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Topic: References and reuse in Amarok, What themes do you recognize?< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Happy? Offline




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Posted: April 14 2022, 04:54

Amarok was intended to be a sequel to Ommadawn. For this reason it wouldn't be strange that Amarok contains references to Ommadawn and perhaps some other albums or songs. However, direct melodic references seem to be rather scarce. Apparently, most themes are quite original.

These are the bits that sounded quite familiar to me:
Boat: of course the fast piano and organ combination reminds of the Tubular Bells Introduction.
Slow Waltz: sounds like a lullaby in the spirit of Orabidoo. Could have fit well in Taurus II too.
Lion Reprise: guitar solo from 36:45 sounds like a variation of the guitar solo in Ommadawn pt. 1 at 9:47.
Africa II sounds like a blend of Ommadawn pt. 1 (percussion) and The Bell.

There are also some very old bits in Amarok. The Scot theme was already present in some of Mike's demos back in 1971.
Peace (Demo A / 1971 Demo) on YouTube, from 5:10
Peace (Demo B / 1971 Demo) on YouTube, from 3:45

And as mentioned before in several threads, some bits are even present on the Sallyangie album:
Branches (feat. Mike Oldfield & Sally Oldfield) on YouTube,
from 0:42 Didlybom
from 3:29 Mad Bit

Any more thoughts?


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Craig Evans Offline




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Posted: April 14 2022, 11:39

I always love these interesting discussions of reused Mike Oldfield themes.  Another variation on the old Scot theme was used for part of the Far Country guitar solo on Earth Moving, the Roses theme on Amarok and the main melody of Let There Be Light on The Songs Of Distant Earth.  The climax of the first Scot bit on Amarok also has a quote of the opening and closing theme from The Wind Chimes on Islands.  The Hoover theme may well have also originated from a lost demo from Tubular Bells which had an unused experiment were Mike used his mother's hoover to create a bagpipe drone.  The Mandolin theme on Amarok was also a variation of an old Sallyangie tune called The Thatched Shop.  The Latin theme would later be reused for Serpent Dream on Tubular Bells III whilst the percussion theme of Africa I and Africa III was reused for the upbeat bit in Liberation on The Millenium Bell.

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Happy? Offline




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Posted: April 15 2022, 15:25

Whoah, nice list! Some I immediately recognize, some I can hear after a listen, but I can't get them all.

I can hear the blues section in Scot (from 11:33) that sounds a bit like the panflute bits in The Wind Chimes, of course with a different rhythm. But I think that's not what you mean? Or do you mean that the climax in Scot is a minor key variation on the major key intro/end of The Wind Chimes?

And the Latin theme in Amarok... Do you mean the flamenco bit in Fast Waltz (from 22:10)?


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Craig Evans Offline




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Posted: April 16 2022, 08:49

I'm sorry I wasn't specific enough.  I meant to say the climax in Scot is a minor key variation on the major key intro/end of The Wind Chimes, heard on synth strings in the Amarok appearance.  Interestingly the quote of The Wind Chimes in the Scot climax replaces a very psychedelic buildup of what appeared to be a layer of random and very high pitched double speed guitar and Farfisa organ runs which ended somewhat abruptly on the original Scot from Peace Demo A whilst the next version of Scot on Peace Demo B ended with quiet echo guitar effects fading out.

The Latin theme in Amarok is the one known as Fast Waltz starting at 22.10.


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florencepugh Offline




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Posted: Feb. 28 2024, 22:06

Quote (Happy? @ April 14 2022, 04:54)
Amarok was intended to be a sequel to Ommadawn. For this reason it wouldn't be strange that Amarok contains references to Ommadawn and perhaps some other albums or songs. However, direct melodic references seem to be rather scarce. Apparently, most themes are quite original.

These are the bits that sounded quite familiar to me:
Boat: of course the fast piano and organ combination reminds of the Tubular Bells Introduction.
Slow Waltz: sounds like a lullaby in the spirit of Orabidoo. Could have fit well in Taurus II too.
Lion Reprise: guitar solo from 36:45 sounds like a variation of the guitar solo in Ommadawn pt. 1 at 9:47.
Africa II sounds like a blend of Ommadawn pt. 1 (percussion) and The Bell.

There are also some very old bits in Amarok. The Scot theme was already present in some of Mike's demos back in 1971.
Peace (Demo A / 1971 Demo) on YouTube, from 5:10
Peace (Demo B / 1971 Demo) on YouTube, from 3:45

And as mentioned before in several threads, some bits are even present on the Sallyangie album:
Branches (feat. Mike Oldfield & Sally Oldfield) on YouTube Among Us
from 0:42 Didlybom
from 3:29 Mad Bit

Any more thoughts?

thank you for sharing this amazing piece of information.
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