The Effect of Classical Interpretations on Modern Songs

By Chris Billingham 

In my last article I wrote about the line between classical music and modern music and how the former has influenced the later. This week I want to explore an element of this that wasn’t discussed last week. The way classical instruments (or indeed any instrument) and different arrangements can be used to enhance a song, change its tone and make it appeal to completely different audiences. From simply adding one new instrument to creating a full orchestral version of a song, different interpretations of songs can create incredible pieces of music.

‘Call Me Maybe’ by Carly Rae Jepsen performed by Ben Howard and Band

I’ll be honest, I never thought I would write about ‘Call Me Maybe’ on the Southern Sinfonia blog, the original version of this song is pure pop which depending on your opinion is either catchy and fun or irritating and childish. However when I began to think about arrangements and instruments changing the meaning and the feel of a song, the above version by Ben Howard was the first thing that came to my head. Despite the fact that they haven’t changed the lyrics, stripping back the track to guitar, violin and drums and slowing the tempo completely changes the way you view the song. Sung and performed in this arrangement lines like “I beg, and borrow and steal, Have foresight and it’s real, I didn’t know I would feel it, But it’s in my way” suddenly conjures up images of yearning for someone you can’t have, compared to the original which conjures up images of thinking someone is attractive and forcing them to have your number.

Despite the power that can be found in changing meaning, it’s not always the goal or indeed the reason a new version of a song can be so powerful. Sometimes adding layers can simply enhance what is already there. I already loved the album version of ‘The Things We Lost in the Fire’ by Bastille but there is something inspiring about watching the below version:

‘The Things We Lost in the Fire’ by Bastille performed by Bastille featuring Queen’s College Choir and Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra

The combination of Queen’s College Choir, the Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra and classical instruments such as the kettle drum add drama, grandeur and a sense of spectacle that whilst present in the original, comes alive in this version. As well as the performances, it is also the visuals that add this. Being able to see the amount of people contributing to the music immediately adds a sense of occasion, placing the sense of occasion you get from a classical concert into a modern context.

Modern technology has given all acts the opportunity to upload covers and content onto YouTube, whether it’s a band, choir and orchestra performing in a university or two violinists in a room:

‘I Will Wait’ by Mumford and Sons performed by Momento

The brilliant thing about this interpretation is using just two violins, Momento manage to turn a folk rock song into a classical piece. The incredibly clever way that they do this is by playing the instruments in unique ways, including strumming the violin in the way you would strum a guitar to create something fresh and exciting. The original song is performed on a range of instruments including banjos, keyboards and a double bass. Stripping this back to just the violin immediately makes the piece feel classical.

You do however recognise the Mumford and Sons original, I personally find myself still hearing that version in my head whilst appreciating the Momento version, which is part of the joy of listening to it. A classical interpretation that does however take me away from the original can be found below:

‘Story of my Life’ by One Direction performed by The Piano Guys

I can’t lie, I personally don’t mind One Direction at all, a number of their songs have great melodies and get inside your head. Therefore I know the original version of the above quite well, however despite this I still feel that the version above completely transforms this song. Using a piano and cello, The Piano Guys have created a beautiful piece of music that you loose yourself in as your mind wonders. Which is exactly my reaction to my favourite pieces of classical music.

When most people think of covers of modern rock songs using classical instruments their mind potentially turns to full orchestral covers, with acts such as the London Symphony Orchestra becoming renowned for their covers. For me, the best example of this I’ve heard recently is this:

‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage Against the Machine arranged and conducted by Nick Proch 

Again, I am a big fan of the original version of this song (I can’t be the only one with Rage Against the Machine AND One Direction on their iPod can I?????) and part of the thrill of this version is knowing what it starts as and seeing what is has become. The angry and volatile nature of the original disappears with this arrangement, instead it transforms into a theatrical piece of music that wouldn’t feel out of place the theme to a James Bond movie. A friend of mine who really doesn’t like the original version said that he wanted to purchase this version. That in many ways sums up this article and the power of rearranging and re-imagining music. It uncovers themes you didn’t realise were there, adds new meaning and appeals to a whole new audience.

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The Top Ten Finales in Classical Music (in my own, completely un-biased, totally subjective opinion)

By Richard Brewer

I love a good finale, who doesn’t? Writing one is a real art, in my opinion. To try and end what is sometimes close to an hour’s worth of music in 5-10 minutes is no mean feat. Below is a list of what I believe to be the top ten finales in classical music. Anyway, enjoy!

Beethoven - Symphony no. 5, movement IV

performed by Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic

“It’s ended…no it hasn’t…yes it has…no, off it goes again.” The thought process when listening to arguably one of Beethoven’s most popular works is something like that, anyway. This is a great example of the mastery of Beethoven’s art; just when you think it’s all over, he recapitulates the theme in another different way. This, accompanied with the “tonic, dominant” repetition in the final bars show just what a finale can be; a whole lot of fun. Bernstein’s conducting here is fascinating to watch – arms flailing everywhere, but control second to none.

Mahler - Symphony no. 8, Alles Vergängliche

performed by Sir Simon Rattle, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, City of Birmingham Symphony Youth Chorus, London Symphony Chorus, Toronto Children's Chorus, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus

This was actually one of the first pieces of classical music I listened to. My best friend at school showed me this exact video; we plugged it into his dad’s speakers and turned it up to full volume. I don’t think it will ever stop amazing me when I listen to it. To go from the extremely quiet tranquillity to earth-shatteringly loud in the space of 5 minutes is madness; it is just incredible.

Strauss - Im Abendrot from Four Last Songs

performed by Jessye Norman, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Orchestre de la Suisse

One of two peaceful and quiet finales I’ve chosen on the list. Jessye Norman must have been born to sing this famous song cycle. The final movement is absolute emotional heartbreak tinged with a reflective feel. When sung like this, I can’t think of many other pieces as beautiful.

Shostakovich - Symphony no. 5, movement IV

performed by Leonard Bernstein the New York Philharmonic Orchestra

I saw this piece performed at the BBC Proms back when I was about 16. Unfortunately it wasn’t Bernstein and the New York Phil that day, but it certainly blew me away. Tinged with irony against the Soviet government; you can almost hear Shostakovich laughing to himself as those endless high A’s go on and on. The variety of speeds used by conductors for the end of the finale is astounding. I chose this Bernstein recording mainly because of the slowing down in tempo right at the end. So emphatic. 

Mahler - Symphony no. 9, movement IV 

performed by Sir Roger Norrington the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra

(nb. movement IV starts at 54:40 on the video)

The finale of Mahler’s final completed symphony ends in utter tragedy. As the final chord dies away with the direction “ersterbend” (dying), you can hear the cataclysmic death Mahler is trying to portray. It couldn’t be further away from the other emphatic finales listed here, but it still makes my list of favourites. One of the most emotional pieces of music I have ever listened to, our Patron does a wonderful job here with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony orchestra.

Shostakovich - Symphony no. 6, movement III

performed by Valery Gergiev and the Orchestra of Theatre Mariinsky

 (nb. movement III starts at 25:55)

Yes, I know, another Shostakovich…I only discovered this last September and haven’t stopped listening since. Such an exciting finale to what is a rather solemn, contemplative symphony in the opening two movements. Gergiev takes it at the quickest tempo I’ve heard here; as a flautist I do feel for them slightly!

Sibelius - Symphony no. 2, movement IV

performed by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra

 (nb. movement IV starts at 28:25)

As the dramatic climax of the third movement merges into the grandioso finale, a typically heroic Sibelius theme enters and pure music glory is heard. As the longest extract shown here, the absolute beauty continues for nearly 15 minutes. It is one of those pieces that you just want to carry on past the end. The heroic theme returns again right at the end played by emphatic trumpets - classical music perfection.

Respighi - Roman Festivals, part 4

performed by Vasily Petrenko and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

I only came across this piece last summer at the Proms as part of the Roman Trilogy (Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome and Roman Festivals). The finale of this piece is in some ways indescribable. Presented here by the NYO and Vasily Petrenko, it is absolute pandemonium from start to finish. Just when you think it’s about to end, suddenly it kicks off in a different direction. An electrifying piece to see live and an army of percussionists needed.

Tchaikovsky - Act IV, finale

performed by the Royal Swedish Ballet

What do I need to say about this? Dramatic, emphatic and beautiful all mixed into one.

Stravinsky - Firebird, finale

performed by Valery Gergiev and the Vienna Philharmonic

(nb. finale starts at 41.30)

I really had to include this, didn’t I? This particular recording by Gergiev and the Vienna Philharmonic is truly something to behold. Gergiev’s control of those final brass chords is astonishing, they hit you like a wall of sound. The most special aspect of this particular recording, though, is the final chord. I’m not sure I knew an orchestra could keep getting louder as they do here; Gergiev only uses his eyebrows to gesture to the bass drum player to get louder, I wish I had powerful eyebrows…

So there we have it. I am certain that you will all have your own preferences and favourites, just as I am sure you will disagree with a lot of my choices. But that is the wonderful thing about classical music, everyone has their own opinion on what is “the best”, but there really is something for everyone.  Please do comment below with your ideas and opinions, it would be great to hear what you think. Maybe yours will be less biased towards Shostakovich and Mahler…

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The Line Between Classical and Modern Music

By Chris Billingham 

When thinking about how classical music has influenced modern music one of the first names that enters the conversation is Schubert. Many people consider the Austrian composer to be the inspiration for the modern pop song, his use of verses and choruses in particular. Schubert wanted the chorus to be memorable and resonate with the audience; it’s hard to name a modern rock or pop song that doesn’t share this ambition.

Schubert also established song cycles, a group of songs created to stand individually but be performed in a sequence as a unit. Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise and Schwanengesang are renowned examples of his song cycle work, the later being his last, posthumous collection of songs. Song cycles still exist today but arguably the most modern use of the genre is in the concept album. Like Schubert’s song cycles these albums are designed by its composers to be played in a specific order, often to tell a story. Whilst these songs can be heard individually, and arguably thanks to the release of singles they are heard on an individual basis more than classical works, this work is best enjoyed as a whole. Albums such as The Wall by Pink Floyd and The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance were even toured as a whole by the bands in questions. When seeing My Chemical Romance on The Black Parade World Tour in 2007 they played two sets, one containing the complete album performed in order and an encore of older songs. In principal the first set was no different to Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin being performed in Viennna in 1856. Except that first public performance from Julius Christian Stockhausen probably didn’t include the marching band uniforms, confetti, cannons and pyrotechnics that My Chemical Romance had.

Even though the theatrics and presentation of music may have changed, most modern music shares its themes with classical. Schubert, Puccini and Ravel all wrote about love and trying to get to grips with life. The biggest selling songs of last year, which came from the likes of Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Ella Henderson all share this theme. These modern day artists, especially Ed Sheeran, are famous for putting across all their inner thoughts and emotions in songs. Arguably one of the earliest examples of a musician doing this was Beethoven. Whilst Beethoven made this connection using instrumental pieces and the element of Ed Sheeran’s work that most connect with is his lyrics, they have both created music with fervour and a desire to be true to themselves. Beethoven once said that “to play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable”. Ed Sheeran is recently quoted as saying, “I can’t tell you the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone”. Whilst these quotes are about two different subjects, they show that the enthusiasm and honesty that made classical composers popular with audiences are attributes that continue to be seen in many modern artists.

Many classical musicians have written compositions in the form of variations on a theme by another composer. Beethoven, Hahn and Herzogenberg for example all created variations based on work by Mozart. The modern day equivalent of this is arguably sampling, the act of taking a section (or sample) of a piece of music and reusing it in a different song. The modern influence and love of classical music can be seen in the number of songs that sample classical pieces. To use Mozart as an example again, Massive Attack, David Bowie and Clean Bandit have sampled his music in songs. There are countless other examples, including many surprising connections including pop group S Club 7 reworking Fauré's Pavane and hip hop artist Nas sampling Für Elise by Beeethoven.

The line between classical music and modern music is one that has always intrigued me. There are many people that feel they should be separate and you could of course argue that the similarities that Beethoven and Ed Sheeran have in their approach to music isn’t necessarily a result of the later being directly influenced by classical music but more a representation of the passion you need to succeed. However in my opinion music is influenced by a number of factors including culture and history. Classical music has had a big impact on both of these and without it the musical landscape we have today would, in my opinion, be drastically different.

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Is Online Streaming the Way Forward for Classical Music?

By Richard Brewer

I am 21, a classical music lover and have been for about 6 years now. I can still remember the first ever classical CD I bought; it was Shostakovich's Symphony no. 5 with Festive Overture on it, too. It's recorded by the Philharmonia Orchestra with Vladimir Ashkenazy holding the baton. It has always remained as one of my favourite ever recordings, perhaps purely because it was the first I bought. For the couple of years after this, I continued to buy a few CD's, namely a number of box sets that were extremely good value on Amazon. Obviously as I was only 16-17, I didn't have a great deal of money so these purchases were very limited. 

For the past 4 years, though, I have almost only used online streaming to listen to classical music. I currently use Spotify, and pay £9.99/month. I chose this particular deal because it offers me unlimited use of their entire catalogue of music; this consists of over 30 million songs, with 20,000 new songs added each day. An extremely impressive catalogue, I'm sure you will agree, which was one of the reasons for choosing this service over others. 

There is a wide array of different recordings of classical pieces, which makes finding something very easy. The difficulty, however, is finding a specific recording; this provides a bit of a problem when looking for a recording by a certain conductor, for example. An issue with having so many different recordings, though, is the difference in quality between some. With Spotify not being a dedicated classical music service, some recordings that creep on to their catalogue are slightly below par. Although search results are listed in popularity, it is sometimes difficult to find a really good recording without having previous knowledge of the orchestra or conductor to look for. 

The overriding factor that becomes clear when describing streaming services is the simplicity of the system. At the click of a button I could have thousands of recordings of Bach's toccata and fugue in D minor at my fingertips. This, I feel, is what really sets it apart from the diminishing collection of CDs available. A sad moment for classical CD collections in shops was the closure of HMV's Oxford Street store. There, one could go into a large, dedicated room full of classical CDs, away from the other genres; Although something of the past, this was quite unique. Not only is there such a huge selection of recordings available online, there are now services such as Qobuz which offer recordings at better quality than a CD can offer. It is unsurprising, therefore, that more and more people are moving into the online cloud.

With this in mind, are we seeing the start of a long road to the end of CDs? In the classical genre, many people have there own personal favourite recordings, all extremely specific and sometimes very rare; will there ever be a time when an online catalogue has every recording in existence? A very high number of classical music lovers still have huge collections of CDs, which may spark memories of past performances or concerts; it is not clear whether an online collection could offer the same. I will still continue to use an online streaming service, but will also buy CDs. The satisfaction of a box set of the entire collection of Tchaikovsky's orchestral works is still too much to resist.

Happy New Year from everyone at Southern Sinfonia, you can find out what we have planned for 2015 by visiting our website. You can also contact us through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.