Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck has certainly broken more boundaries than any other picker in recent memory, from his early days performing bluegrass-inspired folk compositions on Rounder in the late '70s to his quirky jazz freak-outs with the Flecktones throughout the '90s. In late 2001, this peculiar innovator released an album of banjo interpretations of classical works by Bach, Chopin, and Scarlatti. Before classical purists roll their eyes, they must remember that the banjo hasn't always been seen as the instrument of choice of backwoods musicians in the Appalachian mountains, but as recently as the 1940s was used as a primary rhythm instrument in all manner of parlor music. That being said, Perpetual Motion is a bright and unique take on several well-known classical pieces (Moonlight Sonata, Bach's Cello Suite No. 1) as well as a number of interpretations of Bach's two-part and three-part inventions. These light and brief inventions act as buffers between the longer, more dramatic pieces, but end up serving as some of the highlights of the album. With Fleck often accompanied by Evelyn Glennie on marimba and Appalachia Waltz musicians Joshua Bell and Edgar Meyer on violin and bass, these short, delicate pieces weave in and out of the album, proving that the banjo can be seen in a different light altogether. Fleck's picking is uniquely unparalleled in that he can so easily dip his feet into so many different genres with an instrument that is so quickly pigeonholed. The album drifts easily into the background, which is not necessarily a detraction but, knowing the fire that Fleck can unleash from his fingertips, it would have been nice to have a few more impassioned numbers on the album. The closest the ensemble comes to really making some noise is the final track, Paganini's Moto Perpetuo (arranged in a bluegrass style), which is not necessarily more forceful, but is certainly faster and louder.
© TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From £10.83/month
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Chris Thile, Mandolin - DOMENICO SCARLATTI (1685-1757), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Evelyn Glennie, Marimba - JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Gary Hoffman, Acoustic Cello - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918), Composer - Joshua Bell, Violin
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Frédéric Chopin, Composer - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - John Williams, Guitar - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer
(P) 2001 Sony Music Entertainment
Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Frédéric Chopin, Composer - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Gary Hoffman, Acoustic Cello - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Frédéric Chopin, Composer - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Joshua Bell, Violin
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Edgar Meyer, Bass - JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750), Composer - Chris Thile, Mandolin
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Edgar Meyer, Piano - PETER TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Johannes Brahms (1883-1897), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Evelyn Glennie, Marimba - JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Evelyn Glennie, Marimba - JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750), Composer - Joshua Bell, Violin
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Edgar Meyer, Piano - NICOLÓ PAGANINI (1782-1840), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Chris Thile, Mandolin - DOMENICO SCARLATTI (1685-1757), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Edgar Meyer, Bass - JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Gary Hoffman, Acoustic Cello - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Edgar Meyer, Bass - Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Evelyn Glennie, Marimba - JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - John Williams, Guitar - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827), Composer
(P) 2001 Sony Music Entertainment
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - Edgar Meyer, Bass - JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750), Composer - Joshua Bell, Violin
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Béla Fleck, Co-Producer - Béla Fleck, Banjo - Béla Fleck, Arranger - Béla Fleck, Performer - Béla Fleck, Adaptor - James Bryan Sutton, Guitar - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Arranger - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Adaptor - Edgar Meyer, Co-Producer - NICOLÓ PAGANINI (1782-1840), Composer
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Album review
Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck has certainly broken more boundaries than any other picker in recent memory, from his early days performing bluegrass-inspired folk compositions on Rounder in the late '70s to his quirky jazz freak-outs with the Flecktones throughout the '90s. In late 2001, this peculiar innovator released an album of banjo interpretations of classical works by Bach, Chopin, and Scarlatti. Before classical purists roll their eyes, they must remember that the banjo hasn't always been seen as the instrument of choice of backwoods musicians in the Appalachian mountains, but as recently as the 1940s was used as a primary rhythm instrument in all manner of parlor music. That being said, Perpetual Motion is a bright and unique take on several well-known classical pieces (Moonlight Sonata, Bach's Cello Suite No. 1) as well as a number of interpretations of Bach's two-part and three-part inventions. These light and brief inventions act as buffers between the longer, more dramatic pieces, but end up serving as some of the highlights of the album. With Fleck often accompanied by Evelyn Glennie on marimba and Appalachia Waltz musicians Joshua Bell and Edgar Meyer on violin and bass, these short, delicate pieces weave in and out of the album, proving that the banjo can be seen in a different light altogether. Fleck's picking is uniquely unparalleled in that he can so easily dip his feet into so many different genres with an instrument that is so quickly pigeonholed. The album drifts easily into the background, which is not necessarily a detraction but, knowing the fire that Fleck can unleash from his fingertips, it would have been nice to have a few more impassioned numbers on the album. The closest the ensemble comes to really making some noise is the final track, Paganini's Moto Perpetuo (arranged in a bluegrass style), which is not necessarily more forceful, but is certainly faster and louder.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 20 track(s)
- Total length: 00:56:18
- Main artists: Béla Fleck
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Sony Classical
- Genre: Classical
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.