The Barbarian (song)
{{Infobox song
| name = The Barbarian
| cover =
| alt =
| type = Instrumental
| artist = Emerson, Lake & Palmer
| album = Emerson, Lake & Palmer
| released = 1970
| format =
| recorded = 1970
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Progressive rock|heavy metal{{cite book|title=Mountains Come Out of the Sky - The Illustrated History of Prog Rock|first=Will|last=Romano|date=2010}}}}
| length = 4:27
| label =
| composer = Béla Bartók arr. Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Carl Palmer
| lyricist =
| producer = Greg Lake
}}
"The Barbarian" is the opening track on the eponymous debut album of British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1970.
Description
This piece of music is instrumental, and it is the shortest one on the album (4:27). Although the composition of "The Barbarian" was attributed to the three band members, it is an arrangement for rock band of Béla Bartók’s 1911 piano piece Allegro barbaro.{{cite book |last=Stump |first=Paul |title=The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock |date=1997 |publisher=Quartet Books Limited |isbn=0-7043-8036-6 |page=98}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4583|title=The Barbarian by Emerson, Lake & Palmer|website=Songfacts.com|access-date=29 May 2022}} Although the original piece is for piano only, the band arranged the song for organ, piano, bass, and drums.{{Cite journal|url=http://epublications.unilim.fr/revues/as/5584|title=A plastic approach to musical meaning : An analysis of the Barbarian by Emerson, Lake & Palmer|journal=Actes Sémiotiques|volume=119|last1=Gecevičiūtė|first1=Agnė}} The music of the song is aggressive with a heavy metal style. Greg Lake used a fuzz box to give his bass a fuller, guitar-like sound. The band members did not give credit to Bartók, thinking that the label would arrange the matter. Bartók's family sued ELP for copyright infringement, but eventually, the band gave equal credit to Bartók.{{Cite web|url=https://www.letssingit.com/emerson-lake-and-palmer-lyrics-the-barbarian-m3hsmtm|title = Emerson, Lake & Palmer - the Barbarian Lyrics|website=Letssingit.com}}
Personnel
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Emerson, Lake & Palmer}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbarian, The}}
Category:Emerson, Lake & Palmer songs
Category:British hard rock songs
Category:Compositions by Béla Bartók