Wiki
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Release Date
August 1975
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Length
4 tracks
Renaissance - Scheherazade and Other Stories (1975)
Scheherazade and Other Stories is a 1975 album by progressive rock band Renaissance. It has often been considered their overall best album. This album marked the first time that Renaissance (Annie Haslam's version) did not use quotes from actual classical pieces in their songs. Song of Scheherazade is based on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, including numerous recurring motifs that are from or allude to the work, most notably the beginning six notes.
Information about the album:
There has been some confusion over just where the sections of Song of Scheherazade begin and end. This was caused by the fact that "Fanfare" and "The Betrayal" together sound like a single section, while "Festival Preparations" has two distinct parts of its own (4:00 and 1:11 in length). This confusion was reflected in the packaging and labels of original LP copies of this album, and in the mistitling of "Festival Preparations" (part 1) as "The Young Prince and Princess" on the 1990 Tales Of 1001 Nights, Volume I compilation.
Also, as has been admitted by the administrators of the official Renaissance site, Northern Lights, it is difficult to assign exact composing credits to the individual sections since the composers clearly borrowed themes from each other. For example, based on the official credits (which differ slightly between the actual album package and the official Renaissance site), a particular melodic phrase ends up being attributed to both Dunford ("The Sultan") and Tout ("Fugue for the Sultan"); and lyricist Betty Thatcher is, for some reason, not credited for her lyrics on "Finale" (which are repeated from "The Sultan").
Trip to the Fair was about Annie Haslam's first date with Roy Wood.
Ocean Gypsy has since been covered by Blackmore's Night.
Track listing:
1. "Trip to the Fair" (Dunford-Thatcher-Tout) - 10:51
2. "The Vultures Fly High" (Dunford-Thatcher) - 3:04
3. "Ocean Gypsy" (Dunford-Thatcher) - 7:05
4. "Song of Scheherazade" (Camp-Dunford-Thatcher-Tout) - 24:39
1. i. Fanfare - :38 (instrumental)
2. ii. The Betrayal - 2:05 (instrumental)
3. iii. The Sultan - 4:45
4. iv. Love Theme - 2:42 (instrumental)
5. v. The Young Prince and Princess as told by Scheherazade - 2:29
6. vi. Festival Preparations - 5:11 (instrumental)
7. vii. Fugue for the Sultan - 2:10 (instrumental)
8. viii. The Festival - 2:10
9. ix. Finale - 2:29
Personnel
* Annie Haslam - lead & backing vocals
* Jon Camp - bass, bass pedals, backing vocals, lead vocal on "The Sultan"
* Michael Dunford - acoustic guitars, backing vocals
* John Tout - keyboards, backing vocals
* Terence Sullivan - drums, percussion, backing vocals
orchestral arrangements: Tony Cox
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