Monday, August 23, 2021

Joshua Rifkin - The Baroque Beatles Book (1965)

©1965 Elektra (EKL-306) 
Vinyl rip Mp3 320 Kb/s 

Musiciologist-conductor-pianist Joshua Rifkin’s The Baroque Beatles Book is a milestone from the early days of Nonesuch Records.  It began as a marketing concept-cum-youthful prank: How about writing Baroque-era arrangements of the Fab Four’s Top 40 hits,as if Lennon & McCartney were contemporaries of Bach & Handel? Beatlemania and the Baroque were both in fashion with theirrespective audiences, and the disc became a crossover hit at the height of the 1965 holiday season. But The Baroque Beatles Book was no mere novelty item. Over the years it has gained downright legendary status among Beatles fans, classical enthusiasts and those who have followed the remarkable evolution of the Nonesuch label. Newsweek declared the collection “inspired”; the Boston Globe called it “brilliant.”

The Royale Beatleworks Musique, MBE 1963
   Overture: I Want to Hold Your Hand and "You're Gonna Lose that Girl" – 6:00
    Réjouissance: I'll Cry Instead – 1:50
    La Paix: Things We Said Today – 2:02
    L'Amour s'en cachant: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away & Les Plaisirs: Ticket to Ride – 4:24

Epstein Variations, MBE 69A
    Hold Me Tight – 4:15

"Last Night I Said", Cantata for the Third Sunday after the Shea Stadium, MBE 58,000
    Chorus: "Last Night I Said" (Please Please Me) – 5:22
    Tenor (Helpentenor)Recitative: "In they came jorking" & Aria: "When I Was Younger" (Help!) – 5:31
    Chorale: "You know, if you break my heart" (I'll Be Back) – 1:40

Trio Sonata, Das Kaferlein, MBE 004 1/4
    Grave-Allegro-Grave: Eight Days a Week – 2:27
    Quodlibet: She Loves You/Thank You Girl/Hard Day's Night – 1:12



 


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