Classic Beatles - Robin Hill & Peter Wiltschinsky

The Hill/Wiltschinsky Guitar Duo have long been Beatles fans so it seemed natural that at some point they would record their own versions of these incredible songs on this Classic Beatles album.

Some of these pieces have been performed live, especially Eleanor Rigby which the duo frequently played as a much appreciated encore. When introducing it Robin often mentioned the following story:

A journalist once asked George Harrison what he thought of Andrés Segovia and his reply was, 'He's the Daddy of us all."

This got back to the Maestro, who said, "These pop stars might be nice boys but what they are doing is obscene and a disease...I do not like the way the girls go crazy.'

This always caused much mirth amongst the audience.

With these arrangements Hill/Wiltschinsky hope to redress the balance and show that the music of Lennon and McCartney is of such a high quality that it can stand many forms of interpretation.

The whole process was an intense one as they each took half of the 32 songs so that both did an equal amount of arranging. As in the relationship between Lennon and McCartney, the desire to create interesting and unique arrangements to these well known songs fuelled Robin and Peter to become more and more creative.

Sometimes the title alone suggested an arranging approach.
A good example of this is, 'I'll Be Back', which Robin punned as, 'I'll Be Bach', and arranged in a Baroque style.

Another, 'Hard Day's Night', which he thought of as, 'Hard Day's Knight', and arranged in an Elizabethan Lute style.

Who would have thought that, 'She Loves You', would work on two guitars successfully? This one was imagined as a real guitar duo and features many compositional devices such as canon, counterpoint etc.

The hope was always that people would pick up on the many more hidden references and inspiration throughout the album. Even the introductions to many of the pieces present a mystery as to which famous Beatles track will be heard.

You can find, Classic Beatles - Robin Hill & Peter Wiltschinsky here on iTunes or cdbaby and from many other digital outlets.

As always, many thanks to Jonathan Keenan for the cover photography.

Enjoy!

Miles Davis, Stravinsky, Herrmann and The Beatles - A Musical Connection?

One of the nice parts of Robin being home for a few weeks is that we get to spend time together listening to music.
Generally the whole family is involved in this practice and occasionally some strange conversations ensue.

It's so important for everyone to listen to a variety of styles, but more so for musicians.
For centuries musicians from all genres have listened to and learnt from their predecessors. Inevitably they are influenced by the music they hear and especially those pieces which have a powerful effect on them.

The whole conversation started as we listened to the Psycho Suite by Bernard Herrmann.
The original handwritten score for this seminal piece of film music was recently offered for auction but, suprisingly, didn't reach it's minimum price.

Herrmann always will be associated with the many fabulous scores he wrote to complement some of Alfred Hitchcock's most successful films.
One of the most famous being 'Psycho'.
Most people recognise the famous dissonant violin glissandi which are inextricably linked to the famous shower scene, but in fact the entire score is an outstanding piece of music.

This brought the conversation round to George Martin and The Beatles.
Apparently, after seeing Psycho, George Martin was inspired to write the string quartet arrangement for Eleanor Rigby.
When you listen to the original Beatles track rcorded in 1966 you can certainly hear the 'Psycho' influence.

But our musical connections route continued.
Robin felt there was another connection to Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring'.
As we listened we both could hear echoes of Herrmann's Psycho Suite.
Could it be that Bernard Herrmann had been inspired by The Rite of Spring?

Then an even more unusual twist.
Robin realised there was a possible connection between the second lyrical theme from the Psycho score and Miles Davis' second contrasting lyrical theme from 'Milestones'....could it be that Herrmann was, wittingly or unwittingly, also influenced by Milestones?

We could certainly hear similarities between this and the second theme of Psycho which provides a perfect release of the tension created by the initial rhythmic and nervous twitching of the strings.
'Milestones' predates Psycho and could well have been part of Herrman's musical landscape.
No music is composed in a vacuum and influences can be very diverse and, sometimes, completely unexpected.

From Proms to Psycho

What a delight.
To turn on the television and find the 'First Night of the Proms' in full swing. The joy of watching musicians perform, to a packed house, could only have been bettered if I had been in the audience myself.
Unfortunately Robin was out all evening and therefore missed the lot. He did 'phone home at one point and was very envious that I was currently enjoying Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

It was pretty late when Robin got home but he was very excited about a purchase he had made earlier in the day.
A box set of 12 Alfred Hitchcock films.
So despite the hour we chose to start with Hitchcock's masterpiece, 'Psycho'.
This has long been a favourite of ours and it amazes me that every time I watch it I see something new.
Each shot carefully thought out and planned, with the famous 'shower scene' taking seven days to shoot, using seventy camera setups, and the final take only lasting 45 seconds.

What makes the whole 'Hitchcock' experience even better is of course the music.
The inspirational score was composed by Bernard Herrmann.
Herrmann was born in New York in 1911 and studied at New York University and the Juilliard School.
As well as a composer, Herrmann was a conductor, and at the age of 20 formed the New Chamber Orchestra.
Herrmann was particularly interested in new and rarely performed works, and gave the American premiere of many English works including Walton's First Symphony.
As a composer for the cinema Herrmannn proved himself a master at providing a psychological edge and dramatic tension through his music.

This is what we were admiring late last night.
The film 'Psycho' is an all time classic and the score cranks up the tension with every scene.
One feels that Stravinsky must have been an inspiration, especially with the frenetic, motor rhythms, which instantly identify the film.
This is then contrasted with a release of tension as the soaring, lyrical second theme takes over.
Pure genius.

George Martin has remarked that Bernard Herrmann's score inspired him to write the string quartet arrangement for The Beatles, 'Eleanor Rigby', a perfect artistic symbiosis.

If you are not familiar with the film 'Psycho' then I strongly recommend watching it. You must be over 15, and be warned, you may well prefer to take a bath in the future...