19 Songs Based On Classical Pieces
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 15. 04. 2021
- đUPDATE: I've had to remove the clip of "Today, Tomorrow & Forever" by Elvis Presley due to copyright issues. Sorry!
đThis video was originally sponsored by "Primephonic", however, now that "Primephonic" is no longer available I have removed the sponsored materials from the video.
Because most classical music is in the public domain, it makes for a great source of inspiration for new songs. You can "rip off" any Bach, Beethoven or Brahms piece as extensively as you like and you'll never have to worry about any legal consequences. I've already made four entire videos looking at pop and rock songs based on classical pieces and yet there are plenty more examples to take a look at!
The outro music is my "Study in Melodic Minor" and is available to stream on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/0wKKJ...
And, an extra special thanks goes to Vidad Flowers, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channelâs Patreon saints! đ
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: / davidbennettpiano
đUPDATE: I've had to remove the clip of "Today, Tomorrow & Forever" by Elvis Presley due to copyright issues. Sorry!
I always come back to hear your accent
I just used that link and created a new account, and got a message that I have 14 days left in a trial. No place to put a discount code. What did I do wrong?
I heard a song on the radio in the late '90s or early '00s that was (I think) a motown style song, sung by a male voice, but it was about the same time as I started to listen more closely to Brahms, and I recognized it as the 3rd movement of his 3rd symphony. However, it wasn't "Love Of My Life", or if it was, it was done differently, because the timing of the melody was identical to Brahms (3/8 or 3/4), rather than being stretched into 4/4 time.
I still haven't figured out what it was.
Many many Serge Gainsbourg's composition (who was also a plagiarist, but this is another matter entirely)
Imagine if old music kept its copyright even after a few hundred years. It would be a jurisdictional hell.
Donât give UMG ideas...
The world would catch fire
Indeed. Bach's music might be immortal, but luckily his lawyers weren't ;)
The piece enters Public Domain after 70 years have passed since the composer has
@@alfonzog6327 Which means that works like Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, composed in 1913, won't be out of copyright until 2041... seems excessive. Also, not set in stone - e.g. in the US, there was the law variously known as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act or the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which extended copyright terms back in 1998.
David = musical knowledge : on point, sweater game: on point
Thanks! đ
I really will never understand fashion.
10 years ago, that type of sweater would have been ridiculed and considered "Has been". Not that it is, just that fashion trend are about perpetual recycling of previous trends, updated and regurgitated.
I think Bach wore a sweater like that :)
@@NicolasCharly Looks like someone used a thesaurus
@@redcreed_ Contact me again when "recycling", "updated" and "regurgitated" share the same meaning.
Wow, I didnât know my voice was so low
Hi Sangah! Great cover! đ Sorry that I had to pitchshift it down a semitone!
Haha you know, when your version does the key change down a half step...
God Christ Jesus bless you all and have a wonderful day today my family :" )
@@Em4gdn1m lol
I lol
It bothers me sooo much that I didnât ever make the connection between âFor the Damaged Codaâ to Chopinâs Nocturne! That was one of my top 3 piano pieces since 2005 when I got suuuuper into Chopin.
Yeah but they sound nothing alike.
I can understand you musical people may be able to tell notes from hearing them, but at least I can't, so don't worry.
I made the connection right away and I was so bothered by the comments on the Damaged Coda video saying Oh this sounds exactly like Moonlight Sonata đ
Yeah, same. Thats my favorite Chopin piece and I just died when I realised I never made the connection
Iâm also 99,9% sure gemnopede No.1 is used in the soundtrack for Minecraft
There's a very similar/heavily inspired track called Sweden.
This channel actually has a whole video about the minecraft music, featuring Mumbo Jumbo
@@HimanXK I know and Iâve seen it. Still, I feel like itâs at least worth mentioning
yeah I thought it was 100% the same too
I really thought that was where he would take it
That rick and morty one just blew my mind wow
Mine too, I was especially surprised that I didn't know about this before considering I'm such a Chopin fan.
Funny how I realize this long ago by clicking a link in the comment section of this song
yeah, nocturne Op.55 No.1 was my fav by Chopin, was feel it weirdly simiar to something but never make the connection
Looking at the thumbnail alone, I was intrigued...and am a Chopin fan as well!!
I love this series! One of the underrated things I take away from this channel is that I get to experience more music that I often hold onto and listen to later - both classical and modern!
Great! đđ
You could probably do a whole video about modern songs based on the Canon in D by Pachelbel lol
I have actually! 14 Songs That 'Rip Off' Classical Music czcams.com/video/yknBXOSlFQs/video.html đ
This is a bit by a guy named Rob Paravonian who jokes about being relentlessly followed by Cannon in D hiding in pop music.
@@DavidBennettPiano I believe Hook by Blues Traveler is also based on Canon in D. I didnât notice it mentioned in the original song, so I could be wrong but to me at least, thereâs a huge resemblance to Pachelbel.
@@dylanvickers7953 Axis of Awesome's Four Chords is also the same principle, only they don't mention Pachelbel.
Indila - Feuille D'Automne --- czcams.com/video/D94ulbEAzSY/video.html
"All by Myself" by Eric Carmen was based on Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto n°2 in C minor (great piece too).
And Eric Carmen's "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" is based on Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, 3rd Movement!
I always appreciate how you don't bury the lede and put the song from the thumbnail as the first example in the video
Itâs probably the other way around but yeah itâs pretty great
@@andreasfrost-blade4689 no it's not
@@geckogeico2212 I donât think you understand my comment. I believe he records the video and puts the first song in the thumbnail rather than composing the thumbnail first or editing the video in such a way that the thumbnail song is first.
We need a full video on how many people have borrowed from Holst's "The Planets" and Stravinsky's, "The Rite of Spring."
Heck yeah!
Or Even Edvard Greeg(sp?) and the Hall of the Mountain King.
Agreed!
@@DavidBennettPiano do it!
Only John Williams comes to my mind. Are there others? I don't consider it copying though, more like quoting/beeing influenced. Past composers did that a lot to show ammiration and musical erudition. Mozart, Beethoven, all of them.
Thereâs something poetic about how music is passed down, borrowed, and still inspires new music to be made. Old tunes are modified to fit a new narrative for a new generation. These videos always wow me with how much passes on to new generations and such,
4:21 please tell me i'm not the only one looking out for creepers when this tune plays...
Maybe C418 drew inspiration from it when composing for Minecraft, but Gymnopedie no. 1 is not actually a piece in the game :P
@@00SNIVY00 I swear it is
@@phillipwalk3r it certainly sounds similar to some of the pieces in the game, but that's all it is, I've never heard it once while playing. Sweden perhaps is the closest thing to it? I would have to listen to a few of the pieces to know which one it's similar to.
oh, so that's why i thought i had already heard it
@@00SNIVY00 i haven't played in a while, but that brought back memories. But it is probably the timbre and general harmizing technique, not the exact melody.
I could not believe how good was for the damaged coda when I heard it for the 1st time. Now I understand... took some Chopin for my own arrangements too... his stuff is too good to be true
I many times tried to figure out the Chopin E minor prelude chord changes and glad you put it in this video!
Brilliant chord progression!
It's in the public domain. Just google it.
btw. if you're looking for classical music just go to imslp.org, they have thousands of classical pieces available free of charge
Sting's "Russians" quotes the "Romance" from Prokofiev's _Lieutenant Kijé_ suite, and Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas" uses the "Troika" movement from the same work.
Blood, Sweat, & Tears quoted Prokofiev's "Romance" back in the 1970s on their BS&T 3 song, "40,000 Headmen". The melody gets a lot of mileage!
I think he covered this in his previous video
David: 'O Sole Mio
Every British person ever: "JUST ONE CORNETTOOOOO...".
I considered including that in this video actually đđ
czcams.com/video/ZTLFJI6BHVE/video.html
Jim Carrey: I'll stay out of this one.
That ad and song also made it to South Africa.
Embarrassingly that was the first version I think I heard đ
"Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" by Spiritualized borrows simultaneously from Pachelbel's Canon in D and Elvis' Can't Help Falling In Love
0:35 this explains why I found this music sounds familiar to me upon hearing it for the first time.
I've no problem with popular music basing their pieces on classics or just borrowing a little here and there. I just wish they would give a little credit where credit is due: "Inspired by..." or "based on..." It would take nothing away from the pop artists and might get their listeners to give the originals a try as well.
Chopin's Prelude No. 4, Op 28 sounds a lot like Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)", from OK Computer.
If you listem to it carefully you could sense chopin melancholy
I distinctly remember enjoying the first piece, then searching for it, then becoming surprisingly obsessed with it, until now. Thank you for revealing Chopinâs melody.
Itâs a great track! Based on a great Nocturne!
@@DavidBennettPiano By a great Polish composer, who seem to be loved almost only by Japanese people, for some reason.
The Beatles âBecauseâ is based on moonlight sonata played backwards
Because the world is round it turns me on
Serge Gainsbourg did this a lot. He took the same prelude Jobim used to write Insensatez and wrote Jane B. He took another piece by Chopin (Ătude Op. 10, No. 3 in E major) and wrote Lemon Incest. My Lady Heroine is based on an excerpt from In a Persian Market. He even makes a reference in the lyrics ("un marchĂ© persan"). And many more.
The French kind of lost their taste in music after World War II. George Brassens was one exception.
Oh man I never realized I could âstealâ from my favorite classical pieces...I suppose thatâs just how music works. I canât wait to play with this idea David. Wonderful video, well researched and well produced I love your work so much đ„Č
That's called having no honor.
An artist claiming to have any tangible rights to a piece of music is a sign of stupidity at best and of evil soul at worst.
Music is discovered not invented. Those sounds and melodies already exist. One cannot make any sounds that aren't inherently possible in this Universe.
Awesome series! These videos are more like quizzes to me: âwhat song is used in this modern songâ and so many times itâs clear, but when itâs not you can really make the connection between the two
Glad you like them đđ
@@DavidBennettPiano I really do! Youâve inspired me to get back behind the piano too, after stopping for about 6 years now
Tiemen Scholten excellent! Keep it up!
David I have three more Chopin songs for you:
Hyacine House by the Doors has a direct reference to Chopin's Op 53 Polonaise in A Flat Major. Till The End Time an old Perry Como song is based on the same Polonaise.
And Jo Stafford - No Other Love is directly lifted from Chopin's Etude #3 Op 10 in E Major.
I hope that helps!
Interesting! Iâll take a look at these, thank you đ
10:35 That melody is from an old German Drinking song called "Fuchslied". In 1880, many German university students would have been familiar with the song when they heard the Brahms overture.
Love the videos
Thanks!
Can't forget about Rush's "2112" - a modern 7-movement song which contains a small piece of the 1812 Overture (note the 300 year gap!) in the first movement. I love the fusion of some classical themes with a lot of futuristic qualities too.
Tchaikovsky is a much-adapted popular song source. Many of his melodies have been set to lyrics. "Our Love" is from Romeo and Juliet; "Moon Love" and "Save Me a Dream" are both from the 2nd movement of his 5th Symphony; "The Story of a Starry Night" is from the 1st mvt. of the 6th Symphony; "On the Isle of May" is the Andante Cantabile of his 1st String Quartet; and there is "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty. Did you mention Chabrier's España, which Perry Como turned into "Hot Diggity, Dog-Ziggity, Boom, What You do To Me"? "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" is from Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu. Della Reese used to do "Don't You Know?", which is Musetta's Aria from Puccini's La Boheme. You missed Elvis Presley's "Surrender", which is from another Italian street song, "Return to Sorrento." And his "Love Me Tender" is actually "Aura Lee." Barry Manilow uses a Chopin Prelude for his "Could It Be the Magic?" The tune "Easter Eggs" is from a passage in Stravinsky's Petrouchka, but I don't know which came first. These are enough to get you started, David. I'll probably think of more later.
Everybody's Making Money But Tchaikovsky - 1941 - CZcams - :)
Yes!! You mentioned Billy Joel! He really has many examples from classic music. He likes It.
The Piano Man is the best, man. đđŒ
@@georginatoland It seems to be very closely related to Pachelbelâs Canon
I saw him in concert about a year ago, and he quoted a lot, although all I remember now is his quoting some Puccini at one point. Went right over the crowd's head, probably. :-)
This series of comparisons is what brought me to your channel.
I think I am sticking around.
Cheers đ
I never realized It's Now Or Never counts as a song in its own right. I always just thought of it as a translation of O Sole Mio.
same!
I just now discovered your channel. This subject has fascinated me for many years, being a music lover of nearly all genres.
Three takeaways here: classical composers can't sue so go right ahead and lift away, if you're an aspiring songwriter start listening to a lot of classical music and it is virtually impossible to write something truly original and unique especially when someone uses two bar snippets for comparison.
Excellent David! I love these comparisons and contrasts. You do a great job explaining them. Cheers!
Thanks đđ
It was confusing me that "What is a Youth" sounded so much like another song I remembered from long ago, and I realised it was an alternate version, called "A Time for Us", with lyrics by Larry Kusik and Eddie Snyder, recorded by Johnny Mathis, Shirley Bassey, Andy Williams, and Stevie Wonder - and generally known as "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet".
Same piece. Same actual use in Romeo and Juliet, just âA Time for Usâ are the English lyrics.
Love for videos Dave! Cheers from Brazil
Thanks! đđ
Fabulous video Mr B., have shared this on Facebook & my muso-mates are loving it!
There's a fine line between film and classical music, especially when composers, such as Nino Rota, were also 'classical' composers (he wrote a lot of chamber music, some great symphonies, many concertos, and a few ballets, operas and oratorios). I have heard Rota studied from the Italian renaissance long before R&J. Also, at least some music was composed for the Zefferelli (same director as the movie) stage play from the early '60s. I have never heard that music, so I don't know if it is the same, but I think it might be assumed that the music he wrote was originally for the stage, not film.
Great video again, David. Love the connection between the classical and modern. Makes you wonder if anything is really new.
Thanks Hugh đ
That's a good point, Hugh. I don't think anything is really new. It's all been done before in some form or other.
These classic songs inspiring modern music is the reason Iâm a subscriber. (Although I watch all your videos and love them)
Thanks!!!
Thanks! đđđ
A WHOLE David Bennett video with no trace of Beatles and/or Radiohead? The end is nigh, I tell you...
... but, yes, a great video nonetheless -this channel is a veritable goldmine, thank you for your work and for putting your great musical knowledge to great use.
Thanks! đđ
Difficult To Cure by Rainbow also uses Ode To Joys melody
Just in case you haven't covered this yet: All Together Now by The Farm is based on Pachelbel's Canon.
Perfect video, I just add some, Eric Carmen - All by myself (Rachmaninov), Sting - Russians (Prokofiev), Beatles - Because (Beethoven)
3:08 Ooooh!!! Thanks!!! XD
I was trying to find "that song with one of the GymnopĂ©die (I'm not big fan enough of Satie to remember exactly which one LOL đ ) as background" and here it is!! Thanks again!!
Love this series!
Thank you đ
Glad to see Bright Eyes and Conor Oberst getting some love.â€ïž
The intro to the song "Will You Be There" by Michaël Jackson is an extract from Beethoven's Ninth !
Great video as always ! I love to hear you talk about classical music being an inspiration to nowadays music. A proof that classical music will live on forever !
David, thank you for all your amazing content and insight! I find myself watching and rewatching your videos when I want to learn more about music theory and the amazing interconnected nature of music creation. One recent song that appears to lift from classical music that I really haven't seen anyone mention is "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco. The opening four note progression is identical to the beginning of Puccini's "Vissi d'arte", just lowered by a half tone. I was listening to some opera while doing some work recently, and was like "Wait a second, I've heard this same lick somewhere!"
Pop composers: quoting a couple bars from an older piece is a neat way to pay homage while creating something new.
Charles Ives: Hold my beer.
Minecraft's music (Sweden by C418) also follows a simmilar chord progression as of Gymnopédie No. 1
Thereâs a Muse song called "I belong to you" that literally shifts in the middle to Dalilaâs aria from âSamson et Dalila" by Camille Saint-Saens
Your videos are always such great quality :)
You know you are weird when you have never hear any of the songs but you recognize all the pieces
There were a lot of eye openers for me, thank you!
Great đ
Thanks for another well-researched video! An added bonus for me that it includes both Ode to Joy and Tales from the Vienna Woods....
Thankyou you have made me found more tunes for my classical Spotify playlist.
Hey David, really nice Video as always. You could look up the song "Questions" by Manfred Mann. You can hear it is influenced by Schubert's Impromptu Op. 90 No.3
Interesting! Iâll have to check that one out!
Hi ! I'm surprised you never mentionned Serge Gainsbourg in your videos, who wrote dozens of songs based on classical music. I recommend "Lemon Incest", or "Initials BB" as the most obvious and interesting uses, but there are plenty of others
Interesting! I recognise the name but Iâll have to look up the music! Thanks đ
Oh yes for sure one of the most important songwriter in modern French music. As well as William sheller's uses of his classical studies in his pop works.
Yesss, you should take a look at french music ! Concerning Serge Gainsbourg, you've mentionned the Brahms symphonie N 3, which he transformed into "Baby alone in Babylon" and Chopin prelude N 6 Op 28, which is used in "Jane B". If Serge Gainsbourg doesn't ring a bell, maybe Jane Birkin does, and those 2 pieces of music are dedicated to her đ
Thank you for your videos there are great !
You may have previously covered this, but the Sibelius 5th Sympnony lick is also the French Horn bridge in First Classâs âBeach Babyâ (1974)
If you slow the tempo of LibestrÀum No. 3, you can also hear the influence of "Love Me Tender".
I like how the first names of the read list fell in time with the background music :D
5:01 Hey there's another song to the tune of that called Joyful Joyful from Sister Act 2.
Thanks fro your high quality music theory content David, you are outstanding!
Great video!! Thanks you as always for your accurate work, we love it.
Cheers! đđ
Radioheads "exit music for a film" sounds very similar to the chopin piece in this video.
I think a good short documentary about the topic is âeverything is a remixâ
Thank you for these great videos! Two other songs that come to my mind: "Cold is Being" by Renaissance, which uses Albinoni's famous adagio. And then, Billy Joel's "Leningrad" uses, I think Tschaikovsky's violin concerto?
So I haven't seen the whole series of these videos so forgive me if this has been covered but I've been obsessed for a while with the progression of the song "Daydream"
Claude François has "Reveries" which was inspired by Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake
Which then inspired "Daydream" - Wallace Collection
Then to "Squares" by the Beta Band
Which inspired the popular "Daydream in Blue" - I Monster (where I first encountered it)
To then again be re-popularized by Lupe Fiasco in "Daydreamin'"
It's just a super cool multi-genre journey of a single theme including Swollen Members and other unnamed versions
Great series!
Thanks Pablo đ
There is a part of the song âThe Globalistâ by Muse which uses the theme from nimrod from the Enigma Variations by Elgar which is so cool!
My nephew, a Muse fan, tells me that classical music is a big influence on the band.
This doesn't surprise me at all. Their music is so thick.
Love these videos! This is kind of a deep cut, but I remember the first time I listened to Many Lives ---> 49 MP by Owen Pallett, the last 15 seconds flipped a switch in my brain because it's a quote from the ending of the fourth movement of Bach's Violin Sonata #1 in G minor. I felt like I knew what I was talking about for like a full 30 seconds when I discovered that one.
"Pitchshifted to aid comparison" - transposes into D flat because why not.
TIL a lot about Rach/Pag, one of my indulgent favourites, so thanks!
"Cans & Brahms" by Yes is a repurposing of the end of the 3rd movement of Johannes Brahms's 3rd Symphony. It is a note-for-note synth adaptation with Rick Wakefield soloing. As for the title, one plausible explanation is that "cans" refers to the headphones he wore in the studio for the recording. czcams.com/video/l5h9eJZ48eE/video.html'
Someone made a song from my favorite Chopin Nocturne, and I didn't know about until now? Well, at least it's not in 80s metal style which is what is usually done
Excellent. Congratulations David, but. How about "All by myself" with Eric Carmen from Rachmaninoff? Greetings. Thank you so much! đ”
"I know I've probably covered all of them now..." Hahahahahaha!
Could Paint it Black by the 'Stones use Ode to Joy?
The Japanese Metal band Galneryus released a song back in 2012 titled "Angel of Salvation", off the album with the same title. The song is essentially a 14-minute Metal Variation of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D, copying not only the intro note for note, but all of the recognizable themes from Movement 1 and 3 of the Concerto. Although the band isn't exactly trying to hide it...
Syu (the guitarist for Galneryus) played violin from ages 6 to 12-13. Given the amount of practice kids in East Asia typically play, I wouldn't put it past him playing it at that age. Knowing this, I see it more as a love letter to the piece and trying to hide that would be counterintuitive.
He usually changes the 1st subject solo at the start of the song to match the 1st movement subject note to note compared to the album where it's played as the 1st phrase from the concerto just transposed a 4th up for the 2nd time; similar to the vocals in the outro.
It's my favourite "pop" song by a long shot, mostly leaning into the fact that it's one of the most melodic VCs even from the romantic era. Something like Sibelius, Glazunov or even Mendelssohn wouldn't work nearly as well. Out of curiosity, what's your opinion on the tune?
Yvonne Keeley & Scott Fitzgerald - If I had words (1977) / Symphony for Organ - Camille Saint-Saëns
I can't believe that someone to call my lover has a melody from Gymnopedie no 1, I am mind blown
just wait until you find out the verses are also sampled
Reminds me of one part in two headed Boy neutral milk hotel
The Rachmaninov inversion piece I recognise from the end of Groundhog Day - uncultured swine that I am :D
Genesis also used Bachs Prelude on their Album foxtrot
Great videos/breakdowns. Does David Bowie's "Ashes To Ashes" not seem like a strange song format to you? Could you do a 'breakdown' of that?
oh I love Sibelius 5!
My memory may be a bit faulty, but isnât Barry Manilowâs âCould It Be Magic?â based on a Chopin death march? (Prelude in C minor, Opus 28, Number 20.)
I believe you are correct. Good catch.
Thank you! I basically only know "Can't help falling in love with you"; but upon hearing "LiebestrÀume 3" I'm somehow always thinking of Elvis. Now I know.
Great video! For some reason, when I first heard Schumann's Romance in F# major, I thought it had similarities to the piano outro on Derek and the dominos Layla.
Very, very educational and interesting..
Thank you đđ
Mick Ronson's guitar solo in Bowie's song "Time" also quotes the Ode to Joy melody.
man, I love how you build up your info on the damaged coda at the beginning of the video and then punch in with the info about how it's based on Chopin just before the climactic verse kicks in.
It made me smile and repeat the into several times actually XDXDXD
Whenever I listen to Gymnopédie No. 1 I feel like a bird in heavensjhriushiue
heavensjhriushiue
In that picture, Billy Joel looks like the son of Paul McCartney and Sylvester Stallone.
Awesome to see one of my favorite piano streamers, Sangah Noona, used here as an example!
Hayley Westenra's Never Say Goodbye is lifted from Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess, and River of Dreams is the 2nd movement of Vivaldi's Winter with lyrics added. Both are beautiful, as are the works they're based on.
rachmaninoff/paganini explanation đ€Żđ€Żđ€Żđ€Żđ€Żđ€Żđ€Żđ€Ż