Rock Versions of Classical Works & Prog

[rickawakeman]

The final Jeapordy category for April 29, 2022 was 'Musical Inspirations.'

Clue: “Tuileries” & “The Great Gate of Kiev” were 2 of the artworks that inspired this classical work completed in 1874.

Solution: Pictures at an Exhibition.

I nailed it of course, thanks to ELP. My wife was impressed until I told her how I knew the "question". Then not so much.

[Rarebird]

The final Jeapordy category for April 29, 2022 was 'Musical Inspirations.'

Clue: “Tuileries” & “The Great Gate of Kiev” were 2 of the artworks that inspired this classical work completed in 1874.

Solution: Pictures at an Exhibition.

I nailed it of course, thanks to ELP. My wife was impressed until I told her how I knew the "question". Then not so much.

I would also be able to answer the question who was the artist whose works were the inspiration.

[Wah3]

Sky's versions of Bach's Toccata & Fugue and Berlioz's March to the Scaffold

[Scrotum Scissor]

I would like to mention the Spanish band Canarios who did an original re-interpretation of Vivaldi's Le Quattro Stagioni. "Ciclos" is a very complex, enormously creative and instrumentally incredible album, without pseudo-classical elements in their style of playing. On the contrary, the focal points of the composition, the Canarios interpreted in their own way and never just wanted to translate the original into the rock music. "Ciclos" should be listened to in its entirety, but

Just on what terms of theory is it "enormously creative", Svetonio - or indeed "without pseudo-classical elements"? Is the Canarios double album somehow akin to the overarching artistic achievements of, say, Wendy Carlos?

I agree that there certainly ARE good and cool and groovy parts on that album, but in which way does it as a whole enhance the momentum of aesthetic statement and general idea intended? What differs it from "A Fifth of Beethoven" from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack or the mildly campy intensions of elevator lush in the music of Ekseption, Clayderman, Nigel Kennedy, Vanessa Mae or Sky?

[RichardGioaf.]

"Chromatic fantasy" is a Bach adaptation performed by Robert Fripp solo on the electric guitar. "Contrapunctus" comes from the same composer, written out here of course for acoustic guitars. Not to forget the final part of the "Bach Trilogy", the dignified "Passacaglia", played really well by the Robert Fripp String Quintet:

[Scrotum Scissor]

Ok.

I would like to mention once again Ole Edvard Antonsen's absolutely amazingly incredible adaptation of "Honky Tonk Women" into complex classical jazz exploration/narration exploitational realizationsensation. High recommend and without pseudo-classical Parsifal Löwenthal abnormal anal, it remains one of the absolytt best trytt of fytt'n'shytt.

[rockcup]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33W_...rv=Li7wJSpETpE

(Nach Themen der 5. Symphonie von Anton Bruckner)

[Scrotum Scissor]

I would like to recommend James Last Orchestra's impossibly impressive version of "Silver Machine", which is without any pseudo-quasi negative formation of formalization.

[Mascodagama]

I would like to recommend James Last Orchestra's impossibly impressive version of "Silver Machine", which is without any pseudo-quasi negative formation of formalization.

Finally, my journey to nirvana is completed! Thank you.

[Progbear]

I would like to recommend James Last Orchestra's impossibly impressive version of "Silver Machine", which is without any pseudo-quasi negative formation of formalization.

Is that the iteration of the group featuring members of Lucifer’s Friend?

[RichardGioaf.]

When Dee Palmer wrote the Classical-inspired "Elegy" - she studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music - she did it in honor of her late father. However, she became the first person who received the only credit to compose a song for a Jethro Tull album since Mick Abrahams departure. "Elegy" features a fading bass that is reminiscent of Bach's Partita No.2: Chaconne. It's indeed an elegy, a musical form often thought of as something sad, as well as a stimulus for contemplation and pining for the past.

[Rarebird]

One thing to consider: while many prog musicians are classically trained players, that doesn’t mean they have classical training as a composer. Playing and composing are two different things. I often wonder about an artist’s training in composition. A musician could be one of the top [classical] players in the world, yet their compositional chops are at an elementary level. Many might not immediately realize this, as their compositions might be filled with mind blowing displays of instrumental (&/or vocal) technique.
This is a topic for a different thread.

But not all classical composers studied composition, though I agree that playing and composing are different things.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I would like to mention, recommend and comprehend this seriously heavy advant-guard rendition of a true sympho classic. It's a bit different version, not just rock but a bit amok. It's when you are fortunate enough to hear extravaganzas of this stanza that you get to understandza the need for the bandza's inspiration of the dandza.

[Rarebird]

I would like to mention, recommend and comprehend this seriously heavy advant-guard rendition of a true sympho classic. It's a bit different version, not just rock but a bit amok. It's when you are fortunate enough to hear extravaganzas of this stanza that you get to understandza the need for the bandza's inspiration of the dandza.

Very nice. Wouldn't this belong in the w.t.f. covers threat?

[Duncan Glenday]

The Vivaldi Metal project:



...and numerous other videos.

[sphinx]

One thing that you have to remember: musicians play music. They don't write it. Composers write music. So if you don't have something for a musician to do, you will be treated to noodling. You will have "The World o' Scales," "The World o' Licks," but you won't have compositions. It's a special knack to invent structures, to invent new harmony, and to invent reasons for doing things. I mean, it's a different skill than being a musician.

Frank Zappa
The Mother Of All Interviews (Part 2)
by Don Menn, 1992
This is the second part of the rather excellent interview conducted by Don Menn in 1992. It was also called "Belgian Waffles in Plastic".

Now, if it's about classical adaptions, you don't necessarily need strong composing skills per se, but at at least some in the field of arranging, which also involves more abstract parameters such as taste and style.

So, it's e.g. not easy to shoehorn classical works into a rock sphere dominated by straight rhythms all the way through (among other stylistic confinements), and get a convincing result.

[Rarebird]

One thing that you have to remember: musicians play music. They don't write it. Composers write music. So if you don't have something for a musician to do, you will be treated to noodling. You will have "The World o' Scales," "The World o' Licks," but you won't have compositions. It's a special knack to invent structures, to invent new harmony, and to invent reasons for doing things. I mean, it's a different skill than being a musician.

Frank Zappa
The Mother Of All Interviews (Part 2)
by Don Menn, 1992
This is the second part of the rather excellent interview conducted by Don Menn in 1992. It was also called "Belgian Waffles in Plastic".

Now, if it's about classical adaptions, you don't necessarily need strong composing skills per se, but at at least some in the field of arranging, which also involves more abstract parameters such as taste and style.

So, it's e.g. not easy to shoehorn classical works into a rock sphere dominated by straight rhythms all the way through (among other stylistic confinements), and get a convincing result.

And songwriters, write songs. But how about jazz-musicians? Are some of them akin to composers? Yes, part is improvised, but how much of it and how much is layed down in some kind of structure, that doesn't change?

[jake]

Frank Black’s take on Sicilienne from Pelléas et Mélisande by Gabriel Faure - really quite nice.

[Man In The Mountain]

PELL MELL: The Can Can Finale on this is everything.

[MortSahlFan]

Jimmy Page Prelude No 4 in E minor, Op 28

I like that he even played it live.. It's "Prelude" on the album. I wish he released more instrumental music. I don't remember him using that awful 80s engineering/production..

[Progbear]

A big pitfall with classical-rock (or classical-pop) adaptations is taking them too seriously. That’s how you get the likes of Ekseption, which in most cases I wouldn’t even classify as “rock”; the majority of their output to me sounds like Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass with a classical fixation.

Such things have more appeal to me when musicians lean into the silliness of the whole endeavor and just have fun with it. The Pink Mice albums are good on that kind of thing, but they kind of go overboard in the other direction (In Synthesizer Sound in particular sounds like a 40 minute compendium of ringtones). I profess a bit of a fondness for the works of R. J. Benninghoff, a Nashville keyboardist who did a few joyous albums of classical-rock adaptations that don’t forget to emphasize the rock, nor do they skimp on the fun. Pretty obviously a bunch of Nashville session players just blowing off steam, but it remains enjoyable:

[Scrotum Scissor]

A big pitfall with classical-rock (or classical-pop) adaptations is taking them too seriously. That’s how you get the likes of Ekseption, which in most cases I wouldn’t even classify as “rock”; the majority of their output to me sounds like Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass with a classical fixation.

Truth be told, Ekseption were formed to be not an actual "rock" group but a complete crossover ensemble in Rick van der Linden's long hope of making soundtracks for film and television or commercials etc. As it turned out, their glories eventually came from radio and touring dance performances, in time making their imprint well-known as a "camp & kitsch"-orchestra somewhat less commercially defined and inclined than the likes of the James Last O.

I personally can't stand them and never did, and I never liked the whole endeavour of "crossover" when it was established either. I still think Sky - who were initially very successful in downright elevator-music corners - was a sad thing for Francis Monkman's standing as artist.

Yet I disagree that the idea of thematical or relative interpretation and adaptation shouldn't be attempted at all. The success of something like ELP's/Ginastera's "Toccata" rests on the reworking's transcendent display of inherent possibilities and tangles in the chosen piece, attributing and enabling other riches and effects of exploration than what a philharmonic conception would display.

[Mister Triscuits]

PELL MELL: The Can Can Finale on this is everything.

Aww, I thought they were actually going to do (Offenbach’s) “Can-Can.” I’ve long fantasized about doing “Can-Can,” in more or less the Can arrangement, with a bar band. I’d love to see how that would go over on the dance floor.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I would like to present this very interesting version of something Grieg wrote at Troldhaugen, which btw. sits mere minutes of a bus drive outside of Nesttun, which is not only one of the most important places in the world but - just like Stull in Kansas - sports a cave which apparently serves as a gateway to hell.

Nesttun/Troldhaugen is within reasonable walking distance from Mårdalen, where I myself was forced to live between 1984-1990, luckily in the very same neighbourhood that Vark Vikernes also lived. He too made a few very tasteful classical oddjobs, and became very famous for his high craft in art.

This is so good. It's progressive.

[RichardGioaf.]

Regarding non-progressive covers of Classical repertoire, I wish to recall that Pete Townshend is a huge fan of Classical music. So the sharp instrumental version of Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No.1 "In the Hall of the Mountain King" is pretty good for the four English mods partying at the studio.