When I was a kid in the early 80's, my father used to play an LP that
I really liked, and I'm trying to find the song name and author.  The
piece in question is "classical" in the sense that the song is "glued
together" by orchestral music, but the primary focus of the song is
"found recordings".  So for instance, there are recordings of fire
engines, airplanes, "strip-tease" music, an atom bomb, speeches by
Franklin Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler, and the whole piece is bookended
by a group of men reciting the Lord's Prayer.  Since there is a atom
bomb in the piece, it would have to have been recorded sometime after
1945, and I remember hearing it certainly before 1985.  Beyond that, I
have no idea what year it would have been released.  Does this sound
familiar to anybody?       Thanks!       - jw

---

Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 24 May 2006 00:23 PDT

I have located the name of the song and artist, and the name of the
original composer. However, I have not been able to locate this
particular version of the recording.

Would the information I do have interest you as an answer to your question?

Best regards, 
Rainbow

Hi JW,

The piece you remember is called "Parade", which was originally
composed by Erik Satie and later performed by the Camarata
Contemporary Chamber Orchestra.

"...the remainder of the the LP is taken up by an unacceptable
performance of Parade by a group described as "Camarata and
Instrumentalists." Moreover Camarata have added to the special
effects. Satie intended various natural sounds to be laminated on to
his score (a typewriter, a pistol shot, a siren.) Camarata's cavalier
arrangement has gone one better in interpolating the atom bomb, a jet
plane, crowd noises, including a chorus reciting The Lord's Prayer,
night-club strippers' music, and even the voice of Hitler! The
performance of the music itself is somewhat labored and this cannot be
taken seriously as an authentic version."


"In its version of Parade, Camarata has updated the special efffects
(which Satie intended to be laminated on to the score); besides the
authentic pistol-shot, typewriter and siren, he has added a jet plane,
crowd noises, plus a chorus reciting the Lord's Prayer, night-club
strippers' music, the voice of Hitler, and even the atom bomb!  The
performance of the music itself is labored. Of novelty value only."

http://hem.passagen.se/satie/db/rev/electronic.htm


From Satie Home Page & News Group: 
" am looking to find a recording by the Cammarata String Orchestra in
>which they perform a version of "Parade" in which there are audio
>samples of the H bomb explosion, hitler's speeches, typewriters, winston
>churchill. Do you know of which I speak, and if so do you know where I
>can find a copy..."

"The title of the album you're looking for is "The Music of Erik Satie:
Through a Looking Glass" by the Camarata Contemporary Chamber Orchestra."

http://www.af.lu.se/~fogwall/141.html


"The LP you want is:

'The Music of Erik Satie: Through a Looking Glass'
Camarata Contemporary Chamber Orchestra
Gymnopédies 1, Deux Préludes Posthumes (arr. Poulenc), Gnossiennes, Le
fils des étoiles, Sarabandes, Camarata: Through a Looking Glass,
Parade - Ballet Réaliste.
1971, London 414 083-1 / Deram #DES 18052
Sadly, it has not been issued on CD."

http://www.af.lu.se/~fogwall/satie/21.1.html


I located this LP on ebay with 3 days left for bidding:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4884255841&category=306&fkxs=1



You might also like to contact these people who seem to have a copy:
http://people.zeelandnet.nl/mkrecords/listb2_d.htm

How to Order:
http://people.zeelandnet.nl/mkrecords/listterm.htm


====================


Search strategy:
I searched Google using various combinations of keywords, however, the
words that led me in the right direction were:
music "John Cage" "atom bomb" "the Lord's Prayer"

after finding your inquiry in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk_archive/Humanities/April_2006#Name_and.2For_author_of_a_classical_music_piece


I hope the information provided is helpful. If you have any questions
regarding my answer, or believe this is not the recording you are
looking for, please don?t hesitate to ask for further assistance
before rating.

Best regards,
Rainbow

Thanks Rainbow  --  that is indeed the piece.  I'll have to learn to
trust my memory a bit better:  I had thought it was Erik Satie, but
since he died in 1925, and there was an atom bomb in the recording, I
had ruled him out as an option.  Didn't occur to me that someone else
would re-work his music.