Have any of RB's stories been inspired by a piece of music?

I ask this after reading the wonderfully imaginative "Once More, Legato". Has anyone tried recording a famous piece of music, classical or other, using bird sounds as instruments? Wouldn't that be great?


PS: Please keep the board a bit more serious and try not to fight, even if you find some other person's comments useless or bothersome. Just ignore bad posts and that will be it, ok? Ignore this one if it's too bad, as well, hehe...

I don't have an answer for the first question (but I bet the answer is YES).

As to the second question, I am reminded of the soundtrack to Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds", which has no score but which features electronic bird sounds orchestrated by the great film composer Bernard Herrman.

Bradbury has, of course, often been involved with musical productions of his works, including Christus Apollo, Dandelion Wine and Leviathan 99.

- Phil

Believe me when I say... we've discussed this topic before. There are actual bands that have formed in dedication to Ray's stories. Again, it's 'lost' in all these topic headings... Good luck in searching...

for example: http://www.dandelionwine.com.au/faq.html

[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 03-08-2004).]

There was also a rock album released in the early 1970's called DARK CARNIVAL. The songs were based on Ray's stories from the collection of the same name. I had a copy of the record when I was in college (a long time ago). I cannot remember the name of the singer/composer. Perhaps someone else can help.

You reminded me of something. As a side note in the same book (Quicker Than the Eye) is a spooky tale titled "The Finnegan" which I like very much.

Sorry for the outburst.

Mulder:

Here's an old posting....
http://www.raybradbury.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000033.html

Not sure how many of Ray's stories were inspired by actual pieces of music, but some were inspired by poems and some of the poems were set to music. For Ray's 65th birthday a friend and I put together a tape of as many of these as we could find. Two of my favorites are the Three Ds's "Soft Rains Will Come" based on "There Will Come Soft Rains," and the poem with the line "And the Moon be Still as Bright," which I think is titled "And We'll Go No More a-Roving."

Only tangentially related . . . I still remember the first time I read the descriptions of martian music in Martian Chronicles. It "felt" like I was "feeling" poetry when I read the descriptions. Does that make any sense? That was an early encounter with Bradbury's writing where I realized this guy's writing was different than anything else I'd ever read.

I agree Mr. Dark. A lot of people are good with descriptions and creating images, but few are good at truly making you feel the story, and that is one of Bradbury's strengths. His stories are an experience for all the senses.

Emerson Lake and Palmer had an album in 1992 called Black Moon. The picture on the cover is of a carousel. The picture looks very similar in style and content to that of a certain Ray Bradbury book. Although I'm a fan of ELP, I haven't heard this particular album, so I couldn't say how much (if at all) it is influenced by Ray.

I remember this...specifically having visited the event several times. Ray wrote about this 'environment' display by Tony Duquette, in a Church on Wilshire Boulevard, in Los Angeles, as I remember. Fellow named Garth Hudson did the music on a Moog to compliment the poetry Ray wrote for the event.
http://theband.hiof.no/articles/in_celebration_of_angels.html


[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 03-09-2004).]

I know two of them:

1) "Rocket man" by Elton John (based on a story with similar title). I like it very much :-)

2) The album by the group Royal Hunt entirely based on "Martian Chronicles". I can't remember the title of the album (seems to be "The landing" or so - i'll say it later).