Does anybody know what the music is in the recent Audi commercial? Female voices, a capella, nice interwoven texture, suggests medieval sort of music but not really, and I know I’ve heard something similar but can’t think where. Maybe something like the final scene of ‘Out of Africa’, but I don’t think that’s right either (long time since I saw the movie). (I know next to nothing about music, so I can’t give a better description.)
I like it a lot, and it sounds familiar enough that it really bothers me. The Audi Web site doesn’t seem to have anything.
Bob the Random Expert
“If we don’t have the answer, we’ll make one up.”
Dunno about that, but I’ve got the music from that VW Jetta commercial. You know, the one where the music is in synch with the traffic lights, and the windshield wipers, and all the people on the street.
And as everybody knows, an Audi A4 is just a Jetta with a snootier price tag. (The same goes for the A6 and the Passat.)
Of course I don’t fit in; I’m part of a better puzzle.
Well, no they aren’t. They are owned by the same company, and are in the same respective classes, but they have much different powerplants, suspentions and bodys. Basically everything which makes cars different, is different. They do share some parts, but so does virtually every car on the road. Unlike the Ford/Mercury, Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler models, these vehicles are still different. Give them several more years under the same ownership (the buyout is recent) and the similarities will likely grow.
(The one with the windshield wipers)
From Adweek, 18 January 1999:
“The soundtrack for the Jetta ad was composed by Pete DuCharme of Somerville, Mass., who was given the assignment from [Arnold Communications creative director Lance] Jensen, a longtime acquaintance, after the spot had been filmed. DuCharme was specifically asked to write the music at 94 beats a minute–the cadence, it turns out, of a brisk walk–so that the physical movement in the ads could be in harmony with the chords. During the shoot, that beat was blared over loudspeakers ‘to keep everyone in sync,’ [creative director Alan] Pafenbach says. ‘It’s a wonder we weren’t arrested.’”
I’m gonna kick this over to one of our resident experts, see what he has to say.
your humble TubaDiva/SDStaffDiv
for the Straight Dope
rjk… it is most likely “clanned” or “enya” both are related (musicly and both have same members of the family, sisters) Clanned did a song called “harry’s game” for the motion picture “patriot games” and it has been used in several car commercials also (i know VW). I can recognise their songs in many other commercials… all are very beutifull and etherial. They are of irish background and have a cleric/newage feel. The CD’s are just as good as the commercial songs… trust me.
The wisest man I ever knew taught me something I never forgot. And although I never forgot it, I never quite memorized it either. So what I’m left with is the memory of having learned
something very wise that I can’t quite remember. -George Carlin
I believe the song in question is by Mystere Des Voix Bulgares (sometimes “The Bulgarian Women’s Choir” or “The Bulgarian State Radio And Television Female Vocal Choir” in the U.S.) and is called “polegnala e todora.”
Thanks, Bermuda!
your humble TubaDiva/SDStaffDiv
for the Straight Dope
VW and Audi have been owned by the same company for as long as this Audi has been in business (which is at least since 1971). (There was another Audi pre-war, but the new Audi has nothing to do with the old Audi except the trademark.)
Sometimes Audis have been expensive VW’s. Sometimes VW’s (i.e., the '74 Dasher, the first front-wheel-drive VW) have been cheap Audis. Sometimes there’s been no particular connection. Right now, they’re diverging a bit; a year or two ago, it looked as though the Passat would go 4WD.
John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams
John, I wouldn’t say today’s Audi has nothing to do with the Audi company of the beginning of the century. They have existed continuously, even though they were named differently (Auto Union) for a few decades. The company history is on their website, starting from http://www.audi.com/java/facts/index.html and clicking “Audi Tradition”. Interestingly, I’ve found no mention of when they entered Volkswagen AG (or that they did at all, but of course they did).
Curious factlet: The name of the founder, Horch (also the name of the first company), literally means “listen” (imperative form) in German. The word “audi” is the Latin translation of that.
Hmmm… Yup, it looks like you’re right – Audi has a continuous history. They just weren’t famous for a while. (During the late 40’s and 50’s, they were making two-stroke models.)
The VW purchase was “in the mid-60’s” (perhaps 1964), and it appears to have been then that they decided to move up-market. The entire mid-70’s VW line, in fact, appears to have been based on Audi models, only some of which were ever sold in the U.S.
John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams
