# A little Ponchielli in Roberta Flak's "Mood"? (Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, Side 2, 1972)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-little-ponchielli-in-roberta-flaks-mood-roberta-flack-donny-hathaway-side-2-1972/928623>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** music\
**Created:** [December 22, 2020, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-little-ponchielli-in-roberta-flaks-mood-roberta-flack-donny-hathaway-side-2-1972/928623 "2020-12-22T10:48:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-little-ponchielli-in-roberta-flaks-mood-roberta-flack-donny-hathaway-side-2-1972/928623/1 "2020-12-22T10:48:47Z")

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“Mood” is a rather obscure and depressing piece, the last song on the album. It really stands out from the rest of the album, not necessarily in a good or bad way, but as a break in theme. Composition of this slower instrumental song is credited to Flack, and she performs most of it on piano with occasional accompaniment from Hathaway on an electric piano. I’m definitely picking up some Ponchielli (as heard in Disney’s _Fantasia_ or Allan Sherman’s “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah”). It’s twisted into a minor key, which I think is called major-minor modulation. Can you hear it?

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MTXSg0HbCqM/maxresdefault.jpg "Mood") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTXSg0HbCqM)

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ruZ8dIefoeQ/hqdefault.jpg "La danza delle ore dalla Gioconda di Amilcare Ponchielli") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruZ8dIefoeQ)

~Max

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**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-little-ponchielli-in-roberta-flaks-mood-roberta-flack-donny-hathaway-side-2-1972/928623/2 "2020-12-23T08:01:04Z")

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Yeah, there is a very slight resemblance around 2:45. The phrasing is changed.