I Want You Bach

When Jackson 5 and Bach were funky way before Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk! -"I Want You Bach"-The Piano Guys.

And what if Bach wrote "Last Christmas"? (Baroque cover version)

A whiter shade of Bach

BAROQUE

The Baroque is a highly ornate and often extravagant style of architecture, music, painting, sculpture and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th until the mid-18th century. It followed the Renaissance style and preceded the Rococo (in the past often referred to as "late Baroque") and Neoclassical styles. It was encouraged by the Catholic Church as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architecture, art and music, though Lutheran Baroque art developed in parts of Europe as well. The Baroque style used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep colour, grandeur and surprise to achieve a sense of awe. The style began at the start of the 17th century in Rome, then spread rapidly to France, northern Italy, Spain and Portugal, then to Austria and southern Germany. By the 1730s, it had evolved into an even more flamboyant style, called rocaille or Rococo, which appeared in France and central Europe until the mid to late 18th century.

Music and ballet

The term Baroque is also used to designate the style of music composed during a period that overlaps with that of Baroque art. The first uses of the term 'baroque' for music were criticisms. In an anonymous, satirical review of the première in October 1733 of Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, printed in the Mercure de France in May 1734, the critic implied that the novelty in this opera was "du barocque," complaining that the music lacked coherent melody, was filled with unremitting dissonances, constantly changed key and meter, and speedily ran through every compositional device. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was a musician and noted composer as well as philosopher, made a very similar observation in 1768 in the famous Encylopedié of Denis Diderot: "Baroque music is that in which the harmony is confused, and loaded with modulations and dissonances. The singing is harsh and unnatural, the intonation difficult, and the movement limited. It appears that term comes from the word 'baroco' used by logicians."

Common use of the term for the music of the period began only in 1919, by Curt Sachs, and it was not until 1940 that it was first used in English in an article published by Manfred Bukofzer.

The baroque was a period of musical experimentation and innovation. New forms were invented, including the concerto and sinfonia. Opera was born in Italy at the end of the 16th century (with Jacopo Peri's mostly lost Dafne, produced in Florence in 1598) and soon spread through the rest of Europe: Louis XIV created the first Royal Academy of Music, In 1669, the poet Pierre Perrin opened an academy of opera in Paris, the first opera theater in France open to the public, and premiered Pomone, the first grand opera in French, with music by Robert Cambert, with five acts, elaborate stage machinery, and a ballet.  Heinrich Schütz in Germany, Jean-Baptiste Lully in France, and Henry Purcell in England all helped to establish their national traditions in the 17th century.

The classical ballet also originated in the Baroque era. The style of court dance was brought to France by Marie de Medici, and in the beginning the members of the court themselves were the dancers. Louis XIV himself performed in public in several ballets. In March 1662, the Académie Royale de Danse, was founded by the King. It was the first professional dance school and company and set the standards and vocabulary for ballet throughout Europe during the period.

Several new instruments, including the piano, were introduced during this period. The invention of the piano is credited to Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731) of Padua, Italy, who was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, as the Keeper of the Instruments. Cristofori named the instrument un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte ("a keyboard of cypress with soft and loud"), abbreviated over time as pianoforte, fortepiano, and later, simply, piano.

Some composers and examples

• Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706), Canon in D (1680)
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741), The Four Seasons (1725)
• George Frederic Handel (1685–1759), Water Music (1717), Messiah (1741)
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), Toccata and Fugue in D minor (1703–1707), Brandenburg Concertos (1721), St Matthew Passion (1727

Pop meets the Classics

If I Had Words

"If I Had Words" is a 1978 UK hit song by Scott Fitzgerald as a duet with Yvonne Keeley. Yvonne Keeley (born Yvonne Paaij, 6 September 1952) is a Dutch pop music singer. She is the sister of Patricia Paay. Her surname is often misspelled as Keely. Most notably she performed as a duet with Scott Fitzgerald on the song "If I Had Words”. Keeley was part of the group the Star Sisters which was popular in the Netherlands during the 1980s.

The tune was taken from the main theme of the Maestoso section of Saint-Saëns' Symphony No.3 in C minor (Symphony with organ) with an added reggae beat. (The theme used in the song is first exposed by the strings section in the second movement, pages 126–129.) The lyrics and arrangement were by Jonathan Hodge, a prolific writer of TV jingles and movie themes, who also produced the single.

The backing was by the St Thomas More Roman Catholic School Choir in Chelsea, London.

This song very effectively takes the main theme tune from the final movement of the symphony. Made famous, of course, in the film Babe.

I have no idea why this organ music give me, in a good way, shivers.

Ging Gang Goolie

Ging Gang Goolie or Ging Gang Gooli is a gibberish scouting song, said to be written by Robert Baden-Powell during the 1st World Scout Jamboree. It is popular among the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.

Origin

During the Second Boer War, Baden Powell listened to songs in African languages. The nonsense lyrics of "Ging Gang Goolie" might have been inspired by these songs. Baden-Powell is said to have written this song during the 1st World Scout Jamboree in 1920. The song used gibberish to ensure that children from different countries could sing the song irrespective of what their mother tongue is. The tune is based on an extract from Mozart's Symphony No.1, composed when he was eight years old.

Dorothy Unterschutz, a Canadian Scout Leader from Edmonton, later invented a story as an explanation for the song's lyrics. The story "The Great Grey Ghost Elephant" was published in Scouts Canada's "The Leader" magazine in 1991 (June–July issue, Page 7). The story talks of a "Great Grey Ghost Elephant", who wanders in the African lands every year, after the rains. The villagers believed that if it went round their village, the village would have a prosperous year, and if it went through it, there would be drought. The elephant had been going through the village of Wat-Cha for the past three years, and therefore the villagers decided to come up with a plan to deter it from entering their village. It was decided that the village leader Ging-Gang and his men would frighten the elephant by standing in its path and shaking their shields and spears. The medicine man Shayla and his men would cast magic spells, and frighten the elephant by producing the "Shally wally" sound by shaking their magical equipment. When the elephant arrived, the villagers gathered started shouting the names of their leaders. They were successful in their plan, and the elephant went around the village, making the sound "Oompah, oompah". The villagers celebrated by singing the song "Ging Gang…". Around the campfire the scouts can be divided into section and the song is sung in rounds. It makes for a tremendous rousing experience.

The lyrics of the song are as follows:

              Ging gang goolie goolie goolie goolie watcha,

              Ging gang goo, ging gang goo.

              Ging gang goolie goolie goolie goolie watcha,

              Ging gang goo, ging gang goo.

              Hayla, hayla shayla, hayla shayla, shayla, oh-ho,

              Hayla, hayla shayla, hayla shayla, shayla, oh.

              Shally wally, shally wally, shally wally, shally wally

              Oompah, oompah, oompah, oompah

Parodies
Dutch

German

The tune is based on Mozart's Symphony No. 1 - I. Molto allegro

Pop meets the Classics 4

Hamburger Concerto

Hamburger Concerto is the fourth studio album by the progressive rock band Focus. Released in 1974, it peaked at #20 on the UK charts. The title track is based on Variations on a Theme by Haydn by Johannes Brahms.

Focus is a Dutch rock band which was founded by classically trained organist/flutist Thijs van Leer in 1969, and is most famous for the instrumental pieces "Hocus Pocus" and "Sylvia". The band broke up in 1978, but reformed in 2002 and has been recording and touring since. 

They have found also renewed fame due to the use of "Hocus Pocus" by guitarist Gary Hoey on his 1993 album Animal Instinct, and as the theme for the Nike 2010 World Cup commercial, Write The Future, directed by the Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu.

The Variations on a Theme

The Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, (German: Variationen über ein Thema von Jos. Haydn), now also called the Saint Anthony Variations, is a work in the form of a theme and variations, composed by Johannes Brahms (German composer, born May 7, 1833, Hamburg died April 3, 1897, Vienna, Austria-Hungary) in the summer of 1873 at Tutzing in Bavaria. It consists of a theme in B-flat major based on a "Chorale St Antoni", eight variations, and a finale. The work was published in two versions: for two pianos, written first but designated Op. 56b; and for orchestra, designated Op. 56a.

The orchestral version is better known and much more often heard than the two-piano version. It is often said to be the first independent set of variations for orchestra in the history of music, although there is at least one earlier piece in the same form, Antonio Salieri's Twenty-six Variations on 'La folia di Spagna' written in 1815.

 

Brahms's orchestral variations are scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns (2 in E flat, 2 in B flat), 2 trumpets, timpani, triangle, and the normal string section of first and second violins, violas, cellos and double basses. The piece usually takes about 18 minutes to perform.

Brahms composed the work on a theme entitled "Chorale Saint Antoni" found in a wind ensemble composition. At the time Brahms discovered it, the wind ensemble piece carried an attribution to the composer Joseph Haydn. Brahms's titled his own composition accordingly, crediting Haydn for the theme. But publishers in the early nineteenth century often attached the names of famous composers to works by unknown or lesser known composers in order to move inventory. Subsequent research has shown that the wind piece Brahms used as a source does not fit Haydn's style. Today the wind ensemble piece remains without attribution.

The first performance of the orchestral version was given on 2 November 1873 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Brahms's baton.

Pop meets the Classics 3

Elvis

"Plaisir d'amour" (literally "The pleasure of love") is a classical French love song written in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini (1741–1816); it took its text from a poem by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian (1755–1794), which appears in his novel Célestine. 

The song was greatly successful in J.P.E. Martini's version. For example a young woman, Madame Julie Charles, sang it to the poet Alphonse de Lamartine during his cure at Aix-les-Bains in 1816, and poet was to recall it 30 years later. 

Hector Berlioz arranged it for orchestra in 1859. Louis van Waefelghem arranged the tune for viola d'amore or viola and piano in the 1880s. It has been arranged and performed in various pop music settings.

"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a pop song originally recorded by American singer Elvis Presley and published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. The melody is based on "Plaisir d'Amour" (1784), a popular romance by Jean Paul Egide Martini (1741–1816). It was featured in Elvis Presley's 1961 film, Blue Hawaii. During the following four decades, it went on to be covered by numerous artists, like the British reggae group UB40, whose 1993 version topped the U.S. and UK charts, and Swedish pop group A-Teens.

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"’O sole mio" is a globally known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the melody was composed by Eduardo di Capua. There are other versions of "’O sole mio" but it is usually sung in the original Neapolitan language. ’O sole mio is the Neapolitan equivalent of standard Italian Il sole mio and translates literally as "my sunshine".

"It's Now or Never" is a popular song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company, in 1960. The melody of the song is adapted from the Italian standard, "'O Sole Mio", but the inspiration for it came from the song, "There's No Tomorrow", recorded by U.S. singer, Tony Martin, in 1949. The lyrics were written by Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold.

In the late 1950s, while stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army, Presley heard Martin's recording. According to The New York Times, quoting from the 1986 book Behind The Hits, "he told the idea to his music publisher, Freddy Bienstock, who was visiting him in Germany...Mr. Bienstock, who many times found songwriters for Presley, returned to his New York office, where he found songwriters, Mr. [Aaron] Schroeder and Wally Gold, the only people in that day. The two wrote lyrics in half an hour. Selling more than 20 million records, the song became number one in countries all around and was Presley's best selling single ever...a song [they] finished in 20 minutes to a half hour was the biggest song of [their] career."

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"Wooden Heart" ("Muss i denn" lit. Must I then) is a song best known for its use in the 1960 Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues. The song was a hit single for Presley in the United Kingdom, making No.1 for six weeks there in March & April 1961, but was not released on a single in the United States until November 1964, where it was the B-side to "Blue Christmas". Presley performed the song live during his Dinner Show concert at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas in 1975. The recording is available on the Elvis Presley live album, Dinner At Eight.

A cover version by Joe Dowell made it to number one in the US at the end of August 1961, knocking Bobby Lewis' "Tossin' and Turnin'" off the number-one spot of the Billboard Hot 100 after seven weeks. Dowell's version also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart.

"Wooden Heart", created by Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey and German bandleader Bert Kaempfert, was based on a German folk song by Friedrich Silcher, "Muss i' denn zum Städtele hinaus", originating from the Rems Valley in Württemberg, Southwest Germany. "Wooden Heart" features several lines from the original folk song, written in the German Swabian dialect, spoken in Württemberg. The Elvis Presley version was published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. Bobby Vinton recorded his version in 1975 with those lines translated into Polish.

Pop meets the Classics 2

"Hate Me Now" is a 1999 hip hop single by rapper Nas featuring Puff Daddy. The backbeat is inspired by, and contains some samples from, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. It was ranked 119 on xxl's best songs of the 90's.

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (born September 14, 1973), better known simply as Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is the son of jazz musician Olu Dara. Since 1994, Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and sold over 25 million records worldwide. Aside from rapping and acting, Nas is an entrepreneur through his own record label, retail sneaker store, and magazine publishing. He currently serves as Mass Appeal Magazine's associate publisher as well as an owner of a Fila sneaker store.

His musical career began in 1991 when he was featured on Main Source's track "Live at the Barbeque". His debut album Illmatic, released in 1994, received universal acclaim from both critics and the hip hop community. It is frequently ranked as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. His follow-up album It Was Written debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Charts, stayed on top for four consecutive weeks, went platinum twice in only two months, and made Nas internationally known.

Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana. Its full Latin title is Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanæ cantoribus et choris cantandæ comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis (Songs of Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magic images.) Carmina Burana is part of Trionfi, the musical triptych that also includes the cantata Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. The first and last movements are called "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" (Fortune, Empress of the World) and start with the very well known "O Fortuna".

Carl Orff (July 10, 1895 – March 29, 1982) was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana (1937). In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential approach of music education for children.

Orff was born in Munich. His family was Bavarian and was active in the Army of the German Empire. His paternal grandfather was a Jew who converted to Catholicism.

Orff started studying the piano at the age of five, and he also took organ and cello lessons. However, he was more interested in composing original music than in studying to be a performer. Orff wrote and staged puppet shows for his family, composing music for piano, violin, zither, and glockenspiel to accompany them. He had a short story published in a children's magazine in 1905 and started to write a book about nature. In his spare time he enjoyed collecting insects.

By the time he was a teenager, Orff was writing songs, although he had not studied harmony or composition; his mother helped him set down his first works in musical notation. Orff wrote his own texts and he learned the art of composing, without a teacher, by studying classical masterworks on his own.

In 1911, at age 16, some of Orff's music was published. Many of his youthful works were songs, often settings of German poetry. They fell into the style of Richard Strauss and other German composers of the day, but with hints of what would become Orff's distinctive musical language.

Orff's relationship with German fascism and the Nazi Party has been a matter of considerable debate and analysis. His Carmina Burana was hugely popular in Nazi Germany after its premiere in Frankfurt in 1937. Given Orff's previous lack of commercial success, the monetary factor of Carmina Burana's acclaim was significant to him. But the composition, with its unfamiliar rhythms, was also denounced with racist taunts. He was one of the few German composers under the Nazi regime who responded to the official call to write new incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream after the music of Felix Mendelssohn had been banned. Defenders of Orff note that he had already composed music for this play as early as 1917 and 1927, long before this was a favor for the Nazi regime.

Pop meets the Classics 1

"Someone to Call My Lover" is a song by American recording artist Janet Jackson from her seventh studio album, All for You. Written and produced by Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the song was released as the album's second single on June 26, 2001.

Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television appearances, and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture since the early 1970s. The youngest child of the Jackson family, she began her career appearing on the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976 and went on to appear on other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Fame.

The song's looped guitar riff is sampled from America's 1972 hit "Ventura Highway". The loop played throughout the chorus is an interpolation of "Gymnopédie No. 1" by French classical composer Erik Satie, played in 4/4 time instead of the original 3/4. Jackson had searched for years for the catchy Satie track. "When I was a little girl and I used to come home from school, there was something called "The 3:30 Movie", and they used to play the MGM Musicals. There was a commercial. I remember watching Singin' in the Rain and there was a commercial with the lady all in white, and I don't know if it was for Dove or something like that, but they would play this, 'Da, da, da.' It was the Erik Satie. I never knew who the composer was, and this song never left me."

Éric Alfred Leslie Satie (signed his name Erik Satie after 1884) (17 May 1866 – 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. His work was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music, and the Theatre of the Absurd.

An eccentric, Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures sounds") preferring this designation to that of a "musician", after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911.