Orchestral in scope, but rock by instrumentation, Radiohead pushed the musical limits of rock music with its 1997 landmark album OK Computer. This arrangement of the album’s epic track “Paranoid Android” will challenge any string quartet. Tricky rhythms and time-signature changes are just the tip of the iceberg for this complex piece of music.

Polar opposite in tone to “Paranoid Android” is the Grammy-nominated song “House of Cards” (In Rainbows, 2007), an uncharacteristically relaxed Radiohead love ballad. Melodically deadpan, the crux of the song lies in the rhythmic groove created by the guitar figure faithfully played in this string quartet arrangement by the viola.

(Excerpted from the Performance Notes)

Radiohead is a rock band that strives to be a chamber music ensemble—indeed, guitarist and keyboardist Jonny Greenwood is a classically trained string player who scored the film music for There Will Be Blood. Orchestral in scope, both in grandeur and miniature, but rock by instrumentation, the band pushed the musical limits of rock music with its 1997 landmark album OK Computer, a work of art that continues to amaze, amuse, and even confuse me to this day. “Paranoid Android” is the epic track on OK Computer and my 2001 string-quartet arrangement of the song quickly became a staple of the Section Quartet’s live repertoire. One could say that the Section Quartet is a chamber-music ensemble that strives to be a rock band.

“Paranoid Android” opens in a deceptively gentle mood. The second violin’s syncopated rhythms in mm. 1–16 need to lock in with the pulsating eighth notes of the cello part in order to support the melody in the first violinist’s part. In this section, the violist should play in a deadpan manner, though a subtle use of the hairpin dynamics will keep the part from sounding emotionally f lat. At m. 17, the mood shifts to a dream state for seven measures before returning to the verse (m. 24), where the second violinist gets the melody this time. The first violinist should have fun with the portamento in mm. 30–31 without overdoing it because the melody is still being played by the second violinist.

Paranoid Android

"House of Cards,” from Radiohead’s rockin’ 2007 album In Rainbows, is an uncharacteristically relaxed love ballad that was the B-side to “Bodysnatchers.” The track garnered three Grammy nominations.

The violist must lock down the tempo and rhythm and keep steady from start to finish, but work together with the cellist to make sure the tempo doesn’t rush or drag. There are several extended technique instructions throughout the arrangement, so it would be helpful to listen to Radiohead’s original version in order to understand some of the rhythmic goals. Keep in mind, however, that my arrangement has distinct differences from the original.

House of Cards

—Eric Gorfain