Dutch columnist Mart Smeets writes warmly about The Seven Symphonies – A Classical Tribute to Beach Boys Music, calling it “the recommendation of the year” for anyone who loves the Beach Boys.
In his column, Mart Smeets traces how two Dutch initiators—entrepreneur and former cricket international Rob van Weelde and producer Roeland Jacobs—set out to translate Brian Wilson’s timeless songs into a classical language. Working from WedgeView Studios, they first paid tribute to Antônio Carlos Jobim, then turned to the rich harmonies of the Beach Boys. With orchestrations by Belgian musician Dominique Vanhagenberg, the music was arranged for a full symphony orchestra and recorded in Mol, Belgium. The performances are by the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestraunder Brazilian conductor Alexandra Arrieche, with the final mix by renowned engineer Darcy Proper in the United States.
Smeets concludes simply: the end result is “beautiful.”
below English translation:
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Brian Wilson may well have heard the tones of The Seven Symphonies before he went to the eternal hunting grounds, and he must have been satisfied. Brian Wilson—for younger readers—was a brilliant writer of pop songs. Headstrong, deaf in one ear, sometimes hardly reachable, at times antisocial. Some thought he was truly a genius; others got fed up when he once again complained about a mis-played series of notes during a recording.
The Seven Symphonies is an album filled with Beach Boys/Brian Wilson sounds, performed by the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the Brazilian Alexandra Arrieche. She enjoys linking modern music with classical and also works on projects such as Night of the Proms.
The source for this music, however, comes from the minds of two Dutchmen: businessman and former cricket international Rob van Weelde and Roeland Jacobs, son of the famed bassist Ruud Jacobs of the Pim Jacobs Quartet. Van Weelde and Jacobs started WedgeView Studios together in Belgium and in 2010 moved them to Woerdense Verlaat. Their collaboration first resulted in a tribute to the Brazilian composer and musician Antônio Carlos Jobim, after which the two stumbled upon the wealth of good music by Beach Boy frontman Wilson. They were struck by the almost always present harmony in Wilson’s songs and began to work out an idea to translate the Beach Boys’ music into classical music. Jacobs played nearly all the instruments, and with that the idea for an album was born.
Brian Wilson’s material was often so ingenious that it lent itself perfectly to being captured in the tones of a large classical orchestra. With more than an hour of well-scored material, the two went to the Belgian music aficionado Dominique Vanhagenberg (once a renowned trombone player) and presented him with their idea. In three months the parts were largely written out. Then the Brazilian conductor’s name came up and the wheels were set in motion: the Beach Boys could be performed in a classical guise by more than sixty musicians.
The first recordings took place in 2021 in Mol, Belgium. The tapes then moved to Darcy Proper in the United States, a famous woman who can do brilliant things with the final mix of music recorded in Belgium. The final result, The Seven Symphonies. A classical tribute to Beach Boys music, is beautiful.
If you have ever heard and learned to appreciate the Beach Boys’ music, this is the recommendation of the year!
English translation of a column by Mart Smeets. Reproduced for informational purposes with full credit to the author.