The Baroque Beatles Book, Rediscovered and Edited by Joshua Rifkin cond. the Baroque Ensemble of the Merseyside Kammermusikgesellschaft (All songs by LENNON & McCARTNEY) – Nonesuch 517948-2, 35:30 *****:
What a kick to have this delightful release from 1965 at hand again on CD. If the entire project of arranging Beatles’ tunes in Baroque orchestral style sounds to you like a Peter Schickele project, you would be not that far from the truth. He was the original choice of Nonesuch producers Mark Abramson and Jac Holzman, but had other commitments at the time. They wanted to take advantage right away of the current explosion of public interest in both the Beatles and in Baroque music, and to get it on the market before anyone else came up with the same idea. Later there was a series of other albums of popular music given the Baroque treatment, but none as much fun as The Baroque Beatles Book.
Young and inexperienced Joshua Rifkin may have been a second choice to put this idea together, but he did a terrific job of it which still is most enjoyable to hear. He even wrote a “dedicatory letter” to go with the score, in the style of the kow-towing missives composers like Bach and Mozart were forced to write to royalty from whom they wanted a position or good word about their compositions. His apologizes profusely for his delay in completing the music, due to the “difficulties of caring for a family of 31 children.”
There are four separate “works” here: The Royale Beatleworks Musicke, which uses Baroque settings of five Beatles tunes: I Want to Hold Your Hand, I’ll Cry Instead, Things We Said Today, You’re Got to Hide Your Love Away, and Ticket to Ride. The Epstein Variations – named after the group’s manager – is mostly variations on Hold Me Tight for harpsichord. Last Night I Said is a “cantata for the third Saturday after Shea Stadium” – a parody of all the Bach cantatas for specific religious holidays. Three other Beatles tunes are heard in this chorale work. The lyrics for They Came Jorking come from a Dadaesque poem by John Lennon and prove just perfect for a tenor’s recitative. Then there’s an aria on When I Was Younger and a final chorale to wrap up the cantata on You Know, If You Break My Heart. The last piece is an instrumental Trio Sonata titled Das Käferlein, using the tunes Eight Days a Week, She Loves You, Thank You Girl, and closes with A Hard Day’s Night. This may not be an original instruments ensemble but all the proper Baroque styles and cliches are here in spades. Bravo Rifkin, Nonesuch and all concerned!
– John Sunier
