Wednesday, November 27, 2024

"All I Want for Christmas Is You", in the Styles of Six Classical Composers



If you are completely sick of Mariah Carey's song already this year, give this video a listen anyway, because the tune is barely recognizable. It's there, but it's buried under the distinctive styles of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Bela Bartók. Pianist Josep Castanyer Alonso illustrates what these musical geniuses would do if they made modern-day covers of hit songs. The video is annotated so you can learn the terms for what is happening, even when he has to make up those terms on the spot. Still, you know if these composers were around today and had recording contracts, the record company would insist that they add some jingle bells just in case the listener couldn't recognize that a song is supposed to be Christmas song. (via Metafilter)
 

2 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Those annotations are HILARIOUS!

Anonymous said...

It reminded me that composers / piano players have a whole language I don't know.
xoxoxoBruce