The song is from the musical Kismet, but the melody actually goes back farther than that, being actually taken from the Polovtsian Dances by Alexander Borodin.
How do I feel about mining classical music for melodies for popular song? Generally I'm fine with it, actually. Especially since it has often gone the other way, as well, with many great classical composers creating masterworks out of their own native folk songs.
3 comments:
Wow. I never knew that about STRANGER IN PARADISE. It's always been one of my favourite songs. This has given me a new appreciation for it!
The song is no different from the Musical. It, too, was derived from an earlier play and novel of the same name.
And there are plenty of examples. The first one that I was aware of was when I heard A Lover's Concerto by the Toys (covered by the Supremes), swiped from Bach's Minuet in G, which I was trying learn during my one year of piano lessons.
Y'know, this could be a regular feature - of yours, or if you didn't want to, of mine.
Personally I prefer 'Fly Me To The Moon' but this one is nice too.
I love the way you can sing,
"Let me know what spring is like on JU...piter and Mars"
on 'Fly Me' - in fact I am gonna look for that song to post right now.
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