Pop/rock songs lifting from classical music.

[Equipoise]

I just discovered that the melody of The Toys' 1965 song "A Lover Concerto" is from a Bach* piece, Minuet in G major!

What are some other examples?

I'm sure there are several threads about this topic but I haven't found them.



* it may not be by Bach.

[iamnotbatman]

This very recent thread is related:
Are great melodies universal, or limited to their genre?

[Alley Dweller]

What instantly popped into my mind:
Malcolm McLaren - Madame Butterfly

[Jonathan Chance]

Hook, by Blues Traveller.

It's Pachebel's Canon. Once you hear it you can't unhear it. And they've never even tried to cover it up. Given the content of the song it's hilarious.

[GreenElf]

Yes - Cans and Brahms, from the third movement of Brahms' Fourth Symphony in E minor

and with classical influence:
Electric Light Orchestra - Roll Over Beethoven
Carol King - Tapestry
Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
The Who- Tommy
Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
Saturday Night Fever - Fifth of Beethoven

[DCnDC]

Eric Carmen, "All by Myself" - lifted from Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor.

[SecretaryofEvil]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Chance

Hook, by Blues Traveller.

It's Pachebel's Canon. Once you hear it you can't unhear it. And they've never even tried to cover it up. Given the content of the song it's hilarious.

This comedian demonstrates about 14 different pop/rock songs that use Pachebel's Canon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM

[K364]

Originally Posted by DCnDC

Eric Carmen, "All by Myself" - lifted from Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor.

And his followup single, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" – based on the main theme of the slow movement of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2

[Exapno Mapcase]

There's been a long argument over whether Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale" actually used a Bach melody or just sounded like it did. Wikipedia says sounded like.

In the 1970s, Michael Kamen, a classically trained rocker who had been with the New York Roll & Roll Ensemble, and before he became a big name in Hollywood, performed a rock ballet with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. As far as I know it was never done again, never recorded, and I can't even find a reference to it on the web. Granting that I didn't hallucinate the whole thing, it was the best rock/classical fusion piece I've ever heard.

If anybody else knows of any reference to this I'd love to know more about it.

[Mr Downtown]

Sting's Russians.

[lawbuff]

I used to know 4 or 5, I'll rack my brain.

One I do know is, on Barry Manilow's song "Could it be the magic", it states on the label the intro was inspired by "Prelude in C Minor, Chopin".

[lawbuff]

I just remembered another one;

Copied from Wikipedia;

"A Groovy Kind of Love" is a pop song written by Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager for the Screen Gems music publishing company. It is heavily based on the Rondo movement of Sonatina in G major, op. 36 no. 5[1] by Muzio Clementi. The song was released first by Diane & Annita in 1965, and several covers have since appeared on worldwide music charts.

[RealityChuck]

The Nice would often interpolate classical melodies into their songs, and, of course, Emerson Lake and Palmer did "Pictures at an Exhibition." I wouldn't be surprised if Emerson put classical riffs on their albums and one of their biggest concert hits was "Hoedown" by Aaron Copland.

Blood, Sweat and Tears started out their second album with a song based upon "Tres Gymnopedies" by Edgar Varese.

Frank Zappa often quoted from Igor Stravinsky.

[silenus]

The first half-dozen albums by Renaissance all featured songs that lifted from classical music.

[GreenElf]

Tomita

[RealityChuck]

More Emerson Lake and Palmer: Nutrocker.

[Exapno Mapcase]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

More Emerson Lake and Palmer: Nutrocker.

A hit first by .. I kid you not .. B. Bumble and the Stingers. First recorded by Jack B. Nimble and the Quicks. And people say that The Beatles didn't rescue rock 'n' roll.

Even more astounding: it wasn't a ripoff of Tchaikovsky, but done legally, with copyright permission.

The strange story is on Wikipedia.

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by Equipoise

* it may not be by Bach.

Whoa, that's really interesting. Apparently, following the Wikipedia links, it was established in the 70s that "Minuet in G" was written by Christian Petzold. None of my sheet music ever reflected this. I had no idea.

[Martian Bigfoot]

It's well known that the Beatles song Blackbird owes a lot to Bach's Bourrée in E minor (Wiki) (you especially notice it when you play them both on the guitar). However, that isn't the only Bach piece that Paul McCartney took a cue from. See if Bach's Arisoso (from BWV 156) reminds you of anything.

[cochrane]

How about Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven," which is a reworking of the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

Also by Murphy, "Flight '76," which was based on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee."

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by Martian Bigfoot

See if Bach's Arisoso (from BWV 156) reminds you of anything.

I know the Arioso well, working a lot of weddings, but I can't place what Beatles song that is supposed to remind me of. However, I also would not have made the connection between the Bouree and Blackbird.

[Ximenean]

Originally Posted by Martian Bigfoot

It's well known that the Beatles song Blackbird owes a lot to Bach's Bourrée in E minor (Wiki) (you especially notice it when you play them both on the guitar). However, that isn't the only Bach piece that Paul McCartney took a cue from. See if Bach's Arisoso (from BWV 156) reminds you of anything.

They remind me of Cavatina and other well-known classical guitar hits. Beatles songs, not so much.

[Martian Bigfoot]

Originally Posted by pulykamell

I know the Arioso well, working a lot of weddings, but I can't place what Beatles song that is supposed to remind me of. However, I also would not have made the connection between the Bouree and Blackbird.

Hint:

SPOILER:

Hey Jude,
don't make it bad,
take a Bach song,
and make it better*
remember, to let it into your heart,
'cause it's all Bach...


*Or worse, depending on whether you're a bigger fan of the Beatles or Bach.

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by Martian Bigfoot

Hint:

SPOILER:

Hey Jude,
don't make it bad,
take a Bach song,
and make it better*
remember, to let it into your heart,
'cause it's all Bach...


*Or worse, depending on whether you're a bigger fan of the Beatles or Bach.

Now that you point it out, I see the resemblance. This link has a clarinetist and pianist play both of them back to back in a similar arrangement to highlight the similarities. Beatles tune starts at 4:20. It's not a connection I would have made, but it's clear to me how others would find them similar.

[Martian Bigfoot]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

Blood, Sweat and Tears started out their second album with a song based upon "Tres Gymnopedies" by Edgar Varese.

I think that should be Erik Satie.

[kunilou]

Lou Christie's Rhapsody in the Rain, from Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet."

[ZipperJJ]

The James Gang's "The Bomber" has "Bolero" in the middle of it. (video links right to "Bolero" section)

[Dr. Strangelove]

Rob Dougan's Clubbed to Death lifted bits from Elgar's Variations on an Original Theme Op. 36 - Enigma.

[Exapno Mapcase]

If you mention Bourée, then the mention has to go first to Jethro Tull's Bourée from the Stand Up album.

[K364]

Originally Posted by Martian Bigfoot

It's well known that the Beatles song Blackbird owes a lot to Bach's Bourrée in E minor (Wiki) (you especially notice it when you play them both on the guitar). However, that isn't the only Bach piece that Paul McCartney took a cue from. See if Bach's Arisoso (from BWV 156) reminds you of anything.

From the notes of Walter Everett's excellent books "The Beatles as Musicians":

"McCartney ascribes the song's origins to the treble/bass counterpoint of 'a well-known piece by Bach,' which may be a reference to the G-major outer-voice parallel tenths in the best know minuet from the Anna Magdalena collection. (the same counterpoint also appears in the same key in the Allemande of Bach G-major French Suites.)'

For Hey Jude, Everett speculates:

"...whether he would have known a certain liturgical work by John Ireland from his choirboy days. Ireland's "Te Deum laudamus" (1907) begins with, and returns to, [gives example] ... which is untransposed in Hey Jude..."

link to Ireland's work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY16QQXdcWA

[gaffa]

It's not specifically from a classical composer, but Todd Rundgren's Don't You Ever Listen from his album Something/Anything is actually a 12-tone composition. I had no idea until he was a guest professor at Indiana University.

[Colibri]

Originally Posted by DCnDC

Eric Carmen, "All by Myself" - lifted from Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor.

I hadn't realized how many pop songs were lifted from Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. I was going to mention Sinatra's Full Moon and Empty Arms. Apparently two of his other songs are also based on it.

Wiki says;

The Moderato provides the basis for Frank Sinatra's "I Think of You"[citation needed] and "Ever and Forever".[6] Muse's "Space Dementia" and "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)" contain references to this movement.[citation needed]
The Adagio sostenuto theme appears in Eric Carmen's 1975 ballad "All by Myself". Carmen first composed the song's interlude, then took the verse from Rachmaninoff and the chorus from his own "Let's Pretend". Carmen explained that Rachmaninoff was his "favorite music".[7] This movement also provides the basis for Amici Forever's "Nostalgia" from the album Defined[citation needed]. The opening chords of Adagio sostenuto also appears in the orchestrated version of Aria di Mezzo Carattere from Final Fantasy VI.
The second theme of Allegro scherzando provides the basis for Frank Sinatra's 1945 "Full Moon and Empty Arms"[6] and The Gospellers's "Sky High," which was also the opening theme for the anime Nodame Cantabile's Paris arc.[citation needed] The same theme is quoted by Muse's "Butterflies and Hurricanes".

[Happy Lendervedder]

Because by the Beatles, which is basically Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata backwards.

[Vivaldi]

Eric Carmen, "All by Myself" - lifted from Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor.klasik müzik dinle

[panache45]

Originally Posted by GreenElf

Tomita

And Wendy (Walter) Carlos.

[Beastly Rotter]

Grieg's "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" gets The Who treatment, with Keith Moon on spooky noises. May contain traces of amphetamines.

[X. L. Lent]

The borrowing of classical music is nothing new. The popular music composers
a century ago were doing the same thing. A few examples:
- Russian Rag by George Cobb (1918) uses part of Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# minor
- Hungarian Rag by Julius Lenzberg (1913) is based on Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody #2
- Operatic Rag also by Julius Lenzberg (1914) uses pieces of several different operas
- That Mesmerizing Mendelssohn Tune by Irving Berlin (1909) uses a piece by Mendelssohn (obviously)
If anyone is curious what these pieces sound like, they can all be found on youtube.com.

[brocks]

Originally Posted by Martian Bigfoot

Hint:

SPOILER:

Hey Jude,
don't make it bad,
take a Bach song,
and make it better*
remember, to let it into your heart,
'cause it's all Bach...


*Or worse, depending on whether you're a bigger fan of the Beatles or Bach.

Vaguely similar, but I doubt Bach will sue. Actually it's pretty clearly a ripoff of his Air on a G string.

[brocks]

Originally Posted by X. L. Lent

The borrowing of classical music is nothing new. The popular music composers
a century ago were doing the same thing.

If you ever see "The Outlaw," the movie that Howard Hughes made to make Jane Russell famous, you'll hear passages from Tchaikovsky's 6th stolen note for note. And some of the music from the original Star Wars movie is very reminiscent of Tchaikovsky's 4th.

I forget who it was, but there's a story that some composer who won an Oscar for his score said in his acceptance speech something along the lines of, "I'd like to thank Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff ..."

[chiroptera]

Emerson Lake and Palmer did Mussorsky's Pictures an an Exhibition. Not a song, but an entire album.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture...ibition_(album)

[Krokodil]

Elvis's "It's Now or Never" owes a little bit to "O Sole Mio."

[Krokodil]

Originally Posted by brocks

If you ever see "The Outlaw," the movie that Howard Hughes made to make Jane Russell famous, you'll hear passages from Tchaikovsky's 6th stolen note for note. And some of the music from the original Star Wars movie is very reminiscent of Tchaikovsky's 4th.

I forget who it was, but there's a story that some composer who won an Oscar for his score said in his acceptance speech something along the lines of, "I'd like to thank Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff ..."

I kind of remember that, except that he said--without irony--"I'd like to thank my COLLEAGUES Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff ..." He was never heard from again.

[Thudlow Boink]

Here are a couple I haven't seen mentioned yet, though they may not fall quite into the "pop/rock" category:

The musical Kismet had songs based on melodies by Borodin, such as "Stranger In Paradise."

An early Amy Grant song, "Sing Your Praise To The Lord," has an intro (though not the main melody of the song) taken from Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier.

[Krokodil]

Originally Posted by Krokodil

I kind of remember that, except that he said--without irony--"I'd like to thank my COLLEAGUES Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff ..." He was never heard from again.

Couldn't find the exact quote, but it was Hans Zimmer, who won for his score for The Lion King in 1994. And he was, in fact, heard from again, though not by Oscar.

[infinitii]

S Club 7 with "Natural" and Norma Ray with "Tous Les Maux D'Amour" (which "Natural" is just an English language version of) both use Gabriel Fauré's "Pavane" as the basis for the song.

[dropzone]

There are eight notes, plus accidentals. There will be some overlap.

And if you are going to steal, steal from the best.

[Bryan Ekers]

This thread is incomplete without a reference to The Pachelbel Rant.

[dropzone]

Done in post 7.

[Bryan Ekers]

Well, now it's twice as not-incomplete.

[dropzone]

It does bear repeating.