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Jethro Tull: The String Quartets

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: BMG Records
Released: 2017.03.24
Time:
 48:04
Category: Symphonic Rock, Progressive Rock
Producer(s): Ian Anderson
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.jethrotull.com
Appears with: Ian Anderson
Purchase date: 2018
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] In the Past [Living in the Past] (I.Anderson) - 4:10
[2] Sossity Waiting [Sossity, You're a Woman/Reasons for Waiting] (I.Anderson) - 4:45
[3] Bungle [Bungle in the Jungle] (I.Anderson) - 3:49
[4] We Used to Bach [We Used to Know/Bach Prelude C Major] (J.S.Bach/I.Anderson) - 4:54
[5] Farm, the Fourway [Farm on the Freeway] (I.Anderson) - 3:44
[6] Songs and Horses [Songs from the Wood/Heavy Horses] (I.Anderson) - 3:53
[7] Only the Giving [Wond'ring Aloud] (I.Anderson) - 1:58
[8] Loco [Locomotive Breath] (I.Anderson) - 4:33
[9] Pass the Bottle [A Christmas Song] (I.Anderson) - 3:02
[10] Velvet Gold [Velvet Green] (I.Anderson) - 4:06
[11] Ring Out These Bells [Ring Out, Solstice Bells] (I.Anderson) - 3:56
[12] Aquafugue [Aqualung] (I.Anderson/J.Franks) - 5:13

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Ian Anderson - Flute, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Mixing, Cover, Concept, Photography, Producer

Carducci Quartet:
Matthew Denton - Violin
Michelle Fleming - Violin
Eoin Schmidt-Martin - Viola
Emma Denton - Cello

John O'hara - Orchestral Arrangements, Celesta, Piano, Engineer, Mixing
Nick Watson - Mastering
Carl Glover - Artwork, Design
Alex Pavlou - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Recorded in the crypt of Worcester Cathedral, UK and in St Kenelm's Church, Sapperton, Gloucestershire, UK in September 2016.



Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson is reimagining songs like "Aqualung," "Living in the Past," "Bungle in the Jungle" and "A Christmas Song" as classical music compositions in a new LP, The String Quartets, due out March 24th.

"I felt that there were some songs rather special to me which featured the string quartet such as 'A Christmas Song,' 'Reasons For Waiting' and 'Wond'ring Aloud," Anderson said in a statement. "These were my first experiences of working with a quartet. John [O'Hara] came up with a few suggestions of his own which presented challenges. All had an intimacy and presence which I looked forward to recapturing..."

For "Aqualung," titled "Aquafugue" on The String Quartets, the song "starts with the recognizable six note theme before continuing to follow the rules of a fugue. A subject, counter subject, and an accompanying counterpoint all alternate between the tonic and dominant keys," the band said in a press release.

Similarly, "Loco (Locomotive Breath)" begins with a cello cadenza inspired by the writing of J.S. Bach, who inspired Tull's music. "There seemed little point in transcribing the band parts and distributing them to the players," O'Hara said in a statement. "I felt a responsibility to delve deeper and offer a new imagining of each piece. An orchestrator’s job is to arrange and compose a new version of an existing work. However, I also felt a responsibility to the Jethro Tull listeners who cherish this material and may not welcome a radical rendition of a beloved song. My ambition was to create a thought-provoking album that remains true to Ian's compositions."

Daniel Kreps - December 12, 2016
© Rolling Stone 2018



‘Jethro Tull: The String Quartets’ is in fact Ian Anderson plus The Carducci Quartet on an album orchestrated by Anderson’s long time collaborator John O’Hara. The result is a refreshing interpretation of some of Tull’s back catalogue, leaving the fans to argue about what was left out.

This is the kind of album that asks some awkward questions about whether a rock audience has now matured to the point where it can appreciate chamber music renditions of a band whose musical career spans folk, prog and heavy rock. Also how many versions of these songs do fans still want to hear?

Whatever the answer, there’s plenty to enjoy here, as O’Hara sets about Anderson’s material with gusto. The quartet’s subtle dynamics pick out the musical highlights, before they explore the outer fringes of the material. In the case of ‘We Used To Bach’ (aka ‘We Used To Know’) Anderson’s song is cleverly segued with the original influence for the song, ‘Bach Prelude C Major’.

Tull’s music has already been through the classical blender before of course, but this string quartet album brings a lively, jaunty presence to bear on a thoughtfully compiled set of songs, albeit it includes two Christmas songs.

The key to the project is the strength of the material. String quartets were after all considered to be the ultimate test for a composer’s art and for the most part the songs  benefit from the ‘unplugged’ approach. ‘Bungle’ (aka ‘Bungle In The Jungle’) for example, is given a more accessible lighter feel, in sharp contrast to rather more lumbering original, and ‘Ring Out Those Bells’ (aka ‘Ring Out Solstice Bells’) has a joyous feel as Ian adds one of 6 passable vocals on the album.

Then there’s the strange choice of ‘Pass The Bottle’, a wry seasonal ditty which retains the Eastern sounding mandolin, while adding a busy string arrangement that helps builds it up impressively. Anderson voices the original outro with a distinctly southern vowel sound compared to the more flat original: ‘hey Santa pass us that bottle will ya”

Recorded at Worcester Cathedral and St. Kenelms’s Church in Sapperton, Gloucestershire, the album gets off to a brave start with the Tull classic, ‘Living In The Past’.  Retitled ‘In The Past’, the 12 different titles reflect the different musical approaches and different players from the original band.

‘In The Past’ opens with a gently thumbed strings and Anderson’s flute which deftly meanders in between the strings as the quartet works its way back to the theme.

‘Sossity Waiting’ (‘Sossity, You’re A Woman/Reasons For Waiting’) doesn’t quite work as well, if only because it’s a segued piece on which the original acoustic number is well suited to the string arrangement. The latter was was already orchestrated and even though it’s beautifully voiced here, the quartet arrangement doesn’t really add anything to the original, though it does serve to remind us you of the potency of Anderson’s melodies.

The folky material seems better fitted to purpose, most notably on the uplifting feel of ‘Songs And Horses’ (aka ‘Songs From The Wood/Heavy Horses’), one of only two tracks to feature the quartet on their own. The staccato nature of the song and the melodic resolution is beautifully captured by purity of the strings on a piece full of subtle dynamics.

The link piece ‘Only The Giving’ (aka ‘Wond’ring Aloud’) stays much closer to the original acoustic arrangement, until a startling violin drop-in at 35 seconds, before the strings recover to colour the piece with intricate bowed strings.

Die hard fans will want to hear what has been made of the two Tull heavy hitters, ‘Loco, (‘Locomotive Breath’) and ‘Aquafugue’ (‘Aqualung’). ‘Loco’ is a highlight, particularly as Ian’s excellent flute is offset by the strings as they map out the melody line.

‘Aquafugue’ is given a more sonorous reading with the repeated riff punctuating a sombre claustrophobic sounding piece, before a spirited unison of strings and a belated vocal (the least impressive on the album).

The flute and string double lines nearly obscure Anderson’s vocal, while the Celeste sounds a bit heavy handed, almost as if trying to mirror the bombast of the original version.

Given that it’s the last song on the album it’s a slightly low key finish to an otherwise enjoyable album, which for all its endeavour and sense of adventure will probably be for completists only.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pete Feenstra - March 20, 2017
Get Ready to ROCK!



Rock 'n' roll is a beautiful thing. No matter what type of music you enjoy, there's more than likely a genre of rock out there that can satisfy your musical cravings. Looking for something poppy, theatrical and sexy? Glam rock is the way to go. Are the sounds of Woodstock more your vibe? Folk rock has you covered. Classic rock, punk rock and alternative rock are also on the scene, three solid niches in the rock genre that have no small amount of bands in them.

Symphonic rock, however, is a facet of rock 'n' roll that appears on the surface to be smaller than the others. After all, the idea of a string quartet performing rock songs may sound like a fairly new concept. Unorthodox as it may be, that's exactly what Jethro Tull front man Ian Anderson did with the drop of the band's latest album, The String Quartets.

Featuring the Carducci String Quartet, the album is in essence a reimagined compilation album. It's composed of some of Jethro Tull's greatest hits, yet each of them have been rearranged and recreated to fit with the orchestral instruments. If classic Jethro Tull fans were used to songs entitled "Locomotive Breath," "Living in the Past" and "Aqualung," it might have come as a surprise to see the titles "Loco (Locomotive Breath)," "In the Past (Living in the Past)" and "Aquafugue (Aqualung)" on the album.


Fear not though; although of course it's impossible to make the songs sound identical to the originals, the root of each song is still there. And yes, Ian Anderson's exceptional flute playing is also present throughout the album.

As a whole, this album is not only wonderfully refreshing, but it's exceptionally well done. With a project like this, the result really could have gone either way. It could be super interesting to hear these classic Jethro Tull songs reimagined, or it could be slightly off-putting to lose the rock sound in the genre of classical. What both Ian Anderson and the Carducci String Quartet manage to do so seamlessly is balance both the rock and the classical, making it truly symphonic rock.


The very first song, "In the Past (Living in the Past)," sets the tone for the whole album, creating an upbeat, almost jazzy feel that barely resembled classical. Although it's not fair to say that there was no classical genre present, the violins, viola and cello never bore the listener.

Perhaps the only critique I have is Anderson's vocals on some of the tracks. This of course makes it sound like I'm criticizing his singing, which isn't the case — even after all these years, Anderson still maintains a fairly good voice. With such a beautiful cooperation between strings and flute though, sometimes the sound of his vocals was a little jarring. I'm not usually one to advocate for albums completely composed of instrumentals, but with this specific example the work probably could have been conveyed better if it was solely the instruments.

Rating 3 out of 4

Taylor Stokes - March 27, 2017
© 2018 The Diamondback



A year after honoring the band's real-life namesake with a rock opera, Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson is giving a dozen of the group's songs the string quartet treatment. Jethro Tull: The String Quartets, due out March 24 and available to pre-order now, finds Anderson working alongside the Carducci Quartet and arranger/conductor John O'Hara to recast a dozen Tull tracks in a new light.

According to Anderson's official site, the record features him playing flute "on most of the tracks" as well as contributing occasional vocals.

"I felt that there were some songs rather special to me which featured the string quartet such as 'A Christmas Song,' 'Reasons for Waiting' and 'Wond'ring Aloud,'" explains Anderson. "These were my first experiences of working with a quartet. John came up with a few suggestions of his own which presented challenges. All had an intimacy and presence which I looked forward to recapturing."

"There seemed little point in transcribing the band parts and distributing them to the players," adds O'Hara. "I felt a responsibility to delve deeper and offer a new imagining of each piece. An orchestrator’s job is to arrange and compose a new version of an existing work. I also felt a responsibility to listeners who cherish this material and may not welcome a radical rendition of a beloved song. My ambition was to create a thought-provoking album that remains true to Ian's compositions."

Fans who pre-order The String Quartets have the option of picking up signed CD or LP editions while supplies last. Check out "Pass the Bottle (A Christmas Song)" above, and take a look at the complete track listing — as well as Anderson's video introduction to the project — below.

Jeff Giles
2018 Ultimate Classic Rock



The orchestral reimagining of rock records isn’t new. Two years ago, REBEAT took at look at Pete Townshend’s collaboration with Alfie Boe and the London Philharmonic Orchestra on Pete Townshend’s Classic Quadrophenia. A rock opera, after all, seems a perfect candidate for a classical retelling, and indeed, it worked well.

This year, we bring you another reinvention which makes perfect sense to anyone who’s a fan. This week, The End Records/BMG bring us a collaboration between Ian Anderson and the Carducci Quartet, Jethro Tull – The String Quartets.

Anyone familiar with the Jethro Tull sound is well aware that the band’s music already leans towards the classical, often venturing into the territory of English folk, evoking images of old-fashioned troubadours and madrigals. The fact that frontman Ian Anderson made the band unique and notable with his “lead flute” screams classical and, like many “classic rock”-era bands, they frequently featured string instruments on their records. It is, therefore, fitting that these compositions be altered to fit the apparently more sophisticated classical genre.

This album features mostly instrumental versions of hit Jethro Tull tracks (and a few lesser known songs), renamed only slightly to retain some familiarity to the original tracks. To be fair, the tracks are nearly impossible to make unfamiliar, even without electric guitars and percussion. The only addition to the quartet on these tracks is Anderson’s trademark flute playing and occasionally his vocals.

Most of the tracks lend themselves extremely well to this interpretation. The first track, “In the Past” and track 10, “Velvet Gold,” are particularly well suited for this album as those songs (“Living in the Past” and “Velvet Green” respectively) already possessed many classical elements to begin with.

Other tracks were surprising, such as “Bungle,” the string version of “Bungle in the Jungle.” Although it’s a well-known Tull song, it was never a favorite of mine, and I was wary of its ability to translate neatly to a classical sound, but I was pleasantly surprised. I would go so far as to say that I like this string version infinitely more than the original recording, perhaps because of the lack of lyrics which allows the listener to focus more on the actual musical composition.

Not all of the tracks are as familiar. “Farm, the Fourway” is “Farm on the Freeway” from Tull’s 1987 Crest of a Knave, not so well known among rock fans other than hardcore Tull followers except for the amusing trivia that the album beat out Metallica for a heavy metal Grammy.

The second track, “Sossity Waiting,” combines “Sossity: You’re a Woman” from Benefit and “Reasons for Waiting” from Stand Up, two tracks that aren’t recognizable to the casual fan who only knows the radio hits (and note: these songs came before Jethro Tull’s most recognizable period once they released Aqualung in 1971).

If anything, the two tracks off Aqualung, the title track and “Locomotive Breath” (“Aquafugue” and “Loco” respectively) are the least recognizable on the album. While Anderson’s flute maintains the familiarity to the original songs, they lack the power, drive, and dare I say, sexually devious nature that made people fall in love with those tracks in the ’70s. Perhaps it’s also that those songs are based more on jazz melodies that a string quartet simply can’t manage to capture the indefinable essence of what makes those songs unique.

Perhaps my favorite track on this album is “Ring Out These Bells,” admittedly with much personal bias for “Ring Out, Solstice Bells.” Already a beautifully classical tune, the song was practically made for this strings album. I discussed the original track with Ian Anderson in our interview with the singer/songwriter three years ago.

Classical music fans will appreciate this album for its ability to demonstrate the versatility and respectability of Anderson’s compositions outside of the rock world. Hardcore Tull fans will also enjoy the album as it celebrates the interesting blend of styles and eras that made Jethro Tull such an interesting band. Casual fans will probably only like a few tracks; this album is not particularly for them, and that’s okay.

Jen Cunningham - March 24, 2017
REBEAT Magazine



On Jethro Tull's classic "Songs from the Wood" Ian Anderson promised "all things refined". And refined the band certain has been. Musically educated, too. For 40-odd years they have specialised in baroque rock and minstrel ballads all served up with harpsichords and flutes. There were even a couple of albums featuring a full orchestra. Yet, notably, string quartets have only made the occasional appearance.

In a way, then, you could say an album like this is actually a little overdue. The thing is, though, Jethro Tull – The String Quartets isn't really a Tull album. Nor is it even really an Ian Anderson LP. For the most part, this is the sound of arranger John O'Hara and the Carducci Quartet. The results are really rather convincing.

That's partly down to the source material. Jethro Tull songs often start with ersatz 16th century melodies which then progressively move towards blues rock. O'Hara, however, pulls it all the other way. "Sossity Waiting", for instance, takes the melodies of "Sossity: You're a Woman" and "Reasons for Waiting" and arranges the flute and strings to sound like the work of an early English composer. Where a heavier more syncopated sound is needed, such as on (Living) "In the Past", it's achieved using slurs up the fingerboard and heavy duty plucking.

For classical purists, of course, the thought of Tull's music becoming even more faux baroque will be horrendous. But actually the album finds its most authentic voice the further it gets away from the originals. This is helped by Ian Anderson's sparing use of his own vocals. One song, in particular, illustrates why too much Anderson wasn't right. "Wond'ring Aloud" – featuring the main man on both guitar and vocals – was, no doubt, included because the original's use of strings virtually inspired the whole project. But it's not a particularly stirring version. Tull fans will be far more taken with the unexpected way O'Hara, Anderson and the Carducci Quartet have reinterpreted "Locomotive Breath". That really is something special.

Russ Coffey - 22 March 2017
TheArtsDesk.com



It is an album of classic Jethro Tull repertoire, imaginatively arranged by John O’Hara for the Carducci string quartet with the flute, guitar and vocals of songwriter and producer Ian Anderson, it will be released on 24thMarch 2017 by BMG. For some time, Ian (Jethro Tull frontman and virtuoso flautist) and John O’Hara (keyboard player with Tull and Anderson) had discussed the prospect of a specially conceived album of classic Jethro Tull repertoire orchestrated for a string quartet. Ian & John first saw the Carducci Quartet at the London Symphony Orchestra’s LSO St Luke’s and, mesmerised by the group’s symbiotic relationship which results in their playing as one single musical organism, Ian invited them to take part in the recording. Ian, who is no stranger to working with orchestras, says: “John and I have worked on various orchestrations and performed many orchestral concerts over the last fifteen years. "I came up with the idea of recording a dedicated string quartet album in a contemporary but “Classical” setting with brief appearances from myself" - Ian Anderson

"So, a couple of years ago, I came up with the idea of recording a dedicated string quartet album in a contemporary but “Classical” setting with brief appearances from myself.  "I felt that there were some songs rather special to me which featured the string quartet such as A Christmas Song, Reasons For Waiting and Wond'ring Aloud. "These were my first experiences of working with a quartet. John came up with a few suggestions of his own which presented challenges. "All had an intimacy and presence which I looked forward to recapturing in the cosy and very personal space of my office desk where I did the overdubs.” About his approach to the orchestration, John explains, “There seemed little point in transcribing the band parts and distributing them to the players. I felt a responsibility to delve deeper and offer a new imagining of each piece.

"An orchestrator’s job is to arrange and compose a new version of an existing work. However, I also felt a responsibility to the Jethro Tull listeners who cherish this material and may not welcome a radical rendition of a beloved song. "My ambition was to create a thought-provoking album that remains true to Ian's compositions.” Ian concludes: “It has really been a lot of fun to work on this project. The Carducci Quartet provided a spirited and committed performance, without which all would have been futile. And, I only had to pay for lunch once as they brought sandwiches. Bless.” The album was recorded in the crypt of Worcester Cathedral and in St Kenelm's Church, Sapperton, Gloucestershire. After poring over the entire Tull catalogue, Ian & John decided on the following selection of songs.  Different from the original recordings, Ian has given some new cryptic titles.

Paul Davies - Jan 18, 2017
Copyright © 2018 Express Newspapers / Daily Express



Ein neues Album von Ian Anderson und dem Carducci Quartet, welches Songs von Jethro Tull in einem neuen neoklassischen Gewand präsentiert. Arrangiert und orchestriert von John O’Hara. Ian spielt seine Querflöte auf den meisten Tracks und singt sogar hier und da einige Zeilen, um in diesem klassischen Kontext den traditionellen Sound zu bewahren. Living in the Past, Aqualung, Locomotive Breath und Bungle in the Jungle tauchen auf dem Tracklisting auf, zusammen mit weiteren musikalischen Jethro Tull Stücken, unter neuen, kryptischen Songtiteln, um sie von den Originalaufnahmen zu unterscheiden. Ian Anderson schafft es immer wieder seine treuen Fans mit neuem kreativen Output zu überraschen.

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