Anna Hoffmann, Alto Sax, Compositions, Transcriptions, Alto Sax Lessons

King of Pain

 My Recomposition of Sting’s ‘King Of Pain’. Performed live with the great NEC Jazz Composer’s Workshop Orchestra.

Natalie Dietrich vibes, marimba
Catherine Bent – cello
Mark Zaleski – alto sax
Tucker Antell – tenor sax

This tune originally started as a class project. The objective of the re-composition was to take an existing piece of music apart, completely strip it down to a few key elements, then put them in a different setting and compose around them.

I really wanted to choose a Pop/Rock tune, but was torn between Steely Dan and Sting. The later was determined when tossing a coin.

It felt very strange, even blasphemes to take apart a tune that works so well just the way it was originally recorded. But after a certain point I started to grow quite fond of the new piece that was emerging.

Some the of the compositional elements from the original that I have tried to keep are:
The Marimba back beat, the dynamic shape, a mid-section in floating time, the main melodic motive, which appears disguised through out the entire piece (retrograde-inversion, reharmonization).

Overall I have tried to capture the gloomy atmosphere of the original. Apart from the ending, where I wanted the band to have some fun jamming and grooving.