Stewart Copeland: Into the Classical Arena, in the Spirit of a JamBand

[7/4]

March 28, 2008

Into the Classical Arena, in the Spirit of a Jam Band

By VIVIEN SCHWEITZER, NYTimes

SAVANNAH, Ga. — In the DVD accompanying "Orchestralli," a CD featuring the rock drummer Stewart Copeland's works for film, orchestra and ballet, he jokingly says he gravitated toward film because "it's a more civilized life than rock" and "because every drummer has this urge to prove he is an actual musician."

Mr. Copeland is among a number of rock musicians, including Paul McCartney and Sting, who have ventured into the classical arena. On Wednesday at the Trustees Theater in Savannah, Ga., the pianist Sebastian Knauer and the superb violinist Daniel Hope joined Mr. Copeland for the world premiere of his "Celeste," which was commissioned by the Savannah Music Festival. The program, called "An Evening With Stewart Copeland," also featured concert arrangements of his works, performed by an ensemble introduced as Savannah Orchestralli.

Mr. Copeland, who has little formal training in theory or composition, said in an interview before the premiere of "Celeste" that he struggled with the violin part, which he wrote using a mandolin. The work, dedicated to his youngest daughter, sounded more like a spirited jam session than a formally notated classical piece. After a declaratory concertolike opening followed by a jazzy melody, Mr. Hope's wildly energetic fiddling intertwined with the syncopations of Mr. Copeland's drumming, with a few lively rhythmic exchanges between the three musicians unfolding throughout.

Mr. Hope, who enjoys genre-bending projects, is the associate artistic director of the festival. His collaboration with Mr. Copeland reflects the spirit of the more than two-week event, with an eclectic lineup of jazz, fado, gospel, blues and performances by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Emerson String Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio. Mr. Hope is a member of that trio, which presented the premiere of a work by the jazz pianist Uri Caine during the 2005 festival.

Computer software enables any musician with a good ear to compose. Mr. McCartney and Mr. Copeland have at times depended on classically trained assistants, similar to the way politicians rely on speechwriters to finesse their ideas into fluid prose. Mr. Copeland, who is midway through a reunion tour with the Police, has written many film scores including soundtracks for Francis Ford Coppola's "Rumble Fish." His classical works include ballet and orchestral scores and "Holy Blood and Crescent Moon," a commission by the Cleveland Opera that received mixed reviews after its 1989 premiere.

On Wednesday, the program also included the slinky, feline "Grace," honoring another daughter, a musical excerpt from "Rumble Fish" and an orchestral work called "Stalin's Sultry Serenade." A highlight was "The Gene Pool," a virtuosic, kaleidoscopic, hard-driving percussion work written for Ensemble Bash, a British percussion group.

The most successful crossover projects are created by musicians well versed in their adopted musical language. Other collaborations create the impression that you are watching actors dressed in costumes that don't quite fit, as when classically trained performers attempt jazz. Mr. Copeland's new trio sounded as if it was teetering on the edge of several musical worlds without quite making a definitive statement in any. But he and Mr. Hope were clearly having a blast, and the audience shared in the fun, giving the enthusiastic performance the night's loudest ovation.

Edited March 29, 2008 by 7/4

[A Lark Ascending]

I noticed a classical CD chart the other day that had CDs by Mike Oldfield, Karl Jenkins and John Lord in the top ten.

Classical buffs are even more likely to give themselves a seizure over these crossover discs than jazz buffs over smooth recordings dominating a jazz chart.

It's always happened. Anyone remember the 'Classics with a Beat' fad of the mid-70s? A recording of the opening of Mozart's 40th Symphony with a disco beat glued on made the singles charts at that time.