Tony Banks is a founder member of the rock group Genesis, having been
keyboard player and composer through all of its various incarnations.
The group was originally a five-piece, (including Peter Gabriel and
Mike Rutherford) which was formed at Charterhouse School in Surrey.
Later, after one or two comings and goings, they were joined by drummer
Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett, and became one of the major
exponents of progressive rock music in the early 1970s with such albums
as Selling England by the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
With Phil Collins taking over as lead singer after the departure of
Peter Gabriel in 1975, and the later departure of Steve Hackett in
1977, the band, as a three-piece, became one of the most commercially
successful bands in the world with a string of number one albums
including Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance. The final incarnation
came after Phil Collins left in the mid-1990s and resulted in the
release of Calling All Stations in 1997. Throughout its existence
Genesis has been just as well known for its live shows that have
combined the music with elaborate visuals, first playing small clubs
and theatres in the 1970s, and then arenas and stadiums in the 1980s
and 1990s. During this time Tony Banks has also recorded five solo
albums, A Curious Feeling (1979), The Fugitive (1983), Bankstatement
(1989), Still (1991) and Strictly Inc (1995). In addition he has also
composed the soundtracks for the films The Shout (with Mike
Rutherford), The Wicked Lady, Lorca and the Outlaws, and Quicksilver.
An album combining the music from these last two films called
Soundtracks was released in 1986, and the music from The Wicked Lady
was issued as a record in 1983.
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra has long established a high
reputation for its versatility and artistic excellence. These are
evident from its performances in the concert hall and opera house, its
many award-winning recordings, its trailblazing international tours and
its pioneering education work. Kurt Masur has been the orchestra's
Principal Conductor since September 2000, extending the line of
distinguished conductors who have held positions with the orchestra
since its foundation in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beecham. These have included
Sir Adrian Boult, Sir John Pritchard, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti,
Klaus Tennstedt and Franz Welser-Most. Vladimir Jurowski was appointed
the orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor in March 2003. The London
Philharmonic Orchestra has been resident symphony orchestra at the
Royal Festival Hall since 1992, presenting there its main series of
concerts between September and May each year, with varied programmes
that include commissions from contemporary composers. In summer, the
orchestra moves to Sussex where it has been the resident symphony
orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera for the past forty years. In
addition to performances in various parts of the United Kingdom, the
orchestra has also made numerous tours abroad to America, Europe and
Japan, and visited India, Hong Kong, Australia and South Africa, in
addition to earlier ground-breaking tours to Soviet Russia and to
China. The quality of the recording work undertaken by the London
Philharmonic Orchestra is reflected in the awards conferred on it for
its recordings with Bernard Haitink, Simon Rattle, Wolfgang Sawallisch,
Klaus Tennstedt and Franz Welser-Most.
Tony Banks (b. 1950)
Seven: A Suite for Orchestra
The idea of writing for an orchestra had been in my mind since the
recording of the music soundtrack for the film The Wicked Lady, back in
the early eighties. At that time I had an existing piano piece which
became the main theme, that took on a whole new character when it was
orchestrated. This inspired me to want to create more music this way
using only an orchestra, with the only addition being possibly a piano.
With the film score, I had written the music on the piano, which was
then orchestrated, and although most of the pieces worked well, some
sections ended up further from the original concept than I would have
liked. This time I wanted to make sure that the pieces ended up being a
true representation of what I had originally written, even though I
knew I was going to need the help of an orchestrator. I therefore
recorded fairly detailed demos of the pieces, which I then gave to
Simon Hale, the orchestrator of this suite, with the brief to make the
music intelligible to orchestral players. The idea was to keep
faithfully to the structure, and not to change any melodies, chords or
other elements, but to have some freedom with instrumentation, and the
use of additional arrangement ideas, to make the result convincing.
There were obviously some ideas that worked better than others and it
was not until we were actually recording with the orchestra that this
became apparent. Having worked for over thirty years in the studio
recording with Genesis and others, I was unprepared for the method of
working in this situation. In the time the group would take to have
perhaps got their instruments working, the orchestra is expected to
have done a finished recording of maybe twenty minutes of music of
which they previously had no knowledge. At the same time we were making
frantic changes to the score, both to correct typographical errors and
more importantly to improve parts. Then there were also decisions to be
made in terms of tempo and expression, which had to be communicated to
the conductor and then to the players. This proved too much to do in
the time available, so after recording four pieces and listening to
them many times afterwards I realised I would have to start again. I
went in much better prepared the next time, enlisting the help of Nick
Davis, who has been involved in my last few studio projects, as
co-producer. I tried to make sure that everything from our end was as
finished as possible, and that the conductor had a clear idea what was
intended, and although it was still very intense work, everything
seemed to come together more easily. Also, having been through the
process once, I knew more what to expect and was therefore able to
enjoy the recording and be much happier with the result.
Of the seven pieces in this suite, five were written specifically for
this project, the other two being ideas from the past that I had always
thought would work well with an orchestra. The Gateway was in fact
written some twenty years ago as a possible idea for a film theme that
was never used. The other older piece, Neap Tide, I originally recorded
a version of at the time of the album Strictly Inc. The suite opens
with Spring Tide, one of three pieces to feature the piano, and the one
in which it is most prominent, although even here it is still very much
part of the orchestra. The second piece here, Black Down, the name of a
local hill, is the one that really started this project; I just wanted
to hear how it would sound using real strings as opposed to a
synthesizer. After that the rest came fairly quickly, and the final
piece to be written was The Ram. I wanted something more rhythmic and
up-tempo, with a more optimistic conclusion. Earthlight is really a
theme with simple variations. The original theme written actually
appears here as the first variation, the major key version although
coming later, seemed the better one to start and end with. Simon added
the semi-quaver violas accompanying the middle part, which looked very
doubtful on paper, but which in the end sound very effective and
natural. The suite closes with The Spirit of Gravity, which travels
through a number of different musical ideas only to end up finally just
where it began.
Tony Banks
Tony Banks(b. 1950)
Seven: Eine Suite für Orchester
Die Idee, Musik für Orchester zu schreiben, kam mir schon in den
frühen achtziger Jahren, als wir den Soundtrack zu dem Film The
Wicked Lady aufnahmen. Damals wurde ein bereits existierendes
Klavierstück zum Hauptthema der Filmmusik, und nachdem es
orchestriert worden war, hatte es sich charakterlich völlig
verändert. So entstand der Wunsch, mehr für Orchester zu
komponieren und gelegentlich höchstens ein Klavier hinzuzunehmen.
Die Filmmusik hatte ich ursprünglich für Klavier geschrieben,
und sie wurde nachträglich instrumentiert. Das funktionierte auch
im Falle der meisten Stücke, doch einige Abschnitte landeten
weiter vom eigentlichen Konzept entfernt als mir lieb war. Dieses Mal
wollte ich gewährleistet wissen, dass die Stücke wirklich das
darstellten, was ich ursprünglich geschrieben hatte. Ich wusste
freilich, dass ich die Hilfe eines Orchestrators benötigen
würde, und so nahm ich recht detail getreue Demos der Stücke
auf. Diese erhielt dann Simon Haie, der Orchestrator dieser Suite, mit
dem Hinweis, dass er die Musik für Orchestermusiker
verständlich machen sollte.
Die Idee war, die gesamte Originalstruktur zu bewahren und weder
Melodien oder Akkorde noch andere Elemente zu verändern, zugleich
aber so viele instrumentatorische Freiheiten und Möglichkeiten des
Arrangements einzuräumen, dass ein überzeugendes Resultat
entstand. Einige Ideen erwiesen sich funktionsfähiger als andere,
und das stellte sich tatsächlich erst bei den Orchesteraufnahmen
heraus. Trotz meiner dreißigjährigen Studio-Erfahrungen mit
Genesis und anderen war ich auf diese Situation und diese
Arbeitsmethoden nicht vorbereitet. In derselben Zeit, die eine Gruppe
braucht, um vielleicht gerade einmal ihre Instrumente herzurichten,
erwartet man von einem Orchester die Einspielung einer 20minütigen
Komposition, die keiner der Musiker zuvor gesehen hatte.
Zugleich waren wir wie verrückt dabei, die Partitur umzugestalten
- um Schreibfehler auszumerzen und, was noch wichtiger war, die Stimmen
zu verbessern. Dann galt es, Entscheidungen hinsichtlich des Tempos und
des Ausdrucks zu treffen und diese dem Dirigenten sowie den Musikern
mitzuteilen. Dafür reichte dann, wie sich zeigte, die Zeit nicht
aus. Nachdem ich vier Stücke aufgenommen und diese mehrfach
abgehört hatte, wurde mir klar, dass ich noch einmal von vorn
würde anfangen müssen. Beim nächsten Mal war ich weit
besser vorbereitet. Ich versicherte mich des Koproduzenten Nick Davis,
der schon an meinen vorherigen Studio-Projekten mitgearbeitet hatte.
Ich bemühte mich, von unserer Seite alles so gut wie möglich
vorzubereiten und dem Dirigenten eine klare Vorstellung von der Musik
zu geben. Das war zwar immer noch eine sehr intensive Arbeit, doch
schien jetzt alles leichter zusammenzugehen. Vor allem wusste ich ja,
was mir bevorstand, nachdem ich den gesamten Prozess schon einmal
erlebt hatte, und so hatte ich viel mehr Freude an den Aufnahmen, und
ich war auch mit dem Ergebnis weit glücklicher als zuvor.
Von den sieben Stücken dieser Suite habe ich fünf eigens
für dieses Projekt geschrieben. Zwei Titel basieren auf
älteren Ideen, deren orchestrale Möglichkeiten ich seit jeher
gesehen hatte. The Gateway entstand vor rund 20 Jahren und war der
Gedanke zu einem Filmthema, das aber nie zum Einsatz kam. Das zweite
der beiden älteren Stücke, Neap Tide, habe ich seinerzeit in
einer anderen Fassung für das Album Strictly Ine aufgenommen. Die
Suite beginnt mit Spring Tide, einem von drei Stücken, an denen
das Klavier beteiligt ist. Hier spielt es sogar seine besonders
prominente Rolle, obwohl es zugleich auch ein integrales Element des
Orchesters ist. Das nächste Stück markierte den eigentlichen
Anfang des gesamten Vorhabens: Black Down, so genannt nach einem Berg
der Gegend, wollte ich einfach einmal mit echten Streichern und nicht
mit einem Synthesizer hören. Alles andere ging dann recht schnell.
Als letztes Stück entstand The Ram. Ich wollte schlicht etwas
Rhythmischeres und Flotteres mit einem optimistischeren Schluss
schreiben. Earthlighr ist ein Thema mit einfachen Variationen. Das
ursprüngliche Thema ist hier als erste Variation zu hören,
weil sich die später entstandene Dur-Fassung besser für den
Anfang und das Ende des Satzes eignete. Simon schrieb für den
Mittelteil die Sechzehntelbegleitung der Bratschen, die auf dem Papier
sehr fragwürdig aussah, sich dann aber als sehr wirkungsvoll und
natürlich erwies. Die Suite endet mit The Spirit of Gravity, das
eine Reihe verschiedener musikalischer Ideen durchwandert, bevor es
dort endet, wo es begann.
Tony Banks (Deutsche Fassung: Cris Posslac)
Seven: A Suite for Orchestra marks both a departure and a homecoming
for Tony Banks, best known as the keyboard player with Genesis. Since a
brief sojourn in film music, notably with The Wicked Lady (1983), Banks
has produced here his first orchestral work in 20 years. It may be his
debut classical recording, but it also marks a return to the ambition
behind the progressive rock of Genesis, where his classically inspired
piano solos and intricate melodies elevated the band far above regular
rock & roll. Now Banks has crafted a seven-movement symphonic
suite, his lyrical piano entwined with the orchestra rather than
showcased concerto-style.
The piece lies firmly within the pastoral English tradition of Elgar,
Vaughan Williams and Gerald Finzi, the lush orchestration (by Simon
Hale) often infused with melancholy and soaring with a haunted
intensity. Classical purists may dismiss Seven as pseudo-film
music--indeed, the suite's third movement, "The Gateway", was written
as a potential film theme and is gorgeously bittersweet and uplifting
somewhat in the manner of John Williams's finale to ET (1982)--but
those who just enjoy melodic orchestral music will find much to savour.
The road from prog rock to symphonic score is littered with pretentious
disasters, but Banks has wisely learnt from his predecessors' mistakes
to make perhaps the most convincing transition so far.
Gary S Dalkin, Amazon.co.uk Review
Famous for his role as keyboard player in the progressive rock band
Genesis, Tony Banks has always been fascinated by the idea of writing
orchestral music. Five of the seven pieces in this orchestral suite
were written specifically for the Seven project; the remaining two were
older pieces. Throughout the seven movements Banks creates intense
orchestral sound pictures. The calm serenity which characterizes the
main themes of the separate movements is often contrasted with
uncomfortable stormy turbulence, the overall result being a scenic
overview of orchestral colours and timbres.
Amazon.com
Mit Genesis gelangen dem Keyboarder Tony Banks bis 1976 einige der
komplexesten Werke im Rahmen des Rock-Idioms. Nun legt der
54-jährige Grauschopf eine klassische Suite vor, die das London
Philharmonic Orchestra unter Mike Dixon für ihn einspielte. Man
muss Banks zugute halten, dass er "Seven" nicht als modischen Crossover
angelegt hat, sondern durchweg klassisch. Das Orchester schwelgt in
Wohlklang, Bläser blähen sich, Streicher fluten hinweg
übers Klavier, selbst der Paukist hat viel zu tun. Aber wo ist
bloß der Film dazu? Denn "Seven" wäre nur als Soundtrack zu
"Jenseits von Afrika - Die Rückkehr" ernstzunehmen, als Klassik
nicht. Die melodischen Ideen sind alle bekannt, und die kompositorische
Stilistik ist so altbacken, als hätte es die Neue Musik nie
gegeben. Das alles klingt natürlich makellos, und Leute, die
keinen Dunst von Klassik haben, aber gern hätten, werden sich ein
Loch in den Bauch freuen, dass sie mit dem Kauf dieser CD stolz sagen
können, "Klassik zu mögen".