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All music and noises © Copyright Paul A. Williams aka Elwood Herring - Please read these notes before downloading
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| Play | Size | Mins | Symphony #5 "Interface Reconnected" op.53 (2005) - A Rock Symphony All the music written for my band "Interface" in 1984, reworked, rearranged and re-recorded in 2005 |
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I have been considering classing this work as a symphony for a while. It's certainly complex enough to have the status of a symphony; it has movements (ok two, not counting the Pavanne and Variations which aren't officially part of it, but that's not so unusual. I cite Mahler's 8th as a precedent), it has thematic development, it has various moods, it has counterpoint, and it includes orchestral instruments (mainly at the end). It also has a drum kit and a strong beat, but who says a symphony can't have those too? I finally came to the conclusion that if Glenn Branca can call his massed guitar noodlings "symphonies" then I can certainly do the same with this! So that's the end of that. This is now officially my 5th symphony, and if anybody disagrees, I don't give a monkey's. If you prefer listening to Glenn Branca's monotonous twangings, that's your choice. (Dedicated to all those sarcastic critics who said I can't write a good tune!) The whole symphony is available to buy as a high quality DRM-free VBR mp3 Albumwrap file - see the Musicane box below. | November Odyssey November Autopilot Midnight Expression Childhood's End Roadrunner Eruption November reprise |
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175k | 27:30 | This starts off with the first half of "November" which bowls along at a cracking pace for about 6 minutes (including a jerky 7/16 section with a complex percussion part), then comes to an abrupt halt on a leading cadence. The pace then slows down for some extracts from my "Concentric Circles" music, including a poignant reworking of one of my favourite tunes; "Childhood's End" (NOT the Pink Floyd one; it's my own tune!) accompanied by soft seashore sound effects. The pace quickens again for the disco-like "Roadrunner" section with its pyrotechnic synthesiser solos, which segues smoothly into "Eruption" then back to "November" for an upbeat and nicely rounded finale. |
| Pavanne for Anne | |
1983 | 4:40 | Included on this CD since it was on the original Interface CD, but since I've already completely reworked the theme into my 4th symphony I thought I'd leave this track in its piano duet form and separate from the two major suites Odyssey and Ultimate. |
| Variations on a Lennon/McCartney theme |
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2005 | 9:55 | This piece sounds quite effective placed here as a balance point between the two major suites, so here it is. |
| The Ultimate Marathon Marathon One More Lie Marathon 2nd lap Who Needs Friends Phrygian Cadenza November again Marathon final lap |
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165k | 24:50 | The second half of "Reconnected" blasts off with the strident fanfares from the opening of "Marathon" which belts along at a breathless pace. After a while the music slows down and takes a breather with the "So where are you now?" section of the original song. Then the insistent fanfares signal a return to the race, but now a tone higher in pitch. Round we go again, then suddenly we find ourselves in the song "One More Lie" with its Ultravox-like overtones and searching bass. After a dramatic climax we are back in the Marathon again for another lap (do you have laps in marathons?) After a frantic synth solo and another change of key we race headlong into another Interface song; this time it's "Who Needs Friends" with its sarcastic stabbing chords, and even a quote from Berlioz's "March to the Scaffold" to emphasise the point. Then with a short percussion solo the tone lightens a bit as we whoosh into the eastern-sounding "Phrygian Cadenza" (a.k.a. "Up the Khyber") with some rather exotic harmonies. This in turn is loudly interrupted by the 7/16 section of November which we last heard at the start of the Odyssey (track 1). The music then switches time signatures like a train going "over the points", first to 15/16 then 6/16 and finally back to 4/4 for a fiendishly difficult piano cadenza that brings a lot of the past themes together in a complex interwoven counterpoint; then there is a sudden slowing of pace with a brief wistful reprise of the opening theme from Odyssey, then an eerie counterpoint comprising three more previous themes woven together. This dies away to nothing, and the music flexes its muscles to begin the final ecstatic spurt to the finish line. The instruments by now are all orchestral, and the coda (a combination of the Midnight and Marathon themes) is accompanied by peals of tubular bells. Phew - did you manage to keep up? |
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