This Exercise requires some personal backstory, as recalled by Jarle:
«A little over ten years ago, in January 2014, there was quite a bit of frighteningly real drama in the Panzerpappa camp.
After a great year in 2013, highlighted by our performance at the prestigious RIO Festival in Carmaux, France, we met at a weekly rehearsal to discuss future plans and play some tunes. Suddenly, our beloved drummer Trond became pale, and his energy dropped. Concerned about his condition, we decided to end the rehearsal early, a rare occurrence for us. We were worried, of course, but not prepared for what followed.
On his way home, Trond called Tone, his wife at the time, who insisted that he go to the ER immediately. From that point, things moved quickly. According to the doctors, Trond had been dangerously close to a heart attack and was not allowed to go home. Instead, he was rushed through the healthcare system, and two days later, he was in Ullevaal Hospital, prepped for heart surgery.
It was a standard procedure with high chances of success and full recovery, but I remember living in a constant haze immediately after the surgery, sick with worry about Trond and (yes, I admit it) the future of the band. We were eagerly awaiting Trond’s recovery so he could accept visitors. We were allowed to see him a little later, on a bone-chillingly cold day in early February 2014.
We entered the room and found him in a hospital gown, wrapped in sheets, with his head on a pillow and connected to various medical machines; despite looking every bit as pale as he had on that seminal rehearsal two weeks before, he still wore his characteristic smile. We instinctively knew that everything would be ok – Trond would live, fully recover, and this band and fellowship, so massively important to all of us, would continue to exist.
Naturally, Trond had to take a break from drumming for several months. We decided to book a band trip later in the autumn when he was fully recovered to attend the Lindsay Cooper tribute concert at the Barbican in London. Retrospectively referred to as Trond’s “Back To Life”-tour, the London excursion proved to be one of those key moments in life for all of us.
After a day of exploring London’s pub life, we headed to the Barbican on Saturday afternoon. Personally, I can’t remember being so pumped up over a concert EVER in my life. Henry Cow is my “desert island” band. If I were ever stranded in some remote corner of the Pacific Ocean, I would probably manage quite well if I could bring the entire Henry Cow discography with me.
Not to dwell on too much detail, the concert was THE most incredible live music experience of my life up to that point. We got it all: Henry Cow classics, Oh Moscow, excerpts from Rags, Gold Diggers, and other film music, and quite a few songs from News From Babel, which were among the concert’s highlights. And they were all there: Cutler, Frith, Hodgkinson, Greaves, Krause, Minton, Potter, Parkins, Berckmans… Only Wyatt was missing, as expected, but we could not help but hope a little…
After the finale of Oh Moscow, the band took its bow and left the stage. It was one of those rare moments where life is just perfect. After a trip to a local bar, we headed back to the hotel, bought crates of beers from the nearest corner store, and Trond was allowed to play Close To The Edge on a small Bluetooth speaker as many times as he wanted :-)»
Exercise #72 – Epenthesis commemorates this experience. Jarle wrote it in a style similar to News From Babel, even including (in a subtle way) references to a couple of their classic songs towards the end of the piece. The main theme of the exercises is used, and similar to the phonological phenomenon of “epenthesis,” a note has been added between every pair of notes in the original theme, resulting in a very different character. However, the original melodic pattern remains intact.
The harp was essential to invoke the sound of News From Babel, and we were fortunate to have Birgitte Volan Håvik, the incredible harpist from the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, record the harp part. Panzerpappa appreciate her dedication and outstanding performance! We also want to give an honorable mention to Steinar, who did an impressive job covering a variety of woodwinds (oboe, bassoon, and saxes). Last but not least, the incomparable Wenche Losnegård contributed beautiful vocals. We are forever grateful!
The lyrics, Marxist Cutler-style, are written by Jarle, in the spirit of Raymond Queneau. Enjoy!
Panzerpappa 