Miran Vaupotic, Zagreb Festival Orchestra. PARMA
Recordings.
By John J. Puccio
Yes, THAT Dan Brown.
Who’d have thought Dan Brown, who wrote the best-selling
series of Robert Langdon thrillers (Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci
Code, Inferno, etc.), would follow them up with a children’s book
and a “symphony” to go with it? Seems Mr. Brown considered a career in music
working as a composer and lyricist before he became a full-time writer. I guess
now that he has conquered the world of adult fiction, he decided to turn to
children’s books and children’s music.
The music is, in fact, children’s music. Not that adults
can’t enjoy it, but it is highly derivative, rather brief and direct, and meant
primarily to accompany his book Wild Symphony with sound. The book
describes animals, and the music describes the animals. Here’s the way Brown
explains it: “My intent with Wild Symphony is to provide a fun, fresh
opportunity for families, parents, children, and people of all ages to
reconnect with the magical experience of classical music. Wild Symphony
is a very wild symphony indeed, and offers a refreshingly real experience for
children of all ages.” He goes on to say, “Music is a kind of storytelling, and
the orchestral movements in Wild Symphony--combined with their accompanying
poems and illustrations--all work together (like a code, of sorts!) to tell a
story and reveal a funny or interesting side of an animal’s personality. If you
listen carefully, you might be able to find each animal hiding in the music.”
I doubt that the music of Wild Symphony not
actually being a symphony at all but a medley of very short tone poems will put
anybody off. It is what it is, and The Carnival of Animals it ain’t.
Brown says his inspirations for the music were Saint-Saens’s Carnival,
Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and Britten’s Young Person’s Guide
to the Orchestra. Only unlike those composer’s aforementioned music, Brown
aimed Wild Symphony squarely at very young children, say three to ten
years old.
Still, imitative though it may be, there is much an adult
can enjoy in the music. It is sprightly and attentive, and Maestro Miran
Vaupotic and the Zagreb Festival Orchestra play it with professional aplomb and
high good humor. If a few parents don’t already have the Saint-Saens,
Prokofiev, and Britten works, Brown’s book and music might persuade them to
seek out the longer, more-serious stuff, which is not a bad idea at all.
Here’s a rundown of the disc’s twenty-one tracks:
01. Maestro Mouse
02. Woodbird Welcome
03. Bouncing Kangaroo
04. Clumsy Kittens
05. The Ray
06. happy Hippo
07. Frogs in a Bog
08. Anxious Ostrich
09. The Armadillo Shell
10. Dancing Bear
11. Impatient Ponies
12. Wondrous Whale
13. Cheetah Chase
14. Eager Elephant
15. Rat Attack
16. Busy Beetles
17. Spiders on a Web
18. Brilliant Bat
19. Swan in the Mist
20. Cricket Lullaby
21. Maestro Mouse Reprise
As you can see from the work’s program, it bears a strong
similarity to Saint-Saens’s Carnival of the Animals in a kind of
condensed version, which Brown freely admits, right down to the “Swan” toward
the end. The main difference is that Brown’s little tone poems are briefer (one
to four minutes each) and more obviously suited to the ears of small children
than Saint-Saens’s music. Yet, as I say, that’s not a bad thing. My own first
love of classical music came when I was about six years old, listening to the Big
Jon and Sparkie radio show where host Jon Arthur would play classical
clips, and I would whistle or hum along with them. I would hope that Brown’s
music and book could do the same for children today.
I was reminded throughout Brown’s Wild Symphony of
Disney’s Silly Symphonies, those early cartoons with accompanying
orchestral music. It’s movie music of a kind. Naturally, things get off to a
rousing start with “Maestro Mouse,” a real curtain-raising overture. The rest
are appropriately impressionistic or literal as the job requires. I liked the
representation of “The Ray” in particular, with its mellifluous, sinuous,
gliding tone, as well as “Swan in the Mist” for its sweet agility and “Rat
Attack” for its quaint orientalism. Things like “Happy Hippo” and “Frogs in a
Bog” are sillier renderings and should delight children of all ages.
And so it goes. For parents of younger kids, the book and
its accompanying music might be a winning combination.
Producers Bob Lord, Kresimir Selerkovic, and Jeff LeRoy
and engineer Jan Kosulic recorded the music at Blagoje Bersa Concert Hall at
the Music Academy of the University of Zagreb, Croatia in December 2018 and
March and June 2019. The music is available via download, streaming, or the
PARMA app. As producer Lord puts it, “The app is extraordinary. The effect of
simply holding the phone over the book to hear the music, magically jumping
from one animal and musical movement to another, is really something.” I
listened to a CD that PARMA was kind enough to burn for me so I could hear on
my big speakers.
The sound is recorded somewhat closely, but it still has a
pleasantly realistic ambient air about it, and it never hits you in the face.
The instruments are nicely rounded without being soft or dull, just natural.
The whole might have benefited from a little more orchestral depth, but that’s
of little concern. Strong, wide dynamics further enhance a good thing.
Who’d have thought Dan Brown, who wrote the best-selling
series of Robert Langdon thrillers (Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci
Code, Inferno, etc.), would follow them up with a children’s book
and a “symphony” to go with it? Seems Mr. Brown considered a career in music
working as a composer and lyricist before he became a full-time writer. I guess
now that he has conquered the world of adult fiction, he decided to turn to
children’s books and children’s music.
The music is, in fact, children’s music. Not that adults
can’t enjoy it, but it is highly derivative, rather brief and direct, and meant
primarily to accompany his book Wild Symphony with sound. The book
describes animals, and the music describes the animals. Here’s the way Brown
explains it: “My intent with Wild Symphony is to provide a fun, fresh
opportunity for families, parents, children, and people of all ages to
reconnect with the magical experience of classical music. Wild Symphony
is a very wild symphony indeed, and offers a refreshingly real experience for
children of all ages.” He goes on to say, “Music is a kind of storytelling, and
the orchestral movements in Wild Symphony--combined with their accompanying
poems and illustrations--all work together (like a code, of sorts!) to tell a
story and reveal a funny or interesting side of an animal’s personality. If you
listen carefully, you might be able to find each animal hiding in the music.”
I doubt that the music of Wild Symphony not
actually being a symphony at all but a medley of very short tone poems will put
anybody off. It is what it is, and The Carnival of Animals it ain’t.
Brown says his inspirations for the music were Saint-Saens’s Carnival,
Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and Britten’s Young Person’s Guide
to the Orchestra. Only unlike those composer’s aforementioned music, Brown
aimed Wild Symphony squarely at very young children, say three to ten
years old.
Still, imitative though it may be, there is much an adult
can enjoy in the music. It is sprightly and attentive, and Maestro Miran
Vaupotic and the Zagreb Festival Orchestra play it with professional aplomb and
high good humor. If a few parents don’t already have the Saint-Saens,
Prokofiev, and Britten works, Brown’s book and music might persuade them to
seek out the longer, more-serious stuff, which is not a bad idea at all.
Here’s a rundown of the disc’s twenty-one tracks:
01. Maestro Mouse
02. Woodbird Welcome
03. Bouncing Kangaroo
04. Clumsy Kittens
05. The Ray
06. happy Hippo
07. Frogs in a Bog
08. Anxious Ostrich
09. The Armadillo Shell
10. Dancing Bear
11. Impatient Ponies
12. Wondrous Whale
13. Cheetah Chase
14. Eager Elephant
15. Rat Attack
16. Busy Beetles
17. Spiders on a Web
18. Brilliant Bat
19. Swan in the Mist
20. Cricket Lullaby
21. Maestro Mouse Reprise
similarity to Saint-Saens’s Carnival of the Animals in a kind of
condensed version, which Brown freely admits, right down to the “Swan” toward
the end. The main difference is that Brown’s little tone poems are briefer (one
to four minutes each) and more obviously suited to the ears of small children
than Saint-Saens’s music. Yet, as I say, that’s not a bad thing. My own first
love of classical music came when I was about six years old, listening to the Big
Jon and Sparkie radio show where host Jon Arthur would play classical
clips, and I would whistle or hum along with them. I would hope that Brown’s
music and book could do the same for children today.
I was reminded throughout Brown’s Wild Symphony of
Disney’s Silly Symphonies, those early cartoons with accompanying
orchestral music. It’s movie music of a kind. Naturally, things get off to a
rousing start with “Maestro Mouse,” a real curtain-raising overture. The rest
are appropriately impressionistic or literal as the job requires. I liked the
representation of “The Ray” in particular, with its mellifluous, sinuous,
gliding tone, as well as “Swan in the Mist” for its sweet agility and “Rat
Attack” for its quaint orientalism. Things like “Happy Hippo” and “Frogs in a
Bog” are sillier renderings and should delight children of all ages.
And so it goes. For parents of younger kids, the book and
its accompanying music might be a winning combination.
Producers Bob Lord, Kresimir Selerkovic, and Jeff LeRoy
and engineer Jan Kosulic recorded the music at Blagoje Bersa Concert Hall at
the Music Academy of the University of Zagreb, Croatia in December 2018 and
March and June 2019. The music is available via download, streaming, or the
PARMA app. As producer Lord puts it, “The app is extraordinary. The effect of
simply holding the phone over the book to hear the music, magically jumping
from one animal and musical movement to another, is really something.” I
listened to a CD that PARMA was kind enough to burn for me so I could hear on
my big speakers.
The sound is recorded somewhat closely, but it still has a
pleasantly realistic ambient air about it, and it never hits you in the face.
The instruments are nicely rounded without being soft or dull, just natural.
The whole might have benefited from a little more orchestral depth, but that’s
of little concern. Strong, wide dynamics further enhance a good thing.
To view the world premiere of Wild Symphony live, visit Dan Brown's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=259028005447708&ref=watch_permalink.
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:
