How this ‘Classic’ came to be
With his partner in life and in music, Townshend finds new inspiration in his unforgettable opus
The new ‘Quadrophenia’ is a shared vision
When Pete Townshend tapped his musically accomplished partner, Rachel Fuller, to score an orchestral adaptation of The Who’s Quadro
phenia, the couple looked to the stage for inspiration.
“We went to see shows that were either musical theater or had some music in them,” says Townshend, such as Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia and a production of Jersey Boys. “What became very clear was that Quadrophenia was not that. It was not Tommy,” The Who’s other beloved rock opera, which was adapted into a musical that opened on Broadway in 1993. “If Quadrophenia was ever going to become a musical in the strictest sense, it would need a lot of elaboration, as the songs are more in the abstract than specific.”
Rather than pursue that end, Townshend, 70, opted — for now — to record the piece, with Fuller’s orchestrations played by classical musicians. Classic Qua
drophenia, out Tuesday, features the Royal Symphony Orchestra and London Oriana Choir, along with tenor Alfie Boe.
Townshend and Billy Idol also provide vocals and will join the others for the work’s live premiere July 5 at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
It’s not the first time Townshend has found fresh inspiration in Quadrophenia, which features such Who favorites as Love Reign O’er Me and 5:15. The Who has performed the album in concert, most recently in its 2012-13
tour; and for the 2011 box set Quadrophenia — The Director’s
Cut, Townshend “went back and not only reviewed what the band had done in the studio but the way I’d written the songs and tried to tell the story.”
Adapting the songs for a symphony “wasn’t a struggle,” says Fuller, also a singer/songwriter and composer, who sits beside him during the interview. Townshend’s “structures are quite complex, and quite romantic.” Townshend notes that The Who had an “unconventional lineup” from the start. “Keith Moon was not like a normal drummer; he played orchestrally and decoratively. John Entwistle as a bass player was more like a lead guitar player. And on guitar I was actually more like a drummer — I kept the rhythm.”
Fuller was unfamiliar with Quadrophenia — released in 1973, the year she was born — when she and Townshend first met, briefly, in a London recording studio in 1996.
“Rachel was working with a German composer, writing songs for Ute Lemper,” the chanteuse, Townshend says. “I invited her to come to New York. It had nothing to do with music; it was just lust. She said, ‘F - - - off.’ ”
The two reconnected the following year, and Fuller began arranging music for what would become Townshend’s 2000 opus
Lifehouse Chronicles. Fuller also recorded independently and wrote a musical, Ash. She’s now working on an oratorio.
“I’d love to see Rachel do (more) on her own,” Townshend says. “Having had a career that’s lasted much, much longer than I’d thought it would, I know that the work you do when you start off always has something that the later work doesn’t have. It falls a bit more like rain. You don’t have to think about it as much.”
Though Townshend still crafts original songs, he also continues to ponder Quadrophenia’s future. “There’s still a possibility that, one day, there could be a definitive musical of it.” His hope, in any case, is that “this score can be extrapolated” for other projects, “so that people really can play this music forever.”