{"id":462,"date":"2009-05-19T17:18:34","date_gmt":"2009-05-19T21:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=462"},"modified":"2011-10-10T23:50:18","modified_gmt":"2011-10-11T03:50:18","slug":"getting-a-kick-out-of-arrangements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=462","title":{"rendered":"Getting a Kick Out of Arrangements"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Andy Hertz<\/p>\n

I was listening to an album that I purchased the other day: Sinatra Reprise: The Very Good Years<\/em>. It’s a compilation of Sinatra’s Reprise<\/em> hits including “I Get a Kick out of You” from the musical Anything Goes<\/em> by Cole Porter. This arrangement is by Neal Hefti. I wrote a paper on this album in college, and I remembered the idiosyncrasies I identified in Hefti’s arrangement: syncopated rhythmic hits, extremely low trombone notes, lots of “wah-wahs” on the trumpets, call and response between the brass and reeds, etc.<\/p>\n

I don’t remember analyzing these idiosyncrasies towards one single conclusion, though. The conclusion is obvious to me now: The orchestration was intended to be humorous. It’s entirely based around the word “kick.” It’s difficult to write music without lyrics that gets laughs (cries are much easier). I’m interested in other examples of “funny” art music. Haydn’s music is apparently full of laughs (most famously Symphony No. 94 – the “Surprise Symphony.”)<\/p>\n

Listen to a Sinatra clip at: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Sinatra-Reprise-Very-Good-Years\/dp\/B000002LOI<\/a><\/p>\n


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