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Is Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565" a work by someone else? One of J.S. Bach's most famous works is "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565." It's known for its opening passage, "charara, chararararaara." However, since its initial publication in 1833, there have been questions about whether this "signature work," the "Toccata," is truly by Bach...
I've mentioned many times before how little importance melody carries in music, and this really reinforces that idea, doesn't it? Here's a Chopin-esque rendition of "Happy Birthday." Enjoy. Incidentally, the pianist, Edoardo Brotto, is a photographer born in 1990. He's also studied piano, having earned a master's degree, and is currently studying post-mastering. This recording is from 2014…
Last time, I introduced you to a variation on "Happy Birthday," but today I have another one. This one is set to a more generally well-known song, so it might be more popular. It's a performance celebrating the first anniversary of the Qatar Symphony Orchestra. It's "Variations on Happy Birthday to You" by Peter Weiner. Watch this video on YouTube. Play video…
Well, no matter how good Ensemble Mega Ne is, a FamilyMart + JR ringtone won't make it big internationally, so yesterday I thought about Nokia ringtones, but I concluded that directly competing with the original Tarrega song would be a losing battle. So, are there any other options? A song everyone knows? There is, "Happy Birthday." Everyone knows that one. But...
Now, I was very impressed by Ensemble Mega Ne's "Variations on the FamilyMart Theme [Woodwind Quartet + Piano]" and "Contrapuntal Piece on the Yamanote Line Theme," but when it comes to going global, the FamilyMart and JR themes just don't cut it. The target audience is too narrow. So, we need to do something with a melody everyone knows, and what would be good? Well, I guess...
This is today's hit. Uploaded on January 25, 2016, this video has been viewed nearly 150,000 times in just five days. It's a work by Ensemble Mega Ne. Using the entrance jingle of a FamilyMart convenience store, and featuring a somewhat unusual arrangement of woodwind quartet plus piano, it represents the evolution of Western music styles over the last 300 years in approximately 20 minutes. At first, you might think, "Hmm," but perhaps around section 4, "Baroque Sonata," is about as interesting...
I just saw this on Twitter, and Kuwata-san is amazing! A misheard Abbey Road, titled "Abbey Road." Truly a genius, no complaints. Wow, what a treat! It aired on May 4th, 2009, on "Kuwata Keisuke's Music Tora-san." Everyone should definitely check it out! Watch this video on YouTube. Playing the video will connect you to YouTube. Song title: Komeito BROTHER (Come T…
The theme song for the currently airing NHK morning drama "Massan" is "Mugi no Uta" (Song of Wheat), composed by Miyuki Nakajima. I heard somewhere that it sounds similar to the Soviet national anthem, so I immediately looked into it. Actually, I haven't watched Massan, so I didn't know the song at all. First, the chorus of "Mugi no Uta": It certainly sounds familiar. I wondered where I'd heard it before, and it seems the Soviet national anthem is from Russia...
One of the most frequently performed pieces attributed to J.S.B.S.B. is "Sicilienne." Originally the second movement of Flute Sonata BMV 1031, it's also commonly played on piano, so many people have likely heard it. My first encounter with it was through a piano performance by Dinu Lipatti. [AMAZONPRODUCTS asin=”B0041QDVNC”] ...
To be honest, the name Mamoru Samuragochi was completely off my radar until I saw posts about this incident on Twitter. I had no idea he was being hailed as the "modern Beethoven." Apparently, despite being severely hearing-impaired (later deaf) and having a Class 2 physical disability, he composed symphonies and received very high praise from critics, but it turns out that wasn't actually the case...
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