Delmarva
Lunatic Member
I'm starting this thread to celebrate and compile a list of classical music references in popular music.
Many times I've been introduced to a classical piece via rock and popular music and didn't realize that the song was actually a reworking or snippet from a classical composition.
My favorite band, Emerson, Lake & Palmer started their first album with a track called The Barbarian. It's a rearrangement of Béla Bartók's piano composition Alegro Barbero. Carl Palmer suggested using the piece when they were recording the album, so Keith, Greg & Carl came up with an arrangement for bass, drums and organ. ELP doubled the length of the original piece.
They mistakenly failed to credit Bartók, assuming that the record company would take care of that detail.
Bartók's widow sued the band over copywrite infringement. I don't know what the result of the litigation was, but eventually the band gave Bartók full credit.
And so here is Bartók's original piece, Alegro Barbero (Sz. 49)
And here is Emerson, Lake & Palmer's, "The Barbarian".
So the idea for the thread is to include full blown reworkings of classical pieces such as The Barbarian or just a bar or two incorporated into an original song. Should be interesting to see where this goes, if it goes anywhere at all.
Many times I've been introduced to a classical piece via rock and popular music and didn't realize that the song was actually a reworking or snippet from a classical composition.
My favorite band, Emerson, Lake & Palmer started their first album with a track called The Barbarian. It's a rearrangement of Béla Bartók's piano composition Alegro Barbero. Carl Palmer suggested using the piece when they were recording the album, so Keith, Greg & Carl came up with an arrangement for bass, drums and organ. ELP doubled the length of the original piece.
They mistakenly failed to credit Bartók, assuming that the record company would take care of that detail.
Bartók's widow sued the band over copywrite infringement. I don't know what the result of the litigation was, but eventually the band gave Bartók full credit.
And so here is Bartók's original piece, Alegro Barbero (Sz. 49)
And here is Emerson, Lake & Palmer's, "The Barbarian".
So the idea for the thread is to include full blown reworkings of classical pieces such as The Barbarian or just a bar or two incorporated into an original song. Should be interesting to see where this goes, if it goes anywhere at all.
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