Symphonicities

I've been listening to Sting's album "Symphonicities" since I bought it a couple weeks ago. The arrangements - or rather, re-arrangements - of the tunes are just stunning. What an incredible reworking of pop tunes to be played by an orchestra. (Sting's fantastic vocals don't hurt, either!) That being said, I put on Prokofiev's 2nd violin concerto the other night during dinner... I had forgotten what a genius of not only composition but also arrangement and orchestration he was. Undulating chromatic tensions and dissonant passages juxtapositioned with soaring melodies, everything passed around beautifully by the orchestra, all the different timbres of the instruments utilized. Many people sing the praises of Stravinsky, but for me, Prokofiev is the hero of composition of that era.

So...Symphonicities - it's no Prokofiev, but the classical influence is undeniable, and it makes for a very satisfying and touching pop album. It may not work for purists of either the classical or pop worlds, but for me it strikes the balance perfectly, creating something totally original and new.

Monday is my long day of teaching. In between students, I am working on learning new repertoire for an event in May. Talk about balance - learning the new rep is a balance between inspiration (I love the music) and fear (I'll never learn it all!). I was working on one of the tunes last Friday - based on Scottish traditional fiddling, which so close yet so far from Irish fiddling! I've made a transcription of the tune, but western Classical musical notation very poorly reflects any of the traditional rhythm and ornaments. Guess it is time for more listening!!

Also working on a set of tunes for two unaccompanied fiddles - a sort of "dueling violins" but without the rock band backing or wishy washy Enya backing/fill to lend it some epic-ness. A bit of a challenge, but one I relish - delving into all the rhythmic "chops" and grooves made prevalent in American fiddling by the likes of Darol Anger and the Turtle Island String Quartet. Its fascinating stuff, but like the Scottish music, a language of its own. All the working on orchestrations on the Liberties lately as well as listening to Symphonicites and classical works have my mind working in overdrive on how to put this all together - ultimately I suspect the problem will be one of reducing down to a few good ideas rather than overzealously throwing them all in!

Anyways..Break time over now - time to return to the job of inspiring students..