ABSTRACT
The British band Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) stood at the pinnacle of progressive rock bands in the 1970s, releasing studio albums and live albums between 1970 and 1974. For some bands, the 'classical' element involved wholesale appropriation, 'covering' familiar works from the Western art-music concert tradition in rock trappings. More dramatically, Emerson incorporates split-tone synthesiser modulations at key points in the 'Toccata.' In 1973 Emerson visited Alberto Ginastera at his home in Geneva to seek his approval of the adaptation. Emerson's arrangements always start with the original score. In addition, ELP's version omits largely repetitive sections from Ginastera's work and extends some climactic passages, thereby arguably improving the pacing of Ginastera's piece. The chapter presents a close analysis of both Ginastera's work and ELP's version, drawing upon Allen Forte's theory of atonal sets and aspects of transformational theory as developed by David Lewin and others, especially Lewin's article 'Transformational Techniques in Atonal and Other Music Theories.'
