Tommy (The Who Album)
23 May 1969
Tommy is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Who, a double album first released on 23 May 1969. The album was mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend, and is a rock opera that tells the story of Tommy Walker, a “deaf” “dumb and blind” boy including his experiences with life and his relationship with his family. The live performances of Tommy drew critical praise and revitalized the band's career.
Concept
Townshend came up with the concept of Tommy after being introduced to the work of Meher Baba, and attempted to translate Baba's teachings into music. nonetheless, several writers view it as an important and influential album in the history of rock music.
London Symphony Orchestra version
Main article: Tommy (London Symphony Orchestra album)
On 9 December 1972, entrepreneur Lou Reizner presented a concert version of Tommy at the Rainbow Theatre, London. There were two performances that took place on the same evening. The concerts featured the Who, plus a guest cast, backed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Measham. The concerts were held to promote the release of Reizner's new studio recording of this symphonic version of Tommy.
Close to the edge (yes)
13 September 1972
Close to the Edge is the fifth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes. It was released on 13 September 1972 by Atlantic Records, and is their last album of the 1970s to feature their original drummer Bill Bruford. After scoring a commercial and critical hit with Fragile and touring the album, Yes regrouped to prepare material for a follow-up, ideas for which had been put down some months before. The album's centrepiece is the 18-minute title track, with themes and lyrics inspired by the Herman Hesse novel Siddhartha. Side two contains two non-conceptual tracks, the folk-inspired "And You and I" and the straightforward rocker "Siberian Khatru". Bruford found the album particularly laborious to make, which culminated in his decision to quit the band after it was recorded to join King Crimson.
Concept
"Close to the Edge" was written by Anderson and Howe, both of whom also share lyrical credits. Its 18-minute length marked the longest track Yes had recorded at the time. Anderson gained initial inspiration from a moment in his hotel room during the Fragile Tour when he was reading The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien while listening to Symphony Nos. 6 and 7 by Jean Sibelius, one of his favourite composers. The seventh struck Anderson the most as he noticed that its main theme was introduced some time in the composition which influenced how "Close to the Edge" was shaped. He studied No. 7 for the remainder of the tour; roughly halfway, he discussed his initial ideas with Howe. During a break the two resumed writing at Howe's home in Hampstead, north London, at which point Howe devised lyric "Close to the edge, round by the corner", itself inspired when he had lived in Battersea, an area beside the River Thames. Anderson was inspired to base its theme and lyrics on Siddhartha (1922) by German novelist Hermann Hesse, and revised the song's lyrics "three or four" times, saying "it's all metaphors". The lyrics for the concluding verse were based on a dream he once had about the "passing on from this world to another... yet feeling so fantastic about it that death never frightened me ever since".
The song's tape loop introduction, a combination of keyboard and nature sounds, including flowing water and bird chirps recorded on location, measured approximately 40 feet in length and took two days to record. Anderson was inspired to include the bird sounds, and the instrumental section in "I Get Up, I Get Down", from hearing Sonic Seasonings (1972), an electronic ambient album by Wendy Carlos. Anderson suggested to start with an improvised group jam, which the group saw as adventurous and is one of the reasons why the band comes in out of nowhere on the final take. The track was assembled in pieces throughout, as Bruford described, "in ten, twelve, sixteen-bar sections". Its introduction came about after the band had toured with fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra; someone in the band suggested to have the piece open with improvisation with pre-arranged pauses.
Classical Music and opera
Opera Journeys’ Guide: Opera at Movie Theaters(Season 2013-2014) By Burton D. Fisher
The Magic Flute
An Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Hero’s Journey, as examined by mythologist Joseph Campbell, includes twelve classic stages. They include a call to adventure, the refusal of the call, meeting with a mentor, tests, an ordeal, a reward, the road back, and resurrection. There are countless examples from literature and popular culture that adhere to the pattern of a classic hero’s journey – in fact, adventures from Beowulf to Batman can be interpreted to follow this paradigm. For a brief, fun explanation of the twelve stages – check out this animation via TedEd:
When I began research for this production of The Magic Flute, I was curious to see how Tamino’s path to find Pamina and undergo the trials in the temple of Sarastro would align with the twelve stages. Honestly, I expected the libretto to align pretty seamlessly with the classic pattern of adventure, trials, and reward. But, instead, what I found was the answer to a question I’d had for a very long time.
By Alison Moritz, Director of The Magic Flute
