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Classical Influence in Popular Music
Classical and Popular music have much in common. When Classically trained musicians decide to branch into the Pop music genre, the result is a new sound that lends sophistication to Popular music.
Artists are stretching the boundaries between styles, and borrowing heavily from Classical music traditions.
Muse, a top-selling British Pop Rock band, has one of the most uniquely identifiable sounds in the Popular Music genre. Their chord progressions, symphonic arrangements, and piano solos are decidedly Classically influenced, making them one of the growing number of groups that are incorporating Classical music into Popular sounds. Despite the seeming risk of such innovation, they have won awards as Best New Artist, Best International Artist, and Best Album, in addition to the highly publicised Q Award for Innovation.
Muse is only one example of a growing trend in the Pop music and Rock music genres—a trend that paradoxically matches the old sounds with new interpretations. In an attempt to find fresh approaches to a genre that is often clichéd and predictable, artists are stretching the boundaries between styles, and borrowing heavily from Classical music traditions, often being classically trained musicians themselves. The result attracts a wider audience and lends more prestige to the Pop and Rock genres worldwide.
While it is often the case that Classically trained musicians decide to incorporate their Classical roots into a Popular sound, some bands do the reverse. Apocalyptica, a Finnish Cellist quartet, began by performing a standard Classical repertoire. Eventually, their personalities began to show through their Classical performances: they covered many of Metallica’s greatest hits, and played solos with some of the most renowned Metal and Rock performers in the world. While the four men of Apocalyptica still perform a Classical reporitoire in some venues, they also perform sold-out concerts worldwide, with a sound that is one hundred percent Rock-and-Roll. Complete with a drummer, a spectacular light show, and an audience full of young people with long hair and nontraditional piercings, Apocalyptica’s shows have crossed the boundaries between Classical and Rock, creating an exciting blend of music that is highly innovative, pulse-pounding, and technically remarkable.
The musical crossover phenomenon between Classical and Pop has been ongoing, and can only continue to strengthen as artists explore ways in which to create new sounds.
In this video, Muse plays their song “New Born” to a large crowd in Glastonbury in 2004.
In this video, Apocalyptica plays “Path”, a Classical/Rock crossover piece that made them internationally famous.
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