A new spirit (Where we stand, part 2)

You aren't talking about the alternate lyrics to Beethoven's Ninth in this Manwich commercial, by any chance, are you: http://www.splendad.com/ads/show/1517-Hunts-Manwich-Ode-to-Joy

You should check out SplendAd.com; you can search for tv ads according to all manner of criteria, including what music is used. It's not exhaustive, though; here's Beethoven's page: http://www.splendad.com/artists/show/126-Beethoven

I don't think this phenomenon of "reclaiming" classical music for pop culture is a new one. I suspect it goes back at least to the Bugs Bunny films from the 40s and 50s, if not before. I can think of a dozen more examples from previous decades, notably United Airlines' ubiquitous use of Rhapsody in Blue since the 80s. And where would Karl Jenkins's career be right now without those old diamond commercials? Even Olbermann's use of the Ninth is meant to recall the old Huntley-Brinkley Report theme music more than anything else. (The Beethoven, along with his "good night and good luck" sign off, is all reflective of Olbermann's desire to liken himself to the "classic" TV newsmen of old.)

I'm kind of surprised that classical music still "sells" anything, but I would agree with you that it's a good sign. Anything that keeps a repertoire in the public consciousness is good, especially when you consider a commercial's ability to turn an obscure song into an overnight hit via iTunes. As a kid growing up in a not-particularly-musical household, there were a number of pieces that I became familiar with through cartoons, movies, and TV commercials -- and I'm not at all ashamed to admit that!

Good points. I do think the Bugs Bunny cartoons (and others from that time that used classical music) show us something else -- that classical music was part of everyday consciousness, and didn't have to be reclaimed.

http://www.churchofbeethoven.org/ - This might interest you re: alternative presentation of classical music, esp. chamber music.

Thanks! A good one for my collection. Reminds me of "Telling Stories," a chamber series in Denver that mixes chamber music with literary things. I notice that the Church of Beethoven programming is very conservative -- all masterworks, all the time, at least in the three programs listed on the website.

...or if it really was Bach, there was this recent dog food commercial with the prelude to the first cello suite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTzh2p-Mg-I

(I'm not sure that I've seen a fast food commercial that used Bach recently, though.)

I think this is an example of a piece used for its sound qualities -- especially the tempo of the recording and the fact that it's a solo line -- more than anything else.

Lovely example, Jason! Thanks. Cute commercial, too. The music seems to package quite a lot of things -- "This is good dog food, dogs are really wonderful, and [in the rhythm of the cello line] they're pretty active, too."

You hit on a very critical point, young listeners do not carry any baggage.As one who works in classical music radio we seem to constantly redefine the historic moment for our listeners, as if it is necessary every time to remind them where Bach or Beethoven was on thht particular Thursday. Young kids could not give a stuff. It is a good melody, they like it, they upload it. It doesn't really matter if it comes from Brandenburg 4 or 5, they don't really care.
Yet I can see my associates now start to tremble.Why, this is heresy..Nope..It's called music.

Yes! What a good point. The sacred view (so to speak) of classical music says that it requires special understanding. You can't just listen. You need to know the history, you need to comprehend the structure.

And who loses, if this view starts to fade, and we start accepting classical music simply as music? I'm afraid your associates do. They lose some of their power and authority. They can't be priests or gatekeepers anymore. For a wonderful example of what happens when this power is lost -- and how delightfully the cause of classical music can be furthered -- go to the website of WNYC, New York's public radio station, and search for "The Ring and I," their introduction, a few years back, to Wagner's Ring. It's my poster child for how to talk about classical music in our current culture.

O.K., last night during SNL, a commercial for Reese's Peanut Butter candy, about seven notes-the whole commercial was just a few seconds- from a Holste planet, I think Jupiter.

It did not make me go out and buy the Reese's product, but the first music I put on this morning was The Planets.

>>RSM

And late this afternoon I saw a Subway commercial, in which people eating a Subway sandwich are blown off their feet by the taste -- to the accompaniment of the 1812 overture.

Do you remember the Citibank commercial with Tchaikovsky's first string quartet playing to accompany some kids flying a kite, as the titles reminded us that we need to make sure to invest properly in the future? Salad days... And of course Subway's latest commercial hectoring us to eat better (read: to eat Subway), which is playing on TV as I type this, features the 1812 Overture, although that kind of use was ever thus.

One thing I'll note is that actual human beings (as opposed to classical music professionals, hee hee) do seem to enjoy the pedagogical performances, including the younger specimens thereof. Admittedly, this is anecdotal, but when I went to the National Symphony Orchestra's Composer Portrait of Dvorak, in which biographical information is interspersed with musical interludes, the three twentysomethings behind me were absolutely enraptured to be learning the various facts about Antonin, even as for me the ratio of old facts to new facts was about 5 to 1. They chattered about it all through intermission and then sat completely silent during the performance of the Eighth post-intermission. After that, they immediately began chattering again about Dvorak. One has to expect that the Composer Portrait worked there, at least for a few people.

That may be an extreme example, but I've never heard people who genuinely don't know much about classical music complain about these types of programs. Maybe the trick classical presenters need to master is similar to the trick Pixar has mastered of making films that appeal both to kids and grownups (note: this is not intended to imply a direct parallel).

When I hosted a concert series with the Pittsburgh Symphony, designed to appeal to a new young audience, we found that established subscribers also liked to come, because they liked the relaxed atmosphere, and enjoyed learning things about the music.

But can we draw people in, by offering these educational things? Maybe, if they're really fun, word of mouth will attract more people. But I'm not sure advertising a concert as educational will make people want to come, except for people who are already interested.

Given the grim national mood, I'm surprised I haven't heard snippets of Berg's "String Quartet" or Schoenberg's "Erwartung" used in any commercials yet. I wonder what the audience's response would be. If Webernesque music can appear on "The Andy Griffith Show" and bits of Ligeti can appear in "2001: A Space Odyssey," and one of Radiohead's chief frontmen can approvingly cite Messaien as a major influence, certainly we are at the point where music composed outside the Common Practice Period might underline the shaky efforts of capitalism, no?

Name me an actual product that can be sold with Berg's String Quartet or Schoenberg's "Erwartung." Yeesh. The Ligeti in "2001" was supposed to convey an atmosphere of unease, which is not what you want if you are trying to sell a product to a worried populace.

If I were looking to get more modern as an advertiser, I'd snippet me up some Michael Torke. (Or who else?)

Fun additional fact: CBS's college football theme music is stolen from Smetana's tone poem "Wallenstein's Camp." Pretty much note-for-note until the CBS music adds a fanfare to end it. I am the only person I know to have realized this.

(The captcha for this post is "exits temptation." I wonder if that's a descriptor or a directive.)

In the current Subway campaign featuring the 1812 Overture, folks eating burgers (from Subway's competitors, we surmise) are popping buttons on their pants, collapsing chairs, etc, - with the idea being it's a new year, time to lose some weight, presumably by eating the healthier options offered by Subway.

Subway has been beating the drum of "eat our food unless you want to get fat" for some time. Nice to hear that music, though!

Red Bull is using Magic Flute. I leave the interpretation of that to others.

The CEO of Red Bull loves classical music. That might -- or might not -- be one partial explanation.

FYI, the following blog post (first item) has links (second item) to some fairly recent data re music sales, downloads, etc:

http://businessofclassicalmusic.blogspot.com/2009/01/classical-music-after-cd-redux.html

http://www.narm.com/2008Conv/StateoftheIndustry.pdf

But kids DO come with baggage. They may be exposed to all sorts of music, but they can't escape the cultural bias about classical music - that it's old stuff or it's serious or whatever. No music exists in a social vacuum. Music, like religion, is always embedded in a culture, and is a vehicle for that culture. Kids may be open to listening to classical music as part of the wallpaper of their Weltraum, but it doesn't mean they'll become consumers of classical music as they grow up.

And what we're talking about here is the consumer product, and how to market it.

And this is the thing: classical music became a consumer product in the 19th century. It was sustained through much of the 20th century largely, I think, because it had a soothing quality (not counting the more Angst-ridden 20th century compositions, of course) - it provided a refuge from the horrific experiences of the 20th century, the two world wars, and then the threat of nuclear annihilation. "We will all go together when we go," sang Tom Lehrer cheerfully, and all of us here on this blog, I would guess, have lived in the shadow of The Bomb - so much a threat in our youth (remember bomb shelters? air-raid drills at school?) but now this is taken for granted...But classical music was one thing that provided cultural continuity and a sense of stability during much of the 20th century. And now it doesn't.

I'm not sure if this example fits exactly with your discussion of classical music in ads, because it seems to be more of a parody than an actual ad, but a Japanese friend pointed me to this astonishing vocal rendition (unaccompanied) of Beethoven's 5th by a group of Japanese singers debating what to have for breakfast. If you search in YouTube for "asagohan", it's easy to find (the word means "breakfast" in Japanese). Stunningly done, and huge good fun.

Sounds delightful, and, parody or not, it takes classical music lightly, which is what I'm talking about.