Category: Classical

Music from the baroque, classical, and romantic periods

Camille Saint-Saens, Composer VV033

~ vinylvibrationsbrianfrederick

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Today ON VINYL VIBRATIONS I FEATURE THE MUSIC OF the MULTI-TALENTED, Camille Saint-Saens.

M1 Saint-Saens: Symphony No.1 in E Flat, Op 2, III Adagio, (Saint-Saens 1853), Capitol Records/Angel, 1973 (10:00) 

M2 SAINT-SAENS: Symphony No.2 in A Minor, Op 55, II Adagio, (Saint-Saens 1859), Capitol Records/Angel, 1973 (3:59) 

M3 Symphony No.2 in A Minor, Op 55, IV Prestissimo, (Saint-Saens 1859), Capitol Records/Angel, 1973 (7:19) 

M4 Saint-Saens: Symphony No.3 in C Minor Op 78 (Organ Symphony), Philadelphia Orchestra, I Allegro Moderato, Poco adagio, (Saint-Saens 1886) Columbia Records, 1963 (9:00)

M5 Saint-Saens: Symphony No.3 in C Minor Op 78 (Organ Symphony), Philadelphia Orchestra, II Maestoso, Allegro, (Saint-Saens 1886) Columbia Records, 1963 (7:20)

M6 The Swan – The Carnival of the Animals XIII, (Saint-Saens 1886), Silhouettes -Virgil Fox/Organ” Capitol Records, 1960 (2:39) 

Saint-Saens lived from 1835 to 1921, and was born in PARIS. He was a composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic Era, that’s music that was featured throughout the 19th century. He was a musical prodigy, of course. He had perfect pitch. A grand aunt taught him some piano basics at three, and he was a music pupil at the age of 7. He gave informal performances at the age of 5, and his public debut was at age 10 performing the music of Mozart and Beethoven. He and studied at the Paris Conservatoire starting at age 13 to age 18. His first “job” was a ORGANIST at the Saint Merri Church – 26,000 parishioners. That sounds like a typical trajectory for a young musical prodigy.

But, unlike other music students, Saint-Saens had a broad focus. He was a multi-tracker of the day, with varying and distinguished interests such as the study of Latin, Greek, Divinity and Mathematics. He was talented amateur Astronomer throughout his adult life.

 

In today’s podcast I review portions of 4 SAINT-SAENS COMPOSITIONS, pieces composed between 1853 and 1886, or when Saint-Saens was from the age of 17 to 50.

We will hear 6 movements from 4 works – those 4 works are

  1. Symphony No. 1
  2. Symphony No. 2
  3. Symphony No. 3
  4. Carnival of the Animals

JS Bach Clavier VV-031

~ vinylvibrationsbrianfrederick

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SONGS in this podcast episode:

M1 NUN KOMM DER HEIDEN HEILAND, JS BACH, 1714, BWV 61 (5:21)

M2 TOCCATA & FUGUE in C MAJOR M.2 ADAGIO, 1710-1717, BWV 564 (4:20).

M3 TWO-PART INVENTION in F MAJOR, JS BACH, 1720-1723 (0:40).

M4 TWO-PART INVENTION in B-FLAT MAJOR, JS BACH, 1720-1723 (1:30)

M5 TWO-PART INVENTION in D MINOR, JS BACH, 1720-1723, (0:55).

M6 PRELUDE & FUGUE No. 5 “Le Clavier Bien Tempere” D-Major, JS BACH, 1722, BWV 850 (3:06).

M7 JESU, JOY OF MAN’S DESIRING, JS BACH, 1723, BWV 147 (2:56)

M8 CHORALE PRELUDE “WACHET AUF”, JS BACH, 1731, BWV 140 (3:37)

PROGRAM NOTES

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist from the late Baroque period. He was born in Eisenach, in what is now central Germany. Bach lived from 1685 to 1750, The Baroque period was a 150-year period in music, dating from 1600 to 1750. Baroque music is Western Classical Music that followed the Renaissance period. Baroque music features drama, ornamentation, major and minor tones, and was presented in new ways – – like the Opera, Concerto, and Sonata, Baroque composers included BACH, HANDEL, VIVALDI.

M9 AIR ON A G-STRING, JS BACH, 1730, BWV 1068 (2:27).

Bach probably used the CLAVICHORD to compose most of his music. The Clavichord is small, lightweight and would not disturb people. The clavichord was very temperamental, because it required tuning before each play, just like a violin or guitar.  The keyboard instruments of the day were referred to as a general category: the “KLAVIER”….these included HARPSICHORD, CLAVICHORD, ORGAN and PIANOFORTE. Bach’s favorite KLAVIER instrument was the LAUTENWERK or LUTE HARPSICHORD with animal gut strings. 

The writing of music was in support of GOD and KINGS. Over time, Baroque Music evolved into what is today known as the modern Orchestra. Bach was a prolific composer, writing hundreds of pieces for solo instruments, particularly the organ. He also wrote pieces for orchestra and choir. Bach is MOST known for writing two or more  melodies or voices against each other. Also called point against point, or, Counterpoint.

Bit Bucket

A BWV catalog number is a unique identifier for musical works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, standing for Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue). 

Today I will present 9 compositions, dating from 1710 to 1731, during the time Bach was about age 25 to 45.

M1 TOCCATA & FUGUE in C MAJOR M.2 ADAGIO, 1710-1717, BWV 564 (4:20)

Our first piece — TOCATA & FUGUE in C MAJOR , the 2nd movement (ADAGIO).

an ORGAN COMPOSITION.     It is taken from a 1959 album of BACH ORGAN WORKS   . The movement is called ADAGIO ….which indicates “At Ease”, or “Slow and Stately”. Tempo is only 66-76 BPM. like the resting heart rate for many people.

Great liner notes. HERE IS AN  excerpt from the liner notes on that album – –

QUOTE

“OUR BACH” said the obituary notice, “was the greatest organ and clavier player that ever lived”. Though it may seem strange to us now, Bach’s genius during his life was recognized only as a master of the organ—not as a composer. It was actually over a hundred years after his death that his works revealed him as a unique and mighty composer. His reputation as an organist brought many invitations to test new organs and advise on the construction of them.  UNQUOTE

As with most of his organ works , there is no autograph or manuscript score from Bach, his organ work manuscript copies are lost. 

This song has a CONCERTO style and rhythm.  We will hear the 2nd or ADAGIO movement. . It is all very calm and beautiful and pastoral and serene…until Bach pulls out all the stops in the last minute of this ADAGIO movement. He is really rocking the walls and windows of that church.

Without any further adieu, here is TOCATA & FUGUE in C MAJOR , the 2nd movement (ADAGIO).

PLAY M2

SHOW PLUG – DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL !

That was…M2

MUSICAL CREDIT:

This Bach organ work  was recorded on the Luneburg Organ at St. Johanniskirche, in the town of Luneburg, in northern Germany, the organist is Professor Michael Schneider.

This LP was produced and released on the SOMERSET label here in the US in 1959

The album title is BACH The Majesty of the Luneburger Organ.

M2 NUN KOMM DER HEIDEN HEILAND, JS BACH, 1714, BWV 61 (5:21)

Our next piece is the most famous church cantata written in 1714 for THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. NUN KOMM DER HEIDEN HEILAND or in English “NOW COME, SAVIOR OF THE HEATHANS” A HEATHAN is a person with no religion, i.e., a PAGAN. In this chorale, Jesus is asked to …  come and save the pagans. 

In 1714, Bach would have been 29 years of age. It turns out that this song goes back almost two centuries before BACH’s time.  It’s based on a LUTERAN CHORALE with words written by Martin Luther for the 1523 first Advent Sunday.  For centuries, this was the first hymn for the first Sunday of ADVENT. 

What I will play next is an arrangement for as modern symphony orchestra (the Philadelphia Orchestra) and it is definitely JS BACH heard in those phrases. But it is a large orchestra – –

Conducted by Leopold Stokowski.  This is an extremely restrained, demure, and understated interpretation of a Bach piece the most restrained I have ever heard.

The recording you will hear next is performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, with conductor   Leopold Stokowski. This recording is on a Vinyl LP titled THE SOUND OF GENIUS, produced by COLUMBIA MASTERWORKS, in 1960. It was one of many records that were shipped by mail to members of the Columbia Record Club. My parents were enthusiastic members. A new disc would arrive in the mail every month, such as this LP of classical music.

Without further delay here is NOW COME, SAVIOR OF THE HEATHANS

PLAY M1

SHOW PLUG – SHOW PLUG – DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL ! !

That was…M1

NOW COME, SAVIOR OF THE HEATHANS”

MUSICAL CREDIT:

  • Arranger and Composer JS Bach, sometime between the years 1708-1717
  • Performance: Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski.
  • Album: The Sound of Genius Limited Edition LP (1960) Members Only !
  • Label: Columbia Master Works

BIT BUCKET

This piece also is based on a song listed in the ZAHN Lutheran chorales catalog. ZAHN 1174

M3 TWO-PART INVENTION in F MAJOR, JS BACH, 1720-1723 (0:40)

The next three pieces are called TWO PART INVENTIONS, composed by JS Bach around 1720  

The inventions were composed for use in instruction of Bach’s oldest son WILHELM FRIEDEMANN BACH who was 12 years old. Today, these inventions are introduced to music students in school grades 4-7. Learning the Two-Part Invention requires ROTE learning, practicing over and over until the two hands work completely independently of one another. The inventions teach, among other things, the use of COUNTERPOINT. Bach is MOST known for writing two melodies against each other. Also called point against point, or, Counterpoint. That is the feature of these inventions, in each one there are TWO PARTS, left and right hand parts.

COUNTERPOINT is found mostly in Bach’s FUGUES and in his INVENTIONS.

Perhaps a brief demonstration is in order.

Here is an excerpt from one of Bach’s inventions.

  • FIRST the right-hand part or first point – the melody
  • SECOND the left-hand part or second point – the bass line
  • LAST both parts played in counterpoint.

In some of Bach works, the roles reverse,

  • The left hand plays the first point – the melody
  • And the right hand plays the second point – the bass line
  • Could you do this by crossing hands on the keyboard – yes, but, the roles are reversed, so no cross-hand playing.

I will now play  WENDY CARLOS’s rendition of three BACH TWO-PART INVENTIONS from her 1969 recording titled “SWITCHED ON BACH” .. I will play all three, back-to-back. Each one is short – – average length ONE MINUTE EACH!

PLAY M3

PLAY M4

PLAY M5

Credits:

HOLD ON READING THE CREDITS UNTIL ALL THREE INVENTIONS ARE PLAYED

M4 TWO-PART INVENTION in B-FLAT MAJOR, JS BACH, 1720-1723 (1:30)

And now…..

PLAY M4

SHOW PLUG – DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL !

That was…M4

MUSICAL CREDIT:

HOLD ON READING THE CREDITS UNTIL ALL THREE INVENTIONS ARE PLAYED

M5 TWO-PART INVENTION in D MINOR, JS BACH, 1720-1723, (0:55)

PLAY M5

SHOW PLUG – DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL !

That was…M5

We heard three inventions – –

  • Bach’s 2-PART INVENTION in F MAJOR
  • And the 2-PART INVENTION in B-FLAT MAJOR
  • And the 2-PART INVENTION IN D MINOR

Each invention is very different than the other. Not just a key change like the work title would suggest ! Bach stated that he wrote his inventions “to be models of composition” in other words, to enable the student to form ways of developing musical ideas and “acquire a strong taste of composition”

Bach wrote the inventions, one for of the notes A to G and one for each minor and major key. Today these inventions are over 300 years old !

MUSICAL CREDIT:

  • Composer JS Bach
  • Estimated dates between 1720-1723
  • Performer – Wendy Carlos – early prototype Moog Synthesizer
  • Arranger and Recording Engineer – Wendy Carlos on MOOG SYNTHESIZER in 1968.
  • Record and label:  Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS

BIT BUCKET

M6 PRELUDE & FUGUE No. 5 “Le Clavier Bien Tempere” D-Major, JS BACH, 1722, BWV 850 (3:06)

Next is Bach’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier” written in 1722. He was 37.

The title page to the Well-tempered Clavier song book reads :

“The well-tempered Clavier, or Preludes and Fugues, through all the tones and semitones, both the [major] and [minor]. For the profit and use of the studious musical young…”

Bach wrote these preludes and fugues in all keys in the chromatic scale … 12 major and 12 minor keys

I have the version in D MAJOR.

It’s two sections – the prelude, and the fugue

  • The Prelude is the introduction. LISTEN FOR the Stride Piano on the left hand !! It’s a short 1:10.
  • The Fugue is the second section. It’s slower but with a more Bold left hand. Also short at 1:54.

And now….PRELUDE & FUGUE No. 5 D-Major fromThe Well-Tempered Clavier

PLAY M6

SHOW PLUG – DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL !

 That was…M6 

PRELUDE & FUGUE No. 5 D-Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier

MUSICAL CREDIT:

  • Composer JS Bach and the autograph date is 1722
  • Pianist: Vasso Devetzi
  • Label Festival Classique (1978)

M7 JESU, JOY OF MAN’S DESIRING, JS BACH, 1723, BWV 147 (3:22)

Our next song is Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring

This song was also composed by JS Bach in that same year of 1723 – – prolific at age 38.

This was written for the Christian Feast of the Visitation- celebrated at the end of May in Western Christianity. The song is a Lutheran hymn. … a CANTATA and it has a CHORALE or chorus piece repeated twice within this cantata. There are many arrangements and versions because this song is one of Bach’s most beautiful, well-known, and popular.

The version we will hear next is arranged for SOLO PIANO.

the pianist is Leon Fleisher.

And Now,

Here is

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – Bach       1723

PLAY M7

SHOW PLUG – DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL !

That was…M7 

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring

MUSICAL CREDIT:

  • JS Bach composer 1723
  • Performance: Leon Fleisher – Pianist    (courtesy of EPIC records)
  • Album  THE SOUND OF GENIUS VOLUME 3  
  • Label Columbia, 1962   (3:22)

M8 CHORALE PRELUDE “WACHET AUF”, JS BACH, 1731, BWV 140 (3:37)

Here is another Chorale recording titled Chorale Prelude VACKET OFF “Wachet Auf”, which translates to SLEEPERS, WAKE!

This hymn was transcribed from a Lutheran hymn written in 1599 by written by Phillippe Nicolai.

This Cantata is truly a work from the middle ages.

In 1731, Bach took this hymn and created a 7-movement cantata, we will hear the first movement or PRELUDE”.  This cantata is sung in church on the Trinity Sunday. Today this piece is very popular piece in general…it is POPULAR CLASSICAL MUSIC.    J.S. Bach wrote 46 of these cantatas for church, in all.

ODD FACT  about this song… it was performed only once by Bach, in Leipzig that year.

And now the FIRST MOVEMENT  from  VACKET OFF …the Prelude

PLAY M8

SHOW PLUG – DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL !

that was M4   

The Chorale Prelude “Wachet Auf”, also known as SLEEPERS, WAKE!

Song credits M4

Credits:

  • Hymn by Phillippe Nicolai in 1599
  • Transcribed by JS Bach in 1731
  • Performance: Wendy Carlos – on an early prototype Moog Synthesizer
  • Wendy Carlos arranger and recording engineer
  • Album:  Switched-On Bach
  • Label: Columbia/CBS, 1968

M9 AIR ON A G-STRING, JS BACH, 1730, BWV 1068 (2:27)

Our next AND LAST piece is from the Switched-On Bach album and s titled AIR ON A G-STRING.

This title comes from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major,  written almost 300 years ago.  

So what is the meaning of the song title Air on a G-String?

Well, Bach composed this as an orchestral suite in 1730. 141 years later, August Wilhelm arranged the second movement for SOLO VIOLIN and he did something unique.

He transposed the song down from D so that the entire piece could be played on one string of the violin, the G-String, which is the lowest register on that instrument.

Here is an example of what this sounds like on the Violin G-String, thjs example with piano accompaniment—pardon the scratchy sound, is from an old 78 RPM disc in 1935.

Play example  – Jacques Dumont (Violin) Bach Air On The G String with Andre Collard (piano)

We went from Bach’s orchestral piece, to Wilhelm’s transcription for solo violin, to Wendy Carlos modern interpretation with her MOOG Synthesizer.

Now here is Wendy Carlos’ arrangement of Air on a G String, from her debut album, SWITCHED-ON BACH, in 1968.

PLAY M9

SHOW PLUG – DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL !

That was…M9 

MUSICAL CREDIT:

  • Composer JS Bach 1730
  • Performance Wendy Carlos on early prototype MOOG SYNTHESIZER
  • Arranger and Recording Engineer: Wendy Carlos 
  • Album:  Switched-On Bach
  • Label: Columbia/CBS, 1968

END OF PROGRAM VV-031

Wendy Carlos Electronic Composer VV_026

~ vinylvibrationsbrianfrederick

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Wendy Carlos Electronic Composer VV_026

SONG LIST*
M1 Air on a G String (JS Bach 1730, W Carlos 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (2:27)

·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer

·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance
M2 Two Part Invention in F-Major,(JS Bach 1723, W Carlos, 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (0:40)

·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer

·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance
M3 Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring ,(JS Bach 1723, W Carlos 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (2:56)

·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer

·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance
M4 Chorale Prelude “Wachet Auf”, (JS Bach 1731, W Carlos 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (3:37)

·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer

·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance
M5 Brandenburg Concerto #3 in G Major 2nd Movement, (JS Bach 1723, W Carlos 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (2:50)

·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer

·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance
M6 Brandenburg Concerto #3 in G Major 3rd Movement, (JS Bach 1723, W Carlos 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (5:05)

·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer

·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance
M7 Title Music from A Clockwork Orange), (Purcell, 1695, W Carlos, R Elkind 1972) , Columbia/CBS, 1972 (2:21)

·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer

·       Rachel Elkind Producer
M8 Theme from A Clockwork Orange (Beethoviana), (W Carlos, R Elkind 1972) , Columbia/CBS, 1972 (1:44)

·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer

·       Rachel Elkind Producer  
M9 Timesteps (Excerpt), (W. Carlos 1970, Tempi Music BMI), Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, Warner Bros Records, 1972 (4:13)

·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer

·       Rachel Elkind Producer
M10 March from A Clockwork Orange/Ninth Symphony, 4th Movement, (L v Beethoven 1824, W Carlos, R Elkind 1970) Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, Warner Bros Records, 1972 (7:00)

·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer

·       Rachel Elkind Producer and Articulations

Today’s Vinyl Vibrations podcast features the artistry of Wendy Carlos, an American composer, arranger, and electronic musician. Wendy Carlos was born Walter Carlos in Rhode Island in November 1939. She is the first transgender recipient of a Grammy Award, her album SWITCHED-ON BACH won three Grammys in 1970. Later, in 2005 she was the recipient of the SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to the art and craft of electro-acoustic music.

Wendy Carlos is best known for her electronic music such as SWITCHED-ON BACH…and film scores such as A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, THE SHINING and TRON.

Her studies of music composition at Columbia University in New York City in the 1960s led to her working with electronic musicians and technicians where she helped in the development of the MOOG SYNTHESIZER. This was the first commercially available keyboard instrument from Robert Moog. During her time at Columbia, Carlos ordered components of a custom designed synthesizer from Robert Moog, and she collaborated with Moog on the design of that early instrument, which became known as the MOOG SYNTHESIZER. Some of the modules included a touch-sensitive keyboard, a portamento control, which slides notes in the scale between one note and the next, a filter bank, and a 49-oscillator polyphonic generator bank that could create chords and arpeggios, arpeggios are the individual notes of those chords played in cycles.

Today, we take the synthesizer for granted. The keyboard synthesizer has become widely-available, and most keyboard musicians today, including me, use a synth keyboard such as BEHRINGER, KORG, NORD, ROLAND, YAMAHA, and yes… even the brand Carlos herself helped design with Robert Moog, the MOOG synthesizer.

After getting her Masters in Music Composition from Columbia University in 1965, Carlos worked for three years at Gotham Recording Studios in New York City, to support herself. She also used her Moog Synthesizer to record jingles for TV commercials. The recording engineering job would prove to be extremely valuable just three years later as she self-recorded the entire SWITCHED-ON BACH album, which is featured in today’s podcast.

In 1968, Carlos, then Walter Carlos, released her first LP, SWITCHED-ON BACH, containing several pieces written by Johann Sebastian Bach, which she arranged and recorded from her Moog Synthesizer. SWITCHED-ON BACH was released on Columbia Masterworks as part of a two-record recording contract. Carlos negotiated a good royalty arrangement, because the label really didn’t expect the album would sell many copies. Classical music rarely, if ever, achieves Gold let alone Platinum unit sales.

What makes this first album fascinating is knowing that the MOOG Synthesizer was in a very early state – – – barely a usable product. …You could not sit down and bang out a song like you could on a piano or organ. The first Moog Synthesizer could play only one note at a time. No chords! No two-handed playing ! No buttons with presets for sounds and effects! Instead, a lot of patch cables and knobs to adjust.

Every individual part had to be recorded, note for note, and then layered over the previously recorded parts. This was all done on an eight-track recorder. State of the Art at that time. Recorded parts were time-aligned with use of a click track. Carlos did not document her settings for knobs and patch cable connections – –  These were complex, but she was able to recall each part’s sound from her own memory, a living library of hundreds of settings for all the knobs and cables. To add to the laborious nature of early electronic music, the Moog, being an analog device, would frequently drift out of tune. This made the recording and layering process very repetitive, tedious and laborious. The story goes that Carlos would use a hammer to bang on the Moog casing to get it back in-tune, and then re-record the part.

According to Wendy Carlos, the Switched-On Bach song recordings required 8-hour days, 5 days a week for 5 months to complete. In other words, Carlos invested some 900 to 1,000 man-hours of her own recording time to lay down what was published That is one-half man-year resulting in 12 songs for a total play time of 40 minutes on the Switched-On Bach LP.

And this was moonlighting for Wendy Carlos, she was also working full-time job at the Gotham Recording Studios! That is extreme PASSION for arranging and creating electronic music!

Today we will hear selections from three early LP productions of Wendy Carlos.

These three albums are:

  • SWITCHED-ON BACH
  • WALTER CARLOS’ CLOCKWORK ORANGE
  • And STANLEY KUBRICK’S CLOCWORK ORANGE

Each of these albums are in my collection, and each album refers to and gives credit to WALTER CARLOS, her name at that time.

There is also a Corporate ID and a self-credit to Walter Carlos stating on the album liner notes: THIS ALBUM WAS DEVISED AND PRODUCED BY TRANS ELECTRONIC MUSIC PRODUCTIONS INC. We can see that Wendy Carlos has been very protective of her copyrights and ownership of this music.

Wendy Carlos has released some 13 studio albums, created 5 film soundtracks, including A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Tron, and Rediscovering Lost Scores, in two volumes.

Sadly, as of 2020, much of Carlos’s discography is out of print and has not been released for digital streaming or other platforms. BUT WE HAVE THE VINYL LPs, WHICH HAVE STOOD THE TEST OF TIME.

Fortunately, there is a treasure trove of information on Wendy’s personal website, www.wendycarlos.com

There are many many pages painstakenly updated through about 2009, this is Wendy Carlos’ personal database of information.

Carlos is also an accomplished solar eclipse photographer, and her work has been published by NASA. She has developed techniques for extending the dynamic range in eclipse photography.

Carlos remains very private, but I believe she continues to live at her music studio in New York City. At the time of this podcast recording she is 83-1/2 years old.

Perhaps we can visit two other soundtracks THE SHINING and TRON in a part 2 podcast of Wendy Carlos soundtrack skills.

That’s it for today’s show “WENDY CARLOS, ELECTRONIC COMPOSER and ARRANGER “, on VINYL VIBRATIONS.

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Odd Meters VV-006

~ vinylvibrationsbrianfrederick

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PROGRAM NOTES

In today’s VINYL VIBRATIONS podcast, we explore Odd Meters. First, a quick primer on meter.  If you are a musician… bear with me if you will…Rhythm is the arrangement of sounds in time. …Meter places time into groupings, called measures or bars. The meter signature, also known as the time signature, is noted as two numbers stacked one above the other….like a fraction. For example: 4/4. On top—–The number of beats in a bar or measure. And on bottom—-the type of note that represents one beat, most commonly it is a quarter note. Two most common time signatures are

  • 3/4 three-four for three quarternotes per measure
  • 4/4 four-four ….for four quarternotes per measure

We find 3/4 time in the waltz, a simple 1-2-3 dance step, it’s a simple signature comprised of 3 quarter notes.

 

And 4/4 time can be found throughout pop, rock, country, even the classics, its a simple “even” signature comprised of 4 quarter notes.

In today’s podcast we will hear ODD METERS starting with…

  • 1 “The Rite of Spring”.  Part II (The Sacrifice) “Sacrificial Dance”, Igor Stravinsky
  • 2 “Take Five”, Dave Brubeck Quartet, album Time Out
  • 3 “Toads of the Short Forest” Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, album Weasles Ripped My Flesh
  • 4 “Money”  Pink Floyd, album  The Dark Side of the Moon
  • 5 “Good Morning, Good Morning”, album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles
  • 6 “Living in the Past”, Jethro Tull, stand-alone single

M1 The Rite of Spring”.  Part II (The Sacrifice) Sacrificial Dance by Igor Stravinsky 

Experts have said that the ballet The Rite of Spring, composed in 1913, changed music forever. It is famous for causing a riot in 1913 at its premiere in Paris. This is because the music and dancing was so different than anything people had heard before. The energy, rhythms and colorful sounds are amazing, even a century later. Igor Stravinsky was one of the first to introduce odd meters into western classical music in his “The Rite of Spring”. Rite of Spring is an example of THE ABSENCE OF A PREDICTABLE METRE or REFUSAL TO ADHERE TO TRADITIONAL METRE. At the time, “traditional” meant Ballet dance with 3/4 metre, a demure orchestra supporting, building, mirroring, the dance choreography. Instead, Rite of Spring demonstrates the uses of pulses and rhythms in music and dance.  This is a complete departure from the norm.  Dancers beat the pulse of music with their feet and arms. Dancers gather and disperse like the rhythmic formations in the music. The rhythm is blatant and out front. To create further tension (and frustration to the 1913 audience), the dance rhythm breaks from the music rhythm, in the last movement – Sacrificial Dance.  The style of music is that there is no consistent downbeat. This arrangement was an outrage !! No consistent time ! Not done before. The Rite of Spring was premiered on Thursday, May 29, 1913 in Paris and was conducted by Pierre Monteux. The intensely rhythmic score and primitive stage performance shocked the audience —as Nijinsky’s choreography was a radical departure from classical ballet.  The audience began to boo loudly. There were loud arguments in the audience followed by shouts and fistfights in the aisles. Unrest turned into a riot. The Paris police arrived …but even so, chaos reigned for the remainder of the performance. Music critic Abigail Wagner described it well – “The1913 audience’s shock at hearing Rite was akin to that of someone who has only read verse in iambic pentameter, reading a prose novel for the first  time”. This is the climactic final of The Rite of Spring, the closing episode of the Sacrificial Dance from The Rite of Spring”.   Igor Stravinsky 

M2 Take Five, Dave Brubeck Quartet Album Time Out. Recorded in New York at Columbia Records in 1959

American Jazz pianist born 1920. Brubeck had studied with the French composer Darius Milhaud, who in turn had been strongly influenced by Stravinsky, and is credited with the introduction of shifting rhythms that sparked a far-reaching surge of interest in jazz and popular music in the 1960s. Brubek shook up the jazz world in 1959 by his use of odd meters. He started to experiment in polyrhythms. After returning from a trip to Turkey in 1958, he produced an album of all original compositions in a variety of time signatures. This album “Time Out” was almost rejected by Columbia Records …But the third cut, “Take Five,” soon became the biggest-selling jazz single of all time. It is in 5/4 time . Take Five is in quintuple 5/4 time, that’s one-two-three-one-two-one-two-three-one-two-. The song is a jazz classic. There are 7 tracks on the album. ..all songs in odd or changing time. Such as 9/8, 5/4, 3/4, 6/4, and salted in with 4/4.

Personnel

Appeared on the album Time Out in 1959  Columbia Records on 7″ record format

M3 Toads of the Short Forest by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention the album Weasles Ripped My Flesh . Toads of the Short Forest”  was recorded 1969. Frank Zappa began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands—he later switched to electric guitar. He was a self-taught composer drummer and guitarist. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with improvisations and sound collages.  This song uses multiple time signatures a polyrhythm. You will hear zappa well into the song saying what time each musician is playing in.

In “Toads Of The Short Forest” (from the album Weasels Ripped My Flesh), composer Frank Zappa explains: “At this very moment on stage we have drummer A playing in 7/8, drummer B playing in 3/4, the bass playing in 3/4, the organ playing in 5/8, the tambourine playing in 3/4, and the alto sax blowing his nose” (Mothers of Invention 1970).

Personnel

Produced in 1970 on Bizarre/Reprise Records

M4 Money Pink Floyd in  7/4 time. The album – The Dark Side of the Moon

7/4 time, That’s ONE-two-three-four-five-six-seven. The song switches into 4/4 time for the excellent guitar solo by David Gilmour. This is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. This song opens side two of the album. One distinctive element of “Money” is the rhythmic sequence of sound effects that begins the track and is heard throughout the first several bars. This was created by splicing together recordings Waters had made of clinking coins, a ringing cash register, tearing paper, a clicking machine…to construct a seven-beat effects loop!!  The wonder and beauty of tape recorded effects — in the early years.

Personnel

Composer -the bassist, Roger Waters, composed all songs. Produced by Pink Floyd. Recorded at Abby Roads Studios London 1972-1973. Released by Gramaphone Company Ltd 1973

M5 Good Morning, Good Morning‘ from album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song has been transcribed as a mixture of 4/4, 3/4 and 5/4. Composed by John Lennon, credited to Lennon/McCartney. Recorded 1967, The guitar solo was played by Paul McCartney.  Left handed, no doubt. Performed by The Beatles on the 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. The song has an unusual rhythmical feel. It  does not use the same time signature throughout. Produced by George Martin

Personnel

 

M6 Living in the Past song by Jethro Tull composed 1969 and a 1969 single release. Composed by Ian Anderson

It is notable for being written in the unusual 5/4 time signature. The 5/4 time signature is quickly noted from the beginning rhythmic bass pattern. ….1-2-3-1-2 …1-2-3-1-2

Personnel

Released in the US in the same year as their STAND UP album, in 1969, as a stand-alone single.Produced by Island Records. Also is on a 1972 compilation album, Living in the Past, by Jethro Tull.