The last official release by Ian Anderson is a collection of Jethro Tull music arranged for string quartet. The arrangements by Ian's longtime collaborator John O'Hara are true to the Classical idiom, augmented by occassional appearances by Anderson and O'Hara themselves.
Jethro Tull: The String Quartets (2017)In the Past (Living in the Past)
4:10Sossity Waiting (Sossity, You're a Woman/Reasons for Waiting)
4:45Bungle (Bungle in the Jungle)
3:49We Used to Bach (We Used to Know/Bach Prelude C Major)
4:54Farm, the Fourway (Farm on the Freeway)
3:44Songs and Horses (Songs from the Wood/Heavy Horses)
3:53Only the Giving (Wond'ring Aloud)
1:58Loco (Locomotive Breath)
4:33Pass the Bottle (A Christmas Song)
3:02Velvet Gold (Velvet Green)
4:06Ring Out These Bells (Ring Out, Solstice Bells)
3:56Aquafugue (Aqualung)
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The Carducci String Quartet
Matthew Denton - Violin
Michelle Fleming - Violin
Eoin Schmidt-Martin - Viola
Emma Denton - Cello
Ian Anderson - Flute, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin
John O'Hara - Orchestral Arrangements, Celesta, Piano
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We've had Jethro Tull music played by an orchestra, but here we get something which I consider much cooler; arrangements for string quartet. I like Classical music, and sure, the power of a Beethoven Symphony performed by a full orchestra can totally kick your ass; but I'm just as impressed, probably moreso, by chamber music. Having 100 players gives you tons of potential, but what can you do with just four? There's nowhere to hide, every player has to be on fire, on top of their game. In that way, it's more like a Rock and Roll band. I just thought of that. Perhaps that's why I like chamber music so much, and prefer it to full-blown orchestral music.
Anyway, John O'Hara has been the keyboard player for both Jethro Tull and Ian's touring band since the dissolution of Jethro Tull, and his arrangements here benefit from both his Classical background and his obvious familiarity with the Tull Repertoire. What I like is how the arrangements serve both purposes. We move seamlessly from true classical motifs with the string quartet serving up Jethro Tull music as vigorously and passionately as they would a Bach partita, to sharing the stage with Ian's flute or voice, or O'Hara's keys. They don't just become "the backing band" in these times, however; after all, the continuo in a concerto still has some significant work to do. In fact, many of the tracks remind me of one of my favorite albums, which is a collection of Mozart flute quartets with Jean-Pierre Rampal on flute and Isaac Stern on violin. To the uninitiated, a flute quartet is not (usually) a piece for four flutes. It is a string quartet but with one of the violin parts played instead by a flute. Flute, violin, viola, and cello. In this setting, the flute and violin share "co-lead" duties much of the time, but the natural difference in sound between the two instruments results in different colors than one could get with a regular string quartet. The best ones have plenty of opportunities for all four players to shine, and of course Mozart was one of the best. And I daresay, O'Hara has done an admirable job capturing a similar approach. There are plenty of moments where it feels more like a "flute quintet", which is not a standard format, but if it were, it would be what you get here. Flute, two violins, viola, and cello.
I do have to be fair and mention that Ian's occassional vocals, while not in any way offensive, feel a bit out of place. Ian I'm sure was revelling in this opportunity to play Jethro Tull music in a different setting, with a different type of "band" to back his flute and voice, and just couldn't help himself. I know, I just got done saying that that's not what's happening here -- and it's really not -- but if someone is singing and there are four instruments playing the music, the instrumentalists will naturally take a supporting role. But it is only once in a while, a verse here or there. The vast majority of the album is instrumental.
So what's with the track titles? Ian says:
"In order to differentiate between the titles of the original tracks and these reworked arrangements, I decided to give them rather cryptic names for these versions. The publishing and record royalty payments get very complicated when the same song title applies to different albums, performers and writers. Better therefore, to avoid confusion with these pseudonyms. Although you are probably confused now, too. Sorry about that."
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Ian also says:John O’Hara and I have worked on various orchestrations and performed many orchestral concerts in several countries over the last fifteen years.
A couple of years ago, I came up with the idea of recording a dedicated SQ album in a contemporary but “Classical” setting together with my own brief appearances. Having discussed this with John at various points during tours, we started in earnest by jointly choosing some potential tracks to work on.
It has really been a lot of fun to work on this project. The Carducci Quartet provided a spirited and committed performance, without which all would have been futile. And, I only had to pay for lunch once as they brought sandwiches. Bless.