Jethro Tull announce 'The String Quartets' album to coincide with Australian tour

A massive treat for Jethro Tull fans and classical aficionados alike, Jethro Tull The String Quartets is an album of classic Jethro Tull repertoire, imaginatively arranged for Classical string quartet with the flute, guitar and vocals of songwriter and producer Ian Anderson, it will be released March 24, just in time for the April 2017 Australian tour.

For some time, Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull frontman and virtuoso flautist) and John O’Hara (keyboard player with Tull and Anderson) had discussed the prospect of a specially conceived album of classic Jethro Tull repertoire orchestrated for a string quartet. Ian & John first saw the Carducci Quartet at the London Symphony Orchestra’s LSO St Luke’s and, mesmerised by the group’s symbiotic relationship which results in their playing as one single musical organism, Ian invited them to take part in the recording.

Ian, who is no stranger to working with orchestras, says: “John and I have worked on various orchestrations and performed many orchestral concerts over the last fifteen years. So, a couple of years ago, I came up with the idea of recording a dedicated string quartet album in a contemporary but “Classical” setting with brief appearances from myself. I felt that there were some songs rather special to me which featured the string quartet such as A Christmas Song, Reasons For Waiting and Wond’ring Aloud. These were my first experiences of working with a quartet. John came up with a few suggestions of his own which presented challenges. All had an intimacy and presence which I looked forward to recapturing in the cosy and very personal space of my office desk where I did the overdubs.”

About his approach to the orchestration, John explains, “There seemed little point in transcribing the band parts and distributing them to the players. I felt a responsibility to delve deeper and offer a new imagining of each piece. An orchestrator’s job is to arrange and compose a new version of an existing work. However, I also felt a responsibility to the Jethro Tull listeners who cherish this material and may not welcome a radical rendition of a beloved song. My ambition was to create a thought-provoking album that remains true to Ian’s compositions.”

Ian concludes, “It has really been a lot of fun to work on this project. The Carducci Quartet provided a spirited and committed performance, without which all would have been futile. And, I only had to pay for lunch once as they brought sandwiches. Bless.”

After poring over the entire Tull catalogue, Ian & John decided on the following selection of songs. Different from the original recordings, Ian has given some new cryptic titles.

ETHRO TULL THE STRING QUARTETS TRACKLISTING

In The Past (Living In The Past – from ‘Stand Up’ 1969)
Sossity Waiting (Sossity: You’re a Woman/Reasons For Waiting – from ‘Stand Up/Benefit’ 1969/70)
Bungle (Bungle In The Jungle – from ‘Warchild’ 1974)
We Used To Bach (We Used to Know/Bach Prelude C Major – from ‘Stand Up’ 1969)
Farm, The Fourway (Farm On The Freeway – from ‘Crest of A Knave’ 1987)
Songs and Horses (Songs From The Wood/Heavy Horses – 1977/78)
Only The Giving (Wond’ring Aloud – from ‘Aqualung’ 1971)
Loco (Locomotive Breath – from ‘Aqualung’ 1971)
Pass The Bottle (A Christmas Song – from ‘Living In The Past’ 1971)
Velvet Green (Velvet Green – from ‘Songs From The Wood’ 1977)
Ring Out These Bells (Ring Out, Solstice Bells – from ‘Songs From The Wood’ 1977)
Aquafugue (Aqualung – from ‘Aqualung’ 1971)