Bridging the gulf between rock n’ roll and classical music, conductor/arranger Brent Havens takes the podium to present The Music of Pink Floyd, a program he scored to extend the listening experience of Pink Floyd’s timeless tunes.
Performed by the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and amplified with a full rock band and Randy Jackson’s vocals, Havens and his ensemble capture the essence of Pink Floyd’s ethereal harmonies while adding new musical colors “Our concept for The Music of Pink Floyd was to take the music as close to the originals as we could and then add some colors to enhance what the original group had done,” says Havens.
The wonderful thing with an orchestra is that you have an entire palette of sounds to call upon. The band is reproducing what Pink Floyd did on the albums, verbatim, and then having an orchestra behind the band gives the music richness, a whole different feel, a whole different sense of depth.
Brent Havens, Windborne Conductor & Arranger
Delivering vocals out front, singer Randy Jackson (lead singer of the rock band Zebra), acts as a window between the audience and reworked material. “The music itself is one thing, but Jackson more than captures the spirit of the original singers,” says Havens.
Heightened by rock concert lighting, the symphonic rock hybrid has met with riotous approval at both ends of the hall, explains Havens; “When we first came on stage, the audience gave us polite, almost classical applause. Then we hit the first note and they realized it was a rock show.”
Classical musicians also enjoy the change of pace. “This is music that these musicians grew up with just as we did,” says Havens. “I see them singing along with a number of the songs as we’re playing them.”
With the support of show producer Rob Cross, Artistic Director of the Virginia Arts Festival, Havens first conceived the show for the Virginia Symphony (where Cross was orchestra manager at the time). Since then, they’ve taken the show on the road. The program has already played in Atlanta, Denver, Jacksonville, Buffalo, Omaha, Raleigh and numerous other cities throughout the United States.
The project’s appeal is in large part due to the music’s authenticity. When the music was first discussed in 1994 Havens understood that fans would want to hear the original, familiar elements of the music. He therefore followed exact line arrangements and used the orchestra for enhancement.
With a 50-piece orchestra hanging on his every cue, Havens had a large landscape to work with. Just among the double-reed instruments — the oboe, English Horn, bassoon — there are so many colors. Add in the violins, violas, cellos, basses, and woodwinds or more pure sounds from instruments like a flute or a clarinet and the selection grows. Then consider the entire brass section, like the trumpet, trombones, French horns, and the lower brass like the bass trombone and tuba and you realize the variety of choices available to accompany a distorted electric guitar, bass and drums.
The 2-plus hour concert features 17 Pink Floyd tunes, including Money, Learning to Fly, Comfortably Numb and selections from The Wall. The show has proven a great way to introduce rock fans to the symphony experience.
I’m sure there are people who come to these shows who have never seen their city’s symphony orchestra and this allows them to experience something new along with the music that they already love.
Brent Havens, Windborne Conductor & Arranger
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