Sgt Pepper: Music Analysis

In the making of Sgt Pepper, Martin described how Lennon first envisioned the song to sound like: "He'd wanted it as a gentle dreaming song, but he said it had come out too raucous. He asked me if I could write him a new line-up with the strings. So I wrote a new score (with four trumpets and three cellos)”. For this purpose, Martin recorded another basic track with the group, attempting the song at a faster tempo than before. Lennon went back and forth between wanting the arrangement but ultimately decided that he liked both take 7 and take 26 and wanted to combine the two. Martin told Lennon that the orchestral score was at a faster tempo and in a higher key ( B Major) than the earlier recording (A major). Lennon replied to Martin saying: "You can fix it, George. You know what you're like”. Lennon knew Martin’s strong knowledge of production as well as classical music that would make Martin ultimately fix the song’s tempo and key. This was done by combining takes 7 and 26 together. Martin describes the process of combining the takes as a tedious mission, “ Fortunately, God was on my side because the pitch was only a semitone difference and the only way, which was the right way to match them is

The song carries itself with it’s nostalgic timbre, despite never been ‘taken down’ to the home note ( the tonic). Instead, the song continues with non-diatonic chords as well as the tension that is intensified by harmonization and root movement. The level of complexity within the orchestration of the music is an example of how Martin contributed to the Beatles. His additions could turn a song into its very essence, which is shown in Strawberry Fields