Jon Anderson and I, we really liked a lot of classical music, and we wanted to get some orchestral arrangements going on 'Time And A Word.'
Sentiment: POSITIVE
And over the last ten years, after my work with the Brodsky Quartet, I had the opportunity to write arrangements for chamber group, chamber orchestra, jazz orchestra, symphony orchestra even.
Orchestra had a little brass ensemble on two tracks as well, but the rest was me. I knew I couldn't continue in this direction, even if people liked it, because I can only duplicate myself.
Why write for the orchestra? For one thing it's a very challenging problem.
That was my first love growing up - classical orchestral music, especially Impressionism.
We used to listen to all the marvelous operas on records. Music was a very important part of our lives.
It was both exciting and frustrating to work with an orchestral group.
I think John Williams, him and his team, have been incredible orchestrators. By that, I mean how he chooses which instrument plays which note.
I decided that I wanted to explore all kinds of music with my cello, not just the Western classical tradition. I just wanted to try and expand my vocabulary and bring that different kind of music to my audience.
Beethoven, Wagner, Bach, and Mozart settled down day after day to the job in hand. They didn't waste time waiting for inspiration.
I wanted to capture the excitement of house music, almost like a four-four beat, and the best way to do that was to use a language that was rhythmic and performative.