Music Inspired by Watership Down
Encyclopedia
Music Inspired by Watership Down is a progressive rock
album by Swedish musician
Bo Hansson
. The album is Hansson's fourth solo album and is, as its name suggests, built around musical ideas inspired by Richard Adams
' heroic fantasy
novel Watership Down
. It was the second album of Hansson's to have been based on a novel; his first solo album, Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings
, had likewise been based on J. R. R. Tolkien
's The Lord of the Rings
. Hansson had already composed and released a musical suite
inspired by Watership Down on his previous album Attic Thoughts
. However, beyond its title, the Music Inspired by Watership Down album contains few overt references to the novel and instead features excerpts from the works of various poets, such as John Keats
and Alexander Pope
.
Music Inspired by Watership Down was originally released in Sweden as El-Ahrairah by YTF Records in 1977. This title was taken directly from the pages of Watership Down, with El-Ahrairah being the name of a trickster, folk hero-deity rabbit, known as "The Prince with a Thousand Enemies". The album was subsequently released with its English title by Charisma Records
in the United Kingdom and Sire Records
in the United States, but it failed to chart on either side of the Atlantic. Music Inspired by Watership Down was reissued on CD in 2004 by Virgin Records
.
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
album by Swedish musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
Bo Hansson
Bo Hansson
Bo Hansson was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental albums released in the 1970s.-Early life and musical career:...
. The album is Hansson's fourth solo album and is, as its name suggests, built around musical ideas inspired by Richard Adams
Richard Adams
Richard Adams was a non-conforming English Presbyterian divine, known as author of sermons and other theological writings.-Life:...
' heroic fantasy
Heroic fantasy
Heroic fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy which chronicles the tales of heroes in imaginary lands. Unlike stories of sword and sorcery, heroic fantasy narratives tend to be intricate in plot, often involving many peoples, nations and lands. Grand battles and the fate of the world are common themes,...
novel Watership Down
Watership Down
Watership Down is a classic heroic fantasy novel, written by English author Richard Adams, about a small group of rabbits. Although the animals in the story live in their natural environment, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language , proverbs, poetry, and mythology...
. It was the second album of Hansson's to have been based on a novel; his first solo album, Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings
Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings (Bo Hansson album)
Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings is an instrumental progressive rock album by Swedish musician Bo Hansson. As its title suggests, it is a concept album based on author J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings...
, had likewise been based on J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. Hansson had already composed and released a musical suite
Suite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
inspired by Watership Down on his previous album Attic Thoughts
Attic Thoughts
Attic Thoughts is an instrumental progressive rock album by Swedish musician Bo Hansson. The album was recorded during 1974 and 1975 at Studio Decibel in Stockholm, and at Hansson's home, which had virtually become a studio by this point in his career...
. However, beyond its title, the Music Inspired by Watership Down album contains few overt references to the novel and instead features excerpts from the works of various poets, such as John Keats
John Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
and Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
.
Music Inspired by Watership Down was originally released in Sweden as El-Ahrairah by YTF Records in 1977. This title was taken directly from the pages of Watership Down, with El-Ahrairah being the name of a trickster, folk hero-deity rabbit, known as "The Prince with a Thousand Enemies". The album was subsequently released with its English title by Charisma Records
Charisma Records
Charisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
in the United Kingdom and Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
in the United States, but it failed to chart on either side of the Atlantic. Music Inspired by Watership Down was reissued on CD in 2004 by Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
.
Side 1
- "Born in the Gentle South" (Bo Hansson, Kenny HåkanssonKenny HåkanssonKenny Håkansson is the bassist of the highly influential Swedish rock & roll band the Hellacopters. The Hellacopters were founded by Håkansson's childhood friend Nicke Andersson as a side project to his role as a drummer in the heavy metal band Entombed, considered to be founders of death 'n'...
) – 16:35 - "Allegro for a Rescue" – 1:23
Side 2
- "Legend and Light" (Bo Hansson, Kenny Håkansson) – 3:39
- "Trial and Adversity" – 4:10
- "The Twice - Victory" – 8:14
- "The Kingdom Brightly Smiles" – 1:24
2004 CD reissue bonus track
- "Migration Suite" [live studio recording] (Bo Hansson, Kenny Håkansson) – 11:38
Personnel
- Bo HanssonBo HanssonBo Hansson was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental albums released in the 1970s.-Early life and musical career:...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all.... - Kenny HåkanssonKenny HåkanssonKenny Håkansson is the bassist of the highly influential Swedish rock & roll band the Hellacopters. The Hellacopters were founded by Håkansson's childhood friend Nicke Andersson as a side project to his role as a drummer in the heavy metal band Entombed, considered to be founders of death 'n'...
- guitar, bass guitar - Bo Skoglund - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, maracas - Göran Lagerberg - bass guitar
- Tomas Netzler - bass guitar
- Sten Bergman - fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
- Torbjörn Ekman - wooden flute
- Fredrik Norén - drums
- Pontus Olsson - piano, engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...