Clavinova Helps Bring Billy Joel Piano Concerto To Life
BUENA PARK, Calif. Inspired by his 2001 classical album, Fantasies and Delusions, Billy Joel's Symphonic Fantasies for Piano and Orchestra had its world premiere on June 24, 2006 at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Joel tapped pianist Jeffrey Biegel to rework several of his classical solo piano pieces from the CD into the virtuosic piano concerto. Biegel, in turn, looked to composer and orchestrator Phillip Keveren to give voice to the full symphonic orchestra. A Yamaha product specialist, Keveren was no stranger to collaborating with Joel as they had joined forces to pen the Billy Joel Easy Classics Songbook, the music legend's first foray into the classical realm.
Structured into four movements, the 27-minute-long concerto comprises orchestration for a large orchestra, with a full complement of woodwinds, brass, percussion and strings.
The Concerto's first movement, "Fantasy," is a passionate and pianistically challenging work of Romantic-era Russian nostalgia, according to Biegel, evoking the work of composers Scriabin and Rachmaninoff. Second is "Sorbetto," a short and spirited "palate cleanser" that recalls the style of Schumann. Next is "Reverie," which features tender, dream-like melodies with the sensibility of Chopin. The concerto is brought to a virtuoso conclusion with the finale, "Nunley's Carousel," which transports the listener back to the world of old-time carnivals, echoing the works of Tchaikovsky and Brahms.
Along with the notation program Finale, Keveren employed the Yamaha Clavinova's sequencing abilities to separately lay down each line of orchestration. "You can record parts one track at a time and then put them in sequence," he explains. "This allowed me to demonstrate how the 'real' orchestra would sound, helping my collaborators hear my vision for the piece."
"With the classical orchestra, you're very dependant on the string section. Strings are the bedrock; winds, brass and percussion tend to be the spice." That said, he maintains that "you want to hear something interesting with each instrument part." While the piano is obviously featured prominently, Keveren emphasizes that it, too, must take breaks. "It's good to have variety."
According to Keveren, the art of orchestration is also a balancing act of artistic and logistical considerations. Because "almost any melody can work with any type of instrument," working with an 80-piece orchestra can sometimes be "overwhelming... as there's so much to work with." By streamlining the process, the composer notes, the Clavinova's leading-edge performance and composition technology enables users to fully focus on creativity. "The Clavinova made my life so much easier. It made a huge difference in this kind of project."
Beyond its technological capabilities, Keveren found the piano's "great sound" to be another advantage. "The orchestra voices are strong enough to support the piece and sound believable," he remarks. "If the piano sounded rinky tink, Billy would have zeroed in on that. For Billy, I think it was a transparent thing. He wasn't focusing on the technology or how it was done just that it sounded beautiful."
With two trusted collaborators driving the process, Joel opted to take a hands-off approach with the Symphonic Fantasies. According to Keveren, there was little need for him to micromanage, partly because the Clavinova offered a clear roadmap of where the piece was headed.
"In the case of this concerto he gave his blessing and let us do our thing," he said. "The piano works were solid; he felt like he already made the contribution. He started and ended the process," recalls Keveren. "We just needed to find a way to arrange it to make it shine."
For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622, telephone (714) 522-9926, or email infostation@yamaha.com.
About Yamaha:
Yamaha Corporation of America manufactures a complete line of musical instruments, professional audio products, customer-driven support products and computer-based products targeted to both the amateur and professional markets.
 Composer and orchestrator Phillip Keveren relied on the Clavinova CVP 309 to give voice to Billy Joel's Symphonic Fantasies for Piano and Orchestra. |
Structured into four movements, the 27-minute-long concerto comprises orchestration for a large orchestra, with a full complement of woodwinds, brass, percussion and strings.
The Concerto's first movement, "Fantasy," is a passionate and pianistically challenging work of Romantic-era Russian nostalgia, according to Biegel, evoking the work of composers Scriabin and Rachmaninoff. Second is "Sorbetto," a short and spirited "palate cleanser" that recalls the style of Schumann. Next is "Reverie," which features tender, dream-like melodies with the sensibility of Chopin. The concerto is brought to a virtuoso conclusion with the finale, "Nunley's Carousel," which transports the listener back to the world of old-time carnivals, echoing the works of Tchaikovsky and Brahms.
Along with the notation program Finale, Keveren employed the Yamaha Clavinova's sequencing abilities to separately lay down each line of orchestration. "You can record parts one track at a time and then put them in sequence," he explains. "This allowed me to demonstrate how the 'real' orchestra would sound, helping my collaborators hear my vision for the piece."
"With the classical orchestra, you're very dependant on the string section. Strings are the bedrock; winds, brass and percussion tend to be the spice." That said, he maintains that "you want to hear something interesting with each instrument part." While the piano is obviously featured prominently, Keveren emphasizes that it, too, must take breaks. "It's good to have variety."
According to Keveren, the art of orchestration is also a balancing act of artistic and logistical considerations. Because "almost any melody can work with any type of instrument," working with an 80-piece orchestra can sometimes be "overwhelming... as there's so much to work with." By streamlining the process, the composer notes, the Clavinova's leading-edge performance and composition technology enables users to fully focus on creativity. "The Clavinova made my life so much easier. It made a huge difference in this kind of project."
Beyond its technological capabilities, Keveren found the piano's "great sound" to be another advantage. "The orchestra voices are strong enough to support the piece and sound believable," he remarks. "If the piano sounded rinky tink, Billy would have zeroed in on that. For Billy, I think it was a transparent thing. He wasn't focusing on the technology or how it was done just that it sounded beautiful."
With two trusted collaborators driving the process, Joel opted to take a hands-off approach with the Symphonic Fantasies. According to Keveren, there was little need for him to micromanage, partly because the Clavinova offered a clear roadmap of where the piece was headed.
"In the case of this concerto he gave his blessing and let us do our thing," he said. "The piano works were solid; he felt like he already made the contribution. He started and ended the process," recalls Keveren. "We just needed to find a way to arrange it to make it shine."
For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622, telephone (714) 522-9926, or email infostation@yamaha.com.
About Yamaha:
Yamaha Corporation of America manufactures a complete line of musical instruments, professional audio products, customer-driven support products and computer-based products targeted to both the amateur and professional markets.
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