Phaedrus Music

Le Bateleur (The Magician)

March 1, 2017 by

The Magician, as a universal arcanum, represents who knows and dominates the four principal energies (Fire, Water, Air and Earth) that interact during the creation, conservation and transformation of the Universe. He represents the power of reason, science, alchemists – he knows the secret of how to interact with he creative force of the cosmic mind.

The music was developed, and closely follows, this short story:

Imagine The Fool, carelessly wandering and, as usual, enjoying everything that he encounters [pay attention to the music motif used to relate “The Fool” and “The Magician”]. Suddenly, he feels the urge to create. He unpacks his bag and, for the first time, looks as his belongings as tools; as means to dominate forces for a specific purpose. He wants to understand the universe. For the first time, he understands the power of reason. He moves away from […]

Listen to an extract:

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Classics Analyses

Supper’s Ready / Part 1

March 1, 2017 by

There is no better way to start this analysis than by quoting Mark Spicer from his paper: “Large-Scale Strategy and Compositional Design in the Early Music of Genesis”:

“Supper’s Ready chronicle a young Englishman’s twisted vision of the apocalypse – the classic contest of good against evil – as seen through a decisively British lens”.

“Supper’s Ready” is formed by 7 scenes or tableaux. I will analyze each “portrait”, discussing the music and the lyrics as they appear. In doing so, the story behind the piece will unfold, and with all the pieces of the puzzle in their place, we will be able to appreciate the greater design of the piece.

In each section, interspersed with the lyrics, I will include the program notes written by Gabriel himself in order to help fans understand the story. These notes were distributed among the audience during Genesis concerts in 1973.

There is one structural aspect of the whole piece that needs to be highlighted now. If you are familiar with Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” (both the original and ELP’s version) you will know that [….]

Here’s an extract of the audio program:

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Articles

About Starless

March 1, 2017 by

In this issue, King Crimson expert Carlos Romeo brings the perfect complement to the “Starless” analysis presented in issue 4 (February 2017). Carlos unveils the story behind the creation of “Starless”, points out several recordings that are key to understanding how the piece was assembled, and describes the method that King Crimson used in that era to create their songs.

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Fun Corner

Kotebel Corner

Simurgh

March 1, 2017 by

On this article we explain how the music describes and closely follows the story of the thirty birds that discover one of Simurgh’s splendid feathers, their voyage to the castle in the Kaf mountains to meet the Simurgh, and what is revealed to them… We also include a previously unreleased video with Kotebel’s performance of Simurgh at the New Jersey ProgHouse during their USA tour in 2014.

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