Love-Hounds-request@EDDIE.MIT.EDU.UUCP (12/03/86)
Really-From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU Jim, why would IED object to such a project? Proceed with his blessing -- the way IED sees it, the nadir of KT covers was reached years ago with "Pat Benatar"'s "Wuthering Heights". How could you guys do any worse? (This is a rhetorical question.) Andrew Marvick's penultimate attempt to learn the origins of Kate's re-recording of the choral music from Nosferatu has produced an inconclusive result. (Those L-Hs with good memories and a respectable amount of fanaKTicism in their blood will recall IED's mid-October claim that he would know the truth about this bit of music within one month, and so that they may remove themselves from their tenterhooks, he has decided to explain the situation.) The movie itself gives no clear information about the passage. IED therefore tracked down the addresses of Messrs. Michael Berkeley and Richard Hickox, respectively the orchestral arranger and chorus master on Kate's "Hello Earth" track. I asked them for whatever particulars they could give concerning the music, hoping that one or the other would know what the lyrics of the choral passage meant, and any other details about the recording process. Yesterday I received the following letter from Michael Berkeley, accompanied by a photo-copy of the four-part score that Kate and he used for the recording. Dear Mr. Marvick, Thank you for your letter of October 10th. I'm very glad that you enjoy Kate's work since I too have always thought it highly individual. You're right in thinking that a lot of care went into recording the chorus on Hello Earth and Kate was as exacting in her very precise requirements as any great conductor I have known (and I've known a few). Every nuance and dynamic had to be just right. We began with an original chorus by me in the style of the Nosferatu music but it soon became clear that Kate was wedded to the Nosferatu sound almost note for note so, after exhaustive attempts to ascertain that the music was not in copyright, I notated the music and then adapted it so that it would fit harmonically. Like you, I've been unable to pin down exactly where the music originates from but I came to the conclusion that it was a chant probably of Russian or greek Orthodox ancestry and almost certainly sung by monks or priests. I'm sorry not to be able to be more precise and if you ever find out more yourself I will be fascinated to hear about it. Meanwhile, if I can find my copy of the chorus as I wrote it, I will include it for you or send it later. Yours sincerely, Michael Berkeley IED has yet to receive a reply from Mr. Hickox, but remains hopeful. "Experiment IV" is now out domestically and in the stores in both 7" and 12" versions. No changes seem to have been made from the UK version, except that a small photo of the Whole Story LP appears on both the 7" and the 12" back covers.