Concerto for Turntables & Orchestra

File this one under the "I'm not sure if this is working but its an interesting idea" category - DJ Yoda & Gabriel Prokofiev (grandson of Sergei) joined forces in 2006 to create their 'Concerto for Turntables & Orchestra'. Having found the album in an old CD collection, I was keen to know more - and Gabriel has provided that on his website (extracts below) - and there was indeed a follow up in 2016, as well as a number of Proms appearances. It's an unusual fusion of high brow music vs the sounds of the streets, and while I'm all for new ideas, sometimes the rules are there for a reason...  

When Will Dutta first approached me with the idea of composing a 'concerto' for DJ, my immediate reaction was negative. Though I had composed a classical piece which incorporated a DJ for the Bath Festival one year earlier (Three Dances for Bass Clarinet, String Trio & DJ, 2004), the idea of an actual DJ concerto sounded too grandiose and gimmicky to me: I was concerned it would seem like another PR exercise in trying to make modern classical music 'cool' and 'trendy', but Mr Dutta insisted that there was serious artistic potential to the project and as it was inevitable that a concerto for turntable would emerge sooner or a later; why not let us be the team to do it right. Will explained that we would have the highly skilled turntablist, DJ Yoda as the soloist, and once I properly considered the musical possibilities of such a project, I soon found myself sketching out different concepts for each of the movements, and was keen to get started.

What makes the turntable different to any other instrument is that it uses pre-recorded sounds, but that is actually nothing new to classical music. From the Musique Concrète of Pierre Schaeffer's studios and the Poème électronique of Varèse in the 1950s, which used reel to reel tape, through to the current digital world of electroacoustic music; classical composers were manipulating recorded sounds long before Grandmaster Flash made his first scratch using a record. However, once hip-hop culture discovered that a DJ can do so much more than just 'play records' with a turntable, their DIY approach led to the evolution of a very exciting new instrument. That instrument has somehow stayed within the world of hip-hop and dance, never venturing into the classical world, despite the incredible expressive potential it has. Having previously composed and studied electroacoustic music, I am aware of the search for more expressive ways of performing electronic music, as unfortunately many concerts just consist of the playback of DAT tape or CD. So could it be possible that this instrument, that first came to life at Block Parties in the Bronx, bring that expressivity?

But, seeing as it was developed for hip-hop music, would it work in the context of a classical form such as a concerto? Well, hip-hop music has frequently sampled orchestral sounds and textures with great success, so why not the other way round? Plus, an experienced DJ can produce such a wide range of sounds that it must be possible for them to sit within the orchestra in some way. Furthermore, as a composer I have a genuine interest in contemporary urban music styles such as hip-hop, so I knew that I can incorporate certain rhythms and musical ideas into the work that can bring the world of the DJ and the world of the orchestra closer together. (In this concerto you can hear traces of hip-hop drum patterns, a Reggaeton beat, Grime, and even disco-house.)

The 2011 Proms appearance with with DJ Switch

More from Will Dutta

• Arca on Music, Sound Design and Workflow 06-Nov-26
• Madonna & Stuart Price on the Power Mac G5 04-Nov-26
• Lisa Maffia on So Solid Crew & Solo Fame 04-Nov-26
• Mix & Match Challenge: Episode 1 02-Nov-26
• Sprout Pi: A Modern Motherboard for iPods 02-Nov-26