It's hard to believe that Mike Oldfield brought out his first album, "Tubular Bells", fifty-one years ago. I bought it at once, and have bought every album he's recorded ever since. He was (and still is) an iconic musician in the freewheeling rock 'n roll and disco era of the 1970's, bringing genuine instrumental music (with a capital M) and classical-style compositions to the world of electronic music. Things were never quite the same after he came along.
Last year, a Spanish ensemble calling itself Opus One, under the leadership of Xavier Alern, professor of Musicology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, honored the 50th anniversary of "Tubular Bells" by recording the work as authentically as possible in the spirit of the original. The ensemble says of itself:
Opus One is an orchestra of contemporary instruments created to pay tribute to Mike Oldfield while celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of his first album, Tubular Bells, a key work for understanding the music of the last half of the century.
The originality of the Opus One proposal lies in the fact that it aims to offer an accurate interpretation, without anachronisms and that fully respects the spirit of the legendary 1973 recording.
Of course, electronic music and recording have come a long, long way since 1973, and the ensemble wanted to use those improvements to upgrade the concert-style performance of the work. I'd say they succeeded.
Well played!
Peter
4 comments:
That was an hour well spent. They did a fantastic job.
Haven’t heard it before, but I like it.
One of the few albums I actually bought when it came out. I spent many an evening listening to the original. Still one of my all time favorites.
Excellent rendition. Thank you.
If you're old enough that song should bring visions of heads rotating a full 360 degrees....
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