Hoboe and Beethoven

-sigh- I realize it's been three months since I contributed an article to this blog, but I have a very fine excuse for it. I have been neck-deep in rehearsals for a project that is the epitome of tne intent of this very blog. You see, my band Hoboe, in which I play amplified oboe, has undertaken a most ambitious goal of playing rock renditions of movements of Beethoven's 5th Symphony--more specifically, movements 2, 4 and 1 (in that order) in celebration of his 241st birthday. The show is on Saturday, December 17, 2011 at Slainte Wine Bar and Lounge in Portland, Maine.

The exciting this about this concert is that nobody has ever done anything like this. First off, there really aren't any proper alternative versions of the first movement. Sure, there's the "disco" version, the "metal" version, "electronica/techno", etc., etc.... but none of them bother to even play the whole movement, instead simply remixing and repeating the popular opening melody. Hoboe may have made some reductions vertically (as in, we may have reduced chords to their most basic elements and not have been able to get ALL the notes in our version--after all, we are only one guitar, one bass, one oboe and one drumkit), but we made absolutely no reductions horizontally (as in, we are playing every measure from beginning to end, not skipping any parts or sections of the form).

In addition, has anybody heard of any alternative-genre artists even bothering to try to get beyond the first movement? We haven't been able to find any rock, jazz, bluegrass, disco, you name it versions of any other movement.

Alas, Beethoven is too great to be glossed over like that. So in honor of the great legendary composer's 241st birthday, Hoboe is going to play these movements in their entirety, live, a one shot deal.

It's going to be a lot of fun, and as you can see, it's a first-hand example of the kind of crossing over of classical-to-contemporary that I strive to bring out in this blog. So there's my excuse... I've been "living the dream".

But expect more articles in 2012, about contemporary "classical" music happenings occurring here in Maine... and... thanks for allowing me this vacation to "walk the talk."

yours,
Zen Ben Meiklejohn

Moody Blues's Norda Mullen Mulls the Moods of Music

Norda Mullen, current flautist (since 2003) for classical-rock pioneers The Moody Blues interviewed with me from her Ogunquit summer house this week. The daughter of a classical violinist, Mullen was greatly influenced by her older siblings' love of 60's pop. She discusses the "Moodies" and the varying “moods” between pop and classical music.

What are some of your earliest memories of playing pop flute?

My sister was having a party and we weren't allowed in the party room. I was in my parents' bedroom and didn't have anything to do. They kept playing the Moodies' album Days of Future Passed and I kept hearing "Nights in White Satin.” I was sitting there and my flute was with me, and I thought "oh wow, I'll play that flute solo," so I figured it out by ear. And the Jethro Tull album called Stand Up which has their version of the Bach piece "Bourée"—that too I figured out. My sister played flute also. It's a duet on that version, so she and I figured out both parts. That was very cool because you just “got” that you could play by ear and not have to read everything.

During your classical training at Interlochen and Northwestern, did your mentors and peers know about your pop interests?

My hidden identity? I never let on in the classical world that I enjoyed playing by ear. The two never really clashed but it was good to juxtapose them. The timing of the two never really merged until I started doing it professionally. I know many classical players that have never played by ear, and it wasn't my case so I was very lucky to have done that preparation.

There seems to be a thick line dividing those genres [rock and classical]. Have you encountered any stigma attached [to playing both]?

It never came up but I do think that a lot of classical musicians, when they hear that I toured with The Moody Blues, they wouldn't judge me but I think they'd judge rock and roll. Some really get it, but 80% of them don't even think about it as anything valid.

How about on the rock side?

I think The Moodies are happy with what I've done. I don't know how they'd feel if they spent a day with Ian Anderson—if they'd come back and say "Can't you play a little more like him?". I think the way I play is a perfect fit for what their music demands. They're such a symphonic sound, that's what they did. They recorded with an orchestra, they were one of the first bands that did that.

When you think of pop bands that infuse classical music, the Moodies come up as one of the first and best at it. How does it feel to play with them?

They are the pioneers of it really. They combined them well. It's timeless music as a result and it appeals to a lot of people because of it. It has a wide range of acceptance because it combines so many elements, and why not? Why shouldn't music combine many elements? It's all music.

Was it difficult replacing Ray Thomas?

It was difficult because the fans didn't know he was leaving, they were confused. Musically it wasn't difficult, but replacing an original member wasn't easy. I think I've grown on the fans and they're used to me by now, but I've always respected the fact that I'm not him.

What's your favorite song to play with the Moodies?

"Are You Sitting Comfortably?" because there's a great flute solo in the middle. Actually I wrote that solo—kind of expanded from what Ray did into my own solo. I love the song “The Actor,” and of course “Nights in White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon.” “Never Comes The Day” has a fun jamming part I play on harmonica. There's so many of them, it's hard to pick a favorite. I also like “Isn't Life Strange?”, a beautiful John Lodge song. I was in love with that when I was about 14 so I really enjoy playing it. There's a little bit of noodling I get to do on "Peak Hour."

How about your own projects?

I'm working on a solo album right now. I think it will be out in early winter of 2012. I'm also in a flute choir in LA that has seven of us, called Resonance. We just completed a second CD called The Magnificent Seven. It's a CD of movie and TV themes, but jazz arrangements of them. As a guest soloist we had Tim Weisberg—a huge, great jazz flute player.

Do you still play classical compositions?

I do. I have so much flute music and it really just depends on my mood every day. I practice all my exercises, my scales and long tones. Literally, I still think about and work on everything. Actually I found out that my teacher from Interlochen, Alexander Murray, also a flautist for the London Symphony Orchestra, was at his home in London [where Mullen currently lives] and I emailed him to say "I would love to have a lesson with you." I had not seen him since I was 17. We talked about vibrato and how to warm up. You can never go back to basics enough. I learned so much in that two hours, he had so much to teach me.

What pop bands that showcase orchestral instruments do you listen to?

Well, I LOVE this band Elbow. They're amazing, a pop band. There's a great performance of them recording with the BBC orchestra at Abbey Road—fantastic—with choir and orchestra. I love, love, love their music. They are my favorite for that kind of thing, combining orchestras—like the Moodies did—orchestras with pop songs—fantastic !

What advice would you give an orchestral player who wants to play pop?

Play as much by ear as you can. Put down the music stand, put away any sheet music. Let there be nothing in your vision and turn on the radio. Play along whether you like it or not and see what you can come up with. Don't judge yourself, just keep doing it and you'll get better at it. Just pretend that the band has hired you on your instrument and play along. And don't try to tell your orchestra-mates what you're doing because they're just going to not listen anyway. It's not even a judgment, it's just a fact, kind of like whether you're an ophthalmologist or a knee doctor. Then try to link it up with what you have learned—the key, the chords, the theory of it—after you've figured out the sound of it. There are no set rules. It's not like classical music in that way. That's the one obstacle classical players have, myself included—they are used to it being a set way, and that's the thing you have to abandon. Then you're free. Anything [instrument] can be transferred to rock if played right.

The Moody Blues and Norda Mullen perform this Tuesday, September 13^th at 8 p.m. at Portland's Merrill Auditorium.

Going "Organic" in Portland

Going “Organic”
Two Concerts Close Out the Kotzchmar Organ's Summer Series

In its 99th year, the country's oldest working municipal pipe organ, Portland's Kotzchmar Organ housed in Merrill Auditorium offers two concerts to close out its Summer Series in upcoming weeks. Ray Cornils, the man with the true “keys” to the city (sorry, I couldn't resist)--Portland's designated municipal organist since 1990—will conclude the series on Tuesday, August 30th. But first, California native and world-renowned organist and composer, 27-year old Chelsea Chen will grace the Kotzchmar solo this upcoming Tuesday with a diverse program ranging from early music organ standards to contemporary pieces.

Chen will open the concert with J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, probably THE pinnacle piece for organ. You know those notes you hear on horror films or on Scooby Doo, when the creaky door to the haunted mansion is first opened? Those are the initial notes of Bach's toccata. Expect this composition to return to Kotzchmar programs at Halloween time.

Chen will play her own arrangements also, Three Taiwanese Songs, from her Taiwan Tableaux-- a tribute to her Chinese father completed in 2007 after residing in Taiwan on a Fulbright Fellowship. The piece is based on Taiwanese folk songs from the 1930's and 1940's. Chen will treat us to her renditions of Four Seasons, The Cradle Song, and Song of the Country Farmer.

And then there is something for the children, the video gamers and jazzers. The program that Chen has planned has an impressive range of appeal—it's no wonder she was alluded to as “a harbinger of the generation on the horizon” by the Journal of American Organbuilders. Claude Debussy's Children's Corner and Rod Gorby's Three Jazz Standards (arrangements of pieces by Duke Ellington, Ben Bernie and George Gershwin) will be performed, but the highlight of entertainment will likely be Chen's arrangement of Koji Kondo's Super Mario Fantasia. With her masterfully placed imitations of Mario jumping over turtles and collecting coins interjected into Kondo's melodies, Chen brings the organ full circle and back to relevance for all of us that spent hundreds (ahem, thousands) of hours gaming in front of the television in the 1990's—something unheard of in 1912 when the Kotzchmar was first installed.

This brings us back home to Cornils, one of only a handful of municipal organists nationwide. Cornil's performance will include his own arrangements of selections not originally composed for organ—William Walton's royal coronation composition Crown Imperial March (to be performed with the Kotzchmar Festival Brass) and Tomaso Albinoni's Adagio. The Brass will accompany Cornils for pieces by Giovanni Gabrieli and Pyotr Tchaikovsky and for those who need their fix of traditional early music organ works, a requisite solo piece by Bach, the undisputed organ-master of all time, will be performed.

The showcase of this concert however, could very well be the performance of a work by a living artist, Toccata by Denis Bédard who is perhaps Canada's premier composer for organ. Toccata is a festive, very “20th Century” composition rich in sixteenth note passages and a finale so full in octaval depth that it should knock your tube socks off—a grand piece to close out the concert and the series with.

History may indeed hold the keys to the present, but Chen and Cornil demonstrate this month that the Koztchmar is not just a relic of the past, a museum so to speak. Owned and maintained by the people of Portland, it continues to serve as a vehicle for modern creative expression with contemporary relevance while simultaneously serving as a symbol of artistic heritage and pride.

Now that's something worth piping up about.

At MERRILL AUDITORIUM:

August 23, 2011, 7 30 PM Chelsea Chen
August 30, 2011, 7 30 PM Ray Cornils with Kotzschmar Festival Brass