The St. Roger's Passion: A Pink Floyd Oratorio

An oratorio scenario inspired by Pink Floyd.
by Paul J. Pelkonen 
(with apologies to Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason)

Lo there is no dark side of the moon. Art by Paul Klee, Hipgnosis and Gerald Scarfe.
Dark Side of the Moon symbol © 1973 EMI Records

So today I was talking to a friend who is singing at the Kennedy Center tonight. She referred to it as singing "at the KC". I said, "Oh, you're singing King Crimson?" because I'm a smartass.

She said, "no the Kennedy Center. I'm singing about sheep."

It is to her I'd like to dedicate this little holiday offering, a completely made up outline for

Ten Decidedly Non-Classical Albums....

that I really like. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Detail from the cover of Relayer by Yes because it's a cool album cover.
Painting by Roger Dean. Album art © 1974 the artist/Atlantic Records.

I was working on an article on my ten favorite symphonic/orchestral recordings but got stuck on it. So to shake the cobwebs and freshen up the blog, I thought I'd share with you a list of my ten favorite rock, hard rock and progressive rock albums. This list is always subject to change and is presented in chronological order. And it's not an all-time "top ten" or anything, just some recommended listening for when you need a break from Beethoven and Shostakovich.

Putting Ideas Together VI: "I'm Sorry, Dave."

When Pink Floyd's Echoes meets 2001: A Space Odyssey.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The members of Pink Floyd (l.-r. Roger Waters, Nick Mason,
David Gilmour, Rick Wright) meet their new friend HAL 9000.
Image of HAL 9000 © 1969 Turner Pictures. Image of Pink Floyd © 1971 EMI Records.
Photoshop by the author.

Classical music aficionados and science fiction geeks alike know that Stanley Kubrick's seminal film 2001: A Space Odyssey features a whole slew of great music, from the opening use of Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra to Johann Strauss' Blue Danube. Later scenes feature Atmospheres by iconoclastic Hungarian composer Gyorgi Ligeti.


Movie geeks know that if you watch The Wizard of Oz with the sound off while listening to Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, weird things are supposed to happen. But what is the result when you combine the grand final act of 2001 with Pink Floyd? 

Putting Ideas Together II

Ed. Note: Sometimes, a cow is just a cow.

Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd from the album of the same title.
Written and performed by Pink Floyd. © 1971 EMI/Harvest.