Song of the Day 7/9: The New York Rock & Roll Ensemble, “Brandenburg”
H/t El Somnambulo
The obituaries of composer Mark Snow that ran after he died last week all highlighted the most popular of his copious TV and movie music: The eerie, unsettling theme for the eerie, unsettling 1990s show “The X-Files.” That’s only fitting: The instrumental made him a one-hit wonder, at least in some countries. Released as a single in 1996, it reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in France.
Snow, who was 72, scored dozens of series, but few obits gave more than passing mention to the Julliard-trained composer’s career before he reached Hollywood. In the ’60s he was known by his birth name, Martin Fulterman, when he and his Julliard roommate, Michael Kamen, formed a band with a third classmate and two guitarists from New Jersey. They called themselves the New York Rock and Roll Ensemble, aiming to play classical music on rock instruments and vice versa. All the Julliard guys were multi-instrumentalists; Snow mostly played drums as a rocker.
They debuted in 1968, when the Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renee” had briefly made baroque pop a thing, and gained some attention with their gimmick of playing in symphony attire. They recorded five LPs before calling it a day in 1972, at which point Fulterman moved to Los Angeles. When he landed some soundtrack work for Aaron Spelling he was still under contract, so he did it under the name of Mark Snow, and he never went back.
“Brandenburg,” from the band’s second album, 1969’s “Faithful Friends,” wasn’t their big hit – they didn’t have any – but it’s the song they played when they made TV appearances, including one on the “Tonight Show,” because it demonstrated both their rock and classical chops. Snow is second from the left on that album cover.
Bach wrote the fifth Brandenburg Concerto in 1719 to show off the new harpsichord he bought for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen, a potentate remembered today only for having hired Bach. This 2015 performance by the baroque ensemble Apollo’s Fire really takes off around the 7:20 mark, when Jeannette Sorrell goes bonkers on the keyboard.
For those who didn’t get enough of it back in the day, here’s the full “X-Files” theme. Snow played all the synth parts; his wife contributed some whistling.
Coincidentally, Snow’s old roommate, Michael Kamen, also ended up in Los Angeles. After the Ensemble folded he worked as an arranger for several rock and pop acts, including a long stint with Pink Floyd. Once he got to Hollywood he scored mostly movies; the “Die Hard” and “Lethal Weapon” franchises top a list of film and TV credits almost as long as Snow’s. Kamen was only 55 when he died in 2003.
