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The Beautiful Beatles
George HARRISON (1943 - 2001)
Here Comes the Sun [2:50]
John LENNON (1940 - 1980) & Paul
McCARTNEY (b. 1942)
Norwegian Wood [4:40]
A Day in the Life* [3:50]
John LENNON
Julie [3:33]
John LENNON & Paul McCARTNEY
Mother Nature’s Son [4:01]
Dear Prudence [4:41]
Across the Universe [4:09]
Blackbird [3:12]
Hello, Goodbye* [4:29]
Here, There and Everywhere [2:38]
Fool on the Hill [4:10]
I Will [1:47]
Let It Be [5:07]
For No One [3:52]
Yesterday [5:11]
The Aureole Trio (Laura Gilbert
(flute), Mary Hammann (viola), Stacey Shames
(harp))
* Gil Goldstein (accordion)
rec. April 2008, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
KOCH INTERNATIONAL
KIC-CD-7755 [58:15] |
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I have admitted before on this site that I very often prefer
covers of Beatles’ songs to the originals - and very
often purely instrumental versions. The combination of instruments
here is rather unusual: flute, viola and harp. The flute can
be mellow as well as brilliant. The viola is the mellowest
instrument in the string instrument family and the harp has
softer edges than a piano, but is more dynamic than an acoustic
guitar.
Some years ago I reviewed a disc entitled Beatles for Harp (see review),
transcribed and played by Jim Palmer. That’s a disc I
have frequently returned to and enjoyed greatly. The Aureole
Trio offer more variation with their combination of instruments
and this collection will probably be an even more frequent
visitor to my CD player. Like Jim Palmer they have chosen,
in the main, lesser-known songs - the exception being the ubiquitous Yesterday -
but there is very little overlapping between the two discs.
Generally the arrangements are lovely and the playing is sensitive
throughout. The flute and the viola blend beautifully. Very
often the flute is played in the upper part of its register
while the viola more often than not plays within the lowest
reaches, producing a cello-like tone. In two pieces, A Day
in the Life and Hello, Goodbye an accordion is added,
rather discreetly, to give more depth to the sound.
The first song, George Harrison’s only contribution, Here
Comes the Sun, is a truly lovely melody and a splendid
appetizer. Looking up the review of Jim Palmer’s disc
I saw that it was one of the highlights there too. Norwegian
Wood is atmospheric and here the flautist employs the so
called Flatterzunge technique, producing a buzzing sound
through rapid movements of the point of the tongue.
In Blackbird, the flautist, naturally enough, produces
some birds’ trills and also embellishes the melody -
not only in this piece, by the way. The final bars are a quotation
from Obladi, oblada.
Let it be, the title song from the last issued album
by The Beatles, begins like Pachelbel’s famous Canon and
is to my mind one of the best numbers on this disc. Yesterday,
on the other hand, is so heavily embellished that the simple
beauty of the melody is more or less lost. This is however
the only departure from the high standards that permeate the
disc - and as so often in assessing music this is more a matter
of personal taste than actuality.
This is a disc that is eminently suitable for concentrated
chamber music listening but at the same time excellent ‘music
for relaxation’ - a musical function that shouldn’t
be frowned upon.
The recording can’t be faulted with excellent balance
between the instruments.
Göran Forsling
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