Perpetual Motion (album) explained

Perpetual Motion is an album of classical music released in 2001. The album is unique in that none of the pieces featured on it are played on the instruments for which they were written. Arrangers Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer won a Grammy in 2002 for their arrangement of Claude Debussy's "Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum". The album also won a Grammy as Best Classical Crossover Album.

Fleck assembled a group of musicians well-known on their own instruments: violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Gary Hoffman, percussionist Evelyn Glennie, double-bassist Edgar Meyer, mandolin player Chris Thile, and guitarists John Williams and Bryan Sutton.

Track listing

All songs arranged by Edgar Meyer and Béla Fleck with additional arranger specified:

1. "Keyboard Sonata In C Major" (K 159, L 104) (Domenico Scarlatti) – 2:19
   • Béla Fleck – banjo; Chris Thile – mandolin
2. "Two Part Invention No. 13 In A Minor" (BWV 784) (Johann Sebastian Bach) – 1:45
   • Fleck – banjo; Evelyn Glennie – marimba
3. "Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum" from Children's Corner Suite (L 113) (Claude Debussy) – 2:25
   • Fleck – banjo; Joshua Bell – violin; Gary Hoffman – cello
4. Mazurka In F Sharp Minor, Op. 59 No. 3 (Frédéric Chopin) – 3:43
   • Fleck – banjo; John Williams – guitarist
5. "Prelude" from Partitia No. 3 for Solo Violin (BWV 1006) (Bach) – 3:47
   • Fleck – banjo
6. Etude In C Sharp Minor, Op. 10 No. 4 (Chopin) – 2:13
   • Fleck – banjo; Hoffman – cello
7. Mazurka In F Sharp Minor, Op. 6 No. 1 (Chopin) – 2:24
   • Fleck – banjo; Bell – violin
8. Three-Part Invention (Sinfonia) No. 10 (BWV 796) (Bach) – 1:01
   • Fleck – banjo; Thile – mandolin; Edgar Meyer – bass
9. Melody In E-flat (Peter Tchaikovsky) – 3:15
   • Fleck – banjo; Meyer – piano
10. "Presto No. 1 In G Minor After Bach" from Five Studies for Piano (Johannes Brahms) – 1:49
    • Fleck – banjo; Glennie – marimba
11. "Prelude" from Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 1 (BWV 1007) (Bach) – 2:17
    • Fleck – banjo
12. Three-Part Invention (Sinfonia) No. 15 (BWV 801) (Bach) – 1:14
    • Fleck – banjo; Bell – violin; Glennie – marimba
13. Moto Perpetuo Op. 11 No. 2 (Nicolò Paganini) – 3:40
    • Fleck – banjo; Meyer – piano
14. Keyboard Sonata In D Minor (K 213, L 108) (Scarlatti) – 4:51
    • Fleck – banjo; Thile – mandolin
15. Two Part Invention No. 6 (BWV 777) (Bach) – 2:29
    • Fleck – banjo; Meyer – bass
16. "Adagio Sostenuto" from Piano Sonata No. 14 In C Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight" (Ludwig van Beethoven) – 5:07
    • Fleck – banjo; Hoffman – cello; Meyer – bass
17. Two Part Invention No. 11 (BWV 782) (Bach) – 0:55
    • Fleck – banjo; Glennie – marimba
18. Seven Variations In C On "God Save The King" (Beethoven) – 9:06
    • Fleck – banjo; Williams – guitar
19. Three-Part Invention (Sinfonia) No. 7 (BWV 793) (Bach) – 2:01
    • Fleck – banjo; Bell – violin; Meyer – bass
20. Moto Perpetuo Op. 11 No. 2 (Bluegrass Version) (Paganini - arr:James Bryan Sutton) – 2:38
    • Fleck – banjo; James Bryan Sutton – guitar

Personnel

• Béla Fleck - Gibson 1937 style 75 banjo, Gold Star banjo with thick gut strings on Two-Part Invention No. 13
• Joshua Bell - Tom Taylor Stradivarius violin of 1732
• Gary Hoffman - 1662 Nicolò Amati cello made in Cremona, Italy
• Evelyn Glennie - Malletech marimba
• Edgar Meyer - Customized 1769 Gabrielli double bass, piano on Melody in E-flat and Moto Perpetuo
• Chris Thile - 2000 Lynn Dudenbostel F5 mandolin
• James Bryan Sutton - 1996 Bourgeois D150 steel string guitar
• John Williams - 2000 Greg Smallman and Sons guitar

Awards

Grammy Awards of 2002

• Winner- Best Instrumental Arrangement - Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer (arrangers) for Debussy: Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum performed by Béla Fleck with Joshua Bell and Gary Hoffman
• Winner- Best Classical Crossover Album