Classical Music You Know...but Don't Know It!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LCwI5iErE

The link posted above is from a musician/humorist explaining some of the differences in people and their musical listening choices. Like him, I am also optimistic about the future of classical music. There are some good reasons for it, too.

I find it interesting to consider how classical music themes have been used in popular culture: movies, popular songs, commercials and radio/TV shows. My plan is to address these, giving familiar examples. The ultimate goal, again, is to point out that classical music isn’t remote, obscure or difficult to listen to.

For this post, I’d like to focus on popular songs. How many of these do you recognize? They all have their roots in classical melodies. Here goes...

(1918) "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" by Joseph McCarthy and Harry Carroll - based on the Fantasie Impromptu in C Sharp Minor by Frédéric Chopin.
(1937) "Song of India", arr. Tommy Dorsey - based on "The Song of the Indian Guest" from Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko.
(1938) "My Reverie" by Larry Clinton - drawn from Debussy's Rêverie
(1939) "The Lamp is Low" - Peter DeRose and Bert Shefter - based on Maurice Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte
1941) "Tonight We Love", by Freddy Martin, Bobby Worth and Ray Austin - with melody based on Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op.23
(1945) "Full Moon and Empty Arms", by Buddy Kaye and Ted Mossman - based on Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.
(1953) "Stranger in Paradise" by George Forrest and Robert Wright, in the Broadway musical Kismet - from a theme from Alexander Borodin's Polovetsian Dances from his opera Prince Igor.
(1945) "Till the End of Time," words by Buddy Kaye and Ted Mossman based on Frédéric Chopin's "Polonaise In A Flat."
(1956) "Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)" by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning - based on a theme from Chabrier España, Rhapsody for Orchestra.
(1958) "Catch a Falling Star" by Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance - borrows its theme from Brahms' Academic Festival Overture.
(1959) "Once Upon a Dream" in the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty - is based on a waltz in Tchaikovsky's ballet Sleeping Beauty.
(1959) "Don't You Know" by Della Reese - comes from "Musetta's Waltz" from Puccini's La Boheme.
(1963) "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter From Camp)" by Allan Sherman - based on Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours" from the opera La Gioconda.
(1965) "A Lover's Concerto" by The Toys - based on J.S. Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach".
(1970) “Song of Joy” by Miguel Rios - based on the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
(1972) Pictures at an Exhibition by Emerson, Lake and Palmer - entire album based on the work by Modest Mussorgsky, with two original pieces ("The Sage" and "The Curse of Baba Yaga").
(1974) "Annie's Song" by John Denver - based on Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, second movement.
(1975) "Could It Be Magic" by Barry Manilow - quotes extensively from Chopin's Prelude in C minor.
(1976) "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy - disco version of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in c minor.
(1986) "Mars" by Emerson, Lake & Powell - arrangement of Mars: Bringer of War from Holst's The Planets
(1998) "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" by Sweetbox - borrowing from Bach's Air on the G string.
(1999) "Barber's Adagio for Strings" by William Orbit - a techno/electronic version of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings"
(1999) "Love of My Life" by Dave Matthews and Carlos Santana on the Super-natural album. Main theme is a nearly note-for-note quotation of a theme in the 3rd symphony of Johannes Brahms, with some rhythmic changes.
(2005) "Road to Joy" by Bright Eyes is based on the melody of Beethoven's Ode to Joy from the Symphony # 9 in d minor.

Whew! And this list is not, repeat not, exhaustive. I’ve seen pages and pages of such listings. I hope this will help you to see that classical music isn’t forbidding, mysterious or foreign. It has been used again and again in popular culture. It is also evident that these popularizations of classical melodies aren’t restricted to the older or younger or in-between generation. We all have heard it, even if we didn’t know what it was.

What next? Did you find songs with which you were familiar here? If so, take the plunge and seek out the classical composition on which its melody was based. Note: it’s possible that the popular theme is derived from the middle or nearer the end of a work, so you might have to listen a bit to find the tune. Check out what’s online as an easy (and often free!) way to discover new music. If all else fails you can always turn to the public library. They usually have a circulating library of music CDs.