Capriccio Italien

A favorite of mine.  In the 70′s I had an album, A Stereo Space Odyssey, which had pieces from 2001:  A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and other space-themed movies, as well as various pieces that were space-themed (or, as I later found out, repurposed thus).

The movie  pieces weren’t original soundtrack–these were all done by the Royal Philharmonic–and some had been significantly rearranged.  The Star Wars pieces, in particular, sounded very different from the original versions on the soundtrack albums.  There were also a few pieces, unattributed (unless I missed it in the liner notes), with names such as “Mercury”, “Mars”,  or “Stellar Caprice”.  I later found out that “Mercury” was the section of the same name from Holst’s The Planets.  ”Mars” was the beginning part of “Capriccio Italien”.

My favorite piece was the one labeled “Stellar Caprice”.  It always brought vivid images to mind, and I listened to it constantly at one point.  Eventually I drifted away from that album (which is still in a box somewhere in my parents’ home, I imagine) as I got older, listened to rock more, and had less time for music in general.  I did often wonder, after finding out the real names of the other pieces what my favorite piece actually was.

This morning, as I was driving along, I turned on the local classical station, and lo and behold!  My favorite piece, “Stellar Caprice”, was playing!  I was truly surprised and overwhelmed with joy, as it brought back the memories of thirty years ago or more!  I even teared up a little.  My one regret was that I was near my destination and was afraid I would arrive and have to turn off the radio before I finally figured out what my favorite piece was.  This was especially true since the version I was hearing was much longer–as with the other pieces, this  had been curtailed for the old album.

Luck was with me, though–or I might even say fate.  The end of the piece neared as I parked, and I sat in the car no more than a minute as it finished.  Please, please, please, I thought, let them tell what it is!  And sure enough they did–and this is it!  Enjoy.