The Sound of Silence - Arranged for Orchestra

I am just starting to arrange greatest pop songs of all time for symphony orchestra. With my arrangement of "The sound of silence" by Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel I m happy to introduce my first work.
The song "The Sound of Silence", although already over 50 years old, still impresses with its emotional melody and the expressive, socially critical lyrics.
The song expresses the main theme of Simon & Garfunkel, the loneliness of people in modern, superficial society. It tells of the vision of a man, perhaps it is Paul Simon himself, who recognises the faults of our society but fails to communicate his realisation to it and persuade it to change.
This man recognises two kinds of silence. One is the natural silence in the darkness, where he is alone with himself and his thoughts. This silence is like an "old friend" for him, with whom he feels safe.
The other silence is the lack of real communication among modern people. They talk, but without any real statement. They hear, but they do not pay attention to what they hear. This is the sound of silence in society.
He recognises the loss of humanity in our modern, hectic society that people have created for themselves. But he fails to show people their faults and in the end his words to them are only "silent raindrops" in "the wells of silence".
Complete Score (Conductor's Score and Parts) available here:
www.sheetmusic...
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Deutsche Beschreibung:
Ich fange gerade damit an, die größten Popsongs aller Zeiten für Sinfonieorchester zu arrangieren. Mit meinem Arrangement von "The sound of silence" von Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel freue ich mich, mein erstes Werk dieser Art vorstellen zu können.
Das Lied "The Sound of Silence", obwohl schon über 50 Jahre alt, beeindruckt immer noch durch seine gefühlvolle Melodie und den ausdrucksstarken, gesellschaftskritischen Text.
Das Lied drückt das Hauptthema von Simon & Garfunkel aus, die Einsamkeit des Menschen in der modernen, oberflächlichen Gesellschaft. Es erzählt von der Vision eines Mannes, vielleicht ist es Paul Simon selbst, der die Fehler unserer Gesellschaft erkennt, es aber nicht schafft, ihr seine Erkenntnis mitzuteilen und sie zur Veränderung zu bewegen.
Dieser Mann erkennt zwei Arten von Stille. Die eine ist die natürliche Stille in der Dunkelheit, wo er mit sich und seinen Gedanken allein ist. Diese Stille ist für ihn wie ein "alter Freund", bei dem er sich sicher fühlt.
Die andere Stille ist der Mangel an echter Kommunikation unter modernen Menschen. Sie reden zwar, aber ohne eine wirkliche Aussage. Sie hören, aber sie schenken dem, was sie hören, keine Aufmerksamkeit. Dies ist der Klang des Schweigens in der Gesellschaft.
Er erkennt den Verlust an Menschlichkeit in unserer modernen, hektischen Gesellschaft, die sich die Menschen selbst geschaffen haben. Aber er schafft es nicht, den Menschen ihre Fehler aufzuzeigen, und am Ende sind seine Worte an sie nur "stumme Regentropfen" in "den Brunnen des Schweigens".

[@AeroRangerStudios]

Thank You Reimund For Allowing Us To Use This Beautiful Song in our video. Yesterday our Miss USA 2023 Stepped Down and resigned her crown and I wanted to use this song for the music and your settings allowed us to. THANK YOU SO MUCH! This song is awesome!! You are credited at Three Minutes into our video th-cam.com/video/-lXcVB8oVDE/w-d-xo.html

[@ReimundMerkens]

Thank you for your compliments to my arrangement and crediting me in your video.
The beautiful song was written by Paul Simon/Art Garfunkel and I decided to arrange an instrumental version for symphony orchestra and add an intro.

[@AeroRangerStudios]

@@ReimundMerkens I also provided a link to the song in the caption of my video. Thank You Once Again!!

[@rodinalmondbloom8562]

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams, I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light, I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never shared
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
Then the sign said, "The words on the prophets are written on the subway walls
In tenement halls"
And whispered in the sound of silence

[@cleigh8753]

I love hearing songs arranged for orchestral performances. But being a lifelong Simon and Garfunkel fan,.. I found that the tempo of this arrangement feeling far too rushed.

[@ReimundMerkens]

Thank you for your comment. Perhaps your sense of urgency is due to the instrumentation and its accompanying lines. I used the tempo of the 1966 studio version (96 BPM) because I liked that tempo best in relation to the lyrics. But you're right, of course. There are live recordings of Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel that are faster at 107 BPM but also those that are slower (80 BPM) such as the famous concert in Central Park.

[@HEMISUPERBEE426]

TOTALLY AWESOME!

[@ReimundMerkens]

Thank you.

[@rodinalmondbloom8562]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! You are doing a great great job! Bless You!

[@ReimundMerkens]

Thank you very much for your nice comment and appreciation of my work for orchestra.

[@sinhtruong1926]

I love this song❤

[@ReimundMerkens]

Thank you

[@vagamorneval8451]

Thanks.

[@shaoh7239]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@romildalemos5519]

Maravilhoso ❤❤❤

[@ReimundMerkens]

Thank you

[@jacquelinepelligri4593]

Exellentisime🎉

[@ReimundMerkens]

Thank you.

[@Dmitry15may]

Nice!

[@ReimundMerkens]

Thank you