{"id":23560,"date":"2024-10-30T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=23560"},"modified":"2024-10-29T17:37:04","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T17:37:04","slug":"the-ikaro-quartet-are-part-of-the-popular-classical-zeitgeist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2024\/10\/30\/the-ikaro-quartet-are-part-of-the-popular-classical-zeitgeist\/","title":{"rendered":"THE IKARO QUARTET are part of the popular \/ classical \u00a0Zeitgeist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

IKARO QUARTET:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

part of the popular \/ classical  Zeitgeist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

says Norman Warwick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One dictionary definition of the word\u00a0 zeitgeist is that it is a singular noun for a particular place during a particular period in history revealing\u00a0the attitudes and ideas that are generally common there at that time, especially the attitudes and ideas shown in literature, philosophy, and politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0 We can trace back to one off or isolated events and explore their growth into new likes and trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, last week we received notification of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra presenting two performances of \u00b4symphonies\u00b4 of music by, first Pink Floyd, and another by The Bee Gees that will take place in November in England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, here on Lanzarote, we have beaten them to the punch, with The Ikaro Quartet presenting a symphony of Coldplay songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not saying that this integration of popular and classical music is a brand new phenomenon. Dvorak\u00b4s 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 !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there have been several other pop \/ classical duets since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pop star Mika has admitted on several occasions that he half-inched the melody for Rossini<\/a>\u2019s \u2018Largo al factotum\u2019 from The Barber Of Seville<\/em> on his hit \u2018Grace Kelly\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Billy Joel (left)<\/em><\/strong> still admits that \u201cI have not forgiven myself for not being Beethoven,\u201d So, in a classic case of \u2018if you can\u2019t beat them\u2019, Joel wove in a swung version of the opening melody from the second movement of Beethoven<\/a>\u2019s \u2018Path\u00e9tique\u2019 Sonata in his chorus for \u2018This Night\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric Carmen\u00b4s song\u00a0All by Myself bounced back heavy echoes of\u00a0 Rachmaninov \u2013 Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor. A great \u201970s power ballad, reincarnated by C\u00e9line Dion in 1996, that finds the melody for its verses in Russian giant\u00a0Rachmaninov<\/a>\u2019s most famous piano concerto \u2013 pop-classical sampling doesn\u2019t get much more iconic than this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Maroon 5, in their hit\u00a0 Memories adapted the\u00a0 Pachelbel Canon in D. Pachelbel<\/a>\u2019s (right<\/em><\/strong>) ubiquitous\u00a0cello chord progression<\/a>\u00a0has inspired plenty of pop songs \u2013 from Kylie Minogue\u2019s \u2018I Should Be So Lucky\u2019 to Oasis\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t Look Back in Anger\u2019. Now we can add to the list: \u2018Memories\u2019, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is often a classical echo on recordings by 21st<\/sup> century groups too, of course, such as on Clean Bandit \u2013 Mozart\u2019s House \/ Mozart \u2013 String Quartet No. 21.<\/strong> <\/strong>The chorus of \u00b4Mozart\u00b4s House\u2019 is the first phrase of the Classical composer\u2019s String Quartet No. 21. Band member Grace Chatto says, \u201cAnother part of the quartet returns as a breakdown later in the song\u201d, while some of the lyrics touch on \u201ca journey to Mozart\u2019s House, and use various Italian musical terms\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the world\u2019s biggest girl bands, Little Mix, knows the power of a good melody \u2013 as does French composer, Gabriel Faur\u00e9<\/a>. Their 2013 single \u2018Little Me\u2019 nabs the tune of his Pavane<\/em> in a lo-fi rendition in the intro, while the chorus weaves in Faur\u00e9\u2019s chord progression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barry Manilow wound up writing \u2018Could it Be Magic\u2019 after a glass of wine. \u201cI 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<\/a> preludes.\u201d Hear the similarity for yourself…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A country song with Romantic influences \u2013 John Denver was inspired to write \u2018Annie\u2019s Song\u2019 during a particularly adrenalin-drenched ski run. But he didn\u2019t realise, until a friend told him later, that his \u2018original\u2019 melody is actually the horn solo from the second movement of\u00a0Tchaikovsky<\/a>\u2019s Symphony No 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, as John Lennon\u2019s wife Yoko Ono was playing Beethoven<\/a>\u2019s \u2018Moonlight\u2019 Sonata at the piano, Lennon asked her to play him the chords once more \u2013 but backwards. When she did, it formed the basis<\/a> of one of The Beatles\u2019 later tracks, \u2018Because\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, I\u00b4m sure that audience members in Bournemouth will enjoy the translations of Pink Floyd and The Bee Gees. I\u00b4m hoping our undercover reporter Margaret – She Who Can Never Be Named, might be in the Bournemouth audience and send us a review !?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Roll Over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky* the news * see cover.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hundreds of incoming e mails that drop into the sidetracks & detours each week present a pretty much accurate picture of what is happening on the arts\u00a0 We can trace back to one off or isolated events and explore their growth into new likes and trends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,45,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-and-tradition","category-music","category-performing-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23560"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23779,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23560\/revisions\/23779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}