Blurred Lines – What Robin Thicke Could Learn From Gaspar Cassado

by | Mar 20, 2015 | Uncategorized

Stravinsky supposedly once said:”Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal.”

The recent decision to award Marvin Gaye’s family several million dollars over copyright violations by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams in their recent hit “Blurred Lines” has sparked a lot of discussion about the border between imitation and plagiarism in the music world, a “blurred line” if there ever was one. There are lots of examples in the classical world, which I’ll get to in a minute.

Pop music is full of ripoffs – the way the business works, it’s almost inevitable. There have been many lawsuits like this recent one – artists like Johnny Cash and the Beatles were accused of theft, and in my personal favorite, John Fogerty was sued for ripping off his own band, Creedence Clearwater Revival!

Mr. Thicke gets the award for best excuse, though (from an article on AOL):

“When asked if he was present for the creation of ‘Blurred Lines,’ Thicke replied: ‘I was present. Obviously, I sang it. I had to be there…To be honest, that’s the only part where – I was high on vicodin and alcohol when I showed up at the studio…I wanted some credit for this big hit. But the reality is, is that Pharrell had the beat and he wrote almost every single part of the song.'”

So, in summary, Mr. Thicke went with a combination of “I didn’t do it, but I wanted credit for it because it made me a lot of money” and “I was high, so I actually couldn’t have done it” – an impressive pairing indeed. There are lots of blurred lines here – makes me think of this one:

But wait, it gets better – when an attorney for the Gaye family played a mash-up of the Gaye original, “Got To Give It Up,” and the Williams/Thicke opus, to show their similarities, Thicke protested:

“It’s so hard to listen to it…This is [like] Stanley Kubrick’s movie Clockwork Orange. Where he has to sit there and watch…Mozart would be rolling in his grave right now.”

Well, at least Mozart has been avenged – I know I feel better.

Anyway, there’s a long history of imitation and borrowing in classical music, going back at least to the days of Palestrina and Josquin writing masses based on popular or sacred melodies of the time. Bach updated (and improved) pieces by Vivaldi, though of course he did it openly. Our whistleblower Stravinsky used Russian folk melodies in the Rite of Spring (and denied it).

Brahms’s famous Variations on a Theme of Haydn – the theme isn’t by Haydn. Did Brahms know? Maybe, maybe not. In any case, composers routinely would put the names of more famous colleagues on pieces to help them sell – the great violinist Fritz Kreisler was notorious for it.

Now this is a more impressive kind of deception – instead of simply ripping someone else off, you have to imitate them convincingly – not too easy! One of my favorite cellist-composers, Gaspar Cassadó, was really good at it – here’s his very impressive counterfeit “Schubert” piece (played by a very good cellist from Cassadó’s era I confess I’d never heard of, Feodor Luzanov):

 

To me, this is artful and respectful imitation, even if Cassadó blurred some lines of his own in putting Schubert’s name on it! Perhaps Mr. Thicke could learn a lesson from Cassadó – if you’re going to mislead people, do it skillfully! Also, consult your PR manager and/or lawyer before testifying in open court.

In any case, really good imitation is something to enjoy – I’ll leave you with my new favorite example. A few weeks ago, I was driving to a rehearsal and listening to the radio – an old Ella Fitzgerald record came on and I almost crashed the car – here’s why:

Till next time,

Nat

No Loitering – Classical Music as Crowd Control

by | Jul 7, 2014 | Uncategorized

noloitering beethoven-boombox-tshirt_design

 

 

 

 

 

The other night, I stopped at my local UDF, a chain of convenience stores and gas stations. As I walked out, I heard a Beethoven violin sonata coming from the speakers hanging by the front door. They play classical music to keep people from loitering outside, because, really, who could stand to listen to that? I’ve run into this in other places (you may have, too – please post them in the comments!).

Apparently, this practice has a scientific basis – an article in the Toledo Blade explains the effectiveness of “audio aversion.”

Here’s a helpful explanation from a Columbus, Ohio resident: “There’s something about baroque music that macho wannabe-gangster types hate. At the very least, it has a calming effect.”

Wonderful.

If you had any questions about our art’s need for a re-branding, this should convince you! First of all, to rebut this idea that classical music is “relaxing” – I offer you a playlist of the LEAST calm concert pieces I could think of, including a very famous work by Vivaldi, who is often mistakenly put in that “relaxing” bin.

Now, to the UDF issue – here’s what I propose. If you live near one (or another place that does this sort of thing), go get yourself a milkshake and stand outside listening. Let’s turn this thing on its head and stick around for the music, instead of being chased away by it. Or bring the music on the playlist and play it in your car with the windows down to offer an antidote to all that “relaxation.” Who knows, maybe we can get UDF to include Bartok and Stravinsky in their rotation, or at least persuade some customers to give classical music a second thought. Thoughts? Please post your comments!

 

Monday morning playlist – Cover Your Tracks

by | May 19, 2014 | Uncategorized

In a post last week, I talked about Time for Three. They play tunes you don’t expect classical musicians to, like The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” They also do mashups, where Grieg’s Holberg Suite morphs into Led Zeppelin and Justin Timberlake (and goes back too – a neat trick).

Now, playing other people’s music well is not easy – anyone who’s heard a third-rate band ruining their favorite song at a frat party knows that all too well. But these guys bring the same level of artistic integrity to their covers that they do to the Bach Double Concerto.

Check out tf3’s version of “Little Lion Man”, and compare it to the original by Mumford and Sons. I like tf3’s version even better, and that leads us to our new playlist – music that’s been “covered” and arguably improved.

Bach did this all the time, taking pieces by Vivaldi and other composers, and making them his own. Ravel (along with Emerson, Lake and Palmer) did much the same thing with Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Jimi Hendrix did it too – Bob Dylan stopped performing his own song “All Along the Watchtower” once he heard Hendrix’s version – high praise indeed. Ray Charles was a master of this. Miles Davis, too – check out his “Someday, My Prince Will Come” on the playlist.

Sometimes these reworkings aren’t so successful – Mahler’s re-orchestrations of Beethoven’s symphonies don’t get played much. Shostakovich re-worked the Schumann Cello Concerto, to no one’s approval I’m aware of. Here’s a list from Rolling Stone of some pretty bad ones from the rock world – I vote for William Shatner’s rendition of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

So, what’s your favorite cover, or your least? Classical, rock, r&b, country – whatever. Post your favorites to the comments and add the music to the playlist – both the original and “improved” versions if possible!