The Resident Evil music was never extremely memorable for me, though I do remember it being one of the early ambitious symphonic scores in video games (and I do love the safe room music).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogCs-ZTl_KA
It has been revealed that Mamoru Samuragochi, the well known composer for the series, didn’t actually write most of the music. The 50-year-old has been called a modern Beethoven after losing his hearing at the age of 35, but continuing to work using absolute pitch. But now, Samuragochi has revealed that he has been hiring another composer to write his music for nearly 18 years. For gamers, he is most known for Resident Evil and Onimusha, but his most famous work worldwide is “Symphony No. 1, Hiroshima,” dedicated to the victims of the 1945 atomic blast.
To make things even worse, Takashi Niigaki, who claims to be the real composer behind these works, doesn’t even believe that Samuragochi is actually deaf. He claims that Samuragochi listened to the pieces that he had written, and provided feedback accordingly. Niigaki initially agreed to do this for Samuragochi, but grew increasingly worried about this arrangement. When he asked to get out of it, Samuragochi threatened to commit suicide.
In a statement from his lawyers, Samuragochi has apologized for betraying his fans. He also mentions that he did provide the broader ideas for the scores, while the collaborator completed the scores themselves.
This is all very sad to hear, especially given Samuragochi’s incredible history. He is the son of Hiroshima atomic bomb survivors, whose mother taught him piano from the age of four. He was playing Bach and Beethoven by the time he was ten. It’s a shame that he didn’t back out when he should’ve, and hopefully this will all get cleared up for the actual person who deserves the credit.
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