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It's a long way from an impassioned Baroque fugue to the duckwalk, don't you think? Even if one ignores the 300 years of historical upheaval, there are still two vastly different styles of music being represented here. Or are there? It's easy to imagine Johann Sebastian Bach deep in concentration at a mammoth pipe organ as he wrenches out his darkly intense Toccata in D minor. But then, transported by the muse, he backs away from the ornate keyboard and turns to face the Leipzig audience. Slowly the master raises his hands overhead, then exhorts the crowd to clap along. Stomping his feet on the polished wooden floor, Bach is gratified to see the people loudly following suit, transforming the beautiful chapel into a cacophonous hall. Finally he yells into the din, inviting those who want to dance to come forward. As the crowd boils crazily into the front pews, the legendary composer turns with a smile to the keyboard and plunges back into his Toccata.
Well, surely that is a bit extreme since musicians in 1725 just didn't do that sort of thing nor are classical concerts prone to becoming riotous dance parties or mosh pits. But only a hundred years after J.S. Bach, the great Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso Franz Liszt was presenting emotional recitals that took the concept of classical performance to a level never seen before. Technically, he was second to none, but Liszt also created an unrivaled mystique with his ability to play the showman and be more than a mere mortal gifted with supreme powers over music. At times he would roll out glimmering arpeggio sweeps, viciously attacking the keys while puffing away on one of his famous cigars, the butts of which became coveted mementos for the young ladies present. His romantic compositions and playing ability were mightily respected by the scholars of his time and ours, but the recitals stood the performance world on end, and had, what can only be described as, rock and roll in them. Perhaps Franz Liszt is the best evidence that reincarnation is real, since he returned a century down the road as Jerry Lee Lewis!
If a rock and roll spirit has existed in certain areas within the classical camp, it's much more obvious that classical fascinations have enlivened many rock artists' work. In 1973, the English superstar group Emerson, Lake and Palmer played to sellout audiences across the world, presenting a mix of its own popular music with a generous amount of straight classical fare. Imagine Mussorgsky staring with wonder from the wings as Keith Emerson quoted his "Pictures at an Exhibition" while careening about with a handheld synthesizer that shot flaming projectiles across the stage! On a parallel track, the band Yes wrote a piece entitled "Cans and Brahms" incorporating extracts from the third movement of Brahms 4th Symphony in E minor. The Electric Light Orchestra embarked on a more commercial route, composing vast orchestral accompaniments to an impressive run of hit singles throughout the 70's. Recently, Paul McCartney, a Beatle, who changed the face of popular music in the 60's and sparked a dramatic evolution of our entire culture, indulged his hidden classical infatuations. In 1991, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Chorus (conducted by Carl Davis) debuted Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio, a fully realized multimovement composition.
With all of this crosspollination going on, perhaps the gap between classical and popular music is not as distant as you think. Unfortunately though, admirerers of either style are often so set in their listening habits that they fail to search out and savor the realm of possibilities easily available to them. As part of their abstention from the classical genre, popular music fans usually fail to credit their favorite artists with any possible interest in the symphonies, chorales, concertos, lieder, operas, suites, sonatas and variations that have enriched generations. They expect their stars to be weaned on battered guitars playing primitive Delta blues or sneaking into their older brother's room to memorize a warped and scratchy vinyl copy of Abbey Road. Keith Richards listening to the brilliance of Mozart's 4th Violin Concerto? Bruce Hornsby spending hours absorbed in the sweeping mastery of Igor Stravinsky? A young, angry punk named Elvis Costello inspired by Vivaldi's "Sposa son disprezzata"? I don't think so!
Truth is, most mature artists have become that way because of their insatiable desire to absorb new sounds. As they seek to advance their own craft, they delight in music that breaks the routines, helping them to break their own. Just look at the artists on this album: have any rooted themselves musically, arresting their creative progress to churn out the same songs, the same album, year after year? Not this group! As part of their own musical education, each of these stars have been touched and affected deeply by classical composers and style. That s what this album is all about Exile on Classical Street presents the favorite classical music of your favorite musicians. Additionally, a portion of the sales proceeds will be donated to the NARAS Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting music education through scholarships, learning programs, workshops and forums. These financial and philanthropic incentives benefit everyone from public school students to professional artists and ensure that the great masters of music will continue to be heard.
One probably wouldn't suspect Steven Tyler, the lead singer of the hard rockin Aerosmith, to be a classical music aficionado, but he responded by choosing Manuel de Falla's "Ritual Fire Dance" to open this collection. The principal Spanish composer of the early 20th century, de Falla incorporates the distinct colors and qualities of his country's folk tradition in this orchestral triumph that is every bit as fiery as Tyler's famous onstage dancing. The singer writes, "It's not only the weaving together of the twelvenote scale that sparks a rainbow of emotions in anyone that listens to it it's the overtones dancing between the notes that create its lifeforce and spirituality. That's what touches the very core of my soul." The turbulent and challenging passages of Igor Stavinsky's "Rite of Spring" (The Augers of Spring: Dances of the Young Girls/Ritual of Abduction), selected by singer, songwriter and gifted keyboardist Bruce Hornsby, follows next. So revolutionary were the displays of rhythm and orchestral color in this 1913 ballet, that its first performance caused a major riot in Paris. Since then, of course, the piece has become one of the century's important musical cornerstones. English superstar Elton John, respected as a master songwriter since the end of the Sixties, chose the elegance and stately craftsmanship of one of his country's most celebrated composers, Sir Edward Elgar. The astute use of melody, as opposed to more obvious displays of volume and instrumentation, reflects Elton John's own sense of priority, placing the beauty of a simple musical motif above all else. This recording presents "Troyte," "W.N.," and "Nimrod," three of the 14 variations on a theme that were dedicated to various friends in Elgar's 1899 work "The Enigma Variations."
Brian Wilson, enduring symbol of the Beach Boys' superb vocal harmonies and mastery of the recording studio, found the mix of classical and American jazz in George Gershwin s "Rhapsody in Blue" to be a supreme inspiration in his life. "I like to play it when I'm sitting at my piano, between writing songs. It's always been my favorite...I can relate to people and life through that song. Listening to it, you'll hear what is called George Gershwin harmonics. His harmonies are very close together and are so easy to hear because they are so precise. It's a perfect sound." A supreme compliment from the man who wrote "Good Vibrations," a song displaying some of the finest harmonies ever written in American popular music. Marianne Faithfull's love of 19th century Lieder gave her an opportunity to select a favorite classical folksong for this album: "Beim Schlafengehen," by the German master Richard Strauss and sung beautifully by Kiri Te Kanawa. R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe favors the slow and dreamy build of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings," a piece which has become Barber s most popular since its New York debut in 1938. The shimmering harmonic changes create a breathtaking beauty that Stipe adores as "great morning music."
Elvis Costello's recent work with the Brodsky Quartet and his farranging musical tastes from punk to Nashville twang precede him well on this project. The versatile singer/songwriter s choice of the great Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi and his "Sposa son disprezzata," sung by Cecilia Bartoli, lends this album another brilliant vocal moment. The light and deft orchestral touch of Mozart is represented by the "Violin Concerto No.4 Rondeau," which Keith Richards selected. The legendary musician's enthusiasm is obvious: "Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Handel, J. Haydn I could go on and on. Check all these cats and then some!" Benjamin Britten, the most respected and prolific English composer of the mid 20th century, is Paul McCartney's choice. "The Courtly Dances" from "Gloriana" is performed here by renowned guitarist Julian Bream in a delightful chamber music format. McCartney writes, "This is a recording I have had for many years, and the atmosphere it evokes still gives me a special thrill."
As a respected interpreter of romantic moods in his own singing, Frank Sinatra requested the delicate "Clair de lune" by Claude Debussy. Taken from 1890's "Suite bergamasque," this famous piece stands alone as a perfectly concise four minute musical flower, its radiant strings tugging gently at the heart. It might be expected that Bono would choose music from Dmitri Shostakovich, a 20th century politically influenced Russian composer, since the lead singer of U2 has often made pointed social statements in his lyrics. During a long and fruitful career, Shostakovich has written music inspired by the defense of his country against the Nazis in World War II as well as defiance against the artistic interference he often received from the Communist State. Another Russian giant provides the fitting finale to this album with dramatic orchestral thunder. "The Great Gate of Kiev," excerpted from Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" was selected by solo artist and Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin, who writes: "Classical music continues to thrive and has had a profound impact on my music. Had I not received a background in classical music, my love and understanding of all music would be severely hampered."
Mozart is said to have remarked, "Neither a lofty degree of intelligence, nor imagination, nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius." Funny, but that sounds a lot like a something four lads from Liverpool sang 200 years later, doesn't it? So, just for the record, let it be known that the masters agree: "All You Need is Love..."
Carter Alan
3/22/96
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