Day 6 - Deep Purple: Lazy

Welp now that the semester has started back up it's been a little difficult for me to get on everyday and I'm gotten incredibly behind on the posts. I'll just try to keep posting when I can to get to 365.

Deep Purple to many is a band just known for their song Smoke on the Water. As you can tell in the video they're starting to get up there in years. The band was formed in 1968 and really started getting recognition pretty quickly in America with their single Hush. But some of their true essence, I believe can be found in the song Lazy. Formed in 1968 and although the lineup's changed a bit the main members were singer Ian Gillan, Roger Glover on bass, Ian Paice on drums, John Lord on keyboards, and Ritchie Blackmore on guitar. The groups a bit different now, but these guys were the ones that really set the tone for the band that's deemed hard rock, progressive rock, metal, and blues rock. Quite an interesting array of genres and all of them can be heard in Lazy.

Why it's important:

Although Lazy isn't nearly as recognizable as their hit Smoke on the Water, as I've mentioned before, it's a great depiction of how all of these genres can be blended so well. Lot's of bands at this time were impacted by a lot of the great blues artists that came before the modern rock scene such as Blind Willie Johnson, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters. Music has always expanded on what was before it, and Deep Purple was one of the best of this time at innovating for the future and incorporating from the past. All you have to do is listen to this live version from their album Made in Japan. Jon Lord's intro is a great depiction of the Deep Purple's innovation and their blue influences. Should I say that again?

Fun Facts:

1. The original band was originally Roundabout and was apparently not nearly as good as the final product, Deep Purple.

2. Deep Purple's still touring after over 40 years!

3. Classically trained Jon Lord composed a full concerto for orchestra and "group" (AKA Deep Purple). It was premiered in 1969 with the Royal Philharmonic.

January 5th - Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique

Alright, I'm starting to slip behind a little bit so I really need to start making up for it. But for now, let's take a look at Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.

Berlioz was truly a visionary in the world of music at the time. Beethoven became very well known for changing the reasons why things are done in specific ways and how, but Berlioz really pushed it to the extreme. For instance in his Requiem, he not only had a full orchestra and added several instruments to each section including 8 bassoons, 4 tubas, and 16 timpani (!!!!), but he also added 4 off stage brass bands, and a full choir. This is a massive group, and although he had a very large orchestra here, the one used for Symphony Fantastique was quite large as well.

Why it's so important:

Berlioz can be considered like Beethoven as one of those eccentric composers. And it really comes out through this work. Symphonie Fantastique is considered program music. This simply refers to the fact that there's a story or program in which the music is depicting. Many composers have fought over whether-or-not there should be program music and throughout the Romantic Period. This work is about one man's love that goes unnoticed. In the final two movements of the work he realizes his love will never be reciprocated, gets high off of opium and witnesses a dream in which he kills his love, watches his own beheading at a guillotine, and watches his funeral filled with witches, monsters, and sorcerers. That was an incredibly brief synopsis, but here is a better more-in depth description.

One of the things that the music nerds such as myself find interesting about this work is the use of the idée fixe. Merriam-Webster defines this as an obsession and it clearly is such throughout the work. It begins as a representation of the man's love but by the last movement turns into "a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the sabbath" as Berlioz puts it. This work is truly a expression from the composer, for it was representing his relationship with Harriet Smithson.

Fun Facts:

1. This was the first of Berlioz's four symphonies.

2. Berlioz and Harriet Smithson's marriage seems to have been a disaster. Plagued by language barriers, the couple split roughly 10 years after the marriage, although Berlioz financially supported her until her death in 1854.

3. Franz Lizst transcribed Symphonie Fantastique for piano, in the hopes that more people could simple hear the work.

Being the romantic that he is, he relates love to the notion of music.

"Love cannot express the idea of music, while music may give an idea of love."
-Hector Berlioz

This goes back to Beethoven's ideas of music as a higher object, and most music is made to convey meanings that may not be understood through other means. It's important that we understand the potential of music, so that we can understand what these great composers did.

Here is a recording of the fourth movement, March to the Scaffold.

January 4th - The Bad Plus: Heart of Glass

And continuing trying to catch up to the right day here....

Now for those that haven't heard of the avant-garde jazz group The Bad Plus, chances are you'll either love them or hate them. It's just a just trio of Reid Anderson on bass, Ethan Iverson on piano, and David Kind on drums, but man they can make some music. Throughout all of their songs they blend an incredibly unique jazz/rock/pop influence, and combine them to create an incredibly distinctive product that is The Bad Plus. Throughout a lot of their albums they cover some very famous rock/pop songs such as Tom Sawyer originally by Rush, Smells Like Teen Spirit originally by Nirvana, and Heart of Glass by Blondie.

Why it's important:

Somehow this group is able to combine incredibly complex meters, with unbelievable key structures, and a load of material with just three people! Some of the musical lines they create are incredibly hard to follow (such as with their version of the serialist composer Milton Babbit's Semi-Simple Variations). But somehow they manage to put a jazz influence to an original that hardly sounds structured.

But back to Heart of Glass. This time they take an original that's very simple and has great melodic material and transform it into something that couldn't contrast more from beginning to end. How they're able to transform the song beyond the original material is what grasps my attention the most. Especially with Ethan Iverson's piano playing, there's times in which he'll play the regular material in his right hand, and some unbelievable counter-melody (if you could really call it that0 in his right hand. To me all of the disarray throughout the song is worth the wait once they get to the final strain.

Fun Facts:

1. Although the group formed in 2000, the first time that they played together was 1989.

2. They released their first album after only playing three gigs as a group.

3. The group originated in Minnesota, but they got a lot of their publicity from playing in Chicago for which they seem to still be getting mixed reviews.

First I recommend you remind yourself of the original, then check out The Bad Plus version. I found a great music video for it but am still trying to find it again, I'll re-post when I find it...

To me this group represents a music that's much more fun to listen to the technical aspects of what they're doing. As a pure listening experience although it's hard to beet the build up and tension in Everywhere You Turn.

“It’s about as badass as highbrow gets.”
- Rolling Stone

January 3rd - Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture

Well I'm having a little trouble sleeping so I might as well continue on with the posts to catch up.

Once again here's a song and composer that most people have either hard of, or could recognize when hearing (most likely at Fourth of July recognized by the canons in the finale). Although this piece was somewhat adopted for the American independence holiday (for reasons to be discussed shortly), let's take a look at why it was really written and why it's still important today.

Why's it's so important:

This piece was written in 1880 and was commissioned for a grand opening of a church in Moscow and was written to commemorate Russia's stand against Napoleon at the Battle of Borodino. Because of this piece's historical association, it proved to be a great source of Russian nationalist pride. Beginning in the 1800's with the Romantic movement, many Russian composers began to seek out and compose specifically "Russian" music. The main innovators of this Russian nationalism were Mily Balakirev, Cesar Cui, Modest Mussorgski (we'll talk about him another day), Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin.

This Russian nationalist style of compositions normally would include Russian folk songs, asymetrical meters, and tried to separate themselves from well-known German Counterpoint.

Well that last bit was a lot to take in... so hear are the Fun Facts:

1. Tchaikovski actually considered this work as rather "loud and noisy" and is known to not have enjoyed this piece as much as some of his others.

2. La Marseillaise along with God Save the Tsar are played throughout the work. However La Marseillaise was just reinstated as the French national anthem a year before Tchaikovski finished the work after being banned by Napoleon in 1795.

3. The piece largely began being associated at the Fourth of July when the Boston Pops played it under Arthur Fielder in 1974 with hopes that adding the canons and fireworks would help ticket sales.

Here's an outstanding performance of the piece by the Berlin Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa.

January 2 (catching up) - Yes: Close to the Edge

As you can see with the title I hope to not only go over classical music but also rock, rap, and whatever else might be appropriate.

For me, Yes is one of those bands that will never get old. They've been around since 1968 and are still playing together and even going to be coming out with a new album according to their website. They've had a lot of line-up changes throughout the years, but the main members have been founders Chris Squire (bass) and Jon Anderson (vocals), Rick Wakeman (keyboards), Steve Howe (guitar), and Alan White (drums).


Without going into a full-on review, I'll try to get into the details.

Why it's important:

The 18 minute 45 second Close to the Edge was the main track (of only three) on their 5th album, and to me sums up all that is yes. To begin it's length becomes a staple of Yes albums. They do have longer (Gates of Delirium clocks in at 21:54) but Close to the Edge really helped define the Yes identity. Like several of their other songs, it's separated into four sections.
1. "The Solid Time of Change"
2. "Total Mass Retain"
3. "I Get Up I Get Down"
4. "Seasons of Man"

The song also displays Yes's ability to flow between main sections so well. Throughout the song, an incredible wealth of musical material is introduced and it always seems fresh. Throughout all the meter changes, shifts in texture, and Jon Anderson's vocals, the songs presents a very stimulating listening experience that's unique.

Fun Facts:

1. Jon Anderson's spiritual influences of renewal and repetition are prominent throughout the song and the album from the calm bird calls in the beginning and the end of Close to the Edge and the two syllable phrases in another song on the album Siberian Khatru.

2. Some of the photos in the album cover were done by a former band member of Chris Squire (Martyn Adelman).

3. The sections of Close to the Edge were released as singles to the US radio stations to promote some more air times on the radio due to it's 18 minute length.

This is one of my personal favorite albums and on rate-your-music it was rated 72nd greatest album of all time December of 2010. Here's a recording of it, unfortunately it has to be split up into clip 1 and clip 2 because of it's length.

To me this song is one of the best descriptions of music as an aesthetic experience. Although, Yes's technical proficiencies are some of the best, they bring all of it together so well. So although one may get wrapped up in all the technique that's being presented by the individual musicians, it's also a great song to absorb as a whole for an over-all experience.

January 1 (a bit late) - Beethoven's 5th Symphony

I imagine for most people just reading the name "Beethoven" triggers memories of being in an elementary school music room with a teacher that's doing their best to keep everyone on task, but I hope to change that impression on what Beethoven means to you.

It's quite possible that the stereotypical image of a composer being a frizzy haired man that's rather eccentric stemmed from Beethoven (a close second however is Hector Berlioz). Especially when the portraits of Beethoven look like this.

And he rightly fits that stereotype as he was largely known by his peers as having a very strong personality that didn't have very many close friends. However his musical compositions and his performing capabilities were well noticed at an early age, and was incredibly influential in leading the classical era to the romantic.

Beethoven's 5th Symphony is widely considered as one of the most popular classical pieces mostly known for the beginning with the eighth note pickups (duh duh duh duuuhhh, duh duh duh duhhhhhh). So why is this piece still being taught by music teachers nearly 200 years after it's premier?

Why it's so important: 

Beethoven was influential in the adaptation of the Symphony Form. His 5th Symphony really helped make the Symphony more malleable in regards to form in the movements. His first movement is in a Sonata Form, the second is a Variations, the third a Scherzo, and lastly it's Beethoven's interpretation of the Sonata form of the 4th Movement that make it so unique and paved the way for the future Romantic composers. He changed the typical Sonata form used in the Symphonies of Haydn and Mozart by adding material in the development and recapitulation sections and ends with a very long coda.

For reference, audiences of this time were very familiar with the musical forms and even when main themes would be brought back; just like predictable movie plots. So when Beethoven deviated from these structures it would catch them by surprise (try to imagine knowing the form of a song while it's going on).

Fun Facts:

1. The premier of the work in 1808 ended up lasting close to 4 hours long. Although the work is only around 30 mins, other pieces on the program include his 6th symphony, 4th piano concerto, and Choral Fantasy. Imagine listening to a concert that lasts as long as an American football game!

2. The premier wasn't very well received due to the lack of lack of preparation from the orchestra. For some reason or another they only had one rehearsal for the entire four hour performance, which did not help the performers when having to work on four hours of music. 

3. This symphony was played in the inaugural concerts for the New York Philharmonic in 1842 and the National Symphony Orchestra in 1931.

To Beethoven (and other philosophers) music was a way to connect to a higher form of knowledge and understanding to mankind. Hopefully through this blog, music will take on a new meaning, and we'll come to understand this meaning through looking at different genres and artists.

Here's a video of the Symphony played by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan.


When I open my eyes I must sigh, for what I see is contrary to my religion, and I must despise the world which does not know that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.
-- Ludwig van Beethoven, quoted by Bettina von Arnin, letter to Goethe, 1810