[ Previous | Table of Contents | Next ]

late 60s - creative minds in rock becan to expand (jazz influence, electronic exploration, now classical)

Rock Pioneers:

• Buddy Holly
• the Beatles
• the Byrds
• Jimi Hendrix
• Blood, Sweat, & Tears

"major" (extended) works of art? comparable with those of the classical tradition?

Combining rock & classical elements: 6 approaches ...

• quote a classical excerpt; Prokofiev theme enters at 1:23 in "Russians"

  Sting's "Russians," based on
  "Romance" from Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite

• use a classical melody as the basis for a rock song

  Barry Manilow's "Could It Be Magic" based on Chopin's Prelude in C minor

  "Fifth of Beethoven" from Saturday Night Fever
  based on Beethoven's Symphony No. 5

• series of rock songs conceived as units in a larger form ... musical unification vs. "loose" concept album
• rock musicals
  • Hair (1967)
  • Tommy (1969; star-studded film version in 1975)- The Who
  • Jesus Christ Superstar (1971) - Andrew Lloyd Webber
  • Spring Awakening (2006) - Duncan Sheik (more contemporary "alternative" musical style)
• concept albums:
  • Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) - The Beatles
  • Days of Future Passed (1968) - Moody Blues
    • this example actually combines two approaches, since it also constitutes a work for rock group and classical ensemble (see below)
  • more recent: Green Day's later albums
    • American Idiot (2004)
    • 21st Century Breakdown (2009)

adapt full classical work to rock performance ... e.g., Emerson, Lake, & Palmer ...

"Pictures at an Exhibition," based on the work by Modest Mussorgsky

"Fanfare for the Common Man," based on the work by Aaron Copland

• work for rock group & classical ensemble (musical examples provided in next section)
• Jon Lord's "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" (will hear excerpts later)
• Rick Wakeman
• Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed (see above under "concept album")
• low-level example: Metallica's S&M (1999) - essentially creating "arrangements" of Metallica songs for performance with a symphony (not originally conceived that way)

a more recent example
Metallica's "No Leaf Clover"
from S&M (Live), 1999
with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra

• use the musical language of rock to create an extended work modeled after a classical form

• ELP
• Yes
  
• more recent examples (often, more like a collection of short songs seguing one into the next):
  • "The Decline" by NoFX (1999)
  • "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Homecoming" from American Idiot (2004)

20th Century Art Music vs. Traditional Classical Sound

Traditional Concept of "Classical"

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, 1st movement (1721)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) - Symphony No. 40 in G minor, 1st movement (1788)
• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - Piano Sonata in C minor ("Pathétique"), 1st movement (1797-98)
• Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) - Violin Concerto in D, 3rd movement (1878)
• Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) - Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet (1881, 3rd version)

Examples of 20th Century Art Music

• Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) - "The Moonfleck" from Pierrot lunaire (1912)
• Charles Ives (1874-1954) - "The Rockstrewn Hills Join in the Peoples' Outdoor Meeting" from Orchestral Set No. 2 (1919)
• Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) - Poème électronique (1957-58)
• Gyorgy Ligeti (b. 1923) - Lux aeterna (1966)
• George Crumb (b. 1929) - "Night of the Electric Insects" and "Sounds of Bones and Flutes" from Black Angels (1970)

[ Previous | Table of Contents | Next ]