Crossover

[James]

Popular music forms, such as jazz, rock and folk music, inspired a great many modern classical composers but musical cross-fertilization in the 20th century was by no means a one-way traffic.

The greatest success thus far of persons from popular forms to "serious" writing to even make a dent in the pantheon of western art music that I can think-of has been George Gershwin. No explanation necessary really, we all know the pieces that have become permanent fixtures.

Many others have tried ..

Duke Ellington for instance tried on occassion with not much success. Charles Mingus too. Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, John Zorn  & Wynton Marsalis also come to mind.

In the 1950s and 60s, producers such as Frank Sinatra's collaborator Nelson Riddle and The Beatle's producer, George Martin frequently aspired to full classical orchestral effects. In rock music, a number of bands dabbled with orchestral compositions.

The impressive catalogue of over 1,200 compositions by the radical American musican Frank Zappa ranged from scatalogical heavy guitar rock to ballet, opera and one of his final works the Yellow Shark suite, which saw him working with the Ensemble Moderne. He's even worked closely with Pierre Boulez & the Ensemble intercontemporain, Peter Eotvos, Kent Nagano & The London Symphony Orchestra.

[bigshot]

There used to be a whole genre of crossover called Light Classical.  It was most popular in Britain, but there were some Americans too. This music has fallen out of favor, likely because it isn't "serious" enough. But there's some great music in there nonetheless.

[Chaszz]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510AOhWBs0L._SS500_.jpg[/img]]

Listened to opera as a child and later incorporated the lyric nature of the singing into his horn playing.

This genius's greatest horn playing and improvising by far is in these early recordings.

[jochanaan]

** scratches head **

huh?

Louis has never tried crossing over from popular form to serious writing.

No, like Leonard Bernstein, he went the other way, from classical training to highly original "popular music."

A good recent example of such crossover is Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, composed of some of the greatest Asian musicians playing today, trained in ancient traditions but willing to share their classical musics with the world.

[Lethevich]

Does Jacques Loussier's Play Bach series count? They're musically impressive and joyful recordings.

[Octo_Russ]

Probably Paul McCartney comes to mind as someone that's had a serious stab at Classical music, coming from a popular music background, however the results are questionable.

[Scarpia]

Probably Paul McCartney comes to mind as someone that's had a serious stab at Classical music, coming from a popular music background, however the results are questionable.

Questionable is being kind.

[Lethevich]

Tüür is another pop musician who went on to write classical, although unlike others his transition was absolute, and he is quite easy to take seriously as a "proper" composer now. Rock music does retain a fingerprint in his style, especially early on, which gives it an interesting flavour, and perhaps his desire to find a middle ground between minimalism, post-minimalism, jazz and other modernistic trends stems from his experience in writing both pop and classical forms. Unlike a lot of musicians who have the same aims, his music doesn't sound eclectic or patchwork - it is internalised quite well and has become a coherent and personal style.

[Sid]

J. Strauss Jnr. - bringing the waltz into the concert hall.
Astor Piazzolla - doing the same with the tango...

[jochanaan]

...Was troubadour music inspired by popular song or did it trickle down into popular song?...

Troubador music WAS popular song.  The only difference between troubador and folk is that we know who some of the troubadors were.

[petrarch]

The emphasis of this thread is artists who work with popular forms crossing over and making waves with serious writing.

I propose we also include those artists that crossed over from serious music into kitsch mythology and interplanetary "travel". One might even say they crossed over from serious music into Sirius music . Hmmm I can only think of one .

[canninator]

Probably Paul McCartney comes to mind as someone that's had a serious stab at Classical music, coming from a popular music background, however the results are questionable.

John Lord also

[Luke]

James Dillon was some kind of rock musician. Gavin Bryars was a fine and rather important jazz bassist...

[Chaszz]

Armstrong never once attempted to crossover into serious writing. Name his 'serious' concert works that are permanent fixtures within the Western art music compositional tradition please. The emphasis of this thread is artists who work with popular forms crossing over and making waves with serious writing. Outside of Gershwin, few if any seem to succeed. Bernstein was not only a major conductor steeped in the classical tradition (establishing Mahler), but he composed concert music, even though most of it was unsuccessful & little more than skilled pastiche.

I misread your topic explanation and thought examples of popular artists influenced by classical music were appropriate. 

[bigshot]

I once went to a concert by the LA Philharmonic under Mehta at Angels Stadium where they played John Williams and Rocket Man by Bowie "sung" by William Shatner. It was abysmal. Does that count?

[canninator]

Quite a few guitarists have also tried to ambitiously cross over into the realm of serious composition with the aid of orchestrators and people who score .. John McLaughlin for instance, in the late 80s with a Guitar Concerto which was a flop.

And Billy Joel tried .. putting out a album of pure pastiche appropriately titled Fantasies & Delusions.
Elvis Costello too, a few years back. Again, more pastiche.

Cough...Malmsteen. I died a little inside.

[Szykneij]

I once went to a concert by the LA Philharmonic under Mehta at Angels Stadium where they played John Williams and Rocket Man by Bowie "sung" by William Shatner. It was abysmal. Does that count?

   Did Shatner do "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" as an encore?

[escher]

i much prefer Alec Wilder to Gershwin (though i like his music), like i've said other times he is a great underrated composer just because in the age of avantgarde is music was not serial or extremely harsh (altough he used also the twelve tone system in some pieces). But the truth is that he was a completely original composer, and one of the greatest melodists of the century i know of. His octets are absolutely wonderful.

[bigshot]

   Did Shatner do "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" as an encore?

Yes and he read some Ray Bradbury too... All while his noggin was blown up to the size of a truck on a big screen TV. He wore a Nehru jacket that was at least ten years out of date even way back then. This would have been about 1978 or so. The ticket said "concert goes on rain or shine" but when it started to rain, the orchestra grabbed their instruments and ran off the field. Fiasco!

[escher]

some important examples:

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17KTUqLyNcU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17KTUqLyNcU][url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17KTUqLyNcU
Mingus - Black saint and the sinner lady[/url]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5akZe-yWLOg
Milhaud - la creation du monde


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwykvTcil2o
Ralph Burns with Woody Hermann - Summer sequence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU1X3Wut-k0&feature=fvst
Gershwin - An american in Paris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsT4XLcrg4Q
Ellington - Reminiscing in tempo