News and Views

Ostin Allegro's Pop meets the Classics

News and Views

On this page: WHAT'S NEW | QUIZ | USEFUL LINKS

What's New (recent changes or additions)

October 2009

added It's a Hard Life by Queen (1984), probably using Leoncavallo's "Vesti La Giubba" as the inspiration for the opening bars
added Annie's Song by John Denver (1974), which probably borrows from Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5

August 2008

Ostin was interviewed on BBC Radio Cambridge by Carol Carman on The Eclectic Light Show on August 27th 2008. The show illustrated how pop music has borrowed from the classics, and Carol asked Ostin to name some of his favorite tracks. Some of these tracks were played, together with a number of others featured on this website.

Click here to try Ostin's fab quiz and test your knowledge of pop music based on the classics.

Don't cheat by looking up the answers on the website!

Useful Links

www.crotchet.co.uk	Excellent store for purchase of classical music CDs
www.songofthesalesman.co.uk	Music used in advertisements
www.classicaliscool.com/filmnote.htm	Classical music used in films
www.naxos.com	Naxos record label site
www.whodoesthatsong.com	A database of songs and who sang them
www.essentialsofmusic.com	A database of musical terms
www.themefinder.org	A database of musical themes
www.musipedia.org	A database of musical themes - a little easier to use than themefinder
www.classicalmidiconnection.com	A collection of classical MIDI files
www.classicalarchives.com	A collection of classical MIDI, MP3 and WMA files
poparchives.com.au	An excellent database of Australian pop music sources and originals
www.everyhit.com	A searchable database of every UK top 40 hit from 1952 to today
www.melodyhound.com	A database of musical themes