Michael Jackson reported to have been planning classical music recording
UPDATE: Reached David Michael Frank after posting this. He described the material that Michael Jackson asked him to orchestrate as closer to "pretty film score music" than anything fully classical. See extensive interview with Frank here.
Here's an unexpected (at least to me) bit of news about the late, much-lamented Michael Jackson.
In a recent Guardian article, David Michael Frank, a Baltimore-born composer who studied at Peabody and has been based in California since the late 1970s, says that Jackson was interested in writing classical music and had started on some pieces. Frank, who has composed for several films and TV shows, was recently asked to help with the orchestration.
An intriguing story. Perhaps Jackson ...
felt the same sort of urge to spread his musical wings into the world of classical, or concert, music that has inspired Paul McCartney, Billy Joel and Elvis Costello (to name a few) over the years.
Pop artists don't necessarily succeed in a different genre; classical artists aren't necessarily able to do pop, either. But it's always interesting to see someone try to switch gears, to achieve something substantive in a field where they don't usually roam.
A pity that Jackson's apparent dream could not be fulfilled. Maybe enough material will turn up in his estate to generate a recording of what he had in mind.
BALTIMORE SUN FILE PHOTO
Comments
This is an interesting (but ultimately inconsequential) story. The fact that he would have arrived at "classical" composition late in life may have given him some potential, but I highly doubt it: his strengths were clearly singing and dancing to his own songwriting. While he had some staggeringly-high points in his recording & performing output, his work and life were otherwise riddled with enough weirdness (or allegations thereof) to practically relegate him to the curio cabinet. He was an extraordinary, tragic genius-personality (his upbringing clearly did substantial psychological damage), and I'm sorry to say that he never reached what could have been his full potential -- artistically, at least!
While I can admire and enjoy his work (I was never a "fan," but his best stuff paralleled my formative years), I would have to stop short of saying that it is "lovable." I think a great deal of his public appeal right now lies in sentimental glances backward.
Posted by: Doug Halfen | July 8, 2009 9:09 PM
It is a very great pity! I am sure it would have been beautiful with his high, flute-like voice. Let's hope they make a recording of the memorial service. Although many of the singers were so upset they coul hardly get adequate breath underneath of their tones...it was all beautiful and sincere and worth having a copy of...
Posted by: jenny | July 9, 2009 9:58 AM
Whatever he was planning would be of importance. This human being was a part of the fabric of people's lives from 1968-2009 ALL OVER THE WORLD! To say that anything he was involved in would be inconsequential...? I cannot relate to such thinking. Open your heart man!
Posted by: Christian Lalov | July 9, 2009 6:44 PM
I've heard several of his interviews and did you know that he listened primarily to Classical music in his home? That and Janet, which is too cute. He described being inspired by Tchaikovsky when writing Thriller, particularly using the Nutcracker Suite an an example bc each piece within it was a "killer," there was no placeholder album-fluff song like most pop artists do in their albums. He often referred to classical composers when decribing his influences and inspirations and composing style. I've read that a lot of the tracks for this classical work he had in mind were actually already recorded by him as demos using just his voice as the instruments as a rough draft to get the sounds out there as he conceived them. I bet it's brilliant. Most of the percussion starting with Thriller and on through the rest was ripped almost exactly as he created it using beat box rough draft recording like this. Such a loss. RIP, MJ.
Thanks for your comments. TIM
Posted by: LeeWad | July 10, 2009 7:37 PM