Wurtemberg - Rock Fantasia Opus 9 (1980)

El Mago Alberto nos trae un disco prometido y muy buscado, además de casi inconseguible. Hablo del disco debut de la banda francesa Wurtemberg, un diso que me parece delicioso pero bueno, no todos opinan igual, ahora vos podès sacar tus propias opiniones, que al fin de cuenta son las únicas que vale. Personalmente lo considero un gran trabajo, y para escucharlo tienen el video.

Artista: Wurtemberg

Álbum: Rock Fantasia Opus 9
Año: 1980
Género: Prog Folk / Progresivo sinfónico
Duración: 37:45
Nacionalidad: Francia

Lista de Temas:
1. Rock-opus 7
2. Sous-Titre
3. Berceuse Gratinee
4. Prefixe et Danse
5. Allemandes
6. Concerto Pour un Minot
7. Invitation
8. Rock-opus 1
9. Cantate 147
10. Extrait

Alineación:
- Alain Carbonaire / organs & piano, acoustic guitar, lyre, bass-tenor psaltery
- Bernard Maitre / synthesizers, dulcimer, xylophone
- Gilles Michault-Bonnet / flute & saxophone
- Michel Richard / electric guitar, soprano psaltery
- Alain Demeusy / bass (of Iris)
- Jean-Pierre Garbin / drums (ex-Ange)
- Jean-Marie Hausser / drums

Acá vamos con otra preciada joyita del blog cabezón traída por el Mago, un grupo muy particular que coloca un fuerte énfasis en los arreglos sofisticados y las bellas y potentes melodías, con partes agradables de guitarra acústica y auténticos instrumentos de cuerda medievales, creados por el líder de la banda.
La música de "Rock Fantasia Opus 9" es una fusión particular entre música clásica, música renacentista, folk francês y rock progressivo casi por partes iguales. Muchas veces es música calma y relajada, con una gran cantidad de cuerdas y piano, y contiene otras secciones màs pomposas y opulentas. Agradará mucho a los cabezones que gusten de bandas Clearlight, Gryphon, After Crying o Minimun Vital (creo que varias de ésas bandas aún no las hemos traído al blog). Un complemento esencial para cualquier colección de música sinfônica francesa.
Pero vamos con el comentario del Mago que es lo que vale.

Como lo prometido es deuda vengo a saldar una, este material lo vienen pidiendo en varias partes, otros blogs, foros, etc. y créanme lo tenia subido hace como un año pero siempre faltaba reseñarlo.
Proyecto del inquieto músico francés Alain Carbonare, quien además es luthier, y se encarga de crear y diseñar sus propios instrumentos y también fabricar aquellos que en la edad media supieron de su auge, muchacho por demás creativo, y este trabajo es una muestra de ello.
Por alguna extraña razón este disco lo vienen pidiendo por todas partes y hoy esta en el blog cabezon que siempre rompe un poco con aquellas estructuras de lo inconseguible.
Proyecto que como dije en la reseña de Kaipa tiene casi en exclusiva esa mixtura del progre con el clásico, cosa que lo hace muy agradable al oído, con sonidos muy naturales y no muy comunes de escuchar en este tipo de mezclas, y si lo googleamos vamos a leer críticas encontradas, cosa que lo hace más interesante todavía.
Así que más de uno se va a poner contento con este posteo, disco para poner de fondo y dejar que madure al oído, no es de muy larga duración pero es una muestra clara de buenas intenciones musicales.

Mago Alberto

Aquí les dejo los comentarios en inglés, verán que las opiniones son encontradas...

Delicated and enjoyable, a very fine instrumental album. Imagine the ancient musical style from the first GRYPHON album blended with the elegant CLEARLIGHT progressive music, and you have some idea about WURTEMBERG. This is a short album plenty of pearls, and not exactly in the "folk prog" category but with many folk and classical elements. A delight to refined ears.

Marcelo Matusevich

These guys have been compared to groups like In Spe and After Crying, which is what got me interested in them. Also, multi- instrumentalist and ‘band’ leader Alan Carbonaire apparently makes his own instruments – also interesting.
But this album has a number of troublesome aspects to it that kept me from really being able to enjoy it much. True, the piano, keyboards and brass put them somewhat into the After Crying arena. But these guys have nowhere near the charisma or emotive appeal of that band. Also this is a really short album, and even with the additional snippets of Beethoven and Bach at the end still barely manages to exceed EP size. This is also not a real band as near as I can tell, since they appear to have been put together just to record this album, and when Carbonaire laid down the two bonus tracks a couple years later the lineup had changed.
Finally, despite the prominent featuring of psaltery, dulcimer and other instrumentation on the cover and artwork, the most predominant sounds on the album come mostly from piano and flute. Not really breaking any new ground there.
I have to say my first impression on listening to this album was that Mr. Carbonaire had packaged together a little sampler of music featuring the type of (if not the actual) instruments he produces, as some kind of promotional effort. After repeated playing my opinion on that hasn’t really changed much.
This was apparently some sort of cult hit in Japan in the early eighties, and more power to them I suppose. But I can’t imagine this music making too deep of inroads into the more traditional progressive music camps, and I have a hard time understanding why this is considered folk music as well. Seems that a piano, flute and occasional pretentious nod can get the folk label slapped on nearly anyone. In the case of this group and this album, it is not a warranted designation.
Technically this is a well-played album. If that’s all you look for in your music and are any kind of progressive music fan who isn’t limited to only metal or jazz or some other narrow genre, then you’ll more than likely enjoy this music. But if you listen for emotional commitment and connection, you won’t find it here. For those reasons I think two stars is the best this gets as a prog album, despite the considerable skills of the individual players. Not particularly recommended.

Bob Moore

Wurtemberg is basically a rock band trying to make a middle age, acoustic folk music and the result is very astonishing and perfectly relevant. The leader of this French musical "tribe", Alain Carbonaire is a multi -instrumentalist who successes here to make us sensitive to a large range of acoustic, traditional instruments of the middle age, renaissance period. Each composition offers a very pleasant mood, alternating different musical evocations from the past. However in spite of bringing so many acoustic elements the work is dominated by a rather basic rock structure (sometimes old dated) just as if the enchanting, dancing flute lines try to raise the music to a higher level. The omnipresence of the piano gives a "neo classical", "symphonic" touch to the ensemble. Not bad at all!! A real must for lovers of Malicorne and others.

Philippe

WURTEMBERG is the musical project of instrument-maker Alain CARBONARE. If you don't know this name, he is best known internationally for the making and playing of his own "traditional" style instruments, the dulcimer, psaltery, lyre, among others. The group places a heavy emphasis on sophisticated arrangements, as nice parts on acoustic guitar and authentic medieval stringed instruments.
The music on "Rock Fantasia Opus 9", only CD of this French band, is totally instrumental fusing classical, renaissance music, French folk and progressive rock. The music is calm and breezy, with a lot of air between the strings and piano. For fans of bands such as CLEARLIGHT, GRYPHON, early AFTER CRYING, MALICORNE, and MINIMUM VITAL. An essential addition to any collection of French symphonic music. GOOD STUFF, so don't miss it!
Wurtemberg is basically a rock band trying to make a middle age, acoustic folk music and the result is very astonishing and perfectly relevant. The leader of this French musical "tribe", Alain Carbonaire is a multi -instrumentalist who successes here to make us sensitive to a large range of acoustic, traditional instruments of the middle age, renaissance period. Each composition offers a very pleasant mood, alternating different musical evocations from the past. However in spite of bringing so many acoustic elements the work is dominated by a rather basic rock structure (sometimes old dated) just as if the enchanting, dancing flute lines try to raise the music to a higher level. The omnipresence of the piano gives a "neo classical", "symphonic" touch to the ensemble. Not bad at all!! A real must for lovers of Malicorne and others.

Drago Museveni

Wurtemberg were a chamber rock ensemble of an extremely high caliber, fusing classical, renaissance music, French folk and progressive rock into relatively unique and satisfying amalgamation. Subdued, and not particularly "rock" at all, the group places a heavy emphasis on sophisticated arrangements, as piano, woodwinds, acoustic guitar and authentic medieval stringed instruments dominate the proceedings. The album is astoundingly beautiful at times, as on the stately opener "Rockopus 7", or the jaunty, flute-led melodies of "Prefixe et Danse - Faites L'Humour", while restrained and perhaps a bit overly-reverential at others. The melody and forward momentum of "Concerto Pour un Minout" is quite simply gorgeous, featuring interlocked flute and guitar theme that soars higher and higher. My one criticism comes towards the end. The two bonus tracks, "Jesus Que Ma Joie Demeure - Cantate 147" and "Neuvieme Symphonie - Extraint", renditions of pieces by Bach and Beethoven respectively, were recorded by Alain Carbonere with different musicians in 1986...
Nonetheless, it would be an understatement to say that this reissue of Rock Fantasia Opus 9 is a hotly anticipated and totally necessary item. The album proper is uniformly excellent. Fans of early After Crying, classic Popol Vuh and Malicorne will undoubtedly find much to love here, and the album ultimately comes as a essential addition to any collection of French symphonic music

Greg Northrup

The debut Wurtemberg album, "Rock Fantasia Opus 9", was released on LP in 1980. However, it was never released on CD until now. The band's second album, entitled "Rock Fantasia Opus 10", was recorded in 1986, but it was never released in any form. This obscure album will for the first time see the light of day on the forthcoming CD by Musea Records. By the way, three instruments, manufactured by Alain Carbonaire, are represented on the CD booklet's cover. From left to right, these are a giant dulcimer, a giant lyre, and a giant psaltery. The latter is an ancient stringed instrument with a very unique sound. Finally, Wurtembergs were dukes who came to France from the Germanic Holy Roman Empire in the XV century.
The Album. Stylistically, seven out of the ten tracks that are presented on this album are of a unified stylistic concept, though the album's opening track and both the renditions of the works of Bach and Beethoven (and both of them are the album's closing tracks) must be described separately. Both Cantate & Extrait (9 &10) are, of course, about a pure Classical Music. Performed by Alain Carbonaire himself, these pieces are filled with lushly orchestrated arrangements from the first to the last note. While listening to them, I had the impression that I am hearing a real string orchestra. In addition, one of the old instruments, constructed by Alain, is heard in the beginning of Cantate, while Extrait contains also the parts of orchestral drum. Rock-opus 7 (1) features the complete set of instruments that were used on this album and, in that way, has a very rich sound. The contents of the first track on "Rock Fantasia" can be defined as Classical Music performed with Rock and medieval instruments. There are too few repetitions on Rock-opus 7, as well as on all the other pieces of a classical character. Diverse, masterful, and always contrasting interplay between continuously changeable passages of piano and synthesizer and solos of flute, sax, bass guitar, lyre, dulcimer, and xylophone, often accompanied by truly unique sounds of psaltery, are the main performing features of Rock-opus 7. Despite the absence of drums, it is simply impossible not to notice there the regular use of complex odd measures and, all the more, kaleidoscopic changes of tempo, tone, and mood. All four of the remaining representatives of the album's predominant stylistics, Sous-Titre, Berceuse Gratinee, Allemandes, & Invitation (2, 3, 5, & 7), are certainly about Classical Music as well, which, however, sounds like it was composed and performed in the Middle Ages. Apart from the solos of flute and passages of classical guitar, the parts of lyre, psaltery, and dulcimer are heard throughout each of these tracks. Three of them entirely consist of acoustic structures. Only Allemandes features, in addition, a short episode where the solos of flute interplay with those of bass and passages of synthesizer. Though, overall, this piece has probably the most distinct medieval feel to it. These four are probably the most original and unique pieces of Classical Music that I've heard from Rock musicians. Concerto Pour un Minot and Rock-opus 1 (6 & 8) were performed without ancient instruments. For both of them is typical the alternation of hard-edged arrangements of Classic Symphonic Art-Rock and those that are about Classical Music. The fast and virtuosi solos of organ, piano, and bass guitar are the hallmarks of the Art-Rock constituents of both of the said compositions, though, of course, the parts of guitar, synthesizers, and drums, all of which are excellent, are featured there as well. The arrangements that are in the vein of Classical Music consist mostly of varied interplay between solos of flute and xylophone and passages of piano and string ensemble. Finally, Prefixe et Danse (4) is a Classic Symphonic Art-Rock piece, which was performed with Rock and semi-Rock instruments, such as a piano and flute, almost exclusively. There is also the presence of the lyre and Church Organ, but they appear on it only once. It also needs to be said that only a few compositions on the album are either of light or dramatic character, while most of them bring to the listener different moods - or, to be more precise, a mixed mood.
Summary. Wurtemberg's "Rock Fantasia Opus 9" is by all means a brilliant album. Furthermore, IMHO, it's a real classic for the future. It's absolutely on par with Gryphon's "Red Queen" (though, of course, compositionally, etc, etc, both of these masterpieces can hardly be compared to each other). I really wonder why, unlike many of the merely good albums (like those by Isopoda, for instance), such a gem was not released on CD until now. Let's look forward for the release of the second album by the band.

Progressor

Para que lo disfruten en el fin de semana largo...