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n the latest episode of the Echoes podcast, host John Diliberto talks with multi instrumentalists Daniel Holdsworth and Aidan Roberts about their two man performances of Tubular Bells For Two.
Composer Mike Oldfield played over a dozen instruments on his signature work. With Tubular Bells For Two, Holdsworth and Roberts have taken on the challenge of playing it live, with no backing tracks or computers.
Here’s a video preview of their arrangement:
You can listen to the interview via the embed below, or subscribe to the podcast at the Echoes site.
You can find tour dates for Tubular Bells For Two at the duo’s site.
Inspired insanity – I love it!
I’m quite impressed to see just two players take on what amounts to a massive classical work. Its much more impressive to my ear than simpler covers. I’m a serious Oldfield appreciator, as his work is part of how I came to understand the bridge between classical and rock done right. If you want to hear what I see as his ultimate work, listen to “Amarok.” It not only includes aspects of everything I’ve previously liked about his compositions, but it features a couple of hilarious moments to boot. Its an hour long and not a minute goes spare for want of good muscle. Hats off to these guys for tackling such a complex work and pulling it off like champs. After all, a set of real tubular bells is a great distance from a NanoPad. I’d have some in the den if I could afford them. 😀
Big Oldfield fan here, too. My fave is still Ommadawn, but he’s done a lot of great stuff!
Sites down…
I saw this in Brisbane last year; highly recommended if it comes into your town. I was impressed that all the kit held up… there was just one bit I think where they couldn’t a part to loop, Daniel shrugged at Aidan (errr, or vice versa…), but they continued on regardless… still sounded great to my ears!
I saw their first U. S. show last week. They were jet-lagged and had just discovered that some of their equipment wasn’t working properly with their power converters. They quickly learned their way around a few borrowed pieces of equipment and put on an impressive show!