Piano Fantasies
Howard Goodall's Red Dwarf single!
9 November, 2012
Red Dwarf fans need little introduction to Howard Goodall - the music maestro responsible for ten series' worth of brilliant theme and incidental music. But did you know Howard's also one of the most prolific and revered composers in the wider television industry as a whole? We know, it feels a little bit like he's cheating on us by earning fame and plaudits for theme tunes like Blackadder, QI and Mr Bean, but he's so darned fantastic we'll let him off the hook this once.
Anyway, the good folks at Decca Records have certainly recognised the overall brilliance of Howard's career, and as a result, they're putting out an album of his best work early next year. Inspired will collect some of his most famous works - and of course, the Red Dwarf theme is among them. But it's a version with a difference, as Howard himself explains:
With the return to our screens of the kipper-smokingly good Red Dwarf X on Dave, and as a result of exchanging dwarfish quips with Doug Naylor on Twitter, I found myself back in the saddle composing incidental music for the series. It gave me enormous pleasure revisiting some familiar and favourite motifs in fresh arrangements, as well as introducing some new themes. All of which prompted the thought, "Why not revisit the original theme music and the song Tongue Tied as moody piano solos?"
The thought became a reality with the possibility of including these new piano interpretations as additional goodies on my forthcoming CD, Inspired. What's more, I have been asked over the years so many times if piano versions might exist in sheet music form for budding virtuosos to play in the comfort of their own space cabins, well now they do!
But you won't have to wait until the album's released to hear them: in recognition of its status as one of Howard's most definitive works - and as a celebration of the new series' broadcast - these brand new "piano fantasy" versions of the theme tune and Tongue Tied are now available to buy on iTunes as a two-track single. You can get either of the tracks individually for just 79p, or the two together for an even more bargainous £1.49. We're anticipating that one or both of them will be fixtures of Dwarfer wedding soundtracks for many years to come...
Red Dwarf Piano Fantasies is out now on iTunes. Howard Goodall: Inspired will be released in early 2013.
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