Songs derived from classical music
Netherlands Embassy
Perry Como putting words to 'Espana' by Chabrier
Russ Conway's Lesson One is Tchaikowsky's Nutcracker Suite
Bernstein used Tchaik. also (West Side Story)
Richard Schultz
300 years ago, Dutch explorers and traders were establishing one of
the greatest commercial empires the world has known. Now, they're. . .
posting to usenet???
: One comes to mind:
: Perry Como putting words to 'Espana' by Chabrier
: Russ Conway's Lesson One is Tchaikowsky's Nutcracker Suite
: Bernstein used Tchaik. also (West Side Story)
While we're on the subject, Billy Joel stole the slow movement of
Beethoven's "Pathetique" sonata, and Barry Manilow Chopin's c minor
prelude. Fortunately, I can't remember which songs used the classical
pieces, and if it's all the same to you guys, I'm more than happy to
remain in ignorance.
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry tel: 972-3-531-8065
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel fax: 972-3-535-1250
-----
It's a bird, it's a plane -- no, it's Mozart. . .
Steve M
the main theme from Saint-Ceans Organ Symphony (in C?)
* Sent from AltaVista http://www.altavista.com Where you can also find related Web Pages, Images, Audios, Videos, News, and Shopping. Smart is Beautiful
Matt Friedman
>
> One comes to mind:
>
> Perry Como putting words to 'Espana' by Chabrier
>
> Russ Conway's Lesson One is Tchaikowsky's Nutcracker Suite
>
> Bernstein used Tchaik. also (West Side Story)
Stranger in Paradise, Bangles, Baubles and Beads, etc. from the musical
Kismet, of course, are all based on Borodin melodies. I remember hearing
a version of Stranger played by a Finnish jazz quartet -- sax, bass,
vibes and drums -- at the Montreal International Jazz Festival some
years ago. It sounded strange at first, but then it occured to me that
Borodin would have been proud.
MF
--
---
What would Jackie Chan do?
Allen & Linda Tyler
Netherlands Embassy wrote:
> One comes to mind:
>
> Perry Como putting words to 'Espana' by Chabrier
>
> Russ Conway's Lesson One is Tchaikowsky's Nutcracker Suite
>
> Bernstein used Tchaik. also (West Side Story)
In the late 1930s-early 1940s, band leader Freddy Martin prctically made
a career of making pop songs from Tchaikovsky:
Tonight We Love--1st Piano Concerto
Moon Love--Romeo and Juliet
True Love--5th Symphony
among others
In 1940 ASCAP went on strike against the radio industry, demanding
higher royalty payments. Mostly, we heard old stuff (Stephen Foster,
etc), but arrangers came up with things like "June on the Isle of May"
(!!!) from a Tchaikovsky string quartet and one whose title I can't
remember which was extracted from the Serende for Strings.
Even None But the Lonely Heart enjoyed some popularity then.
In the 1950s, Anniversary Waltz (or perhaps schmaltz) was taken from
Danube Waves by Ivanov(?). Also in the 1950s a complete musical,
Kismet, was built around Borodin, including Stranger in Paradise. Also,
in the 40s or 50s another musical, Song of Norway was constructed from
Edvard Grieg's music. At the same time, a selection from Rachmanioff's
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini became quite popular as The Eighteenth
Variation.
In the 1960s or 70s one of the major rock groups (not my interest--can't
remember which one) used Bartok's Allegro Barbaro.
There are probably dozens of other examples, but suffice it to say that
the classics have proved to be a mother lode for "composers" who can't
think of anything of their own to say.
Allen Tyler
Jaime Jean
Rachmaninoff's 2d Piano Concerto.
Barry Manilow borrowed the second half of Chopin's Prelude in C minor in his
song "Could it be Magic" (and he credits Freddy by playing the whole prelude
at the beginning).
There's a song from the 60s called "Daydream" which uses a fragment of
Tchaikowsky's Swan Lake.
And we should not forget the infamous use of Verdi's "Caro Nome" in the song
Juanita Banana.
Jaime
"Netherlands Embassy" <nlgo...@worldnet.fr> wrote in message
news:3948648c...@news.worldnet.fr...
Oisk17
Etude. Nelson Eddy sang it on one of his radio broadcasts, and I have a record
of it.
Regards,
Paul
Pam Scheer
I've been listening to Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony a lot lately. What is
the popu;ar song derived from the slow (3rd) mvmnt ? I believe Sarah
Vaughan had a recording of it.
Thanks
Ira J. Scheer
Allen & Linda Tyler
was from Borodin's 2nd Quartet. It was from the Prince Igor Polovtsian Dances;
Baubles, Bangles and Beads was from the quartet.
Incidentally, Chopin was a fertile field in the 30s and 40s. I'm Forever Blowing
Bubbles and Till the End of Time were extracted from his piano music. Not a Chopin
fan, so I can't recall what specific works.
Allen Tyler
Pam Scheer
Allen & Linda Tyler <all...@bga.com> wrote in message
news:394993A0...@bga.com...
> In a previous response I seem to recall that I said Stranger in Paradise
(Kismet)
> was from Borodin's 2nd Quartet. It was from the Prince Igor Polovtsian
Dances;
> Baubles, Bangles and Beads was from the quartet.
>
As was "And This Is My Beloved" (slow mvmnt), sung by a quartet of singers
David McKay
composers. While popular song writers do it, so did Bach and lots of others.
And what about all the classical composers who have borrowed folk songs for
their own use?
While we're on the subject, Billy Joel's For the Longest Time is really only
the beginning of Mozart Sonata in C K.545 [though it sounds quite different]
with a note up the octave where Mozart went down.
And to get really trite, Dee Snyder's We're Not Gonna Take It is very very
close to O Come All Ye Faithful, with accents in different places.
David McKay
tlst...@tpgi.com.au
> One comes to mind:
>
> Perry Como putting words to 'Espana' by Chabrier
>
> Russ Conway's Lesson One is Tchaikowsky's Nutcracker Suite
>
> Bernstein used Tchaik. also (West Side Story)
The musicals "Kismet", "Lilac Time" and "Song of Norway" drew on the music
of Borodin, Schubert and Greig respectively; Chopin was plundered for "To
Love Again" (Eddie Duchin's theme song) and "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows";
Weber supplied Benny Goodman's "Let's Dance"; von Suppé supplied "I've
Been Working on the Railroad"; Ravel's Bolero was stolen for "Moonlight"
from "Cats"; Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto was the source for "Full
Moon and Empty Arms"; the slow movement of Mozart's 21st Piano Concerto
was stolen by Neil Diamond for "Song Sung Blue; Dvorak's "Humoresque" has
been used as the basis for many feelthy songs; and Allan Sherman stole
everything he could lay his hands on, for his ditties - how I miss him!
--
Cheers!
Terry
Mike Coldewey
Pam Scheer <psc...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:8ic32i$1ho6$1...@newssvr05-en0.news.prodigy.com...
Jim Curtis
"David McKay" <mus...@ozemail.com.au> wrote > And to get really trite, Dee
Nat
Isn't it, "And I'm never gonna looooooooooooooooove again..." ??
Nat
>song:
>We're going to Zandvoort (a beach resort), down by the sea,
>We're taken drinks and food along
>etc. etc.
There's a song with those lyrics? Ai-ya! Zandvoort is beautiful...but not
great enough to ruin Schubert's Unfinished!!!
Peter T. Daniels
What about the words Walter Damrosch provided for it ... "This is, the
symphonee ... that Schubert wrote and never finished--"
--
Peter T. Daniels gram...@worldnet.att.net
Josh Kortbein
: Let's not forget that many composers have borrowed music from other
: composers. While popular song writers do it, so did Bach and lots of others.
: And what about all the classical composers who have borrowed folk songs for
: their own use?
: While we're on the subject, Billy Joel's For the Longest Time is really only
: the beginning of Mozart Sonata in C K.545 [though it sounds quite different]
: with a note up the octave where Mozart went down.
: And to get really trite, Dee Snyder's We're Not Gonna Take It is very very
: close to O Come All Ye Faithful, with accents in different places.
If you're going to mention that song, you should at least say
"Twisted Sister," even if Snyder wrote the song. :)
Josh
--
josh blog: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~kortbein/blog/
tdr: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~kortbein/tdr/
Trudi Marrapodi
nat...@aol.compoo (Nat) wrote:
Close, it's "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again," from the same album as "All
By Myself," which was based on the slow movement of the Second Piano
Concerto. If you ever get a chance to hear it, listen carefully--he even
managed to make the clarinet solo into the bridge! (although he reproduced
it on synth...)
(And if you think that's blatant, he stole a French horn solo from the
*first* movement of the Second Piano Concerto and used it as the intro and
probably the inspiration for a *third* song on the same album..only that
time, he had the wisdom to actually get someone to play a French horn.
:-)).
Not to worry, though. Rachmaninoff's estate got on his case, and now he is
listed with Carmen as a co-composer, for "All By Myself," at least, and
his estate earns royalties from the song.
And, if you ask Carmen, he will tell you he read somewhere that
Rachmaninoff got his melodies from listening to some Italian organ grinder
in the street, so...anyway.
I read a book not long ago called "Rockin' the Classics and Classicizin'
the Rock" which provided what attempted to be a comprehensive list (for
its time, anyway) of rock/pop songs inspired by classical pieces.
Interesting. Made me realize exactly how very many there have been over
the years. No doubt the philistines would cry foul, but to me, these forms
of "copping from the classics" (along with things like the extensive use
of classical music in figure skating, and the use of classical music in TV
ads and Warner Bros. cartoons) help serve as a "gateway drug" to
appreciating "real" classical music, or the music in its more complete
forms.
I'm still a newbie at that (hence the de-lurk here), but I say, don't
knock it if it brings the suckers into the tent in the first place. Even
if it's the millionth commercial using "Carmina Burana" as a soundtrack...
--
Trudi
Just Another Ventilator of Ice Skating Around the World
"You'll find that you spend a lot of time spelling 'Binghamton' for people. A great deal of your adult life will be spent saying 'There's no P, there's no P.'"
--Paul Reiser, in his commencement address to Binghamton University's Class of 2000
Allen & Linda Tyler
then listen to the march theme from Blazing Saddles, then back to Jesus Loves
Me---
Allen Tyler
Jim Curtis wrote:
> Nice one.
>
> "David McKay" <mus...@ozemail.com.au> wrote > And to get really trite, Dee
> Snyder's We're Not Gonna Take It is very very
> > close to O Come All Ye Faithful, with accents in different places.
> >
> > David McKay
> >
> >
Vanhove
A theme from "Lieutenant Kijé", by Prokofiev was used by
Sting in his song "The Russians"
AND by Blood Sweat and Tears, in the song "40000 headmen".
Both make reference to the original composer.
And the Greek group Aphrodite's Child had a hit "Rain and Tears" in Europe,
based on the Adagio by Albinoni. The keyboard player in that group was
Vangelis.
Luc Vanhove, Belgium
Allen & Linda Tyler
Vanhove wrote:
> Hello, here's my contribution :
>
> A theme from "Lieutenant Kijé", by Prokofiev was used by
> Sting in his song "The Russians"
> AND by Blood Sweat and Tears, in the song "40000 headmen".
> Both make reference to the original composer.
And by the Sauter-Finnegan Orchestra in "Russian Sleigh Ride"; at least the
theme was from Kije--I don't know if it's the same one that Sting used.
Allen Tyler
David McKay
> If you're going to mention that song, you should at least say
> "Twisted Sister," even if Snyder wrote the song. :)
Couldn't remember the name of the band, only the composer!
David McKay
Damian Oxborough
the music was stolen but rather put to a different use, just as
a certain chord or progression is used in many different
situations within the classical arena (the perfect cadence being
a blatently obvious example).
Damian.
www.dreamwater.com/oxborough
Got questions? Get answers over the phone at Keen.com.
Up to 100 minutes free!
http://www.keen.com
Allen & Linda Tyler
Mozart'sC Major Piano Sonata and turned it into "In an 18th Century Drawing
Room." It was verypopular for seveal years.
Allen Tyler
Allen & Linda Tyler
AT
Jeffrey Arzberger
"it's now or never"- Elvis Presley = "O sola Mio"
"Basket Case" - Green Day = Pachelbel's
Canon
"Graduation" -Vitamin C =Pachelbel's Canon
"This Night" -Billy Joel =Beethoven's Pathetique
Sonata (2nd mvt.)
"Theme from Babe-the movie" = Saint-Saens
3rd symphony (Organ)
"Hate me now" -Puff Daddy = Carmina Burana
by Carl Orff
See ya,
-Jeff
Jeffrey Arzberger
1st album. They call it The Barbarian.
See ya,
-Jeff
Kip Williams
Rondo from Clementi's sonatina number... uh, six, I think (maybe
it's five?) is a shameless rip-off of... I mean, the inspiration
for, "Groovy Kind of Love."
On a side topic, near the end of Clementi's third sonatina, he seems
to either quote or predict the musical phrase "La ci darem la mano."
Sadly, I don't know what order the pieces were written, so I don't
know who was first, and the quote is short enough it could be a mere
coincidence. On the other hand, Mozart did borrow a theme from
Clementi for The Magic Flute, so it's not unprecedented.
--
--Kip (Williams)
amusing the world at http://members.home.net/kipw/
Matthew Hall
jackh...@aol.com (JackH35785) wrote:
> How about, "you know who's," "Hello Father, Hello Mother, . . . . ." from the
> much maligned "Dance of the Hours"?
Allan Sherman.
--
"One good thing about music: when it hits, you feel no pain."
--- Bob Marley, "Trenchtown Rock" ---
Allen & Linda Tyler
JackH35785 wrote:
> How about, "you know who's," "Hello Father, Hello Mother, . . . . ." from the
> much maligned "Dance of the Hours"?
> Jack
If we're stooping that low, how about Moe Zart's Turkey Trot, lifted in 1950 by
Red Ingalls (or perhaps Ingall) from whatever Mozart piano sonata has an alla
turca movement; or some of the things Spike Jones did to the William Tell
Overture, etc. I can't recall if Tom Lehrer ever mangled any classics; he
probably did, though.
Actually, I gleefully admit that I enjoyed this stuff, as well as Sherman's Hello
Fadda, Hello Mudda.
Allen Tyler
JackH35785
Peter T. Daniels
>
> Red Ingalls (or perhaps Ingall) from whatever Mozart piano sonata has an alla
> turca movement; or some of the things Spike Jones did to the William Tell
> Overture, etc. I can't recall if Tom Lehrer ever mangled any classics; he
> probably did, though.
>
> Actually, I gleefully admit that I enjoyed this stuff, as well as Sherman's Hello
> Fadda, Hello Mudda.
Parodies are hardly the same as what everyone else has been listing!
Kip Williams
>
> JackH35785 wrote:
>
> > How about, "you know who's," "Hello Father, Hello Mother, . . . . ." from the
> > much maligned "Dance of the Hours"?
> > Jack
>
> If we're stooping that low, how about Moe Zart's Turkey Trot, lifted in 1950 by
> Red Ingalls (or perhaps Ingall) from whatever Mozart piano sonata has an alla
Might have been Red Ingle. I have him as a vocalist in a Spike Jones
single, as well as on a 78 of his own with "Red Ingle and his
Natural Seven." But I don't have time to dig through the 78 albums
to check the spelling; sorry.
> turca movement; or some of the things Spike Jones did to the William Tell
> Overture, etc. I can't recall if Tom Lehrer ever mangled any classics; he
> probably did, though.
Lehrer just barely mangled the classics. He used themes from Liszt's
famous Hungarian Rhapsody in "Lobachevsky," and "The Elements" uses
the tune for "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General."
(Lehrer deserves to be in the science books for "The Elements.")
Allen & Linda Tyler
Kip Williams wrote:<snip>
>
> Might have been Red Ingle. I have him as a vocalist in a Spike Jones
> single, as well as on a 78 of his own with "Red Ingle and his
> Natural Seven." But I don't have time to dig through the 78 albums
> to check the spelling; sorry.
Yep, that's the same Red Ingle/Ingall/Ingalls. His Natural Seven career, which I
believe started with Cigarettes and Whiskey and Wild Wild Women lasted acouple of
years.
> <snip>
> Lehrer just barely mangled the classics. He used themes from Liszt's
> famous Hungarian Rhapsody in "Lobachevsky," and "The Elements" uses
> the tune for "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General."
> (Lehrer deserves to be in the science books for "The Elements.")
To say nothing of Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky Was His Name, in which he named
almost every Russian mathematician of significance. A natural for him, though, as he
taught math at Harvard. Whatever happened to him? Is he still among the living?
Surely he has retired from performing.
Allen Tyler
Ken Brock
Allen & Linda Tyler <all...@bga.com> wrote:
>
>
> Kip Williams wrote:<snip>
>
> > Lehrer just barely mangled the classics. He used themes from Liszt's
> > famous Hungarian Rhapsody in "Lobachevsky," and "The Elements" uses
> > the tune for "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General."
> > (Lehrer deserves to be in the science books for "The Elements.")
There are also quotations from several Mahler symphonies in "Alma"
>
> To say nothing of Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky Was His Name, in
which he named
> almost every Russian mathematician of significance. A natural for
him, though, as he
> taught math at Harvard. Whatever happened to him? Is he still among
the living?
> Surely he has retired from performing.
>
> Allen Tyler
>
Tom Lehrer still teaches mathematics at UC Santa Cruz (recently a
course on infinity) and occasionally a course in history of Musical
Theater. He performed at the 1998 tribute to producer Cameron
Mackintosh, captured on video as "Hey, Mr. Producer" and in late 1999
in a tribute to Rob Fisher's Coffee Club Orchestra. I understand that
this 1999 performance is on his recent "Remains of... " box set.
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Peter T. Daniels
>
> Kip Williams wrote:<snip>
>
> >
> > single, as well as on a 78 of his own with "Red Ingle and his
> > Natural Seven." But I don't have time to dig through the 78 albums
> > to check the spelling; sorry.
>
> Yep, that's the same Red Ingle/Ingall/Ingalls. His Natural Seven career, which I
> believe started with Cigarettes and Whiskey and Wild Wild Women lasted acouple of
> years.
>
>
> > Lehrer just barely mangled the classics. He used themes from Liszt's
> > famous Hungarian Rhapsody in "Lobachevsky," and "The Elements" uses
> > the tune for "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General."
> > (Lehrer deserves to be in the science books for "The Elements.")
>
> almost every Russian mathematician of significance. A natural for him, though, as he
> taught math at Harvard. Whatever happened to him? Is he still among the living?
> Surely he has retired from performing.
I remember something about embitterment, failure to get tenure, and
moving to the West Coast somewhere; he did alphabet songs for Sesame
Street, at least; and turned up on NPR not long ago. You can be sure
that when he dies, he'll get lots of notice.
Kip Williams
> Tom Lehrer still teaches mathematics at UC Santa Cruz (recently a
> course on infinity) and occasionally a course in history of Musical
> Theater. He performed at the 1998 tribute to producer Cameron
> Mackintosh, captured on video as "Hey, Mr. Producer" and in late 1999
> in a tribute to Rob Fisher's Coffee Club Orchestra. I understand that
> this 1999 performance is on his recent "Remains of... " box set.
I remember Newsweek giving him some paragraphs when they reissued
some of his material on CD. He said that people still come up to him
with ideas for song subjects: terrorism, global warming, cheery
laugh-getters all, so that he feels like "a resident of Pompeii
being asked for a few humorous words about lava."
M Magers
The Spike Jones piece was actually named "William Tell Overture" and
featured Doodles Weaver's running commentary on a horse race. Doodles
would apparently name the horses after people he knew. To further add
to this completely useless information, actress Sigorney Weaver is the
commentator Doodles Weaver's niece.
M Magers
Gary McGath wrote:
>
> ...
> Spike Jones also mutilated the "Dance of the Hours." I once had a Spike
> Jones tape in which it accompanied a radio broadcast parody of a horse
> race, and the finale of the William Tell Overture accompanied a similar
> parody of an auto race -- or perhaps the other way around.
>
> --
>
Kip Williams
Actually, you're each sorta right. William Tell Overture was one of
Spike's most famous pieces (he remade it in the early 60s), and was
Doodles calling the horse race. He also was Spike's vocalist in an
adaptation of Dance of the Hours where he calls an auto race.
Richard Schultz
: There are also quotations from several Mahler symphonies in "Alma"
Huh? If there are any Mahler quotations in that song (which is a
simple verse/refrain melody), they are certainly buried way too deep
for me to find them. Which Mahler symphonies, and where in the song?
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry tel: 972-3-531-8065
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel fax: 972-3-535-1250
-----
"What I do object to is uninformed malicious pandering to low level
uncouthness, even if it comes from the holiest of lands, Israel!"
-- Kenneth Lane, Wagnerian Romantischer Heldenspammer
Josh Kortbein
: To say nothing of Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky Was His Name, in which he named
: almost every Russian mathematician of significance. A natural for him, though, as he
: taught math at Harvard. Whatever happened to him? Is he still among the living?
: Surely he has retired from performing.
IIRC he quit writing songs because of the ruling in a lawsuit Werner
von Braun's estate brought against him (for mentioning him, not really
slanderously/libellously, in a sing) - they own all future songs, or
all the proceeds, or a percentage, or something of the sort. Infuriated
Lehrer so much that he just quit.
Josh
NP: Herbie Hancock, _Sextant_
Ken Brock
correct address in .sigfile wrote:
> Ken Brock (ken_...@my-deja.com) wrote:
>
> : There are also quotations from several Mahler symphonies in "Alma"
>
> Huh? If there are any Mahler quotations in that song (which is a
> simple verse/refrain melody), they are certainly buried way too deep
> for me to find them. Which Mahler symphonies, and where in the song?
>
between verses. There was a trivia contest on Tom Lehrer's musical
quotations (there's about two dozen total) 3 or 4 years ago, publicized
on rec.music.dementia and I would have scored a lot higher if I'd known
the Mahler quotes. As I remember they were mostly from symphonies 4,5
and 6, and maybe another of the earlier ones, and something from Das
Lied.... Mostly from the middle movements. I'm in correspondence with
one of the winners of the contest (placed second or third, so I'll ask
her).
F.B.
writes:
>
>
>JackH35785 wrote:
>
>> How about, "you know who's," "Hello Father, Hello Mother, . . . . ."
from the
>> much maligned "Dance of the Hours"?
>> Jack
Jethro Tull's "Bouree" and Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale" were
both based on Bach compositions.
Matt P
Ken Brock
> that when he dies, he'll get lots of notice.
There's been so many death rumors over so many years that I expect
nobody would believe it.
"In general, I feel that anyone who surfs the internet deserves all the
misinformation they get". (Tom Lehrer, 1996)
Ken Brock
> Surely he has retired from performing.
I saw in a recent post at rec.music.folk that Tom Lehrer will be doing
a radio interview the evening of June 26 (US time) that can be heard
through the web. Do a search for Lehrer at rec.music.folk and you
should find it.
David Samuel Barr
>
> Allen & Linda Tyler (all...@bga.com) wrote:
> : To say nothing of Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky Was His Name, in
> : which he named almost every Russian mathematician of significance.
> : retired from performing.
>
> von Braun's estate brought against him (for mentioning him, not really
> slanderously/libellously, in a sing) - they own all future songs, or
> all the proceeds, or a percentage, or something of the sort.
> Infuriated Lehrer so much that he just quit.
This is a completely false rumour with no basis whatsoever. Lehrer has
categorically denied it and characterised it as "garbage", and even on
its face it's absurd: 1) von Braun was very much alive at the time of
the song, so there was no estate to bring suit, and after his death (ten
years after Lehrer's retirement) his estate would not have any standing
to bring suit retroactively; 2) von Braun was a public figure and so
even had the song been libelous he would have had a harder time
prevailing in a suit much less being awarded any monetary damages;
3) even if awarded, the likelihood of any such damages specifically
extending to the rest of Lehrer's catalogue is virtually nil. Neither
von Braun nor his heirs have any rights whatsoever to any of Lehrer's
material.
As to his retirement, Lehrer is on record as attributing that largely to
the change in the political and musical climates in the late 60s and
early 70s. Whereas his material was intended to amuse and also to
appeal to a reasonably sophisticated audience that would be both up on
current events and knowledgable enough to understand his referential
humour, the Vietnam era was led by hippies who were less concerned about
humour as about finding protest banners to march under. While he did
turn to political satire in his last album, he never was a political
activist and in fact became rather disillusioned with politics during
that period. Also, his music was tied to that of the acoustic folk
movement of the 50s and 60s, which had fallen out of favour and been
replaced by electric hard rock. These changes affected not just Lehrer
but most of the other folk musicians and political comedians who were
his contemporaries whose careers also went into decline at that point.
Otherwise, Lehrer is very much alive and well. He teaches part-time at
UC Santa Cruz, and lives both in California and Massachusetts. Although
still determinedly retired from performing, he has in fact written a
handful of new songs in the last 20 years, some of which were newly
recorded for the just-released Rhino box set, "The Remains of Tom
Lehrer".
Kip Williams
> Jethro Tull's "Bouree" and Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale" were
> both based on Bach compositions.
Tull, yes, but Harum wasn't so much based on the Bach air as it was
reminiscent of a portion of it. I seem to recall this group's FAQ as
having an explanation of why it isn't Bach. (Either that, or I was
directed to a web site... it's been a while. I'm sure someone in
this group has a fresher memory of where this information could be
found, if I'm wrong.)
Mike Coldewey
someone could reference it), but about six months ago a FAQ-like post
appeared with this relevant text:
- (7) Which Bach piece is "Whiter Shade of Pale" taken from?
-
- There is no Bach piece that's a source. It's an original
- composition. It's similar to a couple of different pieces, but if you
-listen to either of them and listen to "Whiter Shade of Pale", you
-will see that the melody is not the same. One of them is the 2nd
-movement "Air" from Bach's Suite for orchestra no. 3 in D major.
This may be a similar situation as "Summer of '42" and "Theme from
Somewhere in Time", which I have had people tell me are originally by Chopin
and Rachmaninov, respectively, but which I believe are Chopin- and
Rachmaninov- like substances with different molecular structures, in the
same way that The Music from The Commercial Which Must Not Be Named has a
(somewhat) Vivaldi-like odor.
Kip Williams <ki...@home.com> wrote in message
news:39535325...@home.com...
Allen & Linda Tyler
postings, but I'm very glad to see all the information.
Now for another one--has anyone else noticed that the first five notes of
"Moonlight in Vermont" are also found in Ives' Concord Sonata? Also, the
definitive work on popular songs from classics up into the 1940s was done
by Sigmund Spaeth, who billed himself as the "tune detective". Some of
Spaeth's "discoveries" were pretty hard to recognize (and to believe), but
it was fun.
Allen Tyler
Ken Brock wrote:
> Whatever happened to him? Is he still among the living?
> > Surely he has retired from performing.
>
Paul Dormer
(Richard Schultz) wrote:
> Ken Brock (ken_...@my-deja.com) wrote:
>
> : There are also quotations from several Mahler symphonies in "Alma"
>
> Huh? If there are any Mahler quotations in that song (which is a
> simple verse/refrain melody), they are certainly buried way too deep
> for me to find them. Which Mahler symphonies, and where in the song?
>
Well there's a bit of Das Lied von der Erde in the introduction. Just
checked the book Too Many songs by Tom Lehrer, and Alma isn't in it.
Steven Forrest
Mike Coldewey <No_Spam4m...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I don't know where the FAQ is stored (if there is an official one, perhaps
>someone could reference it), but about six months ago a FAQ-like post
>appeared with this relevant text:
>- (7) Which Bach piece is "Whiter Shade of Pale" taken from?
See also: http://www.bachfaq.org/whiter.html
which has links to even more sites.
>This may be a similar situation as "Summer of '42" and "Theme from
>Somewhere in Time", which I have had people tell me are originally by Chopin
>and Rachmaninov, respectively, but which I believe are Chopin- and
>Rachmaninov- like substances with different molecular structures, in the
>same way that The Music from The Commercial Which Must Not Be Named has a
>(somewhat) Vivaldi-like odor.
LOL! Well said.
-Steve
Peter T. Daniels
That would seem to make it Not Enough songs by Tom Lehrer.
Josh Kortbein
: Josh Kortbein wrote:
: >
: > Allen & Linda Tyler (all...@bga.com) wrote:
: > : To say nothing of Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky Was His Name, in
: > : which he named almost every Russian mathematician of significance.
: > : retired from performing.
: > IIRC he quit writing songs because of the ruling in a lawsuit Werner
: > von Braun's estate brought against him (for mentioning him, not really
: > slanderously/libellously, in a sing) - they own all future songs, or
: > all the proceeds, or a percentage, or something of the sort.
: > Infuriated Lehrer so much that he just quit.
: This is a completely false rumour with no basis whatsoever. Lehrer has
: categorically denied it and characterised it as "garbage", and even on
: its face it's absurd: 1) von Braun was very much alive at the time of
Hmph. Chalk one up to urban legends.
When I first heard the story the legal decision sounded absurd to me,
but there's American courts for ya.
Josh
NP: Henry Cow, _Legend_
Ken Brock
pauld...@cix.co.uk wrote:
> In article <8is586$ms6$4...@cnn.cc.biu.ac.il>,
sch...@gefen.cc.biu.ac.il
> (Richard Schultz) wrote:
>
> > Ken Brock (ken_...@my-deja.com) wrote:
> >
> > : There are also quotations from several Mahler symphonies in "Alma"
> >
> > Huh? If there are any Mahler quotations in that song (which is a
> > simple verse/refrain melody), they are certainly buried way too deep
> > for me to find them. Which Mahler symphonies, and where in the
song?
Here's the info from a Tom Lehrer trivia contest on quotes in Alma:
1) Das Lied von der Erde
2) Symphony No. 2 (2nd movement)
3) Symphony No. 4 (2nd movement)
4) Symphony No. 9 (2nd movement)
If you want to see a listing of all Tom Lehrer's musical quotes, go
here:
http://php.indiana.edu/~jbmorris/FAQ/lehrer.contest.html