Beethoven | DvorákSatie | Holst | Saint-SaënsDebussy | Barber | and more

D E C L A S S I F I E DClassics Re-Imagined

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1 GYMNOPÉDIE No.1 from Trois Gymnopédies (1888)Erik SATIE 1866-1925

Before I compose a piece, I walk round it several times, accompaniedby myself.

– Erik Satie, quoted in Bulletin des éditions musicales, 1913

Satie was a French composer, humorist and pioneer in surrealisticwriting, as eccentric in his way of life as in his music*. He was not afamous composer in his time but he had considerable influence oversome of his more distinguished contemporaries, including Debussyand Ravel, particularly through his tendency to extreme simplicity,which was possibly a result of his limited technical abilities.

Satie abandoned his studies at the Paris Conservatoire and went towork as a Montmartre café pianist, where he met and becamelifelong friends with Debussy. On first meeting the director of thenocturnally popular Chat Noir Café, Satie presented himself as a‘gymnopédiste’ – a word with no practical meaning but plenty ofexotic overtones deriving from the symbolist poetry of the day and from dictionary definitions involving naked Spartan gymnasts.Composition of the Three Gymnopédies began a few months later.

This arrangement of Gymnopédie No. 1 features the pianoaccordion, in order to allude to the Montmartre café district andmusic of his era. His minimalist and beautiful opening chordprogression is of a rare and timeless nature that lends itselfnaturally to all musical styles, including this light funk groove.Drawing inspiration from Satie’s eccentricity, this arrangement also features a coda incorporating the unconventional timesignature of 15/4.

* For example, instead of using traditional musical terms to describe how hismusic was to be interpreted, Satie would write instructions on the music suchas ‘Slow down politely’, ‘Play like a nightingale with a toothache’ and ‘Inhale’.

2 JUPITER from The Planets, Op. 32 (1914-16)Gustav HOLST 1874-1934

Music as a means of getting money is hell. – Gustav Holst

An English composer of Latvian descent, known to be shy andretiring, Holst read Hindu philosophy and taught himself Sanskrit.He had a love of folk song and was interested in amateur musicmaking, but was a fine and dedicated master in playing, teachingand composing music.

In 1893, Holst went to London to study at the Royal College ofMusic. Before this, he had considerable practical experience inmusic as the village organist, choir leader and conductor of a smallorchestra. Suffering from neuritis of the hand, he gave up the pianoand took up the trombone. On finishing his studies, he joined theCarl Rosa Opera Company as (Principal) Trombone and Répétiteurof the chorus.

In 1903, Holst began a long and fruitful career in teaching.Believing that art and education should be available to everybody,irrespective of income, Holst began teaching evening classes in1907 at Morley College, an adult education centre for working-class people. Due to his teaching commitments, he composedmostly on weekends or during the August holidays. ‘Endlesslypatient’ with amateurs, Holst was ‘ruthless’ with professionals.

Jupiter is from The Planets – Suite for Large Orchestra, Op. 32.This work describes the astrological attributes of the seven knownplanets of that time.

In this arrangement of Jupiter, trombone is included in honour ofHolst’s adoption and mastery of the instrument, and the vocalarrangement, performed by the talented Noel MacDonald, paystribute to his choral leadership.

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3 LARGO from Symphony No. 9 in E minor, ‘From the New World’ (1893)Antonín DVORÁK 1841-1904

All the great musicians have borrowed from the songs of the common people. – Antonín Dvorák

In the summer of 1891, having been granted leave of absence fromthe Prague Conservatory, Dvorák accepted the position ofDirector of the National Conservatory in New York. It was therethat he gained a strong attachment to American folk songs,especially African-American spirituals. He is also noted for urgingAmerican composers to draw on the songs of their own NativeAmerican peoples by exploring the rich, untapped repertoire ofnew sounds in their musical culture, not to mention the ‘spirit’ intheir music, in which he himself had found inspiration.

Dvorák worked on his Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’while living in a small town in Iowa, but it was performed atCarnegie Hall on 15 December 1893. It was a triumphant success,despite contemporary controversy over the strong resemblance tosome well-known spirituals. (The tune, which can be heard in theLargo second movement, was in fact composed by Dvorák; it waslater turned into a new ‘spiritual’ called Going Home.)

In this arrangement of the Largo, Dvorák’s respect for the music ofthe native spirit and the American folk song is acknowledged byintertwining several Native American and Civil War-era instruments(tom-tom, snare drum and banjo) – instruments Dvorák wouldhave heard and esteemed whilst exploring the music of America inthe late 1800s.

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4 SONATA PATHÉTIQUE Adagio cantabile (Secondmovement) from Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 (1799)Ludwig van BEETHOVEN 1770-1827

Music should strike fire from a man. – Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven was a composer and virtuoso pianist until, tragically,deafness forced him to retire from playing. In an unyieldingstruggle against destiny, he immersed himself in his compositions,revolutionising classical music by breaking rules that had beenestablished for centuries.

His impetuous nature was fuelled by the spirit of the FrenchRevolution and the newfound freedom of political and artisticexpression sweeping across Europe. The expressive power of hismusic has influenced every succeeding major composer, and he is regarded by many as the greatest composer the world has ever known.

This arrangement of the slow movement of the Sonata Pathétiquestrives to emulate Beethoven’s spirit of freedom in a modern eraby offering a Latin treatment of this famous piece.

5 VESTI LA GIUBBA from Pagliacci (1892)Ruggiero LEONCAVALLO 1858-1919

La commedia è finita. [The comedy is ended.] – from Pagliacci

There are few composers who have attained great fame on thebasis of a single work. Ruggiero Leoncavallo is a member of thisselect group, thanks to his short opera, Pagliacci, which tells theprofound story of the heartbroken clown who must make otherslaugh even though he is devastated by personal tragedy. Canio isthe leader of a band of travelling players. As he is about to take thestage, he is told that his wife is having an affair with another actorin the troupe. Sobbing, he sings this aria and then goes on.

This arrangement of Vesti la giubba (On with the Motley) portraysin music the embroiled emotions stemming from Canio’s tragiccircumstances. An intense and melancholy main theme, played onthe alto saxophone by Andrew Oh, is complemented by Ross Maiofeaturing on the piano accordion, interpreting the clown’s moodchanges throughout. The original 19th-century travelling playertroupe in Pagliacci is shifted forward into a 20th-century circusscene, with several other instruments used in circuses conjuring upthe slapstick antics of clowns as they take centre stage. As in theoriginal, this interpretation of Vesti la giubba ends ominously, with achange of mood from sadness to retribution.

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6 ADAGIO FOR STRINGS (1938)Samuel BARBER 1910-1981

Barber was one of the most honoured and frequently performedAmerican composers in Europe and the Americas during the mid20th century. In Vienna in 1934 he studied conducting and singing.First-hand experience as a singer and an intuitive empathy with thevoice would find expression in the large legacy of songs thatoccupy some two thirds of his output.

The Adagio for Strings was first performed in 1938 in New York bythe NBC Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini. It is a deeplymoving composition, well known from its many appearances inconcerts, films (Platoon, The Elephant Man, El Norte, Lorenzo’s Oil,Amélie) and at major public events, from state funerals to Olympicopening ceremonies.

In keeping with the tradition and title of this piece, thisarrangement uses only stringed instruments, apart from some lightaccompaniment on the drums by Chad Wackerman. Nevertheless,the producers chose to replace traditional orchestral strings(violins, violas, cellos, double basses) with various modern guitarsand basses.

Samuel Barber is not a composer who follows the fashion of the hour. He is something much finer and more significant, an artist who has been true to himself and who has achieved mastery in hiscraft. His music...refreshes our spirits and stimulates our perceptionand imaginations. Its victories are quieter, but not, for that reason,less lasting.

– Robert Sabin, The International Cyclopedia of Music & Musicians, edited by Oscar Thompson

Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings is published by G. Schirmer Music.

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7 GOLLIWOGG’S CAKEWALK from the suite Children’s Corner (1906-08)Claude DEBUSSY 1862-1918

Claude Debussy, if he's not making music, has no reason for existing.– Debussy in a letter to Jacques Durand during the First World War

(The Wordsworth Dictionary of Musical Quotations)

Debussy wrote this piece for his daughter Chou-Chou, whom heidolised. A brief satirical quotation from Wagner’s opera Tristan andIsolde confirms the piece as ‘a light-hearted dig at finger exercises’.

Debussy used the rhythm of the popular American Ragtime of the period, which fascinated him. The Cakewalk itself was a stage dance in minstrel shows in which African-Americanparticipants parodied the mannered walk and fancy dances of white slave owners.

In this arrangement of Golliwogg’s Cakewalk, the producers felt thechoice of clarinets, soprano saxophone and percussion reflectedthe instrumentation often used in American Ragtime music.

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8 PRELUDE II from Three Preludes for piano (1936)George GERSHWIN 1898-1937

Jazz is the result of the energy stored up in America.– George Gershwin, quoted in Morgenstern:

Composers on Music, 1958

Born and raised in New York, Gershwin left high school at the ageof 15 to pursue ‘pop music’. That is, he went to work as a ‘songplugger’ for a publisher of popular music on Tin Pan Alley,spending long hours at the piano playing through the latest songsfor potential customers.

Gershwin had studied Debussy and Chopin during his youth as amusic student; later in his renowned but tragically brief career, hewrote articles emphasising his belief in the artistic importance ofAmerican Jazz as a serious musical idiom. The musical expressionof this statement was a mission from which he never deflected,and Prelude II is a masterful example of his insistence on the rightfulplace of Jazz in the concert hall. Gershwin seems to erase the linebetween serious and popular music.

In this arrangement of Prelude II, Bill Risby’s performance onFender Rhodes electric piano creates a spirit of sultry blues. Othermodern American instuments used, such as the pedal steel guitar,are a tribute to Gershwin’s successful merge of musical styles.

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9 BADINERIE from Sarabande, Gigue and BadinerieArcangelo CORELLI 1653-1713 arr. Ettore Pinelli

Italian composer, violinist and teacher, Corelli is credited with beingthe first composer to derive his fame exclusively from instrumentalcomposition, and the first to produce ‘classic’ instrumental worksthat continue to be admired and studied long after their idiombecame outmoded.

Corelli was born one generation before Vivaldi, Handel and Bach.His music influenced them all. Corelli was one of the firstcomposers to be a virtuoso on the instrument that he wrote for.History has remembered him with such titles as ‘Founder ofModern Violin Technique’, ‘World’s First Great Violinist’, and‘Father of the Concerto Grosso’.

Badinerie is based on the Gavotte movement from Corelli’s ViolinSonata Op. 5 No. 11, as arranged by Ettore Pinelli as part of athree-movement Suite for Strings. The original Badinerie has astrong ‘2 feel’ reminiscent of country or hootenanny music oftoday. Like many country instrumentals, the melody is played at acracking pace and not surprisingly, Tom Ferris admits it proved tobe a most challenging guitar part in this arrangement: a 300-year-old Italian Baroque composition, played in an American hootenannystyle, with an Australian lagerphone thrown in for good measure.

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10 AQUARIUM from The Carnival of the Animals (1886)Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)

There is nothing more difficult than talking about music.– Camille Saint-Saëns

Saint-Saëns was a French composer, pianist, organist and writer.He was also an archaeologist, astronomer, botanist and dramatist.He was one of the leaders of the French musical renaissance of the 1870s.

Aquarium is from The Carnival of the Animals, which he wrote in a few days while on holiday in Austria. Apart from the Swanmovement, Saint-Saëns forbade performances of Carnival duringhis lifetime, as he had written it as a piece of light-hearted fun, and felt its frivolity would be a taint on his reputable career.

Ironically, it was to become his most popular work. Through The Carnival of the Animals, successive generations of schoolchildren all over the world have discovered classical music. A more striking irony is that Saint-Saëns’ own two sons died sixweeks apart in tragic circumstances in 1878; the delight that thismusic has brought to young audiences is perhaps a fitting legacy to such a loss.

Saint-Saëns’ fanciful composition inspires a colourful and wateryambience. In the spirit of youthful imagination, this arrangementpaints a musical picture of a modern aquarium, and adopts Saint-Saëns’ initiative of having musical instruments represent animals. A ‘shark attack’ sequence has been added, featuring ChadWackerman on drums, simulating a shark chasing a little school offish, who are represented by flutes played by Col Loughnan.

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11 ASTURIAS (LEYENDA) (1892) from Suite española, Op. 47Isaac ALBÉNIZ 1860-1909

For many years this piece has been a treasured inclusion in therepertoire of some of the world’s greatest classical guitarists,including André Segovia and John Williams. Perhaps it is not widelyknown that Albéniz originally wrote his leyenda (or ‘legend’)Asturias for piano.

Albéniz was a child prodigy whose piano studies were continuallyinterrupted by recital tours throughout the Spanish provinces. In1883 he moved to Barcelona to study composition but it wasn’tuntil 1896 that he began to seek compositional inspiration from hisnative land. Albéniz wrote an enormous number of piano pieces,many of which are extremely difficult for anyone but a masterpianist to play, with Asturias serving as a prime example.

As a tribute to the composer’s original concept, the piano, playedby Bill Risby, is prominent in this arrangement. Additionally, in keeping with the composer’s challenging performancerequirements, the arrangement includes several bars with odd time signatures, which emphasise the passion and free spirit that breathes in the music of Spain.

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12 ROMANCE from Lieutenant Kijé – Symphonic Suite Op. 60 (1934)Sergei PROKOFIEV 1891-1953

They should stick to politics, and leave music to musicians! – Sergei Prokofiev, 1948

Prokofiev scored music for the Russian film Lieutenant Kijé in 1934.The film is a satire on bureaucracy: the Tsar misreads a document andannounces the promotion of ‘Lieutenant Kijé’ – a soldier who doesn’texist. To avoid embarrassing the Tsar, his staff play along, keeping upthe paperwork and promoting Kijé all the way up through the ranks.When at last the Tsar insists on meeting this magnificent soldier, his aides solve the problem by regretfully announcing that Kijé hasfallen in battle. The film was never completed, but Prokofievreworked much of the music into an orchestral suite forperformance in concert.

Like many of his Russian contemporaries in the arts, Prokofiev’sstyle of composition was subject to scrutiny by the Sovietleadership, especially after his prolonged stay in the West (1918 to1933). In 1948 the Central Committee of the Communist Partydemanded his compositions revert to traditional melody, simplicityand folk idioms. However, Prokofiev had not only become used tounconventional composition but proficient in innovative styles, andhe strongly believed his full talent and freedom of artisticexpression was thwarted and compromised by the then-currentdictates and politics of his homeland.

This arrangement of Romance soars free, showcasing anunconventional and uncompromising array of musical ideas, withreverence for and recognition of the struggle of countless artiststhroughout history for ‘freedom of expression’.

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Produced & Arranged by TOM FERRIS & LEON GAER.

Recorded in Sydney Australia at:Studios 301, Sony Music Studios, The Drumroom, Original Music & LG Overdub Room.

Engineered by: Adrian Bolland, Rod Tamlyn, Richard Lush, Louise Wheatley & Leon Gaer.

Mixed by Adrian Bolland at: Art Phillips Music Design.

Mastered by Don Bartley at Studios 301 Mastering.Original album artwork by Logosdor Ltd.Leon Gaer uses Miruzzi Basses and La Bella strings.Chad Wackerman appears courtesy of Favored Nations Records and EFA Records.Ross Maio appears courtesy of Squeeze Records.

Tom & Leon would like to thank Art Phillips, Adrian Bolland, Rod Tamlyn, Richard Lush, Martin Benge and all the wonderful musicians who contributed to this album.

Tom FerrisI would like to thank Paul and the guys at Gladesville Guitar Factory. Jay Stewart for your advice.Thanks to my parents John & Marie Ferris for everything. Special thanks go to my wife Kathy forher love & support throughout this project.

Leon GaerI would like to thank my wife, Melanie Price, for her support and encouragement. My motherand father, Crystal White-Gaer and Murray Gaer. The Sydney Conservatorium of Music Libraryand staff for all their help in researching the scores.

www.declassified.com.auEmail: contact@declassified.com.au

All tracks licensed to ABC Music courtesy of Tom Ferris and Leon Gaer.ABC Music Robert Patterson, Martin Buzacott, Natalie Shea, Laura Bell, Virginia ReadABC Music thanks Jonathan Villanueva and Imagecorp.� 2012 Tom Ferris & Leon Gaer. � 2012 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by UniversalMusic Group, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights of the owner of copyright reserved. Any copying, renting, lending,diffusion, public performance or broadcast of this record without the authority of the copyright owner is prohibited.

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