45 R.P.M.: ALLEGRO DE LA 40ÈME SYMPHONIE DE MOZART
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1971 |  |
HIT-1904 S, Seven Seas, King Record Co. Ltd., Japan. '71-8. Recorded by Riviera (France).
- Allegro de la 40eme Symphonie de Mozart (3:02) (Arrgt. R. Lefèvre)
- L'Angle Noir Dedie a Laurence (2:44) (Barbara)
SLEEVE NOTES:
One of the recent trends in popular music is to seek out classical masterpieces and develop them into contemporary easy listening, jazz, or rock sounds. For example, the Jacques Loussier Trio, which visited Japan the other day, created new music with jazz beats and improvisations while respecting Bach's melodies, while Jean-Christian Michel, also from France, took religious music, including Bach's, and created jazz music with clarinets and rhythm instruments. In the pop music field, the group has also produced "Symphony of Joy" based on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, by "A Lover's Concerto" by The Toys which uses Bach's music as material, "Fugue" by Tinkabells Fairydust, which takes Bach's Toccata and Fugue. The list is endless, including Ekseption's Pop version of Beethoven's piano concerto. New compositions such as Saint Preux's "Concerto pour Une Voix" have also been created with a classical feel.
The materialization of such classical music is a new trend in today's popular music, which until recently has been dominated by rock and other beat-oriented music that seems to have lost its melody, and has been inundated with beat-oriented music. While it is true that the hard beats of modern rock music have delighted young pop fans, there are also many people who feel a light nostalgia for the beautiful melodies that are disappearing from the music. For such people, the familiar melodies of classical music are surely nostalgic in a sense, and the classical melody may be the place where they have reached in their search for such melodies that are fading away.
For example, in the modern age, where everything is moving at a very fast tempo, it may be difficult for young fans, whose standard is based on the pithiness of pop music, to get close to classical music because of its different beat and feel. However, there are some groups that have been able to create popular arrangements of classical melodies based on the premise of such a sense of the times. The same is true of Raymond Lefebvre on this record. They often take the beautiful melody and development of the original classical piece and shorten the arrangement, or they connect the themes of the movements of a symphony and add a rock beat in the background to create an easy listening sound that suits modern tastes. The sound of the symphony is also a modern easy-listening sound.
Raymond Lefebvre is an arranger of French pop/easy listening music with Paul Mauriat, but his orchestras have a worldwide reputation for their elegant, contemporary sound.
Allegro de la 40eme Symphonie de Mozart:
The first movement of Mozart's Symphony No. 40 (Allegro molto) is the theme of this piece, and Lefebvre has arranged it with more modern rhythms and a thicker sound, while respecting the sound of the original. It is the top track on his "SOUL SYMPHONY" album, which features only his classical melodies. In addition to Lefebvre's, the orchestral easy listening arrangement led by Waldo de Los Rios, who is active in Spain, is also well known, and this song was a big hit in the UK and France. This type of popularization of classical music is being done by Charles Aznavour in France.
L'Angle Noir:
This one is not classical, but it is a well-known song in French pop music. It is a '70 hit by Barbara, a contemporary chanson singer and composer who made a splash when she visited Japan last year. The melody beautifully features piano and strings, and Lefebvre's signature French sound is supported by beats. The same technique is used here as in "Allegro de la 40eme Symphonie de Mozart," but the contrast between the melody line and the strong rhythm section creates a modern easy listening atmosphere.
Shigeki Kato
Recorded by RIVIERA, France
Note: Translation made by online translator.