Bach, Bernstein, Moog (& Friends)

Young People's Concert: "Bach Transmogrified"
with the New York Philharmonic
Written and conducted by Leonard Bernstein

Bernstein discusses different transmogrifications or treatments of Bach's works. After an organ  recital of the Little Fugue, guest conductor Leopold Stokowski conducts his own transcription of the fugue for symphony orchestra. Other transmogrifications include Foss' Phorion and a version of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 performed by the New York Rock and Roll Ensemble.

Original CBS Television Network Broadcast Date: April 27, 1969
Produced and directed by Roger Englander

Here's the complete program:

The concert ends with a performance by the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble. Whatever possessed Bernstein to have them close the show? They're somewhere between not-very-good and terrible.

If you must have rock and Bach, go with Procul Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale," which was a hit in 1967." No, it's not transmogrified Bach, but, as the Wikipedia entry notes, the instrumental melody is "Bach-derived." It's a much better piece of music. (FWIW, I did an arrangment of it for a band I played with in the early 1970s, which had a Bach-derived name, The St. Matthew Passion. We we pretty good, too, certainly better than those guys.)