At age 10, I remember listening to my neighbor’s parent’s Simon & Garfunkel albums,“Bridge Over Troubled Water” and "Simon and Garfunkel Greatest Hits." We sang “Cecilia and Homeword Bound” over and over again. As a child, I loved the harmony and the stories told in the music and to this day I gravitate toward artists that have poetic lyrics and that harmonize. This 1960’s duo was truly a magical musical union that fit together like no other. They produced songs that lasted the test of time or the kind that when played, you just start to sing along. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra POPS –Sounds of Simon & Garfunkel–with guests, AJ Swearingen and Jonathan Beedle, and under the direction of guest conductor, Michael Krajewski, brought back that magical sound enriched with Pittsburgh's first class symphony orchestra.
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| AJ Sweringen and Jonathan Beedle in Pittsburgh |
Reflection
I have enjoyed the POPS’ mastery of combining the sounds of the symphony orchestra
with different genres of music (see Day 196 and Day 142 ). I have not
experienced the mix with rock or in this case, folk/rock. The symphony opened with a musical melody of
Simon and Garfunkel songs as a prologue of what we would hear. The conductor was witty and injected humor and some musical history thoughout the show. I did not know that Simon and Garfunkel both attended the same elementary school and high school and
that their sound was influenced by the music of the Everly Brothers.
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| POPS home- beautiful Heinz Hall |
Aj Swearingen with his guitar captured the baritone sound of Simon
and Jonathan Beedle reproduced the high
notes and harmonies of Garfunkel. They were a
perfect match and just like in Day 201-Brit Floyd, when you closed your eyes you were transported
back to their concert in the l960’s. With the full symphony orchestra and the poetic songs, I sat back,
relaxed and sang along with, “Homeward
Bound, Feelin’ Groovy, and I am a Rock.” The symphony rhythms
and brass gave “Cecilia” and “Keep the Customer Satisfied
” a powerful punch. The talent of Swearingen and Beedle was even more apparent during the acoustic “The Sounds of Silence.”
(Swearingen and Beedle Tribute listen here)
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| Na Na Na sing along with conductor Michael Krajewski |
The first half of the show ended with a clever and humorous audience sing along orchestrated by the conductor. The audience participated by singing the words “Na Na Na,” to each of three songs that used these words like “Hey Jude”
(Beetles).
The show continued
with an orchestra medley of Paul Simon hits.
I recognized, “Kodachrome,
Love You Like a Rock, and Crazy After All These Years.” The symphonic highlight
was the beautiful arrangement of “All I Know” a Garfunkel hit. The
spot on duo was back for more and the audience broke into applause during the start of “Scarborough Fair” (done acoustically
) and "Bridge Over Trouble Water.”
My blog inspiration, Little
Golden Books, remind us that, “all you need is a little magic in your life!”
That is just what the POPS gave us with this show and the magical harmonies of
Simon and Garfunkel. I am keeping this
POP season in my survival tool box.
( Don’t miss the last shows of 2016-17 Season: Neil Sedaka, Neil and Louis, All That Jazz, and Music of John Williams and/or the ones coming in the 2017-18 season)
Other Sources
POPS 2017-18 season https://www.pittsburghsymphony.org/pso_home/web/subscribe-pops-17-18
Pittsburgh Symphony https://www.pittsburghsymphony.org/calendar
Homeward Bound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by2ccW91mGg
America (Simon and Garfunkel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz4mDqy0FQ0