Symphony of Radiohead

Two tracks from Radiohead’s back catalogue are to be reworked into classical compositions. Steve Reich, the world renowned minimalist composer, has announced that he will be reworking ‘Everything In Its Right Prize’ from the band’s ‘Kid A’ album, and ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’ from ‘In Rainbows’ as part of a piece called ‘Radio Rewrite’. ‘Radio Rewrite’ will be performed by 13 musicians from the London Sinfonietta on 5th March 2013 as part of the UK capital’s Southbank Festival.

Speaking about ‘Radio Rewrite’, Andrew Burke, who is chief executive of the London Sinfonietta, told The Guardian that the pieces would not simply be covers of the Oxford band’s tracks. He said:

“I don’t think Steve will be quoting these songs directly – I don’t think that’s his style. How he uses the songs as a starting point for what he does is going to be part of the excitement.”

Burke also revealed that Reich was inspired to carry out the work after he met the band in Poland in September and heard that Jonny Greenwood had played one of his compositions. He added:

“It was the first time he’d met them as musicians and spoken to them at length. Jonny Greenwood played [Reich composition] Electric Counterpoint – Steve saw this guy was seriously interested in his music and Steve became seriously interested in theirs.”

Radiohead are currently preparing for their 2012 world tour in support of their latest album ‘The Kings Of Limbs’.