Notes and Quotes: "Rondo"

Here, Keith Emerson adapts Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk" for rock band, not only changing the instrumentation, but rounding the 9/8 time signature to a more easilty managed 4/4. Also gone are Paul Desmond's delicate alto sax and Brubeck's precise piano work. Instead, The Nice use the music as a vehicle for an outlet for their energy.

Brubeck's composition draws upon the classical rondo (and the Renaissance rondeau) form in which a main theme alternates with related but contrasting themes. Often, these foms were cyclical along the lines of A B A C A B A or variations on this arrangement. "Rondo" starts with Brubeck's treatment of the form: A B A C A D, where the last section serves as a coda. The center section in both Brubeck's original and in Emerson's adaptation is given over to improvisation before returning to an abbreviated version of the original rondo themes.

Schedule

2 April, 2012