How are
you?
This week's
lecture is “Crossover Music”, the 12th and last topic of “New Age Music”, which is a summary of the contents of “85.
New Age Music: 12. Crossover Music” introduced on April
29th, 2017.
Crossover
means “destruction of genres,” and crossover music is a fusion music of more
than two different musical styles or genres, which is included in New Age
music.
Classical crossover includes popular classical music, and pop music with classical atmosphere or pop music performed by classical musicians. It also includes the collaboration between classical and pop performers, as well as fusion style music of classical music elements such as opera and symphony and popular music.
The term classical crossover was coined by record labels in the 1980s, and has been popular since the 1990s, and now has its own genre on the Billboard charts.
In the classical music industry, the term “crossover” applies especially to popular records released by classical musicians. Soprano singer Eileen Farrell is considered as one of the first classical singers, who possessed a successful crossover album with the “I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues” in the 1960s.
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| Eileen Farrell |
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| I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues, Eileen Farrell |
One of the famous pioneers in the classic crossover is a tenor and movie star Mario Lanza. In his film “The Toast of New Orleans”, "Be My Love" ranked no.1 on the Billboard pop single chart in February 1951 and more than 2 million records were sold.
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| Mario Lanza |
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| The Toast of New Orleans |
Another early crossover pioneer and a 20th-century avant-garde composer, Kurt Weill made “The Threepenny Opera” with playwright Bertolt Brecht.
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| The Threepenny Opera |
In 1990, three tenor singers Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras, and Plácido Domingo broadcasted “Three Tenors Concert”, a stage that mixed opera, Napoli folk songs, musicals, and pop music, on TV, and they built the foundation for the popularity of classical crossover.
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| Three Tenors Concert |
The crossover performers who studied classical music include Vanessa Mae, Bond, Escala and David Garrett.
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| Choreography, Vanessa-Mae |
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| Play, Bond |
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| Quadrasonic, Escala |
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| Rock Symphonies: Open Air Live, David Garrett |
Andrea Bocelli, a pop tenor from Italy, known as the king of classical crossover, is the most album-selling singer in the history of classical music.
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| Concerto: one night in central park, Andrea Bocelli |
Sarah Brightman, a British soprano singer, is the most album-selling soprano singer in history, and has released albums of classical, folk, pop, and musicals.
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| Dive, Sarah Brightman |
Thank you.
