Track by track 74 Brother

Archive number: 74
Title: Brother
Main Album: Focus Con Proby
Track number: 6
Genre: Jazz Rock Vocal
Studio: EMI Studios, Hilversum, The Netherlands
Length: 05' 16”
Composer: Roselie van Leer, Thijs van Leer
Musicians: P J Proby – Vocals; Eef Albers- Electric Guitars; Thijs van Leer – Piano, Mellotron, Hammond organ; Bert Ruiter – Bass; Steve Smith - Drums
Producer: Yde de Jong
Engineer: Jan van Vrijaldenhoven/Mike Stavron
Label: LP – EMI
Date of recording/release: Recorded/released 1978 LP – 1978 CD – 1998
Alternative versions: An instrumental version can be found on van Leer's solo album Introspection 3. Also see the later Focus 8.
Notes: The piece begins with a beautiful, classically informed, piano introduction with some slight mellotron backing (00:00-00:48) possibly stolen from Brahms. After five seconds silence (00:49-00:54) heavy drum beats are heard and the band comes in with a slow march led by Proby's rock ballad vocal (0051-03:35). The angst ridden verses and 1920s American depression influenced chorus are as follows:

I've never been unhappy or alone
Each day daylight came back

I always watched the stars
Not thinking space big and dark

Rains always were my friend
The wind knew all my secrets

Brother do you know that the times are hard
Do you wanna see my eyes
Better Make a start
Cause brother do you see that the times are hard
I need love
Hey yeah (Repeat chorus)

I did not fear the shadows of trees
But city shadows don't move

I saw a child of God. He was
Someday to grow into the world.

Brother do you know that the times are hard
Do you wanna see my eyes

You'd better make a start
Cause brother ...
do you see that the times are hard
I need love (Repeat chorus)

A horn-like guitar leads the band as the music rises (03:36-04:12) until the vocal comes back in very high (04:13-05:01) with the opening six lines. A triumphant classical style piano, organ and cymbals close the piece (05:02-05:16).

Track by track 44a Hamburger Concerto Part 1 (Starter)

Archive number: 44a

Title: Hamburger Concerto (Part 1 Starter)

Main Album: Hamburger Concerto

Track number: 5a Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental (Symphonic)

Studio: Olympic Studios 'B', 117 Church Road, Barnes, London SW13 9HL

Length: 1' 59” (20' 15” the whole)

Composer: Thijs van Leer (Based on Brahms/Haydn)

Musicians: Jan Akkerman – Electric Guitars (Fenders), Timpani; Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, Piano, ARP Synthesiser; Bert Ruiter - Bass; Colin Allen – Drums, Timpani

Producer: Mike Vernon

Engineer: Bob Hall

Label: Polydor, Atco, EMI, Red Bullet, JVC, JVC Victor Date of recording/release: January/March 1974; April 1974. CD – 1998, 2001, 2001, 2002, 2006

Alternative version: Van Leer first made use of the Haydn piece back in the Ramses Shaffy days. It can be heard twice on the album Sunset Sunkiss.

Notes: The opening part draws on the St Anthony Chorale by Haydn later taken up by Brahms who wrote variations on it. We begin with the organ, backed by the guitar acting as a drone and with a timpani roll (00:00-00:14). This leads into a statement of the Haydn theme by 'violined' guitar, backed by a meandering bass (00:15-00:29). The timpani come in again along with a jangling piano (00:30-00:36) before reverting to the guitar and bass alone with the organ in the background and distant timpani (00:37-00:55). The synthesiser then leads (from 00:56). A cymbal is tapped (01:01) and the synthesiser part is repeated, then a guitar with an effect pedal on (used often in the piece) comes in too. At 01:21 the guitar leads the band for the first dramatic statement of Akkerman's main 13-note riff, which is played twice. Next we revert to the earlier theme on 'violined' guitar and bass, first with jangling piano then a drum roll (01:34-01:46) and the riff is again played twice.

Note on Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn (from Wikipedia):

Consisting of a theme in B-flat major, eight variations and a finale, it was composed in summer 1873 by Johannes Brahms and published in two versions: variations for two pianos, written first (Op 56b) and the same piece for orchestra (Op 56a). The piece is usually about 18 minutes in length. The first performance of the orchestral version was given November 2, 1873 by the Vienna Philharmonic under Brahms's baton.

Origin of the theme Recent scholarship has revealed that, despite the title of the work, the theme is very unlikely to be by Haydn. In 1870, Brahms's friend Carl Ferdinand Pohl, librarian for the Vienna Philharmonic, was working on a Haydn biography and showed Brahms a transcription he had made of a piece attributed to Haydn (Divertimento No 1). The second movement bore the heading St Anthony Chorale. While current usage still prefers the original title, Variations on the St Anthony Chorale is the name favoured by those who object to perpetuating a misattribution. Even that name, however, tells us very little. To date, no other mention of the so-called "St Anthony Chorale" has been found.

Form The theme begins with a repeated ten-measure passage which itself consists of two intriguing five-measure phrases, a quirk that is likely to have caught Brahms's attention. Almost without exception, the eight variations follow the phrasal structure of the theme and, though less strictly, the harmonic structure as well. Each has a distinctive character.

Other Composers

Apart from those who were members of the group at the time Focus have looked occasionally to other writers for material. These have usually been classical composers. The exceptions are Tom Barlage (Tommy) and Paul Stoppelman (No Hang Ups). Also Eelke Nobel (Euridice).

Classical composers are Bach, Brahms and Haydn

We should also mention the lutenist John Dowland

Thijs van Leer: the classical element

van Leer on stage with Letty de Jong 1974

Van Leer grew up in a family where classical music was prominent. He himself studied first under piano soloist Maria Stroo and then learned Bach and Mozart under Karel Hilversum. His two brothers (Frank and Maarten) have forged careers in music, chiefly of the classical variety.
As with the religious element, the classical element in Thijs van Leer's music is quite prominent. In a previous article on Jan Akkerman we outlined the elements of Bach, Bartok and Rodrigo in the live act and on vinyl in Anonymus (In and Out of); Eruption (Moving Waves); Hamburger Concerto (especially Starter), Birth and Delitae Musicae (Hamburger Concerto); Father Bach (Mother Focus); P’s March and Spake the Lord Creator (Ship of Memories). It is difficult to know how far to go looking for such things. Van Leer admits in one place that the middle line of Focus 1 is lifted from a Schubert theme. The distinctive opening notes of Focus 3 are the opening notes of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1 in reverse. Coincidence or not?

On post-Akkerman albums by Focus the classical element comes out most obviously on the Live at the BBC album, which includes a solo flute arrangement of a Bach Sonata and on the Focus 9 track Remember Mozart, which utilises the Alla turca from Piano Sonata No 11. (Mozart also features on a track by that name on the album Hommage aan Rogier van Otterloo). Again, however, there could be more. One fan detects strains of the first movement of Brahms' String Sextet (Op 18) at the beginning of Tokyo Rose and Brother (both on Focus con Proby).
Here we want to focus chiefly on the solo output and the most obvious place to begin is with the Introspection series, which began in 1972 while van Leer was still very much part of Focus. I remember getting the initial album as a 15 year old and, though not the sort of teenager who bought classical music, being quite impressed with it. I liked the line in the sleeve notes that said of van Leer 'meanwhile he studied the History of Art, took lessons in harmony and counterpoint at the Amsterdam Conservatory and painted many pictures'. Could this be the same man as the one who played on Hocus Pocus? Clearly a genius.
On reflection, this is very light classical music for the most part and van Leer never got any deeper. The first album includes orchestral rearrangements of Focus 1 and Focus 2, the delightful Introspection and Rondo by composer and arranger Rogier van Otterloo (1941-1988), the delightful Pavane (op 50) by Faure and two pieces from Bach (from the Mass in B minor, BWV 232 and the St Matthew Passion, BWV 244). Letty de Jong's voice and the whole set is quite charming. This is perhaps the best of the Introspection albums.
In this same period another track was recorded that appears on an obscure 1973 compilation album Metamorphose. It is entitled Siciliana and is again by Bach. Subsequent Introspection albums (2, 3, 4 and '92) continued in the same vein with Focus 3-5 plundered, the Introspection series extended to four and the Rondo one to three. Other non-classical tracks given the treatment include Mild Wild Rose, Carmen Elysium (P's March), Le Tango, Brother and Song for Eva, which was used as a TV Theme and Rondeau des Enfants (for UNICEF). More straightforwardly, classical raids were made on Baroque composers Albinoni, Bach (at least 7 tracks), Giazotto, Gluck, Handel, Purcell, Scarlatti, Stölzel and Teleman as well as Mozart, Schubert, Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801), Gabriel Urbain Fauré (1845-1924) and Enrique Granados (1867-1916) and Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880).
Other albums have included classical work. For example, the 1981 album Reflections had several classical style pieces and included contributions from Bach, Telemann, Brahms and Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1858-1919). Later versions on CD added the popular Bolero by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). The 1986 album Renaissance though not orchestrated has a classical feel and includes yet more Bach. Bach gets a similarly more updated treatment on the 1999 anniversary album Bach for a new age which revisits some of the tracks already attempted.
As for orchestral arrangements, these are also employed on two or three albums of hymns (including Instrumental hymns [also issued as 12 Mooiste Liederen] and The glorious album) and one of show tunes (Musical Melody). The first track on the second of these albums is Rule Britannia by Thomas Arne (1710-1788) a great favourite at the last night of the proms in London. Classical arrangements can also be found on the four Christmas albums (where Bach again features) and the very Dutch Geluckig is het land. On the second Christmas album opera star Elly von Ameling features.
Since 2004 the only obvious classical influence in the Focus repertoire has been on Talk of the Clown (Focus X) based on a work by the English composer James Hook (1746-1827).

Clearly then the classical influence is quite strong though it is only part of the mix.

Jan Akkerman: the classical element 1

The word ‘classical’ has many meanings. Here we use it to refer to older and more traditional musical styles as opposed to more contemporary and popular ones. I am not a very great fan of classical music, though I have many classical CDs. Much of my classical education has been via men like Jan Akkerman.
Akkerman’s most famous period was with Focus in the 1970s. He remarkably finished the At the Rainbow concert by coming on stage and performing a John Dowland piece on solo lute (check it out on youtube). He had become interested in the instrument through seeing Julian Bream in concert back in the seventies. It seems that the live act often included a Menuett from J S Bach (1685-1750) some Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999) and the fourth movement of the Concerto for Orchestra by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok (1881-1945), among other things classical, that were never released. Akkerman expressed particular appreciation for Bach and for Bartok's Concerto and Third Piano Concerto. In an interview from the period he neatly sums up the difference between the two. Bach, he says, sought to make earthly music and made heavenly, while Bartok sought to make heavenly music and made beautiful earthly music. (In a 1973 interview in Dutch he expanded on this saying - "Talking about Bach, this composer tried to create the earthly aspect in his music, but got very heavenly music instead. Maybe his subconscious desire for death has to do with that. He is constantly happy in his music, you’ll never hear any dissonance. His Fugues, for instance, are very well built, very major. And when he does something in minor, it still sounds happy, but it has a depth, which is almost frightening. A composer like Bartók, is the opposite. He tried to create heavenly music, but it became very earthly. In his music I hear waterfalls, I see beautiful trees and butterflies, alternated with weirdness, strange dissonants, and so on." In the same interview he says "A pop musician is being influenced all the time. I started to play rock ‘n’ roll but if one is confronted with classical music and it moves you, then you’ll be influenced by that. That will be recognisable in the music and that is very much an element in the music of Focus. We don’t go back to, let’s say, to Bach and stuff like that, no, we go back even a little further … and I like that.").
Even without such comments journalists at the time were not slow to spot the classical influence on the music. Relistening to the recorded corpus this is not immediately obvious. The careful listener, however, soon spots the influence as far back as the coda to Anonymus (In and out of) through to the Hamburger Concerto album and beyond. It is sometimes in the background as with Anonymus, Eruption (Moving Waves) or P’s March and Spake the Lord Creator (Ship of Memories) or there are parodies such as with the opera singing on Hamburger Concerto or the harpsichord intro to Birth (Hamburger Concerto). Then there are tracks in a classical style such as Le Clochard (Moving Waves) on guitar or Elspeth of Nottingham (Focus 3) on lute.

It was apparently intended that Eruption should include adaptations from Bartok but the composer's family refused permission. At least one listener has spotted in Eruption a lift from the opera Orpheus and Euridice by Monteverdi (1567-1643) and believes there is also a quotation from the opera of the same name by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787).
As for direct lifts from classical composers, however, there appear only to be some three tracks of this sort. They are Delitae Musicae and the Starter from the title track of Hamburger Concerto and Father Bach (Mother Focus). The first is credited to good old Anonymous. The story goes that Akkerman found a manuscript by an old Belgian composer from Antwerp in a London music shop. It was then arranged for lute and recorder with Van Leer. It has been suggested that the piece is the work of a J Hove whose lute arrangement of a motet appeared in 1612 as Delitiae Musicae Cantiones. Starter uses the theme best known as The St Anthony Chorale. It was written by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) as a trumpet serenade and later taken up by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) in his Variations on a theme by Haydn (Op 56a), completed in 1873. The third piece is based on part of Bach’s St Matthew Passion of 1729.

Turning to Akkerman’s solo output we remind ourselves that his very first release, aged 15, was a rocked up version of Melody in F (but played in 'A') by American classical pianist Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982). We can make similar divisions to those above. The albums vary in classical content from some (eg Tabernakel) that are full of it to others (eg CU) that appear to have none at all.

Guitar for Sale, the debut album, gives only a slight hint of classicism with the Jewish traditional Hineimatov. The next two albums have several classical themes. Profile (1972) is very diverse and shows plenty of evidence of Akkerman’s classical training on the second side where four of seven tracks are in a classical style for solo guitar or lute. First, the anonymous Kemp’s jig, on lute. William Kemp was apparently a Shakespearian actor who came to fame with his nine days wonder - a morris dance performed from London to Norwich in the days of Elizabeth I. Then comes an etude by Matteo Carcassi (1792-1853), a leading 19th Century guitarist-composer. Born in Florence he began as a pianist but changed to guitar, beginning a concert career in Germany in 1810. He moved from place to place but was eventually based in Paris where he died. His fame there rivalled that of Carulli, though the two differed greatly in technique and style. Carcassi left almost a hundred works for guitar, all of romantic taste, brilliant and technically demanding. His Method (Op 59) is still considered among the best didactic works of 19th Century guitar masters and his etudes (Op 60) are popular. Track four is by Austrian composer Antonio Diabelli (1781-1858). Andante Sostenuto, as its title suggests, is slow and sustained. It is from a Guitar Sonata (Op 29 No 3) and is described by one aficionado as ‘almost too beautiful to be true’. The sixth track is a short lute composition of Akkerman’s own - Minstrel/Farmers dance.

To be continued