B&T: What would you tell a customer in a music store or library that would encourage them to pick up Pete Townshend’s Classic Quadrophenia?
Pete: This is a modern opera, or cantata – the story is one that we have all lived through. It will connect because the story is so simple. It’s about a few very difficult days in the life of a young person. We’ve all been there. What is unusual in this case perhaps is that the hero’s difficulty becomes a conduit for an explosion of passion, sexual frustration, anger and awkward love. My music seems to be especially good at expressing all this, and The Who band members were great at performing it. Audiences respond according to their ability (or need) to reconnect with this part of their growing up. Or, they might simply look back sadly or fondly to the way they got through it all. In literature there are many examples of this kind of inconclusive story. Catcher in the Rye is maybe the most well-known. This orchestral version unlocks an entire range of new shades in this tale of teenage struggle.
B&T: How difficult was it to re-imagine this brilliant piece of work from its initial demo form to The Who’s studio recordings, then to the theatrical movie, live performances and finally to a classical treatment?
Pete: The first phase, from demo songs to The Who recordings was a huge undertaking. It involved the creation of two special studios because I hoped it would be a quadrophonic release. I wrote about this process in the sleeve notes of my Director’s Cut release a few years ago. I didn’t have very much to do with the movie, John Entwistle was the music director. This version was easy for me because my partner Rachel Fuller accepted the commission to orchestrate.
B&T: The Guardian quoted you as saying you wanted to “leave a legacy of orchestral arrangements of all of your work…” Was the idea for full symphonic orchestration with operatic voices there from the moment you started writing the music originally, or was this an idea that has developed over the years?
Pete: That’s correct. I am keen to make sure that my most serious compositions are properly archived, and where appropriate or necessary, notated (scored) in an accurate way. I want to make sure that musicians in the future can access scores, and adapt them to various purposes, so that the music will continue to be played into the future. And, of course, what I want is for it to be played live in front of living audiences.
I want the scores to enable performance from the top down as-it-were: a full symphony orchestra with choir at the top, right down to simply piano-vocal charts so that if a music teacher at a school wanted to get students to perform any of my operas they could. Starting with full orchestral scores is a big project, especially as I can’t read music. (I can write it, using computers, but I have never been trained).
This is something I’ve come to tackle as I got older. When I was young I fought quite hard to make sure that all Who recordings were “pure,” with no outside session musicians.
B&T: Would the young musician Pete appreciate Classic Quadrophenia?
Pete: I think, like most young music fans, I may have found the operatic style of singing on Classic Quadrophenia to be a block. I really hope that fans of rock and pop will be able to break through that prejudice via this album, and it might lead them to other opera and classical work where there are singers.
B&T: At what age were you influenced to become musician, and did it center on a certain song or defining event?
Pete: I wanted first to be a journalist. My father was a very fine musician, and I never imagined I could have a life in music the way he did. He read music, and often did classical sessions for the BBC, as well play in the dance orchestra - that was his main job. I drifted into music because of an enthusiasm for early rock ‘n’ roll, especially Bill Haley. I got a guitar (a pretty bad one) and then sat and learned how to play it. My father was helpful in that he tuned it for me a few times.
B&T: What makes a song strong enough to be appealing in both a rock treatment and classical arrangement?
Pete: I can tell you about The Who. Right the way through this project, I have been amazed at how Who music (and some of my own writing) lends itself to orchestral performance. Probably all music would sound wonderful played by a good orchestra. But there are a number of reasons why Who music lends itself. Keith Moon’s style of drumming was almost orchestral - more about decoration, flourishes and celebration than just keeping a beat. Who bassist John Entwistle was classically trained on trumpet and French Horn, so his work – especially on The Who’s Quadrophenia – encompassed a complete set of brass instruments, and he made his own arrangements. By the time The Who came to record the original album, Roger’s singing was probably at its peak, and he pulled out all the stops to make the words come alive. I was also adept at using analogue synthesizers, especially for orchestral emulation (having used them extensively on Who’s Next).
B&T: Do you have any favorite classical pieces of work? Were any of them influential on the realization of Classic Quadrophenia?
Pete: I listen to a lot of orchestral work. Some of it influenced The Who’s Quadrophenia. You can hear obvious Wagnerian parody when I want Jimmy to be both grandiose and paranoid. You can hear Purcell (always influential to me), but in this orchestral version you can hear wonderful music that might suit a ballet. It has a very ‘”English” style to it, there are echoes of Constant Lambert, William Walton, Rutter and Elgar. John Rutter is a great favourite of Rachel’s
B&T: Did you arrange the music yourself?
Pete: I merely watched and listened as Rachel produced her own demos, using a studio that Hans Zimmer had helped her build. She had an assistant, Martin Batchelar, who was the member of a choir, and he helped with that. He is also a drummer so he helped with the very important percussion. We did not use a rock drummer on this recording. I occasionally made comments, and asked for changes, but pretty much everything rolled out in the most wonderful way.
B&T: How much control did you maintain over the conductor and musicians in the recording of this work?
Pete: None whatsoever. I once asked the lead string players in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to play the fiddle part in “Love Reign O’er Me” with more of a lilt, but that was the only comment I made. They were masterful right from the beginning.
B&T: During the recording process, were you able to detach yourself from the music, hearing what the Royal Philharmonic was producing from these new orchestrations instead of hearing your original arrangements in your head, and, if so, did you have any “goose bump” moments during the recording?
Pete: There were certainly goose bumps. The most wonderful surprise was seeing the way orchestral musicians threw themselves into playing this music. The last orchestral sessions I had done had been a while back, and so much has changed now for orchestras. They are challenged all the time, not only by the demands of the usual repertoire like Brahms, Beethoven and Wagner, but also by complex and highly rhythmic and explosive film scores written by the likes of Hans Zimmer. So they only needed a few takes to get the music right. Indeed, it sounded right the first time.
“Love Reign O’er Me” is one of my best songs, and this really shines in this context. But some of the most anarchic songs like “Dr. Jimmy,” and “I’ve Had Enough,” also leap from the speakers.
B&T: What advice would you have for another artist who is considering reinterpreting their music via orchestra?
Pete: Find a great collaborator. I was so lucky with Rachel because we are life partners, and she is talented and works so quickly, and was so careful to honour what I’d composed rather than try to “improve” it.
B&T: How was Alfie Boe chosen as vocalist?
Pete: Alfie was a friend of Roger Daltrey, but when he was recommended to us by Mark Wilkinson the President of Deutsche Grammophon, I had never heard of him. He is a wonderful young man, full of energy and passion, but is a serious operatic tenor. He does an incredible job of bringing the hero Jimmy to life.
B&T: Will the performances of this work come to the U.S.?
Pete: There are some very exciting concerts already scheduled, and some touring prospects are already being discussed.
Baker & Taylor thanks Pete Townshend for his vast musical contributions and for taking the time to thoughtfully respond to questions around his important new release, Pete Townshend’s Classic Quadrophenia, available June 9 via Universal Music Group.
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