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Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] OT: Gloria Patri

From: Mike Dickson <mike.dickson@gmail.com>
Date: 2011-01-11

Hi there Berrington -

On 11/01/2011 16:49, Berington Van Campen wrote:
 

Beautiful work, Mike!  As usual!  yes, please add another fan to your list, a long one, I'm sure! 
 
I was fired up to see Tallis's name.  If you're a Tallis lover, you may know a gorgeous piece by Ralph Von Williams called "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis."  An amazing, kind of melancholy feel to start, switching easily between minor and major elements. In early '80s, I was hired by Oscar-winner producer Saul Bass to reproduce the first 3 or so mins. of it on keyboards; he wanted to hear if it could be done w/out orchestra. So with M-400 #1485, a Memory-Moog synth, Mini-Moog & a small Roland M-101 synth, I recorded to 8-track tape(!). Sounded pretty decent. In 1983, he wanted "Neptune" from Holst's "The Planets" as part of my score for his film "Quest." HUGE challenge! LOTS of Mellotron; in fact, the main titles were just a MiniMoog bass pulse, with Mellotron solo flute, flanged 3-violins & a bit of 8-choir over it. Very simple... some fun pitch-bending, too, that a flute would never do. 
 
Wonderful work, Mike! Thank you for posting it!
 
Here's a YouTube performance of the Tallis Fantasia, for you all to enjoy. Fine piece!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y7nJL1hpUU


You must have been living under a rock. :-)

I recorded an album called 'mellotronworks' which a Mellotron-only take on some of the better-known classical works. The last track on the album 'proper' is....RVW's 'Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis'.

You can find it here. For nothing:

http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/mellotronworks/fantasia.html

The rest of the album features

  • Mars, The Bringer of War (Holst)
  • Adagio in G minor (Albinoni/Giazotto)
  • Adagio for Strings (Barber)
  • Air on The G String (JS Bach)
  • Canon in D major (Pachelbel)

and bonus tracks

  • Also Sprach Zarathustra (Strauss)
  • Nimrod (Enigma 9) (Elgar)
  • Sheep May Safely Graze (JS Bach)
  • Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven)
  • Hallelujah Chorus (Handel)
The whole album is here:

http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/mellotronworks

Enjoy it!

-- Mike Dickson, EdinburghFree Music Project: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/ Or http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+Dickson Or http://soundcloud.com/mikedicksonOr http://www.planetmellotron.com/revd4.htm#mikedickson Or http://www.myspace.com/mellotronworks