Close to the Edge

In thinking about this assignment, I wanted to focus on one specific movement of a piece. I was initially drawn to the idea of writing this dossier on a modern classical piece, either Reich’s ‘The Four Sections’ or Caroline Shaw’s ‘Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part’. There was however a strong urge to write about a Progressive Rock Epic. Eventually, this urge won out after I listened to a 2013 remaster of ‘Close to the Edge’ by the UK Prog band Yes. The track is an 18-minute piece comprised of four movements.

i. The Solid Time of Change'
'ii. Total Mass Retain
iii. I Get Up I Get Down
iv. Seasons of Man'"

Each movement is distinct in not just the lyrical content, but also the dynamics and texture of the sound. There are however shared motifs throughout, both instrumental and lyrical.

Down by the Edge, Round by the Corner
Close to the Edge, Down by the River

Or:

I Get Up, I Get Down
I Get Up, I Get Down

Are two examples of passages that reappear in every section. They almost exclusively appear at the end of a movement, connecting the different themes of each lyrical movement with one another.

Given the structure of Close to the Edge, one could interpret it as a work of Modern Classical, but only in a more literal sense. Written in 1972, it came at a time wherein Progressive Rock was already well established in Britain. While not traditionally described as a Progressive Rock record, The Beatles’ 1967 record Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band blew the roof off the existing rock scene. The experimental elements weren't necessarily what made it special, prior records from bands like Zappa’s Mothers of Invention had already gone there. What it was… was incredibly popular.

The predominant change following 1967 was that record companies now understood that longform concept albums like Sgt. Pepper's or The Beach Boy's Smile Sessions could not just sell, they could sell incredibly well. What followed was a slew of (now considered classic) releases from bands like Soft Machine, Jethro Tull, The Moody Blues, King Crimson, and of course, Yes.

Many of these bands were incubated in the Marquee Club, which may as well have been a gathering of jazz and classical musicians masquerading as a rock club. It was a portal for Britons to view the American music scene with bands like Jimi Hendrix' Band of Gypsys and Fleetwood Mac, as well as for session musicians to meet one another. This was the scene in which Yes emerged. Most importantly, the crowd at the Marquee was attracted Fine Arts students from all over England, many of whom were classically trained at academies like The Royal College of Music (in the case of Rick Wakeman) or Winchester School of Art (in the case of Brian Eno). The cohabitation of different types of musicians in this space led to interdisciplinary communication, the club became a medium of communication that could be transferred into sound (once they got record deals of course). There's an excellent piece from The Blue Moment Blog all about the history of Marquee that I've linked Here

The actual people in Yes change over the years, by this point only three founding members remained in the band (after this record there were only two). During the writing of Close to the Edge, Yes was composed of:

Chris Squire on Bass
Bill Bruford on Drums
Rick Wakeman on Keys
Steve Howe on Guitar
John Anderson on Lead Vocals

Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman were new additions to the band following the departure of founding members Peter Banks and Tony Kaye. Relative to the members they replaced, the styles of Howe and Wakeman were more inspired by Classical music. Howe was self-taught, but he frequently used Spanish Classical Guitar Technique when picking and nearly always performed sitting (similar to his contemporary, Robert Fripp). Rick Wakeman was actually classically trained; he won a spot at the Royal College of Music but left prior to graduating after he realized he was making more as a session musician as his professors were. A more expansive biography can be found in Piano Magazine No. 95 linked Here

The track was written over a long period with Jon Anderson intermittently providing vocals to Steve Howe who would then orchestrate hisplaying around the harmony. I specifically use the word orchestrate here because he was explicitly thinking of the track as if it would be played in a concert hall or a church. To that end, he recorded multiple parts on different guitars and then stacked them, often in choral harmonies or in Baroque counterpoint with one another. The only section not written by Anderson or Howe is 'iii. I Get Up I Get Down'. It begins very quietly, with Howe singing lyrics from the prior section in a three part harmony, Anderson then comes in with the final use of the lyrical motif:

I Get Up
I Get Down

These two lines are reapeated five times with Anderson increasing in pitch and strain until the song crescendoes. The rest of the song entirely cuts out and is replaced by a recording of Rick Wakeman playing a dramatic melody on a pipe organ. It's an incredibly grandiose display that puts me on my ass literally every single time I hear it, I just have to stop whatever I'm doing and just listen to the rest of the song. I've lost count the number of times this happened while writing this piece...

The key parts from this point onward were all written by Rick Wakeman and primarily use the mellotron and MiniMoog, two instruments that Tony Kaye refused to play and was subsequently fired for doing so. The synth lines played on these instruments resembles Bach in many respects, much of the phrasing mirrors that of Bach's harpsichord compositions and the use of counterpoint between different instruments also hearkens to the Baroque Period. More specifically, Close to the Edge's resembles a Fugue, represented by individual instruments, motifs (fugal subjects) jump in and out and receive responses from other instruments. Maybe the correct term here is Fugato? Bach's music was famously covered by synth pioneer Wendy Carlos in the album Switched on Bach. I frequently think of Switched on Bach and Close to the Edge as being part of a continuum from synths as novelty instruments (on the concert stage) and synths as they are used today

The function of Baroque Music isn't explicitly defined because it moreso refers to a time period (1600-1750 AD) and the use of certain techniques (like counterpoint, thanks Bach). It appears in Chambers, Concert Stages, Choirs, Churches, and Courts. I think, however, most people associate Baroque compositions (and Western Classical Music as a whole) with the church, hence St. Matthews Passion being Bach's most famous piece. In spite of these Christian associations, most of the members of Yes were either practicing Buddhists or at the very least highly interested given that the main lyrical motifs explicitly reference the life of Siddartha.

Down by the Edge, Round by the Corner
Close to the Edge, Down by the River

One of the most important sections of Herman Hesse's Siddartha is when the lost prince sits (Down) by the River and comes Close to the Edge, contemplating his suicide. It is here where he begins to meditate while looking at the river, upon the suggestion of a fisherman and mentor (maybe Brahma). After doing this for a few months, he comes to understand the transience of all things (Seasons will pass you By).'Close to the Edge' then takes on a new meaning, he is on the edge of Nirvana, the loss of self. I drew some rough associations with Buddhist thought, but the more specific ties to Hesse's Siddartha were lost on me (despite having read it!) I've linked a piece that goes into more depth Here

The primary drive of Close to the Edge is not the lyrical, philosophical, or cultural context, its the affective experience that results from these techniques. The thing in itself is beautiful, but this only drove me to want to understand it even more. It's one of the first instances of a true rock "epic", and (in my opinion) its one of the best. This album has made me cry quite a few times, far before I actually understood the lyrical content. Glad I can appreciate it even more.