It's no secret that Emerson, Lake & Palmer plundered the classical repertoire mercilessly. Their debut album was them performing Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky's piano concerto in 10 movements) live at Newcastle City Hall; I know, it's nuts. Everyone, even non-prog fans knows their take on Coplands's Fanfare for the Common Man but for Monday Long Song I would never be so populist. Instead I've gone for their interstellar version of Alberto Ginastera's Toccata. This, and every other track on the album it came from (1974's Brain Salad Surgery), changed my life overnight. I bought the album the week it came out and I've still never heard anything quite like it.
ELP - Toccata (1974)
And for anyone who wants to compare and contrast, here's the source material.
Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra (feat. Astuko Seta) - Piano Concerto No. 1 (4th. movement) Toccata
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Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)
Keith Emerson (1944-2016)
Greg Lake (1947-2016)
Carl Palmer (1950-)
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