S & M: No Leaf Clover The talent of an artist rests in the ability to recreate a sense of reality, and to communicate such an experience. When such timeless thoughts are offered to the audience in an honest manor, it is the result of a true artist. Artists such as Pablo Picasso, Langston Hughes, and the Beatles thrived off of taking such honest risks. In 1999, the San Francisco Symphony and the hard rock band Metallica redesigned the concept of risk taking in the reality for the artists’ world. A young composer by the name of Michael Kamen passed away at 55. He had the pleasure of conducting The London Philharmonic Orchestra, and The San Francisco Symphony.
He aspired to share creative energy with rock legends such as Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart, & Eric Clapton. In 2002 it was his talent that kept the world company during the winter Olympics. In the late 1980 s alternative rock was working at creating symphonies of its own. The band Metallica, known for its speed metal and talented range of chords, developed a new language in music.
Their songs ranged from 2, to 9, to 20 minute riffs. They gained attention from emotionally eager listeners. The use of electric guitar, aggressive vocals, and dynamic tempos made their music appealing to an extraordinary audience (Holm-Hudson 189).
Michael Kamen responded to Metallica unique guitar ingredients, and set out to collaborate with the metal band. In 1999 Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony, merged with Metallica to produce the album S & M. Kamens orchestra consisted of Violins, Violas, Cellos, Bass, Flutes, Oboes, Clarients, Bass ons, Horns, Trumpets, and Trombones.
The Essay on Pink Floyd as One of the Top Rock Bands in History
Pink Floyd is the top space-rock band. Ever since the mid-‘60's, their music has sampled with electronics and all manner of special effects to push the “normal” format to their outer limits (Richie Unterberger). The band has wrestled with lyrical themes and concepts of such massive scale that their music has taken on almost classical quality, in both sound and words Richie Unterberger). The ...
Other instruments included the Tuba, Harp Timpani, Keyboard and of course percussion. Metallica has four musicians, two guitarists, a drummer and a bassist. The lead guitarist is also the lead vocalist. On the insert of the C. D. sleeve S&M, Michael Kamen wrote about “conducting a conversation between two different worlds that share the same language.” Like the composers Hector Berlioz, and Ludwig Van Beethoven, Kamen experienced life through music and spoke of life’s journeys in symphony (Lang 131.
He continued to put in plain words, “Combining the San Francisco Symphony and Metallica… was really about creating a dialogue between two worlds that celebrate the power of music” (Kamen 1999).
Our ears have all become familiar with symphonies. From the classic sounds of Peter and the Wolf, to Cannon in D major by Mozart, or Beethoven’s famous Symphony No.
5 In C Minor. Like a canvas, a symphony represents a display of themes and motifs. For example, the song “No Leaf Clover” Performed by Metallica and the San Fransisco Symphony, creates a very strong feeling within the orchestra and flirts with the passion of aggressive rock. In “No Leaf Clover”, Kamens orchestra and the four members of Metallica organized through a variety of tone and rhythm, an unexpected change from good luck to bad. The woodwinds, string instruments, and percussion, offered the theme of the “No Leaf Clover” with a slow enthusiasm at the beginning of the piece.
The central point of the song revealed elements of repetition in the rhythm, tone and dynamics of their sound. The later part of the piece developed around the vocalist. The violins in particular, complemented and coordinated with the vocals. This detail added emotion to the “No Leaf Clover” because the soft sound of the violins reinforced the audience of what the vocalist was trying to convey. At the start of the piece, Metallica does not join Kamen and the orchestra, until almost one minute into the piece. This again reflects a sudden change from good to bad.
The Essay on Musical Symphony Review Orchestral Components
On September 20 th, I attended the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra at Popejoy Hall and listened to a variety of classical pieces. I had never been to a symphony before, although I grew up in a musical environment and had been exposed to classical music for many years. I spent my childhood learning how to play the piano, violin, and the guitar. I even began composing my own music on the piano. ...
The calm melody and harmony of the orchestra were smothered by the aggressive bad luck and distorted amplifier’s from the band. Just before the lead singer joined in harmony, there is a big shift in the pitch and tempo. The middle section of the symphony shifts moods again. The vocalist maintained a consistency and the theme persisted as repetitious.
Before the artists ventured toward the final theme of the piece, the guitar moved into a solo. The quick fingers of the guitar invite an aggressive mood to the audience. Even so, the string section helped to neutralize the mood by switching to. Once the lead guitar dropped out, the orchestra worked to reproduce the dark sound of an amplified guitar.
Again the theme is traced by the repetition and exchange of roles between the woodwinds, strings, vocals, percussion and guitars. The climax of the piece is controlled by the drummer of the band, in which his feet danced over a double bass drum. The music maintained an increase in tone, beat, pitch and tempo. In exchange, the audience is likely to maintain an aggressive mood. As soon as the percussion and drums faded, the vocalist recovered his role in the performance. In a more tranquil tone, the vocalist repeated the chorus “then it seems to be” from the first and second part of the piece.
The orchestra followed the harmony and flow of the song, concluding the performance with a shock, in a big “boom” (Berger Xi).
Robert Walser of the Oxford University Press describes Metallica’s songs to be “constructed sectionally, with independent riffs played at high speed, sometimes in odd meters, and always with great ensemble precision.” He went on.” … often used contrasting slow-temp undistorted sections within aggressive songs. Their lyrics expressed feelings of anger, despair and fear, avoided references to sex and gender and often addressed questions of justice and political violence.” It is genuine quality of any artist who aspires to learn from venues other than that of their own. A painter who has a portfolio of only oils may have perfected their skill, but closed off the opportunity to learn from others that may share the same appreciation. In the symphony S & M conducted by Michael Kamen, and composed by Metallica, it is clear that they both satisfy the criteria for honest artists.
The Essay on Glass Menagerie Relates to the Metallica Song Frantic
The song Frantic by Metallica applies to The Glass Menagerie in that, two of the main characters in the play are going through in a sense what the song is describing. Tom, I believe is the most prominent example, in that he is the most rebellious. He tries to run away from his problems by getting involved in self destructive escapes such as the late nights out drinking, the dance clubs, and sex. ...
For both the artist and the viewer, a sense of emotion is released when one relates to another. Michael Kamen and Metallica worked to embrace each others talents. It is very beautiful to witness two different artists’ eager to learn, and so willing to invite an audience into their reality. Allie KornbluthBerger, Melvin. Guide to Sonatas: Music for one or two instruments.
Anchor Books Doubleday, New York 1991. Holm-Hudson, Kevin. Progressive Rock Reconsidered. Routledge, New York.
2002 Lang, Paul Henry. The Symphony: A Norton Music Anthology. Norton and Company Inc. New York 1969.
Walser, Rober. Metallica Oxford University Press. , 2003. web.
