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Description

Description

This volume contains a wide selection of famous musical themes from Bach to Carl Orff.  Some of them were originally written for the piano; most have had their scores carefully arranged to make them easy to play on the piano. Each piece is followed with a jazz interpretation, which can either be played alone or alongside the 'original' version.
Perhaps this will show that the 'classics' are not all that far removed from jazz, and that music of earlier periods contains many of the essential characteristics of jazz. Doesn't Lully's 'Gavotte', for instance, contain one of the most famous jazz themes ever?  The 'Blue Gavotte' may make this clearer. The theme from Mozart's Sonata in A major (K 331) doesn't require many rhythmic changes to give it a blues flavour ('Mozart Goes Blues'). The driving rhythm of the ostinato bass in Carl Orff's 'O Fortuna' would suit modern jazz-rock performers well, with a few small changes ('A Fortune for a Tune'). What do Bizet's 'Habanera', Brahms' 'Hungarian Dance No. 5' and Paganini's 'Caprice No. 24' have in common?  Why have they been turned into salsa music ('Habanera con Cigarro', 'Hungarian Salsa No. 5', 'Capriccio Latino')? Much of this is up to the individual: if you want to discover similarities, they are easy to find.
It is difficult to convey a jazz interpretation through musical notation alone, so a CD has been included - not to demonstrate the only possible interpretation, but to offer ideas and suggestions.

Content

Gioacchino Rossini: The Barber of Seville, theme from the ouverture, The Barber’s Swing
Johann Sebastian Bach: Badinerie from Orchestral Suite No.2, Goodinery
Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata in D Minor BWV 565, Jazz Toccata
Jean-Baptiste Lully: Gavotte, Blue Gavotte
Joseph Haydn: Symphony No.94 “Surprise” theme from 2nd movement, Surprise Samba
Niccolo Paganini / Franz Liszt: Caprice No.24, Jazz Caprice
Georg Frederic Handel: Sarabande from Suite in D Minor HWV 437, Sarabanda Rock
Iosif Ivanovici: Danube Waves, Blue Danube Waves
Georges Bizet: Habanera from “Carmen”, Habanera con Cigarro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in A Major KV 331 theme from 1st movement, Mozart Goes Blues
Bedrich Smetana: Vltava, Moldau at Night
Giuseppe Verdi: Triumphal March from Aida, Aida Groove
Ludwig van Beethoven: The Rage Over the Lost Penny, Lost Penny Rag
Robert Schumann: Reverie, Dreamery
Vittorio Monti: Czardas, Jazz Czardas
Edvard Grieg: Solvejg’s Song, Solvejg’s Bossa
Edvard Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt, The Mountain Kings Mood
Claudio Monteverdi: Lamento d’Arianna, Ariana’s Dream
Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No.5, Hungarian Salsa No.5
Carl Orff: O Fortuna from “Carmina Burana”, A Fortune For A Tune

Sound Clips

Other editions

ED 20878 = Tango meets Jazz
ED 20537 = Vol. 2