#2501: “Rock Me Amadeus,” part 1

New Sounds | May 24, 2010

On this edition of New Sounds, listen to the first of a three-part series “Rock Me Amadeus.” Hear from the unclassifiable cult musician Pascal Comelade, who has worked with PJ Harvey and Robert Wyatt, among others, in his long career as a non-musician who reclaims the subversive, iconoclastic and ironic spirit of the “avant-garde” Expect something prog-rockish perhaps with toy instruments, as the Frenchman sets to music a letter from Mozart to his young cousin. Mozart and his music are also treated rudely by German electronic pioneer Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream), American computer music wiz Carl Stone, and French world music producer Hughes Courson. Plus, composer/bassist Edgar Meyer bases his double concerto for himself and Yo Yo Ma on an earlier Mozart double concerto.

ARTIST(S)	RECORDING	CUT(S)	SOURCE
Falco	Falco 3	Rock Me Amadeus, (Salieri Mix) excerpt [1:30]	A & M #15105 LP (reissued on CD as a German import., but beware, the “Salieri mix” is not on this reissue - it's the German radio edit. Try to find the US release, thru Available for purchase at Amazon.com*
Hughes De Courson et al	Mozart L’Egyptien	Yaman Hawa / Thamos, King of Egypt [5:00] Symphonie Egyptienne #25 [6:30]	Virgin Classics #71727. French import CD. Available online from Amazon France, www.amazon.fr
Pascal Comelade	Sentimientos	Lettres de Mozart a sa petite cousine [1:30]	Dys #05 LP. Long out of print. Although this piece isn’t on the release, there is a Pascal Comelade compilation 1975-1983, called “Back to Schizo” available at Musea Records
Edgar Froese	Stuntman	Drunken Mozart In The Desert [9:00]	Virgin #V-2139 LP (re-recorded in 2005 and available at www.edgarfroese.com)
Cho-Liang Lin, Jaime Laredo, et al	Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante K. 364 / Concertone, K. 190	Sinfonia Concertante, 3rd movement, excerpt [2:30]	Sony Classical #47639** www.sonyclassical.com*
Edgar Meyer	Meyer / Bottesini Concertos	Double Concerto, 3rd movement [7:00]	Sony Classical #60956 www.sonyclassical.com*
Carl Stone	Four Pieces	Sonali, excerpt [5:00]	EAM Discs #201 www.sukothai.com*
Falco	Miracle Hits	Rock Me Amadeus [3:22]	Medalist #30967. Probably out of print already. Try any number of other ‘80’s compilations.
Various artists: Bela Fleck	A Different Mozart	Rondo, Sonata in A [2:00]	Imaginary Road /Phillips #534065 Available at Amazon.com*

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