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Welcome to the fifth edition of the Classic of the Month. Tonight, “Supper’s Ready”…..

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” 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 the author was inspired by a series of paintings (by Victor Hartmann). Mussorgsky included, between some pieces, short interludes called “promenades” that illustrate the moment when the viewer is walking from one picture to the other. “Supper’s Ready” also has “promenades” between some tableaux and will be treated separately. Thus, the analysis will be done based on the following overall structure:

1. Lovers’ Leap
2. Promenade I
3. The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man
4. Promenade II
5. Ikhnaton and Itsacon and their Band of Merry Men
6. Promenade III
7. How Dare I be so Beautiful?
8. Willow Farm
9. Promenade IV
10. Apocalypse in 9/8 (co-starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet)
11. As Sure as Eggs is Eggs (Aching Men’s Feet)

Before jumping into the music, let’s highlight some features of the art cover, done by Paul Whitehead. In the “Resources” section you will find a link to an article where Paul Whitehead himself describes the cover.

Note that in the back you can see the croquet scene depicted in ”Nursery Crime”. This was included in order to provide continuity to the aesthetics established by Whitehead in the two previous albums.

Quoting Whitehead:

There are two direct references to lyrics in the album: the four horsemen of the apocalypse and the “Six saintly shrouded men move across the lawn slowly. The seventh walks in front with a cross held high in hand.” The fox is able to escape the chase by hopping on an ice block and moving away from the shore. In the 70’s, in the US pretty women were known as “foxes”, so here we have the fox, disguised as a sexy lady. If you look closely, you will see that the first horse to the right is clearly “excited” by this sexy fox

As a final prelude before starting with “Lover’s Leap”, let me tell you a short story. Although I’m not a collector, I happen to own an autographed version of the book “Genesis, I Know What I like” by Armando Gallo published in 1980. This is an excerpt of the book (page 49) where Gabriel tells Gallo a story that lies the foundation for the piece, and helps in understanding the whole conceptual framework:

Let’s proceed with the musical analysis of “Supper’s Ready”.

Lovers’ Leap

Gabriel’s description of this section is:

The first thing to point out is that “Supper’s Ready” has no opening section – no intro. This is very unusual in long conceptual pieces. From the first beat of the first measure, Gabriel starts to sing with instrumental accompaniment. Notice that Gabriel’s voice is doubled, the second voice an octave higher. Since the lyrics have been written in first person, this effect could very well represent the split into 2 different entities that is described in the lyrics. The structure of this section is:

A-B-Interlude-A-B-Coda

Let’s identify each section while we listen to this fragment:

A:

Walking across the sitting-room, I turn the television off.
Sitting beside you, I look into your eyes.
As the sound of motor cars fades in the night time,
I swear I saw your face change, it didn’t seem quite right.
…And it’s

B:

hello babe with your guardian eyes so blue
Hey my baby don’t you know our love is true.

Brief instrumental interlude

A:

Coming closer with our eyes, a distance falls around our bodies.
Out in the garden, the moon seems very bright,
Six saintly shrouded men move across the lawn slowly.
The seventh walks in front with a cross held high in hand.
…And it’s

B:

…hey babe your supper’s waiting for you.
Hey my baby, don’t you know our love is true.

Coda:

I’ve been so far from here,
Far from your warm arms.
It’s good to feel you again,
It’s been a long long time. Hasn’t it?

Notice that the first verse is a very close description of Peter and Jill’s experience. The only major change is the setting – from the bedroom to the sitting room. Also, notice that the doubled voice separated by an octave only occur during sections “A”. It is a very effective way to describe the fact that both male and female are being affected by the same supernatural phenomena.

The reference to Supper as a religious experience (obviously The Last Supper) is reinforced from the very beginning of the song with the strong image of 7 saintly shrouded men, the front man carrying a cross. Also note there are 7 of them – the piece has 7 tableaux…

Finally, I believe that more than “the bodies of another male and female” as described by Gabriel, what we have here is a regression to a past life when these lovers had already met. Read again the lyrics of the coda with this interpretation:

I’ve been so far from here,
Far from your warm arms.
It’s good to feel you again,
It’s been a long long time. Hasn’t it?

From a musical point of view, Mark Spicer points out a clever modulation from E to B flat (a distant key) to accompany the phrase “I swear I saw your face change”.

The main function of the short instrumental interlude is to take the key back to E, in order to repeat A with the second verse.

Promenade I

There is a form used during the baroque period that perfectly describes the form of this promenade: Chaconne In essence a Chaconne is used as a vehicle for doing variations over a repeated short harmonic progression. Notice that the two acoustic guitars are always shifting between the same two arpeggios. At the beginning the guitars are played solo, to establish this harmonic progression. Try to listen only to the guitars during the entire section until the end of the flute solo. You will see that they don’t move away from these two arpeggios. This Chaconne has four variations:

1. Choral arrangements (first time alone, second with keyboard embellishments)
2. Keyboard solo
3. Guitar and bass solo
4. Flute solo

After the flute solo, the guitars modulate to G minor in preparation for the tonality of the next tableau (A minor), so this section can be regarded as the intro to the second tableau.

The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man

Gabriel’s description of this section is:

The structure of this section is:

Intro-A-B-A-B-Coda

The analysis of Starless included an explanation of a harmonic resource known as “harmonic pedal”. Notice that in the “A” sections, Rutherford keeps a bass ostinato on the note A, while the harmony moves. This is another great example of a harmonic pedal used very effectively. On the “B” sections the pedal is broken and the bass supports the ingenious harmonic changes that support the lyrics.

Let’s identify each section while we listen to this fragment:

Intro:

I know a farmer who looks after the farm.
With water clear, he cares for all his harvest.
I know a fireman who looks after the fire.

A:

You, can’t you see he’s fooled you all.
Yes, he’s here again, can’t you see he’s fooled you all.

B:

Share his peace,
Sign the lease.
He’s a supersonic scientist,
He’s the guaranteed eternal sanctuary man

A:

Look, look into my mouth he cries,
And all the children lost down many paths,
I bet my life you’ll walk inside

B:

Hand in hand,
gland in gland
With a spoonful of miracle,
He’s the guaranteed eternal sanctuary man.

Coda:

We will rock you, rock you little snake,
We will keep you snug and warm.

The short coda with the boys chorus, has a very clever harmonic construction. At the beginning, the organ plays a dissonant chord on top of which the boys sing. This chord is made up by mixing two chords simultaneously: A minor (the tonality of this tableau) and D major (the tonality of the next tableau). So, by doing this, Banks creates a tonal ambiguity that is broken when the boys choir literally spell out the D major chord. Let’s listen to it again:

Promenade II

This short instrumental fragment features a flute solo and is based on the melody of verse “A” from Lovers’ Leap.

Ikhnaton and Itsacon and their Band of Merry Men

Gabriel’s description of this section is:

As Mark Spicer correctly points out, this plateau is based on the obsessive repetition of a single chord, in this case D Major. In rock parlance, this is often described as a “one-chord” jam. This obsessive repetition, coupled with the militaristic use of the snare, provides a very effective description of the battle.

The structure of this section is:

Intro (battle preparation)-A-B-C (Instrumental) – A’

Let’s identify sections “A” and “B” while we listen to this fragment:

Introduction (battle preparation):

Wearing feelings on our faces while our faces took a rest,
We walked across the fields to see the children of the West,
But we saw a host of dark skinned warriors
standing still below the ground,
Waiting for battle.

A (one-chord jam on D major):

The fight’s begun, they’ve been released.
Killing foe for peace…bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang…
And they’re giving me a wonderful potion,
’cause I cannot contain my emotion.

B (brief contrast section, on G):

And even though I’m feeling good,
Something tells me I’d better activate my prayer capsule.

C (Instrumental development):

• Guitar solo based on the one-chord jam on D Major until 0:42 (in the example)
• The one-chord jam is released. Notice the drum pattern stops abruptly, leaving a solo interplay of two guitars. This signals the end of the battle.
• The guitar pattern is now taken by the organ, as the one-chord jam pattern returns in preparation for A’

A’ (one-chord jam on D major):
I label this last section A’ because of the modification brought in by the organ pattern that carries on from the previous instrumental section. Also, notice that the drum pattern has changed from a military snare drum pattern to a syncopated rhythm based on the use of hi-hat and bass drum.

Today’s a day to celebrate, the foe have met their fate.
The order for rejoicing and dancing has come from our warlord.

In regards to the lyrics, as in GESM, these two last plateaus reflect a strong and cynical criticism to religion and their leaders. GESM describes the ascent of a religious leader, and in this plateau, we see the followers fighting against the “dark skinned warriors” who have not embraced the “real faith”. The wonderful phrase: “Wearing feelings on our faces while our faces took a rest” to me represents the hypocritical attitude of religion fanatics, that conveniently justify their radical attitudes with their personal interpretation of whatever sacred text they are supposedly following.

Promenade III

This short promenade can be considered a Coda from the previous plateau. The one-chord jam is finally abandoned while a gentle guitar solo paves the way for the mood of the next plateau. An effective crossfade is built, and serves to incorporate the first two chords of the next section.

How Dare I be so Beautiful?

Gabriel’s description of this section is:

This plateau offers a radical contrast with its predecessor. Whereas on the previous one we heard a strong rhythmic section with a typical rock harmonic structure, we are now submerged in an impressionistic landscape; a minimalistic approach based on a few dispersed chords built in such a way as to provide a sense of tonal ambiguity.

There is no structure as such, just a free flow of chords and Gabriel singing almost in a recitative style:

Wandering through the chaos the battle has left,
We climb up a mountain of human flesh,
To a plateau of green grass, and green trees full of life.
A young figure sits still by a pool,
He’s been stamped “Human Bacon” by some butchery tool.
(He is you)
Social Security took care of this lad.
We watch in reverence, as Narcissus is turned to a flower.

A flower?

And with this, we reach the end of the first part of the analysis of Supper’s Ready. In the next number – #6 / April 2017 – we will complete the analysis of this excellent masterpiece.

Resources

This analysis would not have been possible without the solid foundation laid by Mark Spicer in his work: “Large-Scale Strategy and Compositional Design in the Early Music of Genesis”.

Paul Whitehead’s description of the artwork of Foxtrot can be found here.

Foxtrot art cover images were taken directly from my personal copies of the album.

The background music used is “Bayreuth Return” from the album “Timewind” by Klaus Schulze.

Here’s the live version of Supper’s Ready in its original format at “Live in Shepperton in 1973”:

This is the link to the video in YouTube

This is a wonderful animated version of “Supper’s Ready” created by Nathaniel Barlam:

Basawan. The Flight of the Simurgh (ca. 1590):

The Simurgh carries Zal to her nest:

A man hides in an elephant skin and is carried off by a giant Simurgh:

The structure of Simurgh is nested, and describes the journey of the birds to the castle that lies in the Kaf. The initial theme gives rise to subsequent themes and developments, one inside the other. The initial theme doesn’t appear again until the end, giving the piece a cyclic nature that symbolizes what happens at the end of their journey: They are the Simurgh and the Simurgh is each of them and all of them.

The mood of the piece at the beginning of the piece reflects the idealistic aspiration of finding the Simurgh. The subsequent themes and developments clearly reflect the struggle of the birds, most of which abandon the journey. The last section retakes the initial theme but with a stronger nerve and drive. This reflects the revelation of the few birds that discover that the purpose of the trip was the trip itself.

For the examples of this analysis I will use the live version of the piece, as it appears in the double CD Live at Prog-Résiste Limited Edition.

The Structure of Simurgh is a large binary form with an intro and an interlude:

Intro-A-B-Interlude-A’

“A” has its own structure and “B” has a complex nested structure. We will leave the detailed analysis of section B for a future article.

Intro

Represents the moment when the birds discover the Simurgh’s feather. They are in awe, and try to interpret the meaning of this finding. When they decide to start their journey to the castle in the Kaf mountains, section “A” starts.

Section A

This section has the structure: a-b-a’-b’ (bridge)

“a” presents the theme and note that there is no fluid rhythmic pattern but instead a succession of beats. The birds are still gathered around the feather:

“b” symbolizes the discussion that takes place among the group. The drums are absent and the music turns into a more tranquil mood. Finally, they decide to embark on the adventure:

“a’ ” is a restatement of “a” but with a dynamic rhythmic pattern that clearly conveys the idea that the birds are on their way:

“b’ (bridge)” – This fragment is really an introduction to the long development section “B”. Theme “b” is exposed twice: first with flowing arpeggios and the same bass beats used in the introduction, then a soaring guitar solo develops theme “b” and is supported by a strong drum beat that takes you directly in to the conflict zone (section B):

Section B

Section B is a long and complex section that represents the voyage with the multitude of problems and abandonments that they experience until they finally reach the foot of the Kaf mountains. As I explained, the structure is nested and will be detailed in a future article. If you want to try to figure out the structure, here’s an outline:

a(b(c(d)c)b)

So, part B goes deeper into subsequent levels until reaching “d”, and then works its way back up by revisiting modified versions of the previous themes. Theme “a” is the only one that does not reappear.

Let’s listen to section “B”:

Interlude

The group finally reaches the foot of the Kaf mountains. They stop for a moment and meditate, wondering about the great revelation that they will receive upon meeting the Simurgh:

Section A’

Themes “a” and “b” are developed in such a way as to represent the moment when they realize that they are the Simurgh, and that the Simurgh is each of them and all of them. Finally, theme “A” is re-exposed in its original tonality; the journey has ended – they finally understand.

Theme “a” is prolonged to form a sort of coda. Let’s listen to the entire section:

This is the MIDI template of the piece exactly as I originally conceived it, before sharing it with the other band members. It is another good example that shows the importance of the contribution of the rest of the band when working the arrangements:

This is a previously unreleased Kotebel performance of Simurgh at the New Jersey ProgHouse – Roxy & Dukes, Dunellen, New Jersey – August 26, 2014.

Credits

Song written by Carlos G. Plaza Vegas. Arrangements by Carlos G. Plaza and Kotebel.

Carlos Franco: Drums and percussion
César G. Forero: Guitars
Jaime Pascual Summers: Bass
Adriana Plaza Engelke: Keyboards
Carlos G. Plaza Vegas: Piano

© 2009 Carlos G. Plaza Vegas. All rights reserved.

After the excellent musical analysis of “Starless” published in Phaedrus issue #4 – February 2017, we were asked the pleasant task of writing about this piece. The purpose of this article is to complement that analysis, focusing on aspects that can shed light on the song.

Needless to say, Starless is a song much appreciated and loved by fans of progressive rock in general and King Crimson in particular. In our particular case, we know and admire it since the distant summer of 1976 and we can honestly state that it still continues to excite us like the first day.

In order to gain a better understanding of this song, we need to discuss some important aspects related to the way of working of King Crimson, which are:

1 – The role of improvisation in the composition of King Crimson pieces

Limiting the scope of this discussion to the period when “Starless” was created, improvisations had an important place in the group’s concerts. Back in the Fall of 1972, we could understand the presence of improvisation due to their lack of repertoire. They only had 45 minutes of new compositions, plus the usual encore at that time: “21st Century Schizoid Man”. They needed to fill an hour and a half for a full concert. Listening to the music carefully we can see that the improvisations fulfilled a number of important functions in the group. From the perspective of the global architecture of the concert, they could appear as the coda of composition, a prelude of a piece, or a bridge between two songs. Also, they could appear alone, not subordinated to any composition. The usual process is that a single musician would start and the rest would follow into the improvisation. A perfect example of what we just described is what happened in the piece “Asbury Park” created on June 28, 1974 and included in the live album “USA”.

But there is something more, which is crucial for the discussion at hand. In many occasions, these pieces where a true incubator of ideas. Either because some of them appeared in the development of the improvisation or because they were introduced into it deliberately. If you’ve had the chance to listen to the abundant live material of the band, both official or of dubious origin, you will have noticed this.

The first time that we heard something related to the piece “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two” was in a guitar solo improvised by Fripp during the first public interpretation of “The Sailor’s Tale” on April 12, 1971 in Frankfurt. The piece was performed with the lineup with which King Crimson recorded “Islands”, which is prior to the group’s period that we are referring to. Similarly, the oldest reference that we have heard about the instrumental piece “Fracture”, appeared in an improvisation during the concert at Bournemouth in March 24, 1973. It was Robert Fripp who would usually introduce these elements of compositions in which he was working, in order to observe how they worked, and take note of the musical reactions of the other band members. We will come back to “Fracture” later in the article. We must now remember another aspect: the appearance of melodies, melodic motives, rhythmic ideas or even whole songs (“Trio”, from the album Starless and Bible Black, as incredible as it seems, was pure improvisation). In this respect, the second theme of section A in “Starless” (following the terminology used by Carlos Plaza in his musical analysis of the piece that appeared on issue #4 – February 2017) was taken from a group improvisation. We have heard many recordings of concerts performed by King Crimson in 1973 and many improvisations started with a violin solo. This is the origin of this melody and this fact takes us to the next consideration.

Except very specific periods in this group’s history, for example the “projeKct” era [1997-1999] and the double duet [1999-2003] in their first tours, this way of working, presenting ideas during improvisations, was done outside the concert stage. This procedure was constrained to the rehearsal rooms.

2 – Composition as a collage and the issue of music authoring

When composing music, King Crimson has used a variety of procedures. It could be the work of a single writer, a couple of musicians, a musician with the support of a lyrics writer, or a collective composition. “Starless” belongs to this last category, as is another very popular piece: “21st Century Schizoid Man” – a collage of fragments with different origins and authorships. This phenomenon is not exclusive to King Crimson; we can find examples in the works of other bands like “Yes” where this procedure is evident. What seems to happen is that the work is done under two paradigms. In one of them, a single composition acts as the base or frame of reference for the newborn piece, which embraces the ideas that enrich or complete it. In “Yes” case, we can mention “And You and I”, written by Anderson and completed with contributions from Chris Squire, Steve Howe and Bill Bruford. The other paradigm is the collage, that in “Yes” case can be perceived clearly in some popular songs like “Starship Trooper” or “I’ve Seen All Good People”.

Going back to “Starless”, this piece is credited to the whole band and this fact, more than being the consequence of the band’s internal policy, is an exact representation of reality. Later, we will discuss the authorship issue.

In this piece, there are sections with very different authors and origins. As you will certainly appreciate, the fact that a conglomeration of ideas crystallizes in a composition that we understand and feel as something greater than the sum of its parts, is a token of the great craftsmanship of the band members.

So, by order of appearance, there are parts written (or improvised at some point) by David Cross, John Wetton, Bill Bruford and Robert Fripp. We cannot forget the role of lyrics writer Richard Palmer-James and other musicians involved in the arrangement both of the studio and live versions, and the version finally recorded (with a very different instrumentation).

As we already mentioned, the second theme of section A was created by David Cross, while all of section B, in the same tonality, is the result of work done by John Wetton, both musically and most of the lyrics. The 13/8 fragment in section C comes from Bill Bruford’s pen who in that period of his life was an incipient composer while the 13/16 fragment was originated in “Fracture” and was written by Robert Fripp. It is an astonishing fact that the whole of section C is related rhythmically and harmonically. Let’s remember that both parts are joined by a transition of syncopated guitars whose authorship is unknown but we presume is the guitarist’s. Finally, the winds interlude in the 13/16 part is a re-exposition of the vocal melody in B; and section A’ retakes section A ending the piece with the cadence resolution that was previously always sidestepped.

With respect to “Fracture”, there are two official recordings of the piece, that include the extracted fragment: a concert performed in Arlington, Texas on October 6, 1973,

and in Glasgow (the 23rd, same month and year).

We can find these recordings in the “Starless” box as well as in separate downloads at the band’s site “DGM Live”.

This is not a novelty in King Crimson; we could mention many examples of fragments of compositions that have waited even decades before finding their place. But this is not the time to get into these details.

As can now be understood, it is logical that the composition is credited to the whole band. This is not a trivial issue. The question of “who did what?” comes up frequently. The answers need not be obvious or evident. Robert Fripp wrote about this in his diary when he was working in the edition of the 30th anniversary of the album “Three of a Perfect Pair”. He commented on the e-mails received from Sid Smith who was at the time working on a band’s biography. They were precisely the “who wrote what” kind of questions. His comment was that regardless of who contributes something, the work of the other musicians completed the authorship. The contribution can be a bass riff, a sequence of chords, or a “complete” song. All of it was to be transformed and finished. A good example of this way of working can be found in the song “People”. We suggest that you listen to Adrian Belew’s template in his album “Coming Attractions”, the version developed by the band in the album “THRAK” or later live albums. It is fair that credit is given to musicians as a whole, regardless of who provided what to the composition.

3 – A little bit of history

King Crimson has songs that have never been recorded in a studio. There is no data about the music that never left the rehearsal room. Some were performed just once, like “Guts on my Side”, or along several tours like “Doctor Diamond”. Neither found a place in the albums that the band released in that period. When the time came to work on “Starless and Bible Black”, the song “Starless” was still unfinished. Let’s say that only Wetton’s ballad existed and, even though “Starless” wasn’t included, the album and an improvisation contained in it, were named after the song.

In the CD by John Wetton and Richard Palmer-James, “Monkey Business”, we find two different templates of the song. The oldest, is a piano piece whose last measures included the melodic line of the voice. On the second, interpreted by Wetton, the melody was sung and played by the guitar.

However, the group must have worked very hard because as early as March 19th, 1974 the piece, as we know it, was already being played live. The oldest version that we have heard was performed that day in Udine.

A very similar take was recorded on the 22nd of that month and was broadcasted in O.R.T. F’s program “Melody”.

As a rarity, we can comment that in Heidelberg’s concert of March 29th the band offered a forceful and energetic improvisation that ended in “Starless” after a transition carried out by the mellotrons. This was unusual.

This live version presents differences related to instrumentation and lyrics when compared to what was recorded in the studio during that same summer. The second theme on A was presented by the violin, not the guitar. Obviously, the band didn’t have a sax player in that period. The bass parts in the section in 13/8 from C were doubled by the electric piano played by Cross. The first solo on the section 13/16 from C was performed by Cross either on violin or with the electric piano. The melody in the interlude between the two solos of section 13/16 was played by Fripp with his electric guitar. Similarly, the re-exposition of the second theme from A in A’ was done with his guitar.

Except for those who had access to unofficial recordings, none of this was made available to the public until the release of “The Great Deceiver” box in 1992.

One of the many things that Fripp can recall from those years, aside from the great pressure on the musicians (long tours, promotional acts, a rapid succession of editions), is that the musicians were starting to interpret, sometimes in precarious conditions, material that was very new. It should be remembered here that King Crimson’s preference was to play the new material on tour before recording it, in order to perfect it, complete it, or in some cases remove it. That was the case with “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic” or “Starless and Bible Black” but not with “Red”. Only “Starless” was played live before the recording of the album. We believe that there were no concerts between March and July of that year where that piece was not performed. It was soon understood that “Starless” was destined to be the final climax point of the concerts, closing the set. Afterwards there was only space for the encore that was usually, although not always, the famous piece “21st Century Schizoid Man”. During the concerts, the lights would change to red on the second part of the piece. On page 72 of “The Great Deceiver”, talking about section 13/8 in section C, Fripp says:

Just a few among the public back then could have imagined in the spring or summer of 1974 that the piece would not be played again by the band in the next forty years.

The recording sessions of “Red” began on July 8, 1974 a week after what became the band’s last live performance in seven years, and when Robert Fripp already knew what he wanted to do in life from that moment. Maybe that is why this album was produced as if it was the closing of an entire period, summoning collaborators from past King Crimson incarnations. The material was organized as if it were a stage play, with “Starless” as the final act. If “Red” was a door opened into the future, the role of “Starless” was being the swan song of this cited era.

Without David Cross in the equation, Robert Fripp was in charge of playing all the keyboards in addition to the different guitar parts. Three wind players were invited for the occasion: Mel Collins (soprano sax), Ian McDonald (alto sax) and Robin Miller (oboe), each with a specific purpose. Mark Charig was also involved but his horn did not appear in the final mix. We have heard it in a DGM Live download, retaking the A theme in A’, in a similar fashion as many years later when the Hungarian band After Crying included a trumpet in their live arrangement. But the cast of musicians involved doesn’t end here because in the “Red” recordings an unidentified session musician plays the cello in concrete sections of “Red” and “Fallen Angel”. There is also a brief appearance in section B of “Starless” where the instrument can be heard very clearly. Even though the lyrics of the song are mainly due to John Wetton, they were finalized with the help of Richard Palmer-James during the recording of the album.

The band did not perform this piece live again until 2014. In the meantime, it was John Wetton, alone or with other bands, who rescued the piece. The 21st Century Band, a group formed by past and future members of KC whose repertoire was based on the period between 1969 and 1971, also included this song performing it as it appears in “Red”. During one of the performances of Robert Fripp’s “Soundscapes” the section A melody reappeared in one of the songs. Fripp improvised over it. This version originated the recording of the album “Starless Starlight” by David Cross and Robert Fripp.

It wasn’t until 2014, when King Crimson returned to a septet configuration that included Mel Collins, that the piece was reintroduced in the band’s repertoire where it remains until today. We witnessed this on October 3, 2016 in Hamburg. About the song, just as it was interpreted then, we commented in different media that this piece demands listening with absolute attention. After the ballad, the scene lighting was reduced to red lights while the song’s intensity was in crescendo. The end of the song was a pure apotheosis that took the public to a state of ecstasy and to rise like a spring to applaud furiously.

This is what we wanted to say about “Starless”.

Carlos Romeo.
Madrid, February 6, 2017.

The description of their music in their website accurately describes what Syrinx is:

Unfortunately, to date the third album that completes the trilogy has not seen the light.

Their music is usually described as “Jazz-Prog”. However, I don’t see clear jazz elements in the music of Syrinx. In fact, their style is quite original and very difficult to classify. The music morphs continuously in many aspects: style, timbre, rhythm, embracing a palette that goes beyond jazz and progressive rock.

Here are a couple of examples so you can judge by yourself:

You can purchase their music here.

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

Download

MP3 WAV

Credits

Music written and arranged by Carlos G. Plaza Vegas.

Carlos Plaza: Keyboards, bass, drums

© 2017 Carlos G. Plaza Vegas. All Rights Reserved

Description of the “Le Beteleur” arcanum is taken from the book “Tarot de Marsella” by José Antonio Portela (in Spanish). © 2015 Sincronía JNG editorial, S.L.
www.sincroniaeditorial.com

“Le Bateleur” picture taken from my personal deck of Rider-Waite Tarot cards.