'Stairway to Heaven' as Schubert would have written it, not to mention Beethoven, Mahler, Miller etc, yes it's
The Stairway Suite
(Orchestral variations upon an air by Plant & Page)
The Led Zepplin song "Stairway to Heaven" is a rock classic for some critics. Whether or not you agree, its notoriety is assured by the thousands of would-be guitarists who can play the first dozen bars badly: it is to the guitar what "Chopsticks" is to the piano. But what if Jimmy Page & Robert Plant hadn't written it? What if it had been written for orchestra in the 19th or 20th centuries? For a publicity stunt, "The Stairway Suite" was commisioned by the University of New South Wales Orchestra and written by Joe Wolfe (download the score). The sound clips below are from the original performance by UNSWO, with Colin Piper conducting.
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| 1. The first "Stairway" variant gives the melody to the oboe and clarinet, then cellos,
in an orchestration modelled after Schubert's 8th Symphony (the "Unfinished"). This
movement establishes the rules of the game: the pieces of the jigsaw have to be fitted
together, but none may be bent so far as to be unrecognizable.
 . . . A sample of Schubert's Stairway (56 k)
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2. In the second movement, an extra crotchet gives it an uncanny resemblance to something Holst might have written.
. . . A sample of Holst's Stairway (167 k)
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3. If the orchestra can find a few saxophones, we can find out how Glen Miller would have written it.
. . . A sample of Glenn Miller's Stairway (162 k)
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4. In this version, the "Stairway" theme becomes canon fodder. Mahler pinched at least one tune in his first symphony: what if he had pinched it from Led Zepplin?
. . . A sample of Mahler's Stairway (175 k)
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5. Bizet had an ear for a tune. What would he have made of it?
. . . A sample of Bizet's Stairway (123 k)
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6. How would Ludwig have written it? Have a listen. (This movement has chorus and solo baritone
ad lib.)
. . . A sample of Beethoven's Stairway (351 k)
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7. The finale starts with just a string trio, then builds gradually with bassoon, solo violin, winds, brass.... well it's a finale. This movement too has the choir and swing band
ad lib.
. . . A few samples from the finale (295 k)
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Orchestration: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2bsn, 2/4hn, 2tpt, 2trm, tba, timp, strings. Swing band (saxes & kit drums) ad lib, SATB chorus ad lib.
Your orchestra wants to perform Stairway? There is a .pdf file of the score here. If you seriously decide that yes, you want to do it, I can supply a conductor's score and parts. Usually I don't charge a fee, but instead ask the users to make a donation to a worthy cause. Send a message.
About the composer. Joe Wolfe started writing music in the seventies and has
since
written sporadically for jazz and fusion groups, including incidental music for plays and
films. He has
written five other orchestral works: a Trumpet concerto is the most recently performed.
"Circle of Fourths" is an overture using the circle as a melodic nucleus and as a chord. "Sydney
Sketches" is a set of tone poems, each of which is based in different Sydney
location at a different time of day.; "Conjunction" which is an 'interactive
introduction to the
orchestra', written for orchestra and
primary school choir; and an overture to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the UNSW Orchestra. He has a quartet for flute, saxophone, bassoon and cello for which the sheet music is available as shareware.
The Stairway Suite
Joe Wolfe / J.Wolfe@unsw.edu.au
/61-2-9385 4954 (UT+10,+11 Oct-Mar)