Concerto Suite Analysis

By Joe LaBanco, Fan Club Contributing Writer

I'm suffering from chronic insomnia - the Concerto Suite has made any decent sleep an impossibility! I'd always heard this music implied in Yngwie's rock material, and even recall an occasion when a friend and I were listening to a bootleg of one of the overseas shows. After a magnificent solo, Tim remarked that you could hear the different parts of an orchestra in the guitar solo alone! That was exactly what I was thinking at the time. But to hear the full-blown realization was beyond any of my expectations! The orchestrations are done with such absolute mastery and the melodies so memorable that I'm sure all the great master composers would be proud and recognize Yngwie as one of their truly rare breed.

Of course, the work is filled with stunning displays of guitar mastery. Even without these, it would remain a sublime piece. All the qualities that make great orchestral music are here in abundance: dramatic, virile horns; delicate, magical oboes and flutes; french horns calling from some faraway port; the bass and harpsichord in relentless continuum; surging strings; majestic choir; thunderous tympani. The movements flow smoothly from theme to theme. Especially ingenious is the way Yngwie weaves many of his past themes into the rich tapestry, mainly as secondary themes and segues. In short, Bravissimo!!