THE IKARO QUARTET are part of the popular / classical  Zeitgeist

IKARO QUARTET:

part of the popular / classical  Zeitgeist

says Norman Warwick

One dictionary definition of the word  zeitgeist is that it is a singular noun for a particular place during a particular period in history revealing the attitudes and ideas that are generally common there at that time, especially the attitudes and ideas shown in literature, philosophy, and politics.

The hundreds of incoming e-mails that drop into the sidetracks & detours inbox each week present a pretty much accurate picture of what is happening on the arts  We can trace back to one off or isolated events and explore their growth into new likes and trends.

For instance, last week we received notification of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra presenting two performances of ´symphonies´ of music by, first Pink Floyd, and another by The Bee Gees that will take place in November in England.

Meanwhile, here on Lanzarote, we have beaten them to the punch, with The Ikaro Quartet presenting a symphony of Coldplay songs.

We are not saying that this integration of popular and classical music is a brand new phenomenon. Dvorak´s wonderful New World symphony was, after all, adapted in the nineteen sixties into a three and a half minute pop song with modern day lyrics about a lost dog !

And there have been several other pop / classical duets since.

Pop star Mika has admitted on several occasions that he half-inched the melody for Rossini’s ‘Largo al factotum’ from The Barber Of Seville on his hit ‘Grace Kelly’.

Billy Joel (left) still admits that “I have not forgiven myself for not being Beethoven,” So, in a classic case of ‘if you can’t beat them’, Joel wove in a swung version of the opening melody from the second movement of Beethoven’s ‘Pathétique’ Sonata in his chorus for ‘This Night’.

Eric Carmen´s song All by Myself bounced back heavy echoes of  Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor. A great ’70s power ballad, reincarnated by Céline Dion in 1996, that finds the melody for its verses in Russian giant Rachmaninov’s most famous piano concerto – pop-classical sampling doesn’t get much more iconic than this.

Maroon 5, in their hit  Memories adapted the  Pachelbel Canon in D. Pachelbel’s (right) ubiquitous cello chord progression has inspired plenty of pop songs – from Kylie Minogue’s ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ to Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’. Now we can add to the list: ‘Memories’, from Californian pop group Maroon 5. And we should not forget a wonderful recording of his own song Louisianne, by John Stewart that somehow came out pure Americana.

There is often a classical echo on recordings by 21^st century groups too, of course, such as on Clean Bandit – Mozart’s House / Mozart – String Quartet No. 21. The chorus of ´Mozart´s House’ is the first phrase of the Classical composer’s String Quartet No. 21. Band member Grace Chatto says, “Another part of the quartet returns as a breakdown later in the song”, while some of the lyrics touch on “a journey to Mozart’s House, and use various Italian musical terms”.

One of the world’s biggest girl bands, Little Mix, knows the power of a good melody – as does French composer, Gabriel Fauré. Their 2013 single ‘Little Me’ nabs the tune of his Pavane in a lo-fi rendition in the intro, while the chorus weaves in Fauré’s chord progression.

Barry Manilow wound up writing ‘Could it Be Magic’ after a glass of wine. “I thought I had come up with the coolest batch of chords in my composing experience. And then I realised that before that glass of wine, I had been practising my Chopin preludes.” Hear the similarity for yourself…

A country song with Romantic influences – John Denver was inspired to write ‘Annie’s Song’ during a particularly adrenalin-drenched ski run. But he didn’t realise, until a friend told him later, that his ‘original’ melody is actually the horn solo from the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5.

One day, as John Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono was playing Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata at the piano, Lennon asked her to play him the chords once more – but backwards. When she did, it formed the basis of one of The Beatles’ later tracks, ‘Because’.

There was a time when never the twain would have met, but if you require proof that this love affair of popular and classical music styles and tastes is a marriage made in heaven then you should have been on Lanzarote, in the unique venue of The Camel House in Macher. Four young people, The Ikaro Quarter, took to the stage and perfectly emphasised that they deserve to be identified as part of this zeitgeist. They delivered, on three violins and cello, a sumptuous sixty minute concert of Coldplay songs. We felt privileged to be there, and will publish our review tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I´m sure that audience members in Bournemouth will enjoy the translations of Pink Floyd and The Bee Gees. I´m hoping our undercover reporter Margaret – She Who Can Never Be Named, might be in the Bournemouth audience and send us a review !?

So, Roll Over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky* the news * see cover.