Mike Leghorn ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>Don Satz writes:
>
>Mike Leghorn writes:
...
>Although I agree that familiarity breeds distinctions, I've found that my
>familiarity with classical music has made me a better listener to other
>kinds of music as well.  Here are some examples of some insights I gleaned
>as a result of my familiarity with classical music:
>
>* The Eagles' Hotel California is a Passacaglia.

Really? I'll have to listen again, but I'm not sure how you can fit a
passacaglia into a verse-and-chorus structure - unless the chorus
shares the same chord progression.

>* I've heard quotes in pop music from classical music, e.g.  Satie's
>1st Gymnopedie, Pachelbels Canon.  I was working out at Balley's when I
>heard these blatant borrowings, and looked around to see if anyone seemed
>surprised by the music.  It seemed like I was the only one.  I don't know
>if I can express why, but this experience makes me feel resentful.  ...

The Satie actually became more popular after being used on the first Blood
Sweat and Tears LP back in what? 1967?

Borrowings from classical by populoar music go back decades: examples
include I'm Always Chasing Rainbows (1930s? Chopin's Fantasie-impromptu),
Lover's Concerto (The Toys, 1965, a minuet from the notebook of Anna
Magdalena Bach), Eric Carmen's All By Myself (Rachmaninov Paino Concerto -
or was it symphony? - No.2), The First Class's Beach Baby (1972) which used
the horn theme from the finale of Sibelius 5 as a counterpoint in the final
verse, B Bumble and the Stingers' Nut Rocker (Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker),
Lord Rockingham's XI's Saturday Night at the Duck Pond (Swan Lake)...

The list is almost endless.

deryk barker
([log in to unmask], http://www.camosun.bc.ca/~dbarker)