The John Harle Collection
John Harle (saxophone)
Much of the material had never been released before now, and spans his entire, eclectic career, from film to jazz to classical to avant garde, and includes several of his own compositions. It’s...
The John Harle Collection
John Harle (saxophone)
Purchase product
Much of the material had never been released before now, and spans his entire, eclectic career, from film to jazz to classical to avant garde, and includes several of his own compositions. It’s...
About
John Harle and Sospiro Records will donate all the proceeds they receive from the sale of The John Harle Collection (digital albums/singles and the CD box set) to the Help Musicians Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund Phase 2.
The Coronavirus lockdown has been a challenging time for many artists. Most have learned to embrace new technology and profess to have made use of their time creatively. However, few can make claim to producing an astonishing twenty-album collection in just 5 months, but composer, saxophonist, record producer and educator John Harle, did just that.
John Harle needs no introduction. With such a jaw-droppingly prolific biography it’s almost easier to say what he hasn’t done, than what he has. He’s released so many albums that he’s lost count (well over 80) and has written music covering a gamut of genres including opera, modern jazz, saxophone concertos, film scores, classical music and even lounge. He’s been musical director and producer for a raft of big names including Elvis Costello, Marc Almond, Herbie Hancock and Sir Harrison Birtwistle, and was artistic advisor and producer to Sir Paul McCartney for six years. He’s also responsible for the theme to BBC1’s Silent Witness, which is still being used after 20 years.
The John Harle Collection is a 20-volume set of music that straddles his illustrious career from 1977 - 2016 spanning multiple musical disciplines - as both player and composer - in classical, jazz and pop with an array of collaborators. The collection has been tirelessly curated by Harle himself. It is deeply personal and has become what he refers to as something of a “sonic autobiography”.
Since the beginning of his career, Harle has collected recordings of all his live and studio perfor- mances. So, sifting through hundreds of recordings on multitrack analogue tape, 1/4-inch analogue - even cassette - alongside digital formats such as DAT, DA8 and old WAVs, to compile a 20 CD col- lection proved a monumental challenge, but one that he’s risen to with gusto. Most, but not all, of the material is unreleased; some new, some vintage, some studio, some live - a sort of ‘alternative discography’.
As Harle explains, “Abandoned strands of music are actually the most autobiographical for most musicians - pieces or demos left unfinished that leave traces of ideas and themes that occupy us for a lifetime, and reappear in successful work when the time is right. “
Contents and tracklist
CD 1: Samba Triste / Sultry Sunset (Live) / Star-Crossed Lovers (Live / Night Waltz / Barcelona / You Must Meet My Wife / In a Sentimental Mood / Sonata Movement 1 (Live) / Children’s Songs 1 / Children’s Songs 2 / Children’s Songs 3
CD 2: Laura / Cavatina / ‘Round Midnight / Anyone Home / I’ll Remember April / Gymnopedie 1 / Gymnopedie 2 / Gymnopedie 3 / Lush Life / Taxi Driver
CD 3: Concerto Movements 1-2 Introduzione-Allegro (Live) / Concerto Movement 3 (Live) / Concerto Movement 4 (Live) / Lost and Found / Taxi Driver A Night Piece (Live) / Saxo-Rhapsody (Live) / Ballad (Live) / Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Trumpet Movement 1 Allegro burlesco (Live) / Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Trumpet Movement 2 Adagio (Live) / Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Trumpet Movement 3 Vivacissimo (Live)
CD 4: Sonata Movement 1 Allegro (Live) / Sonata Movement 2 Allegretto (Live) / Sonata Movement 3 Allegretto-Presto (Live) / Sonate Movement 1 Allegro (Live) / Sonate Movement 2 (Live) / Sonate Movement 3 Allegro Moderato (Live) / Sequenza IXb (Live) / In a Hall of Mirrors (Live) / Improvisation 1 (Live) / Sonata Movement 1 With Vigor (Live) / Sonnet (Live) / Backings (Live) / Pan (Live)
CD 5: Histoire du Tango Movement 1 Bordel 1900 (Live) / Histoire du Tango Movement 2 Café 1930 (Live) / Histoire du Tango Movement 3 Nightclub 1960 (Live) / Histoire du Tango Movement 4 Concert d’Aujourd’hui (Live) / Acordeon de Roto Corazan (Live) / Quatour Movement 1 Allegro non troppo (Live) / Quatour Movement 2 Andante poco largo (Live) / Quatour Movement 3 Allegro energico (Live) / Threepenny Opera Movement 1 Ouverture (Live) / Threepenny Opera Movement 2 Tango-Ballade (Live) / Threepenny Opera Movement 3 Polly’s Song (Live) / Threepenny Opera Movement 4 The Ballad of The Good Life-The Ballad of Mac the Knife-Choral (Live) / Nuages (Live)
CD 6: The Emperor Quartet Movement 1 (Live) / Quatour Movement 1 Gaguenardise (Live) / Quatour Movement 2 Cantilene (Live) / Quatour Movement 3 Serenade Comique (Live) / Foursquare (Live) / Quatour Movement 1 Allegro non troppo (Live) / Quatour Movement 2 Andante poco largo (Live) / Quatour Movement 3 Allegro energico (Live) / Fridiof Kennings (Live) / Five Melodies for Four Saxophones Doubling Seven More (Live)
CD 7: Diversions Movement 1 Gusty (Live) / Diversions Movement 2 Blowing Blue (Live) / Diversions Movement 3 Sea Breeze (Live) / Cache-Cache (Live) / Quatour Movement 1 Ouverture Brilliante (Live) / Quatour Movement 2 Doloroso (Live) / Quatour Movement 3 Spirituoso (Live) / Quatour Movement 3 Andante and Presto (Live) / Quatour Movement 1 Gaguenardise (Live) / Quatour Movement 2 Cantilene (Live) / Quatour Movement 3 Serenade Comique (Live) / Consortium (Live) / Weep No More (Live) / Flying Birds (Live) / Quartet Movement 1 Allegro Moderato (Live) / Quartet Movement 2 Scherzo - Allegro Moderato (Live) / Quartet Movement 3 Adagio Molto (Live) / Quartet Movement 4 Alla Marcia, con spirito (Live) / Quartet Movement 1 Conversation (Live) / Quartet Movement 2 Meditation (Live) / Quartet Movement 3 Soliloque (Live) / The Poacher (Live)
CD 8: Vespers (Live) / Sederunt (Live) / The Saxophone Mass (Live) / Tre Pezzi No. 1 (Live) / The Train (Live) / Saron Cadora (Live) / La Santa Espina (Live) / The Moscow Express (Live) / Coltrane (Live) / The Status Quo (Live)
CD 9: Procession / Frank and Alice Go Boating / The Interludes / Alice’s Party / Leviathan (Live) / The Death of Dr Schoen / Memory and Imagination / Veruschka / Three Secrets from the Abyss No 1 With quiet simplicity but intense introspection / Three Secrets from the Abyss No 2 With quiet simplicity but unutterable sadness / Three Secrets from the Abyss No 3 With quiet simplicity but profound longing / Arcadia - Invocation Procession and Meditation / Arcadia - Evolution and Dedication
CD 10: Black Bottom / Berlin Tango / The Stock Exchange Song / The Love Market / Berlinermusik / Baby In Der Bar (Extracts) / The Ballad of Marie Sanders / Four Hollywood Elegies / To Those Born Later / Lonely House
CD 11: Shipbuilding (Live) / Spring-Heeled Jack / No-one To Say Goodnight To / Flow My Teares (Live) / My Fair Lady / Without Love (Live) / Angel Eyes / The Vampire of Highgate / The Rocky Road (Live)
CD 12: Las Vegas Tango (Live) / Alice’s Party (Live) / Children’s Songs (Live) / Landscaper (Live) / Cornfield / Me Old China / London Blues / Coming Out / Surf Boy / Elegy for Trane (Live) / Swing Theory
CD 13: Silent Witness Theme - Danny L Harle Remix / Higher Love / God Looking for a Good Time / Keys / Henmania / Countdown Machine for Prepared Pianos and Electronics / Innocent (after Francis Bacon’s Study after Velazquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X) / Foaming at the Mouth / Electric Ethnology / The Little Death Machine for Saxophone Quartet and Tape
CD 14: Silent Witness Theme (Silencium) / The Bicycle of Marcel Duchamp / Beverley Hills / Vaudeville Boy / Bedlam Blonde / Summer in the Forest / A Man and a Woman / Hockney / Fresh Flowers/ Time Is Not An Illusion / Odyssey / The Shadow of your Smile / Theme from Mame / Pandora’s Box (Charleston) / Pandora’s Box (The Death of Dr Schoen) / Entracte / Find Your Heart / The Grand Canyon/The Bradford Bomb / Judas / The Thames Barrier / Titan / The Scrabble Game
CD 15: The Disposition of the Rooms / The Stele of all the Measures / Garches / Refrains / The Power of Limits / Ikon / Hermes / Sinfonia Jubilate / Kingdom / Wings / Orpheus / Legion / Marcha del Circo / Three Musicians / Mandolin and Guitar / Pulcinella / Voyager (Live) / Moccasin Trail
CD 16: Byrd on a Bryre / The Three Ravens / The Three Ravens / Syrinx (Live) / Main Diable La / Chanterai pour mon Courage / The Limits of Knowledge / Flow my Teares (Live) / Three Folksongs from the County of Csik (Live) / Tales from the Nursery / You must get a Tune First (Live) / Georgie (Live) / Dancing Doll (Live) / The Pretty Ploughboy (Live) / The Black Velvet Band (Live) / Outdoor Polka (Live)
CD 17: The Gypsy Piper / Durham Jail / Jamie’s Lament / Hey Up and Away / Cumcleugh Ghyll / The Sound of Deep Waters / The Gypsy Piper 2 / The Sound of Deep Waters (Reprise) / The Black Act / Away Boys Away / Fetch The Man Away / The River is Dark / Hawthorn / The Ballad of Jamie Allan
CD 18: The Jet-Set / Club Taboo / Havana Girl / Special Blend / Intel / Touching Velvet / Sidecar / Arm in Arm / The Bicycle of Marcel Duchamp / The Stereo Lounge / Club Class / Hanky Panky / Chavvy Cha-Cha / Costa del Crime / Mister Gimlet / Coming Out / Cornfield / London Blues / Swing Theory
CD 19: Flying / Chase The Train / Sputnik / When That I Was And A Little Tiny Boy / Condor / Prophet of God / Matthew’s Song / The Modular / Instinct / Flying - Mile-High Club Mix / Rising Light / Pinocolada
CD 20: The Golden Demon Episode 1 / The Golden Demon Episode 2 / The Golden Demon Episode 3 / The Golden Demon Episode 4 / The Golden Demon Episode 5
Awards and reviews
16th October 2020
Much of the material had never been released before now, and spans his entire, eclectic career, from film to jazz to classical to avant garde, and includes several of his own compositions. It’s a phenomenal overview of music – from Berio and Birtwistle to Elvis Costello and Goldfrapp plus countless more – heard through the free imagination of this virtuosic saxophone player.
