Byrneing Down the Concert Hall : Music: The creative voice of Talking Heads is about to make his classical premiere here.

Chuck Berry may have ordered Beethoven to roll over, but given the number of rock ‘n’ rollers composing classical works lately, it seems as if Beethoven remains as sturdy as ever. In fact, some rockers seem to have joined him.

Paul McCartney’s “Liverpool Oratorio”--televised on PBS on Wednesday and released on CDs and tapes last week--will receive its U.S. premiere in Carnegie Hall on Nov. 18. Also in New York, Frank Zappa’s music will be featured by Joel Thome and the Orchestra of Our Time in a program called “Zappa’s Universe” this Thursday through Saturday.

And now in San Diego, David Byrne--the primary creative voice of Talking Heads--will have his hourlong work for orchestra and vocalists, “The Forest,” receive its Southern California premiere Sunday night in Copley Symphony Hall.

Though this is his first orchestral piece, Byrne has been involved in so-called high-art circles before, having composed wind band music for “the knee plays” from Robert Wilson’s doomed, multipart theater piece “the CIVIL warS”. In fact, “The Forest” is a byproduct of a 1988 theater collaboration (of the same name) with Wilson, the score for which was expanded and orchestrated to form the concert piece.

Stately, ritual-like, with elements of Byrne’s familiar obsession with world music and a strong dose of minimalism, “The Forest” is said to be a meditation on the feelings and values of the Industrial Revolution. Premiered earlier this year, it has been available on CDs and tapes since June on Byrne’s label, Luaka Bop (distributed by Warner Bros.).

As is the case with many rock ‘n’ roll musicians who have entered the classics, Byrne cannot notate music. But that was overcome with high technology, as Byrne composed the score on electronic keyboards and guitars that could imitate the sounds of orchestral instruments. He produced a rudimentary tape of how he wanted it to sound, and, with that as a guide, veteran arranger Jimmie Haskell wrote and filled out the orchestration.

New York conductor Jonathan Sheffer, who will lead the San Diego Symphony in the premiere, discounts the fact that Byrne is not a formally trained musician.

“The amount of training that one has is not really the point,” said Sheffer, who studied music at Harvard and Juilliard and is also a composer. “Danny Elfman’s music, for example, is very contrapuntal and very full; he has not got extensive training in composition, but the finished product can be gotten through a process.” The composer of the “Batman” film score and member of Oingo Boingo often uses orchestrations in his movie scores.

Sheffer also suggested that Byrne’s outsider status in the orchestral world may well be a creative asset.

“Anybody who comes to a medium for the first time, and who hasn’t spent their whole life in it, is going to discover things that might not be visible to others who are immersed in it.

“A lot of times, people work under the anxiety of knowing all of the works that preceded them, and they tend to form ideas as a reaction to what they’ve heard. I think composers like David have a wonderful opportunity to be free of those ideas. Categories are irrelevant, and only great music of any kind is worth playing. I see no distinction between Bach and minimalism or music of any period.”

Still, the idea that a rock personality’s appeal can significantly boost attendance for conventional classical concerts remains dubious. Frank Zappa, who has been involved in classical music throughout his career, estimates that “maybe 10% to 15%” of his loyal rock audience is interested in his classical projects.

Reviews, generally speaking, for the McCartney-Zappa-Byrne compositions have been extremely mixed.

Sheffer, however, remains optimistic in the long run.

“This music has a place in the concert hall, I think,” he said. “This is a particular time in the concert world in which symphony orchestras are struggling. And these pieces offer the orchestras a chance to bring new audiences into the concert hall.”

Also on the program, Prelude to Act III of “Lohengrin” by Wagner, Mozart’s Overture to “The Abduction of the Seraglio,” prelude to Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger . “ In Copley Symphony Hall, 8 p.m.