FraKctured for strings

[Batchman]

"FraKctured" by King Crimson. Arranged for strings



From the concert at the Grieghallen foyer (Bergen) on Saturday May 26th 2018

Grieg Academy Chamber Orchestra -

Violins:

Diltumar Ehetabdu
June Ekornåsvåg Gjellestad
Dmytro Kozar
Ingeborg Ekeland
Olga Melby Larsson
Oddhild Nyberg
Vladimíra Ščigulinská

Violas:

Nina Mikhailova
Ricardo Odriozola

Cellos:

Peter Moi
John Ehde

Bass:

Amanda Alvheim Krüger

Silence:

Carmen Bóveda

[Batchman]

And now, this:



Recorded all voices on Garageband by Petra Haden

[Sputnik]

"FraKctured" by King Crimson. Arranged for strings

The cellist at front center gets particular credit for her admirable restraint during the performance.

[Batchman]

The cellist at front center gets particular credit for her admirable restraint during the performance.

Perhaps the performance was actually a quodlibet of FraKctured and 4'33".

[Sputnik]

Perhaps the performance was actually a quodlibet of FraKctured and 4'33".

It's possible, but I think it's a clever little nod to Fripp's concept, expressed differently at different times, that if you have an idea, don't play it. Bruford even got a writing credit in "Providence" for not playing. That's what came through to me. I think she's the cello version of Bruford.

BTW, this is really quite good. I'm not a classical music fan, but this piece translates beautifully to this format, and retains the energy and focus I so often find lacking in classical stuff. I enjoyed it.

Bill

[Mister Triscuits]

The cellist at front center gets particular credit for her admirable restraint during the performance.

That is presumably Carmen Bóveda, credited with "silence." I have a vague recollection that the idea of having one player "contribute silence" is something done in Guitar Craft. Silence itself is an important concept in Fripp's musical philosophy: "Music is the cup that holds the wine of silence," "Silence is not silent," etc.

[Splicer]

Now all we need is the ghost of Leonard Bernstein to show up and call it "primitive".

[abc123]

First half: Looking at 1:50-2:18 as an example, the first half has some clumsy bowing noises and pitch problems. Plus, the longer you use/drag the bow like that, in other words the longer each note is, the more the audience hears that violin sustain timbre diverge the ear from the original non-sustaining (or very differently sustaining) sound flavor of the guitar picking, not good for me especially given the above noise/pitch problems. It’s okay to use lower tempo than the original like here, but that contributes to all of this because each note (bow-drag) becomes longer than it could be. Some of the bowed group of three violins didn’t practice enough and/or their playing isn’t very good – probably the first one more prominently -- they didn’t quite produce the dynamics in this song. The quiet open-space bit that starts around 2:18 has too many decibels of sustained violin sound, and so, overwhelming/off mixing/dynamics again. Having said all this, I acknowledge this is a Live performance – this team can do better in the studio, given more time. And with more practice.

Second-half: Cellos didn’t practice enough – it’s okay to use lower tempo but not okay to introduce timing/syncing problems, on top of that. And I think there are problems similar to the violins’ described above, but this time under instead the leadership of the cellos.

Good performance for those who really enjoyed this, but, for me I don't need to listen again until they do it more carefully such as in the studio. There are definitely a few good moments though.

[Batchman]

abc123 must be a lot of fun on dates. :-)

[Sputnik]

abc123 must be a lot of fun on dates. :-)

[Kcrimso]

Bruford even got a writing credit in "Providence" for not playing.

You are mixing "Providence" with "Trio".

[Sputnik]

You are mixing "Providence" with "Trio".

Oops, right. Listen to what I mean, not what I say.

[moecurlythanu]

abc123 must be a lot of fun on dates. :-)

Almost makes me glad that I'm not a musician. I'd never like anything.