Isao Tomita, the man responsible for bringing synthesizer music to Japan, died Thursday (May 5th). The electronic pioneer passed away after suffering heart failure at Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo Hospital. He was 84 years old.
In 1971, Tomita became one of the earliest musicians to bring electronic music to his home country of Japan. He imported a Moog III synthesizer, an instrument largely unseen in Japan, and quickly discovered the ability to not just recreate the sounds of analog instruments, but generate entirely new ones. His breakthrough album was 1974’s Snowflakes Are Dancing, a record that topped the Billboard classic music charts and was an international smash. Comprised of arrangements of Claude Debussy’s “tone paintings,” it was nominated for four Grammy awards, making Tomita the first Japanese artist to be nominated ...
This is a bit from Holst's Planets Suite. It's a bit long but you can skip to 4:30 to hear I Vow To Thee My Country.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDFocqYSrfE[/youtube]
