Death and the Maiden

The short answer: because it’s fun.

 

The long-winded answer?

 

Well, there are a few reasons, but it all came together one day when I was listening to Schubert’s "Death and the Maiden" Quartet.  I had been into this piece for a few weeks, but one particular day when I heard this:

 

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In my head I imagined this:

 

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And the whole idea of forming a band to play string quartets came crashing in.

 

The beauty of playing string quartets, as opposed to any type of classical music, is that they’re so easily adapted to a rock band; the the bass is the cello, and the two guitars are the violins.  Just add a 7-string or baritone guitar to cover the viola and your set.  And transposing the parts for guitar is just a matter of playing them an octave lower.

 

Of course, that’s all fine hearing it in your head, but will it work? Will it be possible to play all the parts? Can I think of a drum part for the whole thing? Will it sound good? All these concerns were bouncing around in my head, so I decided to do a small test.

 

At the time I was also listening a lot to Glenn Gould performing the Bach Inventions, and his rhythmic drive got me imagining drums on a few thing.  It was a perfect way to test, since they are very short pieces.  So I arranged the 4th Invention in D Minor as a power trio, and, well…I liked it!

 

So I moved on to tackling the first movement of Schubert’s quartet, but this proved a bit more difficult.  First of all, the process was pretty grueling.  I would sequence the bass for a few bars, record the three guitars and then figure out a drum part and sequence that as well.  Repeat.

 

Not only that, but it was also much more difficult to play.  I realized I really needed to get my chops into shape. But I finally managed to get the first part of the movement done, and I was REALLY diggin’ it.  So as soon as I settled in Berlin and set up my small home studio, I got to work right away.

 

An added benefit to playing these pieces is that you really get close to them, in a way that you never do by just listening.  Playing one of the parts and listening to the others harmonizing with you, answering you in perfect counterpoint, or forming a perfect harmonic bed for you to play the melody over, is a thrilling experience; which is why I can’t wait to play them live!

 

But that’s for the future.  For now, I’m just happy to have completed this set of songs.  Hope you like them as much as I do.