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Thread: If progressive bands were classical composers

  1. #1
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    If progressive bands were classical composers

    ELP =Tchaikovsky, for the bombast, pomp,noise, speed, and innovative instrumentation, e.g. cannon and church bells in the 1812 overture, which makes me think of ELP every time I hear it.
    Jethro Tull = Ralph Vaughan Williams, a shared preservation and use of English folk Music and pastoral imagery.
    Karda Estra = a mix of Walton, Satie, Bartok and Gorecki
    Genesis = Mozart, very accomplished, few musical surprises
    Frank Zappa = Varese and Chavez
    Cardiacs = RVW and Frank Zappa
    King Crimson = Benjamin Britten, very varied, full of surprises both good and bad, innovation the cornerstone.
    Gentle Giant = Shostakovich, pleasant violence and crazy peace.
    Yes = Haydn, solid, pleasant music, trying to break free from the baroque, almost but never quite succeeding
    Pink Floyd = the pomp and attack of Elgar and the whimsy and gentleness of Delius.

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    The Nice = Bernstein

  3. #3
    I might go with GG = Prokofiev... melodic, flirting with dissonance but still accessible. Of course, that ignores the medieval/baroque side...

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    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    Magma - Stravinsky (les Noces), Orff
    Univers Zero, etc. - Stravinsky, Bartok

  5. #5
    Boo! walt's Avatar
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    Het-Harry Partch/John Cage in his works for percussion circa late 1930's-early 1940's
    Last edited by walt; 02-24-2015 at 02:54 PM.
    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

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    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    WINNER: Most Esoterically Ambiguous Thread EVER Award

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    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by klothos View Post
    WINNER: Most Esoterically Ambiguous Thread EVER Award
    Yeah, but it has an intriguing mental puzzle behind it, trying to find similarities across genres.

    Barclay James Harvest = Copland
    ZAO = Ives, Satie
    Henry Cow = Ruggles
    Samla Mammas Manna = Carl Stalling
    Magma = Wagner
    Rush = John Williams
    Neu! = Steve Reich
    John Zorn = J.S. Bach
    Bill Frisell = C.P.E. Bach
    Last edited by rcarlberg; 02-23-2015 at 03:18 PM.

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    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    If Machines were Men and Men were Machines,
    Who would count the jellybeans?
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

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    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  9. #9
    ELP= Copeland... in addition to the other obvious composers they borrowed from You could make a case for Kansas = Copeland, they have a distinctly American vibe.

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    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Who is Copeland?

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    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve F. View Post
    If Machines were Men and Men were Machines,
    Who would count the jellybeans?
    Machines were mice and men were lions
    Once upon a time
    But now they live the opposite
    It's twice upon a time

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    Who is Copeland?
    Aaron Copeland, Stewart Copeland's brother, duh

  13. #13
    Member No Pride's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    Aaron Copeland, Stewart Copeland's brother, duh

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    Sparks = Puccini
    Arena = Vivaldi
    Frank Zappa = (also) Paganini
    ELO = Fritz Kreiszler
    Mike Oldfield = Chopin
    The Moody Blues = Mahler
    Faust = Wagner

  15. #15
    Neal Morse or Roine Stolt = George Gershwin

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Proglodite View Post
    Neal Morse or Roine Stolt
    Liberace, Vollenweider and Yanni. Only less masculine and classy than all of those.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  17. #17
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Celeste = Vivaldi

  18. #18
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Glass Hammer = Puccini

  19. #19
    KC is probably closer to Schnittke than Britten. The polystylistic elements on Lizard come to mind.

    I never thought of Shostakovich while listening to GG. Baroque and Renaissance music comes to mind.

    Recently I've been listening to Janacek's Sinfonietta, and ELP lifted the opening brass melody for a vocal line on their first album.
    Forget the name of the tune.

    I hear a lot of the Second Viennese School influence in Zappa, even though he's said he wasn't that big a fan of Schoenberg or Berg. But he always mentioned Webern. But Schoenberg's Five Pieces For Orchestra always makes me think of FZ.
    Last edited by Reid; 02-24-2015 at 12:25 PM.

  20. #20
    GG has a lot of 20th century classical influence in their stuff, like say So Sincere. I think that's what Kerry studied. And all the Philip Glass type looping elements. And then there was School Day which was straight up Impressionist, at least the middle section.

  21. #21
    Yes, So Sincere is a very interesting and inventive piece of modern music! Speaking of Britten, I was listening to his Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra over the weekend, and I love that Henry Purcell theme he used for his variations to showcase the various orchestral instruments.

  22. #22
    Member No Pride's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reid View Post
    I never thought of Shostakovich while listening to GG. Baroque and Renaissance music comes to mind.
    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    GG has a lot of 20th century classical influence in their stuff, like say So Sincere. I think that's what Kerry studied. And all the Philip Glass type looping elements. And then there was School Day which was straight up Impressionist, at least the middle section.
    They had all of that going on... and they rawked! There was never a band like them before or since imo.

  23. #23
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reid View Post
    I hear a lot of the Second Viennese School influence in Zappa, even though he's said he wasn't that big a fan of Schoenberg or Berg. But he always mentioned Webern. But Schoenberg's Five Pieces For Orchestra always makes me think of FZ.
    There's some pretty Pierrot Lunaire-ish stuff on 200 Motels.

  24. #24
    I enjoy this kind of thing.

    Yes = Mahler. Obsessions with large scale forms and always trying to define/reflect the relationship between the spiritual and temporal.
    Genesis = Prokofiev. A predilection for fairy tales coupled with an impulse to go deeply sardonic.
    King Crimson = Shostakovich. Testing the range between blow-the-doors off pounding walls of sound and mysterious stasis. Pervasive feeling of discomfort even during lighter moments.
    Pink Floyd = Schubert. Mellow serenity with a view toward eternity. Focus on personal tragedy.
    Gentle Giant = JS Bach (or Hindemith). The counterpoint, of course. Also, a sense of studious deliberation, sometimes resulting in unexpected emotional intensity.
    Emerson, Lake & Palmer = Franz Liszt. Flamboyant, virtuosic and wildly diverse, with attempts at profundity always stunted by pervasive showmanship.
    Jethro Tull = Mozart. An agreeable surface and effortless execution. Cheekiness to spare.
    Magma = Wagner (for conceptual ambition), Orff (for primitivist drive).
    Happy the Man = Ravel. Exquisite, witty craftsmanship and an ability to capture the perfume of a locale in the music.
    Zappa = Beethoven. Pushing envelopes and thumbing a nose at authority.
    Henry Cow = Ives. Juxtaposing styles. Experimenting with unusual approaches. A deep concern for humanity expressed in a puzzling but compelling way.
    Rush = John Adams. Literary/sociological outlook. Complexity and sophistication derived from seemingly simple artistic premises.

  25. #25
    I like the ELP/Liszt comparison!

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