Chicken Noodle Soup
...s, but it is feels much more grandiose with the organ. Vanessa's version has a rock feel, even before there is a bass beat, because of the sound of the electric violin. The artist, Vanessa Mae, is a 24 year old violinist who studied classical music all her life. When she was 16 she released a pop album which blended classical, pop, and jazz music. The classical community was shocked at first by this blatant use of classical training for pop music. But I think most people accepted her music as legitimate “pop-classical” music. The music definitely shows off her classically trained abilities while reaching out to more than just classical elitists. Vanessa does not really change much of the classical work, which could be another reason why classical listeners I've talked to are not offended by her music. Another major change that Vanessa Mae did make to Bach's Toccata and Fugue was the obvious bass beat that came into play when the fugue started. What an interesting way to use Bach! Actually, J.S. Bach is one of the all-time favorite composers to use for inspiration for pop and parody versions of classical music! Bach, however, obviously did not intend to have a rock beat and a violin to play his piece. But it adds a modern flair to the classical work. Should I, a serious student of classical music, be offended in any way by this? The fact is that the original classical piece was intended for a different purpose. Yet who am I or anyone else, to dictate how music should be used? Should we separate genres, or should we bridge the gaps like these musicians are attempting to do? There are many supporters of the pop culture who have made pop a genuine, valued part of many peoples' lives. Pop includes celebrities, music, politics, movies, sitcoms, and media, and more, and regardless if you agree to this, these are the facts of modern society. Pop music is showing less and less interest in serious musical artists. The music part of any act nowadays can be produced electronically, and if a pop star sings off-key, that can be fixed with technology. Any aspiring talented musician can no longer be known just for their talent, but they have to look and act the part of a pop star. People want the glamor of fame and want the easy route of American Idol or Pop Idol to get there. Talent is not necessarily an issue anymore, and hard work is sadly rarely seen. It is no longer an age where musicians are judged on talent. But are talented musicians that fuse classical and pop together complete write-offs for either genre? Could they be helping the survival of classical music? Or destroying it? Critics have blamed these artists for trashing the classical standards. But there are many musicians who think it's amazing that they've used some sort of classical reference. Here is an example of a piece of pop music that very clearly has a classical work ingrained into it. Listen for the piece and see if you can recognize it. EXCERPT NUMBER 3 S Club 7 Natural CD Interscope Records Track 1 time (0.00-.20 fade out) (fade in .40-1.00) This piece is performed by S Club 7 and it's called Natural. It's a rather slinky rock and roll song. It also has a very different background melody. Did u recognize it? If you did recognize it, you would know that the background melody comes from the classical French tune “Pavane” by Debussy. It's slightly sped up to groove with the tempo of the piece, but the tune is clear. Grant Menzies, a classical music critic, believes that these attempts at bringing classical into pop music are actually destroying classical music. But, in truth, a lot of music we now consider classical got started as music for popular consumption. Maybe the pop-classical artists are trying to reinvent classical music, or just start a new trend. Whatever they are doing, they're trying to be different. In fact, I've heard about many new and innovative artists who embrace the classical, passionate music of the past to speak to the souls of modern listeners. Many people believe that this blend of classical and pop is okay, and it doesn't matter that it doesn't exactly stick to the rules that were set several centuries ago. Artists like Josh Groban, Charlotte Church, Andrea Bocelli… have you heard of them? They are a few of the termed “pop-classical” artists that have helped with the fusion between classical and popular music. Classical music labels are now turning to younger musicians with pop-star looks whose sound borders between classical and pop music. These musicians have been called “pop’s crossover artists”- but are these popular artists bringing music to the masses or are they trashing classical standards? Let’s hear a little bit of a duet between the “crossover” artists, Josh Groban and Charlotte Church, singing The Prayer. EXCERPT NUMBER 4 Josh Groban The Prayer-- featuring Charlotte Church CD Warner Brothers Track 13 time (1.20-2.49 fade out) Josh Groban and Charlotte Church are both up and coming young musicians trying to rise up in the controversial world of the pop-classical genre. This piece, The Prayer, is definitely pop-influenced in the style and structure of the piece. But you also can distinctly hear the classical attributes not only in this piece, but also in their voices. The piece does not quote any classical work, but the dual languages of English and Italian show the classical side of their training. Josh's baritone works well with Charlotte's soprano voice. I do not think that Charlotte's voice is as rich as Josh's, but the classical training is evident in Josh's voice in particular. His voice is too rich and technical for a pop artist, but his voice is not developed enough to please a solely-classical audience. He is developing the voice of an operatic singer, but right now his style works for a more romantic pop song artist as well. Like Josh, I believe Charlotte is also very talented. Many people would disagree with me but I think it's because she just does not have the amount of classical background that Josh had. She has a very sweet, pure soprano voice which isn't quite a pop sound, but it's definitely too small to be operatic. Charlotte's sound and style would not win over opera fans, but she has gotten famous through singing to the general public who enjoy and appreciate good singing without technology adjustments. I suppose it depends on what kind of audience the artist is aiming to please, but even a classical purist would have to admit that Charlotte Church’s music would definitely reach out to a larger audience of listeners, than say, a similar musician who only sings operatic pieces. Regardless of her training, this piece The Prayer has many attributes that were influenced by classical music. Classical music has held a stigma that it is too great for any average person to truly appreciate, but this crossover music makes it more accessible to people not accustomed to classical music. Church may not be as trained as a professional opera singer, but the fact is, Charlotte Church is managing to reach a larger percentage of society with some form of classical music. Church won over a large crossover audience with her particular style (whether you like it or not), an audience much larger than the average opera record gets… She is, in fact, giving many people the opportunity to listen to something that is completely unfamiliar, and yet still in a familiar way through the use of pop. This music is for people who normally don’t buy opera or classical music, but still like “quality” music. This will, hopefully, give some people the inspiration to listen to some “real” classical music. As pop music becomes more a huge part of modern society, classical music is struggling to compete. Record labels that used to cater to musical purists are now trying to reach the masses by releasing more popular music. Music like Church's music is not for the opera fanatics, but it does give a positive setting for classical music to be heard. Critics of this music have replied that this music is not “real” classical music, and instead of classical literature, there is a shadow of a great part of musical history. We are back to this question: Should musical purists be offended by crossover music? And what audiences should we be trying to reach when “classical” albums are produced? Should classical music even be allowed to be used in this crossover manner? Many people think not. Ted Giolla, a jazz and general music theorist, once said, “What we have seen is the reduction of Art to the level of the commonplace.” He was referring to the mass reproduction of musical masterpieces. Critics of the fusion of pop and classical would agree that the constant, flimsy reproductions of classical repertoire were not what the composer intended for their music, and therefore should be banned. I once heard that it's like comparing seeing the Eiffel Tower in person versus simply looking a picture of it on a postcard. There is no comparison. Yet someone like Aretha Franklin is not a classically trained artist, and is someone going to tell the Queen of Soul herself that she cannot sing Puccini opera, like she did at the 1998 Grammy Awards? I think not. Byron Beck, a published columnist, once stated that he thought for classical music to survive it needs to reach far more than just the symphony-loving elderly who can quote Benjamin Britten but not Britney Spears. As T.S. Elliot once said of pop music, “You can never underestimate the power of cheap music.” There is always the chance that someone will hear this pop-classical music and be moved to learn more about the piece and find that a whole new world will open up for them. One of the problems with pop composers is that they forget how great the composers of the past, like Mozart or Beethoven, really were. Without them, pop couldn't exist. They set the melodies, they set the scales. That's what our ears are tuned to. Pop owes classical music a huge debt. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, modern mass-consumerist pop culture knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing. For a change of pace, let's listen to totally different style of blending pop and classical music. EXCERPT NUMBER 5 Albinonix Vivaldi's Winter CD Albinonix Track 1 time (0.00-.39) So what about mixes and techn...