# Pop Songs which are influenced by Classical Music



## timothyjuddviolin (Nov 1, 2011)

I've provided a few here:

Pop Meets Classical

and there are probably many more. How successful is this?


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

I'm thinking more along the lines of trying to pass the work off as your own - more so than The Who doing In the hall of the mountain king.


Everything by Muse (maybe not true...but someone did loan me an album and there was a bit of classical ripped off on every song):lol:
Radiohead's Exit Music... is Chopin's prelude 4
Paul Simon's American Tune/Bach's St. Mathhew passion
Frank Zappa's Invocation and ritual dance of the young pumpkin/Holst's Jupiter
Rainbow's Difficult to cure/Beethoven's 9th

Lost count of how many time Pachelbel's Canon in Dmaj has been used.

Beatles' Because/Beethoven's Moonlight sonata
Elvis' It's now or never/O Sole Mio
Neil Diamond's Song sung blue/piano concerto 21
john Denver's Annie's song/Tchaikovsky's 5th

Billy Joel did a few

Alicia Keys' Karms/Brahms' violin concerto


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

The first ones I remember are from the 60s.

Classical Gas by Mason Williams
Penny Lane by The Beatles

And the 70s classic, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

Frank Zappa's Tryin' To Grow A Chin is a pop/rock song in classical era style.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Less well-known internationally, but a #1 in Holland in the 70s. Regards from Saint-Saens.


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## csacks (Dec 5, 2013)

From Louise Tucker, Midnight Blue. It is based on Beethoven´s Pathétique. 





There is a famous spanish group, named Mocedades. The do have a song called "Cuando tu nazcas", it is the second movement of Beethoven´s 7th


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## csacks (Dec 5, 2013)

starthrower said:


> The first ones I remember are from the 60s.
> 
> Classical Gas by Mason Williams
> Penny Lane by The Beatles
> ...


WOW, and could you please tell me where is the wander full Bohemian Rhapsody inspired. I can not make the link:tiphat:


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

^^^^
Why does there have to be a direct link? The thread title says "influenced", not plagiarized.

If you're looking for music directly lifted from the classics, there's ELP's The Barbarian, lifted directly from Bartok's Allegro Barbaro, with no credit given to Bartok.


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## aakermit (Nov 23, 2013)

starthrower said:


> ^^^^
> Why does there have to be a direct link? The thread title says "influenced", not plagiarized.
> 
> If you're looking for music directly lifted from the classics, there's ELP's The Barbarian, lifted directly from Bartok's Allegro Barbaro, with no credit given to Bartok.


This piece was written in 1911 so technically "credit" is not required since the composition pre-dates the 75 year copyright period, at least in the U.S.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Not exactly pop, but the strident violin work of David Cross in King Crimson's Larks' Tongues In Aspic pt. 1 (begins at c. 3:00) sounds quite Bartokian to me.






King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp admired Bartok, especially the string quartets - I think he once said that the riff to their most famous track, 21st Century Schizoid Man, was an attempt to envisage 'how Bartok may have sounded if played by Jimi Hendrix'.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Sting's Russians quotes Prokofiev's Lt. Kije Suite.

Paul Simon's Late Great Johnny Ace has a coda actually written by Philip Glass.

CunninLynguists rap song Lingusitics samples Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. A fair number of rappers have sampled Classical, although this isn't really the same as the OP's "influenced by."


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

Has the classical sound but i cant put my hand in the fire...


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Here's Manfred Mann's Earthband saying hello to Gustav Holst


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Eric Carmen used the 2nd movement of Rach's _Symphony No. 2_ as melodic material for "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" - rather badly, I might add!


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

There are so many examples, I couldn't even begin to say. Bands like Kraftwerk, Telex, Einstürzende Neubauten, Cabaret Voltaire, Tangerine Dream, Faust... pretty much the entire Krautrock, Neue Deutsche Welle/New Wave, Industrial scenes and more have been influenced or even owe their existence to composers such as Xenakis, Stockhausen and others.

Here, _Das Schaben_ (The Scraping) from the Einstürzende Neubauten's immortal album, _Halber Mensch_:






It sounds a lot like Xenakis' _Orient-Occident_ and _Persepolis_.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

aakermit said:


> This piece was written in 1911 so technically "credit" is not required since the composition pre-dates the 75 year copyright period, at least in the U.S.


Legality is quite beside the point. It is a dirt-bag move to directly lift music in this way without crediting the person who composed it. Period. The fact that the thief is safe from prosecution doesn't mean he should be safe from contempt.


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## Dom (Nov 26, 2013)

Interesting, albeit corny treatment of themes from Bach's Well Tempered Clavier:


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)




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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Eric Carmen does Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2 2nd movement (very obvious), and David Bowie does the same (slightly less obvious).


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

GreenMamba said:


> Paul Simon's Late Great Johnny Ace has a coda actually written by Philip Glass.


Wow, the things you learn around here.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

The main melody of Jethro Tull's "To Cry You a Song" clearly derives from a theme in Rimsky-Korsakoff's Sheherezade (The main theme of the second movement, first stated by solo bassoon). Here is the Tull, most of you probably already know Sheherezade:


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

I was looking for this reference. I kind of like it myself. The Eric Carmen song also has melodic material that is not from Rachmaninoff and which I am assuming is original.



Celloman said:


> Eric Carmen used the 2nd movement of Rach's _Symphony No. 2_ as melodic material for "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" - rather badly, I might add!


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## Petwhac (Jun 9, 2010)

Vivaldi anyone?


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

A melody from the song "All by Myself" by Eric Carmen is lifted from Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto. The lift is such an obvious copy that accusations of plagiarism are inappropriate - I doubt there was any intent to deceive. The Carmen song also includes melodic material that is not in the Rachmaninoff and which I will assume is original.


As a few others have pointed out, you can take the above paragraph and replace "All by Myself" with "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again", and "Second Piano Concerto" with "Symphony #2".

This is my opinion, but I think Carmen did a good job with both songs. When I hear the Rachmaninoff works, I almost miss the parts of the Carmen songs that are not there.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Interesting thread.

But mentions of King Crimson, ELP and Il Rovescio Della Medaglia seem (to me at least) to stray pretty far from 'pop songs'. 

Pop songs, to me, are songs written with the express intent to be commercial success and have mass audience appeal. 

I don't believe 21st Century Schizoid Man, The Barbarian or Contaminazione were written with the intent on writing a pop song.

Procal Harem - Whiter Shade of Pale, Borrows from Bach


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

Sting's song "Russians" (I think it's from his album "Nothing Like the Sun") lifts a tune from Prokofiev's music to _Lieutenat Kije_. It seems to me to fit pretty well.


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## mikey (Nov 26, 2013)

Emerson Lake and Palmer did a lot of classical re-imaginings - Copland's Fanfare, Pictures and Brahms 3 I think although that may be someone else.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Rick Wakeman did that keyboard arrangement of Brahm's 4th symphony 3rd movement for the Yes album "Fragile"

I like Yes, but I think that arrangement sounds pretty stupid.


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

spradlig said:


> A melody from the song "All by Myself" by Eric Carmen is lifted from Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto. The lift is such an obvious copy that accusations of plagiarism are inappropriate - I doubt there was any intent to deceive. The Carmen song also includes melodic material that is not in the Rachmaninoff and which I will assume is original.
> 
> As a few others have pointed out, you can take the above paragraph and replace "All by Myself" with "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again", and "Second Piano Concerto" with "Symphony #2".
> 
> This is my opinion, but I think Carmen did a good job with both songs. When I hear the Rachmaninoff works, I almost miss the parts of the Carmen songs that are not there.


Carmen was very open and forward with his usage, as was Billy Joel with "This Night" / Beethoven's Sonata No. 8 - 2nd


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I believe in Father Christmas by Emerson Lake and Palmer using Lt Kije. ELP used a lot of classical, as mentioned above.

Stairway to Heaven was mentioned. I think it might be a chaconne which is unusual for rock and roll. 

Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues uses an orchestra quite effectlively. The second album by Yes, Time and a Word, but not as effectively I thought, it's too messy.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

......................................................................................


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Flamme said:


>


This is truly dreadful.

I had forgotten the deeply serious pretentiousness of much of arty rock 'n' pop.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

senza sordino said:


> Stairway to Heaven was mentioned. I think it might be a chaconne which is unusual for rock and roll.


Everyone knows where Led Zep got it from. What you need to do is these guys where they got it from.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Kit & The Widow vs Andrew Lloyd Weber


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> Everyone knows where Led Zep got it from. What you need to do is these guys where they got it from.


I never knew that! Interesting.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

Couac Addict said:


> Everyone knows where Led Zep got it from. What you need to do is these guys where they got it from.


I kinda hate this assertion that they just totally ripped off this piece by Spirit. All that the two compositions have in common is some similar instrumentation, and they utilize one similar slow, chromatic harmonic gesture. But in both pieces, that gesture starts in totally different places, and ends up in totally different places. There are far more similarities in other pieces by various artists than in this one. Now, Led Zeppelin toured with Spirit, so its quite possible that Jimmy Page heard this piece, and liked that gesture, but if thats the case, he used it in a totally different way.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

PetrB said:


> This is truly dreadful.
> 
> I had forgotten the deeply serious pretentiousness of much of arty rock 'n' pop.


There is no such thing as pretentious music.


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

I like Yes also. Possibly that album introduced some people to the Brahms 4th who hadn't heard it?

QUOTE=violadude;569945]Rick Wakeman did that keyboard arrangement of Brahm's 4th symphony 3rd movement for the Yes album "Fragile"

I like Yes, but I think that arrangement sounds pretty stupid.[/QUOTE]


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

spradlig said:


> I like Yes also. Possibly that album introduced some people to the Brahms 4th who hadn't heard it?
> 
> QUOTE=violadude;569945]Rick Wakeman did that keyboard arrangement of Brahm's 4th symphony 3rd movement for the Yes album "Fragile"
> 
> I like Yes, but I think that arrangement sounds pretty stupid.


[/QUOTE]

Maybe, but I'm sure after they listened to the original, they ditched the arrangement altogether 

It just doesn't add anything new and takes away some of the good things about the original, imo.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

BurningDesire said:


> There is no such thing as pretentious music.


You've led, then, an extremely insulated life


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

The 50's classic "Catch A Falling Star" by Perry Como is clearly a rip-off of Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture."


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> The 50's classic "Catch A Falling Star" by Perry Como is clearly a rip-off of Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture."


Oh yes, I did hear a bar or two that has a the same sequence of notes for the first couple of lines. Great catch!


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Given the time of year, this on ereally ought to be listed (Greg Lake meets Prokofiev)






And while I'm with this artist, maybe we should also list ELP meets Janacek (not really a 'pop' song though)


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Then there was Renaissance who defined themselves as folk rock and classical fusion. They utilized themes of Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. But, it was more their raison d'etre than something incidental.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Khachaturian ~ love theme from Spartacus becomes, well, if the progression of the intro does not give it away, its a pretty wholesale rip-off, a well-popular tune as sung by Sinatra


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

BurningDesire said:


> There is no such thing as pretentious music.


Oh yes, it exists!


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Winterreisender said:


> The 50's classic "Catch A Falling Star" by Perry Como is clearly a rip-off of Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture."


This reminds me: Louie Prima's The Bigger the Figure draws inspiration from Rossini, while at the same time anticipating Sir Mix-a-Lot.


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## rosaespanola (Oct 15, 2011)

Listen to this song called Amies-Ennemis by a French singer called Nadiya and see if you recognise the tune! I have no idea whether she has officially credited the original or not, but I'd guess so as it shows the record being put on a turntable at the beginning of the video. I read in an interview with her that she's always loved this piece since first hearing it as a child in a ballet lesson.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

rosaespanola said:


> Listen to this song called Amies-Ennemis by a French singer called Nadiya and see if you recognise the tune! I have no idea whether she has officially credited the original or not, but I'd guess so as it shows the record being put on a turntable at the beginning of the video.


According to wikipedia:
Writer(s)	Géraldine Delacoux, Thierry Gronfier, *Frédéric Chopin*


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

The Beatles performed "Eleanor Rigby" using only voices and a small string group (sorry I don't know the exact number). "Yesterday" is for just voice, acoustic guitar and a handful of strings. "In My Life" has an interlude for keyboard that sounds sort of baroque - I think it is a sped-up recording of a piano, which ends up sounding kind of like a harpsichord. "She's Leaving Home" is performed by only voice(s) and a small string ensemble.


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## Katie (Dec 13, 2013)

Here's a kick *** (generally on-point) quote from Phil Lesh while being interviewed by Blair Jackson following the legendary Spring '90 tour*:

BJ: Do you listen to other bassists at all?
PL: ...In my own style of playing, such as it is, I've been influenced more by Bach than any other bassists. Actually, you can back even further - *Palestrina, 16th century modal counterpoint* **.

*To those pedantic Heads in the cross-over reading audience, I am aware of the 2 May shows in Carson prior to the beginning of the Summer tour in June. We are a finicky lot for exacting detail!

**Emboldened text added to emphasize pure, unadulterated awesomeness.

K


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

techniquest said:


> Oh yes, I did hear a bar or two that has a the same sequence of notes for the first couple of lines. Great catch!


The whole tune of "Falling Star" is in the Overture !!


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

There was a huge hit in the 1950's--yes in the olden days--for Teresa Brewer. It was titled "Put Another Nickel In,In the Nickel Odeon---All I Want Is Loving You and Music,Music,Music ".
This was Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

moody said:


> The whole tune of "Falling Star" is in the Overture !!


Indeed it is. And here all this time I thought it was my imagination!

And listen to Borodin's 2nd String Quartet...Baubles, bangles, bright shiny beads...


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

spradlig said:


> The Beatles performed "Eleanor Rigby" using only voices and a small string group (sorry I don't know the exact number). "Yesterday" is for just voice, acoustic guitar and a handful of strings. "In My Life" has an interlude for keyboard that sounds sort of baroque - I think it is a sped-up recording of a piano, which ends up sounding kind of like a harpsichord. "She's Leaving Home" is performed by only voice(s) and a small string ensemble.


My favourite Beatles song of this kind is For No One - with McCartney's voice accompanied by piano and with occasional French horn. Sparse and understated, but manages to pack a fair emotional punch.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Well, loads.

Noone's tapped Alan Parsons Project or ELO yet which seems like an obvious omission - you can do your own research on how these guys incorporated "classical" influences into what they did and how it changed over time. But there are many, many more, so, arbitrarily a few I enjoy:

Jigsaw being rock nerds and throwing in a late romantic orchestra with outstanding (go all the way through - the orchestration is AMAZEBALLS - horn whoops and bass trombone fantasy):






Gilberto Gil in Brazil perhaps inspired by Prokofiev's film scores as much as Villa-Lobos - seriously isn't this a bit like Lt Kije? Best use of orchestra in pop for my money:






Even Rod Stewart in Handbags and Gladrags - getting the winds in:






Or the French: Stereolab, who were an unusually musically literate band (I was lucky enough to see them live in my youth - and actually Anglo-French before I get corrected) feeding off their long and distinguished musical heritage (maybe it's their pop tradition, but - gah - it's just a brilliant song!!!)






And maybe other frogs like Gainsbourg or Guy Skornik or Brigitte Fontaine but too lazy to ferret them out...

Anyway, the list is practically endless, and I may have to have another go soon


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## GodNickSatan (Feb 28, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> My favourite Beatles song of this kind is For No One - with McCartney's voice accompanied by piano and with occasional French horn. Sparse and understated, but manages to pack a fair emotional punch.


It also uses a clavichord played by McCartney.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Carlos Santana's Love of My Life and Brahms 3, the allegretto theme

He doesn't credit Brahms


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

The song "Love Will Find a Way" by Yes begins with twenty seconds or so of a small string group, possibly a quartet, playing music that sounds thoroughly classical.


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

The Moody Blues' classic "Nights in White Satin" has some bits for orchestra that sound kind of classical. I'm referring to the full version containing the poem "Late Lament": I refuse to listen to another version.

I think ELO used orchestras a lot in some of their songs and sometimes the music sounds classical.

This may be a dupe, but ages ago someone came up with "A Fifth of Beethoven", which twists the obvious source material into disco music. I think it's pretty decent, if you can tolerate disco.

Some female vocal artist or a band with such an artist recorded a song that uses Satie's Gymnopedie #3 verbatim, but in an original fashion. Sorry I can't ID the artist or the song.

The overture to the Who's rock opera "Tommy" is kind of classical flavored. French horns are used quite effectively.


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

I remarked on this in a different thread: Barry Manilow used a Chopin prelude in c minor (don't know the opus number, but it can't be that hard to find) as the basis for his song entitled "Let me see the magic" something like that. The Manilow song has some material that is not in the Chopin , and is longer than the extremely shot prelude.

Someone sang Bach's Minuet in G from his Notebook for Anna Magdelena Bach as a pop song, but s/he changed it to quadruple meter for some reason. Sorry for lacking specifics.


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

One more: around 1969, Jethro Tull recorded a Bouree by J. S. Bach from his 'Suite in in E Minor for Lute'. The Tull recording has a kind of swing tempo and I don't think the original does. Sorry for no specifics such as BWV number, but if you are really curious, this should be enough for you to find both versions.

I heard the Jethro Tull version first and I was surprised to discover later that it was from Bach. I love Bach, but I think I prefer the Jethro Tull version.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

70s disco funk Beethoven.


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## MonicaStillwater (Dec 31, 2013)

spradlig said:


> One more: around 1969, Jethro Tull recorded a Bouree by J. S. Bach from his 'Suite in in E Minor for Lute'. The Tull recording has a kind of swing tempo and I don't think the original does. Sorry for no specifics such as BWV number, but if you are really curious, this should be enough for you to find both versions.
> 
> I heard the Jethro Tull version first and I was surprised to discover later that it was from Bach. I love Bach, but I think I prefer the Jethro Tull version.


I think there are a couple of versions of this (by Tull) I think there is a short version and a longer one. It is Bach's "Bourrée in E minor" by the way. (Bourrée in E minor is a popular lute piece, the fifth movement from Suite in E minor for Lute, BWV 996 (BC L166) written by Johann Sebastian Bach. This piece is arguably one of the most famous pieces among guitarists.[1]) according to Wikipedia.

Ian Anderson (Tull's founder, lead singer and flautist) has given several interviews where he talks about the classical influences he includes in his music. He has done some decent instrumental work on his own, under his own name, also. One album that comes to mind is The Secret Language of Birds.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Judge Judy's (popular American television show) theme music is a jazzed up version of the first movement of Beethoven's 5th symphony. All instrumental, no vocals.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

MonicaStillwater said:


> I think there are a couple of versions of this (by Tull) I think there is a short version and a longer one. It is Bach's "Bourrée in E minor" by the way. (Bourrée in E minor is a popular lute piece, the fifth movement from Suite in E minor for Lute, BWV 996 (BC L166) written by Johann Sebastian Bach. This piece is arguably one of the most famous pieces among guitarists.[1]) according to Wikipedia.
> 
> Ian Anderson (Tull's founder, lead singer and flautist) has given several interviews where he talks about the classical influences he includes in his music. He has done some decent instrumental work on his own, under his own name, also. One album that comes to mind is The Secret Language of Birds.


Ian's a genius.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

aakermit said:


> This piece was written in 1911 so technically "credit" is not required since the composition pre-dates the 75 year copyright period, at least in the U.S.


Not quite - in both the US and UK it's currently life plus 70, so the copyright for _Allegro barbaro_ would still have applied seeing Béla Bartók died only 25 years before ELP's adaptation. Bartók's widow rumbled them soon afterwards anyway.


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## Rach Man (Aug 2, 2016)

EdwardBast said:


> Legality is quite beside the point. It is a dirt-bag move to directly lift music in this way without crediting the person who composed it. Period. The fact that the thief is safe from prosecution doesn't mean he should be safe from contempt.


I have read that ELP thought that their Label would credit Bartok for the song. They have played many classical pieces and had no problem giving credit to the original composer. I have a feeling that since this was their first album, the weren't sure of how the label would take care of this credit. Because when it was brought up after the release of the album, ELP immediately gave credit to Bartok.

I don't think it was a dirt-bag move at all. Emerson was classically trained and has no qualms about giving credit where credit is due.

I mean, after all, thery named the song _The Barbarian_. If they were trying to circumvent credit of a song called Allegro Barbaro, don't you think that they might have named it _The Street Vendor_ or something that was not related to the original name. I believe that they used that name as an homage to Bartok and thought that something would be written on the album.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

From a famous "tune" by ______. 

M


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

The Fifth Estate's 1967 cover of "Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead" interpolates the bouree from Michael Praetorius's Terpsichore.






Allan Sherman 's 1963 novelty song, "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah", makes liberal use of Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

GioCar said:


> Carlos Santana's Love of My Life and Brahms 3, the allegretto theme
> 
> He doesn't credit Brahms


As Giocar points out, this has to be one of the biggest uncredited rip-offs ever. Brahmsian, to say the least.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

elgars ghost said:


> Not quite - in both the US and UK it's currently life plus 70, so the copyright for _Allegro barbaro_ would still have applied seeing Béla Bartók died only 25 years before ELP's adaptation. Bartók's widow rumbled them soon afterwards anyway.


I don't think it was life plus 70 or 75 years when the song was released. In the U.S. at that time, I think it was 56 years from the date of publication.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

elgars ghost said:


> Not quite - in both the US and UK it's currently life plus 70, so the copyright for _Allegro barbaro_ would still have applied seeing Béla Bartók died only 25 years before ELP's adaptation. Bartók's widow rumbled them soon afterwards anyway.


At least in the USA, this holds only for works created after January 1, 1978. For earlier works, different rules apply; all works published in the United States before January 1, 1923, are in the public domain. Reference: https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ15a.pdf


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

elgars ghost said:


> Not quite - in both the US and UK it's currently life plus 70, so the copyright for _Allegro barbaro_ would still have applied seeing Béla Bartók died only 25 years before ELP's adaptation. Bartók's widow rumbled them soon afterwards anyway.


I don't think it was life plus 70 or 75 years when the song was released, at least in the U.S. I'm pretty sure it was 28 years from the date of publication and a renewal for another 28 years. (If the copyright holder remembers - sometimes they don't which is why "It's a Wonderful Life" could be seen on every TV channel in the States.)

And by the way, did Bela give Dmitri for an assist with the 4th movement of the Concerto for Orchestra?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Gotcha - thanks for the correction.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Towards the end of Bohemian Rhapsody there is a piano passage that sound uncannily like a short passage from the 2nd mov of Beethoven's 2nd piano sonata in A major.


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