Sondc

Surrender (Cheap Trick cover)

My overdub of my arrangement of the Barber Adagio.

This was a tough one...in many ways. Many out there say,"Brass should never play Barbers Adagio." I totally disagree. It's very difficult...yes...but most things worthwhile are. I battled inside myself for quite a while, before deciding to release this into the world. The world of criticism out there can be harsh, but I can take it. This isn't about technical perfection, it's about the art we know and love as music.

When I was 15 years old, my mother, who I loved dearly, died suddenly, and I was the one who the one who found her, had to call 911, the whole 9 yards. Witnessing all that came to pass that day changed me overnight. 

At that point, being a musician stopped being something I just "did' and was good at...it became who I am. The music that helped both intensify my sadness but ultimately accept it and heal (as much as one can from such an event) was the old Bernstein NY Phil recording of Barbers Adagio. I've always loved that piece since. It's a window into my childhood, and it's end.

Exploring this piece again and revamping my original arrangement has been intense, in all possible levels and overlays...but a journey well worth the work. For me it's a shining example of technique, serving the message of the art.

Barber Adagio

This is my overdub of the Arlington movement from the suite of John Williams music from the film JFK. This is one of his richest and most stirring scores. I feel he so vividly captures the lament and pain of the nation as it's beloved president was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, after being brutally assassinated...let's face it...no way did Oswald act alone. 

When I speak to anyone who was alive when JFK died, they always have this look of shocked lament as they talk about it...as if part of the nation died with him. They talk about what a great man he was and how much good he was doing for the nation...then all of the sudden...he was gone...killed so young.

When starting this, I thought, "No problem. Horn solo in the beginning, then just strings..." I couldn't have been more wrong. This is one of the toughest scores I've recorded. I often felt like my soul was being "poisoned" as I tapped into the sorrow of it. 

As I worked on this and came to grips with it, I realized how powerful the score is. The music starts with JFKs heroic theme which quickly soars to high E flat, signaling shock in the aftermath of his death. What follows is so dense and painful even as beams of hope shoot through, they finally give in and succumb to the reality of unnatural death...man made death...born of hate...

Surrender (Cheap Trick cover)

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