List of popular songs based on classical music

This is a list of examples of popular songs that are arrangements of, or otherwise make use of, works of classical music. Instrumental pieces are tagged with an uppercase "", or a lowercase "" for quasi-instrumental including non-lyrics voice samples.

The practice of adapting classical compositions is associated with various popular genres, including Tin Pan Alley, progressive rock, and heavy metal.

1890s
*(1891) "O Promise Me" by Reginald DeKoven & Smith, from the musical Robin Hood -- based on Musica proibita, the name popularly given to an aria in the 1888 Italian opera Mala Pasqua by Stanislao Gastaldon.

1910s

* (1913) "Hungarian Rag" by Julius Lenzberg - based on the Second Hungarian Rhapsody by Franz Liszt.
* (1918) "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" by Joseph McCarthy and Harry Carroll - based on the by Frédéric Chopin.
* (1919) "The " by L. Z. Philips - based on the Gendarmes' Duet from Jacques Offenbach's opera Genevieve de Brabant
* (1919) "Peter Gink" by George L. Cobb - based on the Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg.

1920s

* (1922) "Goin' Home" popularized by Paul Robeson - based on the "Largo" from 's '
* (1928) "Lover, come back to me" in The New Moon by Sigmund Romberg - the middle section is based on "June: Barcarolle" from Tchaikovsky's The Seasons, opus 37b.

1930s

* (1930) "In an Eighteenth-Century Drawing Room" by Raymond Scott - based on Mozart's Piano Sonata, K. 545
* (1937) "Song of India", arr. Tommy Dorsey - based on "The Song of the Indian Guest" from Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko.
* (1938) "My Reverie" by Larry Clinton - based on Debussy's Rêverie
* (1939) "The Lamp is Low" - Peter DeRose and Bert Shefter - based on Maurice Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte

1940s

* (1941) "Tonight We Love", by Freddy Martin, Bobby Worth and Ray Austin - based on Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op.23
* (1945) "Full Moon and Empty Arms", by Buddy Kaye and Ted Mossman - based on Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.
* (1945) "Till the End of Time," words by Buddy Kaye and Ted Mossman, popularized by, among others, Perry Como - based on Frédéric Chopin's "Polonaise In A Flat"
* (1946) "Summer Moon" by Klenner, sung by Lauritz Melchior - based on Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird (Ronde des princesses)
* (1949) "There's No Tomorrow," lyrics by Al Hoffman, Leo Corday and Leon Carr, popularized by Tony Martin, based on O Sole Mio by Eduardo di Capua.
* (194?) Gershwin's "Summertime", by Sidney Bechet, - quotes from Verdi's's "Miserere" from Il Trovatore.

1950s

* (1952) "The Bigger The Figure", by Louis Prima - based on Rossini's Largo al factotum from The Barber of Seville.
* (1953) "Stranger in Paradise" by George Forrest and Robert Wright, in the Broadway musical Kismet - based on a theme from Alexander Borodin's Polovetsian Dances
* (1956) "" by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning - based on a theme from Chabrier España, Rhapsody for Orchestra
* (1958) "Catch a Falling Star" by Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance - based on a theme from Brahms' Academic Festival Overture
* (1959) "Once Upon a Dream" in the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty - based upon a waltz in Tchaikovsky's ballet Sleeping Beauty.
* (1959) "Don't You Know" by Della Reese - based on "Musetta's Waltz" from Puccini's La Boheme

1960s

* (1960) "" by Elvis Presley - also based on O Sole Mio.
* (1963) "" by Allan Sherman - based on Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours" from La Gioconda.
* (1965) "A Lover's Concerto" by The Toys - based on J.S. Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach".
* (1965) Diane and Annita's "A Groovy Kind of Love" is heavily based on the Rondo movement of Sonatina in G major, op. 36 no. 5 by Muzio Clementi.
* (1967) "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum - (loosely) based on J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3, Air (commonly known as Air on a G String) and Cantata 140 "Sleepers Awake".
* (1967) "Schroeder" in the stage musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown - based on Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata".
* (1968) "Rain and Tears" by Aphrodite's Child based on Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. Featured in the 2005 movie Three Times.
* (1969) "Mars: The Bringer of War" by King Crimson on Epitaph - a progressive rock arrangement of Mars, from the The Planets suite by Gustav Holst

1970s

* (1972) "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Deodato - a funk arrangement of Richard Strauss' composition of the same name
* (1972) Pictures at an Exhibition by Emerson, Lake and Palmer - entire album based on the work by Modest Mussorgsky, with two original pieces ("The Sage" and "The Curse of Baba Yaga"), and a live cover of "Nut Rocker" featuring Clavinet
* (1975) "All by Myself" by Eric Carmen - borrows heavily from Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. Same year, Carmen's "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" borrows from the Adagio of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2
* (1975) "Could It Be Magic" by Barry Manilow - inspired by Chopin's Prelude In C Minor (Prelude #20: Largo)
* (1976) "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy - disco version of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, featured in Saturday Night Fever
* (1976) "Night on Disco Mountain" by David Shire - disco version of Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, featured in Saturday Night Fever

1980s

* (1983) "This Night" by Billy Joel - uses Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata as the basis for the chorus
* (1985) "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco
* (1986) "Mars" by Emerson, Lake & Powell - arrangement of Mars: Bringer of War from Holst's The Planets

1990s

* (1991) "" by Enigma samples the Kyrie eleison from Mass XI (Orbis Factor) in the Liber usualis.
* (1991 and every four years thereafter) "World in Union", the official theme song of the , based on a segment of "Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity" from Holst's The Planets
* (1993) "Go West" by the Pet Shop Boys, emphasised the original 1979 Village People version's chord progression from Johann Pachelbel's '
* (1996) "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis - chorus chord progression borrows from Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.
* (1997) "C U When U Get There" by Coolio - based on Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.
* (1998) "Christmas Canon" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra - based on Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.
* (1999) "Barber's Adagio for Strings" by William Orbit - a techno/electronic version of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings"
* (1999) "Love of My Life" by Dave Matthews and Carlos Santana on the Supernatural album. Main theme is a nearly literal quotation of a theme in the 3rd symphony of Johannes Brahms, with some rhythmic changes.

2000s

* (2000) "" by Vitamin C - based on Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.
* (2000) Beethoven's Last Night by Trans-Siberian Orchestra - based on classical music, in particular, Beethoven.
* (2001) "Yatta" by Happa-tai - based on Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.
* (2003) "I Can" by Nas - samples the theme from Ludwig van Beethoven's Für Elise.
* (2005) "They" by Jem is based on Bach's .
* (2005) "Adagio for Strings" by Tiësto is a trance arrangement of "Adagio for Strings".
* (2005) "Road to Joy" by Bright Eyes is based on the melody of Beethoven's Ode to Joy.
* (2006) "Lacrymosa" by Evanescence is based on the Lacrimosa movement from Mozart's Requiem.
* (2007) "Grace Kelly" by Mika - Mika has admitted that he borrowed the main harmony from Figaro's famous aria Largo al factotum in the opera The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini.
* (2007) "The Second Coming" by Juelz Santana - samples the Gregorian chant Dies Irae.
* (2007) "No one" by Alicia Keys - Based on Johann Pachelbel's '. Quotes the cords and the rythmical and melodical phrasing. The singer recieved a Grammy Award for this song.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu