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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0094922675385 Label: OMI Records Manufacturer: OMI Records Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: OMI Records Release Date: July 24, 2007 Studio: OMI Records Sales Rank: 3816
Product Description: From Reuters Life: THE GRATEFUL DEAD made their name playing improvisational music born anew with every performance, and now an American composer has sought to capture their psychedelic spirit in a classical symphony. 'DEAD SYMPHONY NO. 6' by LEE JOHNSON encompasses some of the band's most familiar melodies and its most otherworldly jams in a work in 12 movements. The symphony is 'a musical embrace of American culture' and a natural outgrowth of the band's spirit. Highlights include movements based on the Dead's psychedelic classic 'St. Stephen' and the rarely played 'Mountains of the Moon.' There is even an improvised portion, in the lament 'Stella Blue.' Johnson chose songs based on their melodic potential and overall fit. A movement based on the song 'Here Comes Sunshine,' for example, stretches the original melody in time so it is almost unrecognizable amid the harmonies. One ambitious movement was based on 'Blues for Allah,' which was played live only three times by the Grateful Dead. In Johnson's version, a clarinet's jaunty refrain evokes American composer George Gershwin, while deep cellos envelop the movement in its powerful Middle Eastern theme. The symphony's overture and finale include strains of 'Funiculi Funicula,' the much-parodied Italian song the Dead used often as a playful tune-up riff.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Excellent!
This is a fine work by a composer that is developing with every composition. Johnson has not simply produced a GD tribute (god forbid), he has used the artistry of Garcia's songs to create a real and worthy ... Read More
Rating: - Fantastic Re-Imagining
Lee Johnson has taken the work of the Dead and re-imagined it as orchestral music. It is remarkably provocative and demands close listening. My wife is a classical musician, and upon hearing Johnson's work, ... Read More
Rating: - well executed but uncompelling
Starting with the release of "Deadicated" (1991), I've picked up just about every Grateful Dead tribute. I have the tributes in bluegrass, rock, reggae, a capella and jazz ("Blues for Allah Project" "Dark Star" ... Read More
Rating: - Classics get classical treatment
Lee Johnson wrote Dead Symphony No 6 after being approached by Mike Adams in the wake of Jerry Garcia's death. Being new to the music may have been a bonus for Johnson: his fresh ears have gone to the most beguiling ... Read More
- Excellent!
- well executed but uncompelling