japan. We Japanese do not forget the kindness.

[xviiiavril]

i am japanese

i love chinese color

[jacksok2]

japanese and chinese working together- a beautiful thing.

[nicck]

@CaptainBuckshot26 He was never popular. It wasn't communists that got rid of him, it was republicans.

[TsukikoMitsuki]

Just love it :)

[hydroptere]

MAESTRO!



[10ShunsukeNakamura]

This is what you feel. I feel like I'm in Asia just by listening to it .

[juswildify]

you can feel the power emanating from this

[sumeraj001]

the guy picking at 3:21 wtf

[CaptainBuckshot26]

@sumeraj001 its a chick dude

[sumeraj001]

@CaptainBuckshot26 but still freakin crazy



[CaptainBuckshot26]

Pu Yi !!

[TheTaurus1969]

Fenomenalno! Great respect from Serbia.

[kanga58]

It's MUSIC ! You are right. There should not be a best. l just enjoy GOOD music. What ever kind of good music it is. A heartbeat !!

[OneManAndHisToaster]

I'm speechless!!! Bravo, bravissimo! :')

[markymark1791]

open the door

[republicain85]

This music is just simply divine, and this film, one of my all time favourites artistically and esthetically...

[0TTTTT0TTTTT0]

<3

[norrynittyet]

私程度の人生でもこの曲はココロに響きます。

[MrThierrybiron]

le plus beau de ses morceaux... un rêve... just a dream :o)

[Oyukarom]

2:13 was amazing!!!!

[nix4pool]

But there are Smart Arses out there who cannot tolerate people having an opinion, the comment below is a waste of space and effort, Clown!

By the way were you one of the two who have already given my comment the thumbs up?

[TheWenads]

音樂無國界。

[nix4pool]

Quite simply the best music you'll ever likely to hear, stunning, just stunning.

[Garaam12]

@nix4pool would people please stop acting like music was a defined, and that everything is subject to perception, and taste? there isnt any "best music", "best rapper", "best band", ffs, just enjoy what you like, and keep it at that

[1roxylinkinparklover]

NICE LOVELY

[apricotstar7]

荘厳！

[aaddzzzj]

great music ,great movie the last Emperor

[taotaosland]

25 dislike are 9 years old kids!

[severrnijKGU]

its rare when original orchestral music comes out of japan. but when it does, it kicks all ass.

[derrickwalla]

i luv this song

[DivisionCreativa]

LSD :)

[ngai1842]

i will never thank Bertolucci, John Lone and Ryuichi Sakamoto enough to have made me discover, through their movie, what has become the centre of my life, China

[tsujishouko]

Wenn ich diese Musik hoere, erinnere ich mich an den japanischen ehrlichsten Kaiser Hirohito, der unter der damligen Misere des Krieges gelitten und vor allem das Wohl des japanischen Volkes gewuenscht hat.

[vegasguy931]

The movie was awesome but this particular piece of music brings me back over and over and over again to listen and enjoy!!!

[originallove911]

この映画、後ろで立ち見しました。混んじゃって。

[MultiSocialism]

I think the saddest thing about this movie is the message it tells us. Although the director is not Chinese himself,he depicted the true picture of China. At the end of the film,when the little boy turns to Puyi and finds that he has disappeared,it symbolizes the Chinese dynasty has truly gone. If you know Chinese history,the end of the Qing dynasty did not bring much good to the Chinese but brought them into a new age of darkness.(The cultural revolution in 1960s killed millions of Chinese)

[krane121]

What I mean is that the music needed the movie in order to come into existence. A composer like Beethoven is life. By comparison someone like Sakamoto is merely evocative.

[krane121]

It's a masterpiece but not in the way that Beethoven's 9th is.

[toki1221]

神曲

[akiretto]

Celestial.....emotional.......­.....legendary!

[Arabelle2009]

Bernardo Bertolucci asked for a 'Manchurian Gershwin' and this is what Ryuichi Sakamoto delivered.

[tomsk16]

何十年たってから聞いても、やはり、良いものは良いなぁ・・・。­

[Eyqua]

sad and tearful music...making u feel like you belong to the history

[ReeginaJuli]

I feel like I both see and feel a river, water or an ocean and when sakamoto begins to play, the little river forms a big wave and this wonderful wave of strenght and passion and urge for freedom overcomes it all, magestic! I fell inlove with this. Majestic, majestic Majestic!

[mrozy10]

Ryuichi Sakamoto and Ludovico Einaudi are two of the best musicians since 80s. Their music has so much passion. They're so emotional, their music takes you to place where you ache to go but for a little time. At the beginning of all their songs there is an instant moment which forms a bond between the song and the audience. They're talented and their music, art is what keeps the music going. Not some autotune thing.

[xXRobloxPwnerXx]

it sounds like heaven........such grace

[haitang]

all i could say... its a powerful experience.

[boldguy1]

I want this song to play when i enter heaven.

[mooncell53]

25years before in japan the country and the culture ,most beautiful amazing over the world ,this song is the heritage in this grand age .

[Angudragu]

Legendary movie

[swissair10]

great. chinese and japanese artists together... so much emotion in this song...

[matimaui]

the dislike stats speak for themselves.

[NineToesXD]

needs to be more music like this

[pppantazis1]

hey,.... this is devine ...we are only human

[k21im]

I started crying at 1:50. Believe it or not this was my favorite movie when I was like 8...still is. This movie and dances with wolves...I was a very advanced child!!

[xxx9518]

23 people either have bad taste or no taste at all in music

[ApplePotato]

The first instrument is a GuZheng it is similar to a harp.

The second one is Erhu

The third one that looks like a gituar is called Pi-Pa

They are all classical chinese instruments

[scagazines]

What's the name of the instrument the girl is playing at the beginning?

[takeinoue]

@scagazines It's like a koto, but koto is a japanese instrument...

[eldictator1]

anyone have an mp3 of this specific live performance, it's far better than the original version

[happa1mai]

over million access!!! amazing!

[BenjaminTheBishop]

@happa1mai I'm responsible for about 30,000 of those views. xD

[lidiyakit69]

what are those instruments?

[Balkaniuga]

@lidiyakit69 starts with a koto and then around the first minute joins an erhu

[dallexeitohostia]

2:12 FUCKING EPIC! tears run away

[dimitradim]

vuuuuuryyyy nice!!!

[iGotSpaceLikeNASA]

@dimitradim vuuuuuuuuuryyyyy kala.

[daftmusician]

es cancion me pone melancolico

[fusshia]

@sijotakane whaaa? I didn't get what you said

[sijotakane]

many faggots saying "OMG Japanese composed Chinese music!"

.... how difference to Japanese composing Western style classic music like Hisaishi Joe?

[skaterboi8000]

@sijotakane Does Hisaishi Joe compose western style music?

[GZH1234]

Is there a Erhu sheet, and/or a piano sheet? I would like to learn this song.

[darkskyBAO]

a great piece of music, totally lightens my soul

[teoani]

@lolfrog1  0:00 guzheng, 1:00 erhu, 1:28 - 1:38 pipa

[Knowaru]

You guys should check out my instrumental entitled "Waiting"...it contains a sample of this very song and I believe it would be appreciated by all Ryuichi Sakamoto fans.

[tvcelebrity90210]

one of the most beautiful and one of my favorite soundtracks film-scores ever composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto

[tvcelebrity90210]

one of my favorite soundtracks film-scores ever composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto

[ThePercifal]

superbe ....

[Dinosaury1]

its japanese music :)

[GZH1234]

@Dinosaury1 Theres japanese and Chinese elements in it... along with a few other things

[TalismanTImes]

@GZH1234

Quite a few "other things" actually, including:

the entire orchestral background including the violins, the violas, the cellos, the bass, the woodwinds, the brass, the aerophones (flutes), and the percussion section

not to mention the piano and the conductor

all of these (in their currently recognized form) are essentially of Western origin and influence

Its a grand mix indeed

[cillantro]

Japan is to the world today what ancient India, ancient far east(china incl)were through time till their collapse sometime ago.Truely the most advanced civilisation today.Advancement civilisation wise is not just holding the largest economy or surplus, it is creating works like this,high art to be revered by generations to come!Such civilisations do not have practical constraints like money or materials and the only limits/limitations are those of the artist!Ryuichi Sakamoto apparently has none!

[krane121]

@cillantro Don't be absurd. Japan is in deterioration like most things in the world that obsess themselves with being modern. Any of the really great compositions compared to this are like Tolstoy compared to a Murakami novel.

[cillantro]

@krane121 Ironically a lack of concern for modernisation also leads to decline and it will not be the comfortable decline we see in Japan,EU or USA today.Look at my country India or China(PRC) today?We are fucked.A lack of real modernity while gobbling up westernisation is the reason.Japanese are modern but not western if you catch my drift.The tragic tale of puyi,fall of the emperor of ten thousand years and the tune to match.Only somebody with cultural affinity can compose this tune for him!!!

[krane121]

@cillantro Right, the spirit behind the great symphonies is gone forever. Japan is modern and more Western than is good for it. You can still feel the Eastern breeze so to speak, but it's beneath the surface and inaccessible to most travelers, who easily find what they need to scratch their Western itch. I believe this is a sensitive piece of music, but like I said in another comment it required the movie in order to come into existence. Compared to Beethoven it's a mood piece.

[krane121]

@cillantro Don't get me wrong though I love Japan. It just isn't a great civilization. There are no great civilizations left.

[cillantro]

@krane121 Examples of previously great civilisations please? I am interested in your definition of great...or has the UN destroyed it?

[krane121]

@cillantro I suppose America was a great civilization at its founding and at times in the 19th century. England was a great civilization once as was much of Europe on and off...China once was, India, Persia, Greece, Rome. I hold Christendom above Rome though. If Japan was ever great it was during the Heian period but a lot of people dispute that. There was certainly an irrecoverable quality.I think Japan taken in its whole you could call great. Its current manifestation is hardly great.

[cillantro]

@krane121 Japan was great during the meiji period for me.This was because they were the ONLY(sorry I had to write it in caps)asian civilisation that modernised and kept their culture intact,avoided colonisation and even drove the european colonisers out of asia,thei intention in china and korea to drive the colonisers out was initially noble(pan asian solidarity etc) but they went ape shit later on and became the monsters they thought they were driving out!They were great post ww2(80s) also IMO!

[krane121]

@cillantro I would call the Meiji period and 80's industrious. I don't know about great. Certainly not negligible. But there was great inner tension about modernization. A lot of the energy that didn't go to industry was dissipated in tension over the contradictions I think.

[krane121]

@cillantro This also isn't abundant enough to be called great. It proceeds in episodes rather than movements. Incidentally the only way of really saying anything about anything is largely through comparison. No person, no epoch, no work of art stands alone.

[cillantro]

@krane121 Fine...the industrial revolution period in the UK when nearly 50-60% of london's population lived in deplorable conditions(worst slums in history) amidst poverty,neglection,social isolation and exploitation besides crimes and barely any human rights while the british ""empire"" expanded most is a position of greatness..okay?Japan is not great...not atall! Whats with this past affixation? India used to build cities when the world was living in caves,but it means nothing than history tdy

[krane121]

@cillantro We're not arguing whether any particular time is more comfortable to live in but whether it does in fact produce greatness. I hate the Industrial Revolution but out of it came Charles Dickens to show that there was still some greatness in the people. There's nothing 'great' now, that quality is gone. Whether life is better without greatness is a separate debate. But you are a slave to appearances of you think a peasant is, for the reason of being a peasant, sad.

[krane121]

@cillantro And I think it's certainly true to say that the poor are as a whole unhappier now than they ever have been.

[cillantro]

@krane121 we are all peasents now,true but we are all kings as well.A homeless guy can curse at the president in a liberal democracy like the USA....could that have been done in the old days?The poor as a whole are better off I would say,cruel as that may sound sovereign states are bleeding themselves and their taxpayers merely to provide ever increasing comforts,basics and facilities to thei poor.Yeah charles dickens was great so were many victorians.This is the age of mediocrity.Japs are great

[krane121]

@cillantro we are all peasants? not a chance. we are too disconnected from the earth, too uprooted, too unhappy.

[cillantro]

@krane121 Yeah maybe....we are all kings in the age of plastic money I guess? We are too unhappy and the happy ones look like fools right?Thats the norm...

[krane121]

@cillantro I think that clearly one ingredient to greatness is a permeating religion. But anyway, it's interesting to work from the illustration of these two orchestral pieces, this and Beethoven's 9th. The paradox is that nostalgia plays a much greater part in giving Sakamoto's music its effect, even though it is a recent piece. Beethoven is a direct link. Clearly he was nearer to some quality that can only be called greatness. Whatever it is one knows it when he hears it.

[cillantro]

@krane121 I don't know how you can compare this to beethoven?Two different people and cultures...music should talk to me,convey a picture and a story...this apparently conveys the tale of orientalism and when used in that movei through the tragic tale of puyi it conveys the fate of orientalism.I don't understand how someone can dispute its greatness.Greatness is standalone not a comparitive study IMHO.Cheers

[krane121]

@cillantro I compare them because the quality of greatness comes through Beethoven directly from his period. There's simply a quality and spirit behind it that there isn't in any modern music. This may be an accomplished and affecting piece, but the quality of greatness is absent. It's too dependent on the movie. It's retrospective music, and too much of its effect derives from nostalgia to be called great, imo.

[krane121]

@cillantro It's also very moving and as well done as anything like this can be done now.

[krane121]

@krane121 Sorry for so may replies but I'm trying to get right at what I mean. This music is done, you're right, as a story. It's saying 'this is what this music was, this is what people were. but a necessary ingredient of the quality of greatness is that it should stand alone (in a different sense from what I said before) as what it is. It can't be about the past, it just has to be. These kinds of harmonies used to express the culture directly...when China was great.

[krane121]

@cillantro Okay last post :) In other words, in order to fully take its place among great works and be considered among them and as part of them the work of art must stand alone.

[SOLASOLALA]

新日本紀行ですか。



[SOLASOLALA]

新日本紀行。



[lolfrog1]

Does anybody know the instrument that the girl is playing at 1:38? Because it would be very helpful to me if anyone did know...

[vwliang]

@lolfrog1

It's called the 琵琶 (pí​pa): Chinese lute, with 4 strings, a large pear-shaped body and a fretted fingerboard.

[slrmclaren5200]

@vwliang yea or tht as well?

[slrmclaren5200]

@lolfrog1 its called a gu zheng...i used to be able to play a little but forgot now

[stvhuh]

Ryuichi Sakamoto as a composer and musician never limits himself to a single genre. Which is one of the things I love about him. He acknowledges the new musical sounds produced every day and tries to keep up, he manages to be successful in various instruments, dj, sing. Electronica, this stuff, glitch-hop, classical, experimental (check out his collaboration with Alva Noto, just perfect)

Honestly, I can't categorize this music, but everyone should try to check out Yiruma's stuff.

[HaydieB]

Can someone please answer me this (send me a PM if you have to!): What genre is this music? I need it in my life. I nee to get hold of some of it, a few CD's from like artists, classic pieces from the genre, all that... What is the actually name for this Japanese classical genre type? I want stuff with the instrument that girl plays so beautifully in it!

This music will make me a better man, i know it! HELP ME!

[tkoviet]

One word : Masterpiece

[IskanderAlive]

The horizontal harp is called a gu zheng and the violin thing, if I'm not mistaken, is a pih pa.

[liltiff14hendrixplz]

Whats the name of the instrument the girl is playing?

[IskanderAlive]

@liltiff14hendrixplz It's called a gu zheng. It's a sort of harp.

[Thunder98980]

EPIC.....

[gunmakerzZ]

Only if china had its emperor FK feel so sad for him stupid general exile him and there china turn conmunist....

[onlyonelm]

L'ultimo imperatore

[N0oDLX]

Final Fantasy?! :O

[judenihal]

Is this where Lil Flip got his riffs from Sunshine? I just covered that song by sampling this song. Its called the Lee song.

[lk251003]

This music suggests some hope despite the sad history of that period, if good people have a wish

Japan + China = PEACE

[CKDindustry]

@lk251003 No, the music is about the last emperor of China...

[bemyart90]

Hey people stop talking politics here. Politics is ugly enough, don't let it stain such a beautiful melody.

[Rankik]

21 dislikes? for real?

[rhumcoca34]

Vraiment un mozart contemporain , c'est que du bonheur

[popushash]

漢民族と女真族の文化的差異が分かる日本人だって小数だろ。

日本人が漠然と持っている「中国」の色んな情景、草原とか宮殿と­か砂漠とか、が浮かんできていい音楽だと思う。

[F3FisGoodforYou]

This is absolutely wonderful music... too bad they have lemon faces.

[matthiastham]

this music is so peaceful. so much to the music itself.

[Dinosaury1]

great music , realy wonderful

[andre10hp]

stupenda non ci sono parole per descriverla.

[satineff]

great music, just like the river of history.

[mercore]

That Ryuichi Sakamoto is not human.. Especially at the end..

Thank you for posting this video.. It become one of my fav...

[apalmfish]

I think this remains the single greatest piece of music of all time, for me at least.

[pontello3]

i'm doing music

and when i hear tracks like this i ahve envy to quit as musician! cause i feel soooooo little and useless!

sakamoto is acontemporary maestro!

also this track is so beautiful but it makes me feel sad and it moves cause it reminds me the japan tragedy

[CrystalBai88]

I love watching the conductor at 1:50 and on :)

[lastcontinent]

西洋にはイタリア文化とフランス文化を混同して怒る人はいても

日本とchinaの文化の区別はつかないだろうからね。

存在しない東洋の「トゥーランドット」に涙するくらい滑稽だ。

[tyannkonabeumaize]

@lastcontinent というか清王朝は正確には中国（漢民族）じゃなくて満州族の征服­王朝だけどね。今は少数民族として中国の一部になってなっちゃっ­て中国人でも誤解してる人もいるかもしれないけど。

[shihobo]

Human beings made fun of in reality…

For me who am resident in Sendai City of Japan, I feel like can understand the feeling of the chief character of this movie a little in these three days…

The human being who is made fun of for fate without what to do…

I could not but merely feel "mutability" for these three days from 2:45 p.m. on March 11…

[shadowthewedgehog]

He sure has made some awesome music

[LuigiKarimElliott]

I'm so in love with this piece right now. I aspire to make music like this, and one day I will

[Einhander49]

China in pure sound - which ironically was composed by a Japanese. And well, you folks know just how much bad blood there is between the two.

[pranhu]

@Einhander49 Peace will be upon between them .. unless you do not agree with peace

[Nahkranoth8]

I really enjoyed 1:50-2:50, but I found 3:50 and on a bit exhausting.

[Rankik]

@Nahkranoth8 I dont know what you mean, the whole song made my heart warm and my stomach feel as though there were butterflies in it. I have never felt so intimidated by a song..

[zatouiti32]

圧巻！

[qimingwu]

great use of chinese instruments. classic of all time

[shihobo]

I merely feel "mutability"…

[shihobo]

The music of Sakamoto lets you feel a big river, the sea…

A human being made fun of on the big river called the history cannot do anything…Even if the person changes, the "Yangtze River" "Yellow River" continues flowing today…

[shihobo]

From the human sad life, the emperor made fun of in a big wave called the history to the common people…

I feel his sorrow…

The history occasionally makes sport of a person…

[feenix00]

Goosebumps all the way... Sakamoto-san is truly a genius...

[darkbat69]

from 1:50 ~ 2:51

This Rhythm rings everytime when PuYi chase and lose the most important person in his life...

Tragic and beautiful

[bicepluvr]

I believe he is Japanese not Chinese, but an amazing composer, and musician definitely

[bicepluvr]

I believe he is Japanese not Chinese

[nix4pool]

Just complete musical bliss, i watch this often, just wish i'd have been in the audience,

A Masterpiece. People will watch this in hundreds of years time and marvel at the brilliance of Sakamoto.

[nksoogrim]

If you like this, you should see the movie. The movie and soundtrack are both in my top ten.

[forehind]

bravo

[flip1sba]

Other than composing great music, he performed very well in the movie as Mr. Amakasu.

[MrRobnick666]

Ryuichi Sakamoto：As a chinese im really proud of u! u've composed too many Masterpieces those chinese couldnt composed! Thumb up!

[3ldi36o]

Ryuichi Sakamoto eres el mejor sin duda me encanta esta musica me llena de emociones escondidas , soy de peru . tu musica es maravillosa pero a la vez es tan triste me remueve el corazon GRACIAS MAESTRO .

[jessigirl44]

Big love for this peice of music <3

[heliotrope34]

There is something really magical about this piece of music... It seems to contain (if that is the appropriate word) so much of the sublime and extraordinary Chinese civilisation. Only with sounds and melody, it take us to the beauty and the Celestial Empire.... Great

[giangra92]

@heliotrope34 What's so extraordinary in chinese civilization? I live with a chinese guy exchange student, and in my school there are others 10 of them. They do not comunicate with anybody else. Maybe i just got bad luck, but chinese people i know that are not exactly an example of socialization and integration.

[powerofdomination]

@giangra92 how about you go to china and socialize. Maybe its because you are just interacting with one and he happens to be alone in America? I know i would be socially awkward if i were in his shoes

[onyachamp]

@MrAsiansunite geez , aren't much of a hypocrite are we mr asians unite

[templepilot666]

@heliotrope34 Ryuichi Sakamoto is Japanese not Chinese

[heliotrope34]

@templepilot666 Yes I know he is...... why are you telling me that?

Nothing wrong to explain that a lot of East Asian culture originated from China, eg. some types of music, Ch'an or Zen Buddhism (mix of Buddhism & Taoism), writing, bonsai, go from weiqi, kimono hanfu,etc.Culture giving. It's historical accuracy, just like Greek mythology was adapted into Roman myth, Greek philosophy influe