Trey Anastasio

Anastasio the composer

Anastasio's compositional style is marked by a high degree of versatility in both the genres in which he writes songs and pieces and in the compositional techniques he uses to do so. He has written pieces that include elements of classical music, rock and roll, straight ahead jazz, funk, country music, bluegrass, blues, latin music, trance music or techno music, heavy metal, and other various styles.

Related Topics:
Compositional - Classical music - Rock and roll - Jazz - Funk - Country music - Bluegrass - Blues - Latin music - Trance music - Techno music - Heavy metal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He is a skilled practitioner of the verse-chorus form songwriting prevalent throughout popular music and folk music, but also has used techniques derived from classical music. In this respect, many of his compositions, or at least portions of them, can be viewed as neoclassical in keeping with the tradition of composers such as Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky. Some of these techniques include the use of imitative counterpoint, atonality, polyrhythms, irregular meters and phrasing, and non-linear chord progressions. Many of these techniques he learned and developed under the tutelage of Vermont composer and pianist Ernie Stires.

Related Topics:
Verse-chorus form - Songwriting - Popular music - Folk music - Classical music - Neoclassical - Maurice Ravel - Igor Stravinsky - Counterpoint - Atonality - Polyrhythms - Meter - Chord - Ernie Stires

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the early years of Phish (ca. 1985-1990), Anastasio's compositions were more through-composed, intricate and detailed in conception and were more statically arranged than his works in later years. Particularly in the music he has written for his touring and recording projects since Phish, he has focused more on songwriting than composition, per se, using improvisation as the major driving force behind these works in live performance. Some commentators have speculated that, in this shift, he could be consciously or unconsciously creating a body of standards upon which future generations of musicians will be able to elaborate.

Related Topics:
Phish - Through-composed - Improvisation - Standards

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tom Marshall, a biologist and a boyhood friend and schoolmate of Anastasio, has been his primary songwriting collaborator as lyricist. Trey has often pulled lyrics for his music from large notebooks of poems and prose kept by Marshall, and the pair have also taken working retreats or vacations during which they wrote and/or recorded demos of new material. One such demo, Trampled by Lambs and Pecked by the Dove, has been commercially released. Anastasio also writes a number of his own lyrics, including all lyrics on his first release with Columbia Records, 2005's Shine. In his childhood he frequently collaborated musically and lyrically with friends and schoolmates, and a number of these songs went on to become staples of his repertoire in Phish and elsewhere.

Related Topics:
Tom Marshall - Phish

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Anastasio has also expressed interest in and has demonstrated skill at composing chamber music and music for orchestra, most notably on Seis De Mayo, on his eponymously titled second album, and in his collaborations with the Vermont Youth Orchestra.

Related Topics:
Chamber music - Orchestra - Seis De Mayo - Vermont Youth Orchestra

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~