The ENZSO project led to the release of two hit albums, as well as live shows. For Eddie Rayner, the genesis of the whole thing was simple musical curiosity.
“Initially it was just me mucking about on my synthesizers and doing these demos,” recalled Rayner. “[They] ended up being really great demos and caused in a way, the whole thing to be able to have a life with the real orchestra. I knew that I would need certain key people involved. And I knew that it would be great to have Neil and Tim involved, just from a vibe point of view. And then Dave Dobbin jumped on, and Annie Crummer and Sam Hunt.”
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“I'd been using synthetic strings and synthetic orchestral sounds for years in Split Enz so I'd often wondered what it would be like if it was translated to real instruments played by a real orchestra,” Raynor said.
But nothing prepared him for the sound of the real thing.
“I was completely blown away by the magnificence of it. Standing right in the middle of it was an experience like no other that I'd ever had before."
NZSO Associate Concertmaster and first violin Donald Armstrong had just come back to New Zealand from France when the ENZSO project was coming together in the mid-’90s.
He remembers there being a buzz around the prospect of a collaboration with Split Enz from the start.
“They were sort of zany, they were really unusual but they also wrote brilliant songs. All ones we know and love, you know, to this day.”
Armstrong was impressed by Eddie Rayner’s ability to orchestrate the songs, despite not being able to read music.
“That artistic vision is rare and incredibly cool. I mean, it wouldn't have happened without Eddie. You just have to take your hat off to the people that have that kind of vision.”
For the members of Split Enz, hearing the orchestral version of their songs for the first time was a shock. As Rayner recalled: “I think, at one point, Neil Finn was quite uncomfortable with the feel of it. I mean, he was saying, he wasn't sure about it. He said “I'm not sure whether it's overblown and pompous” - those were the two words he used.”
But nearly thirty years after the first ENZO collaboration, Eddie Rayner believes his musical experiment paid off.
“It hasn't been till quite recently that I've gone back and listened to the first album again. And it's seriously orchestral…it's quite wonderful. And it's just a completely different representation of those songs.”
NZSO former Associate Concertmaster Donald Armstrong. Photo: Stephen A'Court
It's also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts or any good podcast app.
Crescendo is voiced by RNZ Concert’s Clarissa Dunn with sound mix by Marc Chesterman. It was written and produced by Noelle McCarthy from an original concept by Bird of Paradise.
Photo: Bird Of Paradise Productions
