When Rock meets Classical

By Chris Billingham 

Responsible for Southern Sinfonia in the world of social media, I have to start this particular article with a confession; classical music was not my first musical love. My first was the music of British rock band Queen; without a doubt, this is my dad’s fault. To this day, their music still brings back incredible memories of my childhood. From driving along and blaring out the ‘Night at the Opera’ album in the sunshine (for night time drives the band of choice became Pink Floyd) to my mum’s joy at us doing the housework being crushed when it became apparent we were actually just singing with feather dusters. 

The seeds for a love of classical music were of course sewn throughout Queen’s music; the band’s diverse style and range of talents led to a number of songs having classical music elements, in particular orchestral and operatic. It was, however, considered a risky move when Freddie Mercury decided to release an album that was very clearly a “classical crossover”. When record companies were approached about 1988’s ‘Barcelona’ (released with operatic soprano Montserrat Caballé) they “completely freaked” and claimed the album wouldn’t work. What was considered more acceptable was the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra releasing a stunning collection of Queen covers, a CD dad would also play at an incredibly loud volume. This performance of ‘I Want It All’ (my favourite Queen song) was a highlight for my younger self, allowing that love of classical music to begin to flourish: 

The RPO has continued to release fantastic orchestral versions of the music of bands such as Oasis and Coldplay. Is it fair, however, to suggest that the lines between rock music and orchestral music have merged further? Are we now in a position where it wouldn’t be considered odd to have an act perform in an orchestral setting? Arguably, the modern day equivalent to Queen is the equally grand and diverse Muse, their acclaimed 2013 Brit Award performance with a full orchestra and choir suggesting that it is far from odd to see classical music and rock music combine. It is in fact, stunning: 

For me, orchestral performances of other genres such as rock and indie have helped us reach this point. In a recent Classic FM web chat with Gareth Malone, Southern Sinfonia asked the extraordinary choirmaster how he thinks classical music can be brought to a wider cross-section of society. He explains that, in his view, “demystifying is important and just showing people that this is GREAT MUSIC”. Orchestral covers are a great tool to demystify and get people to listen to classical music. I know that, as a teenager, I wouldn’t have listened to violinist David Garret perform Mozart’s violin concertos. What I would have listened to, though, was his brilliant cover of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’: 

I would then have investigated further and found his more traditional recordings. The beauty of modern technology means that it is no longer just the professional recordings of Garret with the RPO available: 

This type of video and performance makes classical music accessible to all, allowing people to find it through any other genre. Then, they will hopefully end up in the position I’m in, listening to Britten and thinking about many new musical memories; from driving through country roads whilst playing Mendelssohn at full volume, to sitting in St Nicolas Church and being blown away by Southern Sinfonia’s performance of Brahms’ Symphony No. 4. 

What are your favourite orchestral versions of rock or pop songs? There are so many to choose from and we would love to hear your suggestions in the comments below or on our Facebook or Twitter pages.  

To see images from the concerts referenced above, please visit our Instagram profile, to learn more about Southern Sinfonia, please visit our website.