Let's talk about classic music.
Let's talk about Isao Tomita, who in 1974 released what I consider
to be the finest album of classical music ever produced with
the aid of synthesisers: Snowflakes Are Dancing.
When I think back to '74, the music industry was in full flux,
still morphing from a singles-dominated record industry in
the mid 60s to an album-dominated business in the mid 70s.
Disco had yet to dominate the airwaves and invade the dance floors.
Progressive rock bands like Yes, Genesis, ELP and Focus found their
songs and LPs perched atop the Top sales charts, and new genres
such as jazz-fusion challenged the age old notion that popular
music had to consist of three chords and a simple melody.
Imagine my wonderment when I first heard Tomita's eclectic,
epic Snowflakes Are Dancing album - through a great pair
of headphones, no less. The entire record consisted of
ten 'tone paintings', composed by Claude Debussy,
rearranged and performed solely by Tomita on his
multitude of keyboards and synthesisers.
To say I was blown away and forever changed would be a
huge understatement. I love this music as much today
as when I was still a teenaged BC boy!
Check out the unbelievably dynamic and captivating
"Clair De Lune", following a look at my beach,
in the dead of a Muskokan winter.
Mozz the Elder
www.vapormusic.com
A terrific album. Golliwog's Cakewalk is another amazing track. It's a cool thing to compare Tomita's arrangements with Debussy's original arrangments. Tomita is very faithful, yet his textures make it an incredibly new and interesting listen.
ReplyDelete