"Japanese Beethovan" now disgraced

[DrLeftover]

March 7, 2014, 10:43 a.m.

He isn't completely deaf. He didn't really compose his own music. And now he's sorry for lying about it.

Mamoru Samuragochi, the composer who was once popularly referred to as the Beethoven of Japan, appeared at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday and apologized for deceiving the public.

"I have caused a great deal of trouble with my lies for everyone, including those people who bought my CDs and came to my concerts," he said, according to a

In February, it was revealed that Samuragochi had employed a ghost writer to compose his symphonies and other music, and that his claims to being totally deaf weren't true. The revelations created a scandal in Japan, where Samuragochi has long been one of the country's most popular contemporary classical composers.

Most of his music was written by Takashi Niigaki, a university teacher. The ghostwritten pieces include his popular "Sonatina for Violin," which was used by Japanese figure skater Daisuke Takahashi at the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-mamoru-samuragochi-japanese-composer-deaf-20140307,0,3817280.story#ixzz2vZ49mpOv