Klaus Döring's Classical Music/Klaus Döring's Klassische Musik

 ... from a classical music perspective Britney Spears sings 'Toxic'.  Picture: Getty By Maddy Shaw Roberts 1K From augmented chords to a random incredible theremin part, these pop songs all give a very pleasing nod to the classical world. These are undoubtedly the best pop songs of all time (if you’re a classical musician). Toxic – Britney Aside from Britney’s iconic vocals, what makes ‘Toxic’ so great is that jarring  tritone  in the refrain. It’s an unexpected moment of dissonance, and it’s all the more awesome coming from Britney. Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys It’s impossible to count the number of tempo changes, key changes and bizarre instruments The Beach Boys used to create their biggest pop hit. From a chorus with one of the greatest modulations in music history to an unexpected appearance from a theremin, ‘Good Vibrations’ is the model of an incredible pop song. I Want You Back – The...

Classical music can vary in length from under a minute to 15 hours (looking at you, Wagner). So why are all pop songs roughly three minutes? By Victoria Longdon It turns out the reason most pop songs have wound up at just over three minutes in length is a) really interesting, and b) reveals some important facts about the history of recorded music. How did this 3 minute length come about? Around the 1920s shellac records replaced the phonograph cylinder as the technology of choice for recorded music. These 10 inch ‘singles’ stored just over three minutes of music. It wasn’t rocket science – exactly how much music they could store depended on how closely you spaced the grooves on the record. Closer together and you could store more music, but too close together and the sound quality would begin to suffer. If you were an artist in the 60s or 70s and you wanted your song played on the radio or a jukebox, that song had to be on a single. It was that simple. If it couldn’t fit, ...

By Daniel Ross, ClassicFM London One of the great things about classical musicians is that they’re always up for a cover version. Here are the best classical covers of pop songs on the internet, from Taylor Swift to Michael Jackson. image: http://assets5.classicfm.com/2016/41/classical-covers-of-pop-songs-1476272346-article-0.jpg Taylor Swift - Blank Space (Brooklyn Duo) The cloying eagerness to settle down balanced by the whimsy of living your youth with abandon… Argh, it just feels so real! And even without the lyrics, Brooklyn Duo get it across beautifully. Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk (Electric Colour Orchestra) A monster hit that requires its performers to convey as much charisma as Bruno Mars. Do these guys manage it? (YES.) Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (Nicholas Hersh) One of the all-time greats in the pop rep, Bohemian Rhapsody has been reimagined in countless different and inventive ways. But here, turning it into a kind of viola  concerto , it sounds l...