Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Symphonies don't have to be so like... stuffy

Rock music has been around for quite a while, and some of it has been arranged for the classical audience, most usually as a pops arrangement. Now however, we have another piece that lies more in the academic treatment category than most. We're referring to the soon to be released "Dead Symphony No. 6", by composer Lee Johnson.

The Symphony (in 12 "movements") is based on melodies made famous by the ground-breaking (ok, sorry...) rock group, the Grateful Dead, an infamous rock band in many a rocker's top ten list. One aspect of their appeal is their improvisational style that made each piece, on each concert, new and fresh.

That improvisational idea has been notched up a bit in the Symphony, where each theme is 'improvised' further by the scoring, much of which sounds very much like standard, modern day symphonic literature.

For more information, read the Reuters article "Grateful Dead music goes classical in new symphony", or go to one of the web sites above to hear excerpts. And, as always, go to the Internet Archive to hear Grateful Dead concerts! It's all good...

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