Songs Inspired By Bach

Bach's music is an endless source of inspiration for songwriters and composers across the musical spectrum. Sometimes the fact that a song was influenced by Bach is impossible to miss. But other times it's so subtle that you would only know if the songwriter actually admitted that Bach was the kicking-off point for their tune.
Sources:
Paul Simon interview: • Paul Simon On His Writ...
Paul McCartney interview: • Paul McCartney - Black...
Carl Wilson interview: • Video
Ron Altbach interview: • Lady Lynda (Al Jardine...
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[@ancienbelge]

“What Shakespeare is to Western literature, Bach is to Western music.” (David Bennett)

[@enkiitu]

That really is a bold statement considering that most of the western world doesn’t speak English as first language. It’s influential, no doubt, but… Music is an universal language. You might not speak or understand English but unless you are deaf you won’t be having trouble enjoying Bachs music.

[@volt9903]

You forget his influence from the Greek literature....

[@seanleith5312]

Those people he mentioned are not qualified to shine shoes for Bach, not in the same conversation.

[@PointyTailofSatan]

I think it was either Chopin or Beethoven that said that Bach's music was so important, it basically formed the "Old Testament" of Western music.

[@phanlong9682]

Bach wasn't immune to stealing either to arrange his sauce. In cooking, as in music, everyone borrows from everyone but as Master chef Stravinsky famously said " Good chefs borrow, great chefs steal."

[@BillyLeeGoodman]

Ah, yes. Simon and Bachfunkel

[@TomSistermans]

Bach did do more for Simon and Garfunkel than Garfunkel did that's for sure

[@conanichigawa]

Ah yes, that one joke comment that the creator liked.

[@jts3339]

Bachmon and Johannkel ?

[@soundproductionandadvice]

:) Nice! hah.

[@FabioBadalamentiComposer]

Ahahahahah

[@rafaelzenteno8226]

4:52 "We weren't as stupid as we looked" -One of the greatest composers of all time

[@yantar-rx9kl]

Not composer, he is a songwriter. He did not really add anything to "composing"

[@bachagain1685]

@@yantar-rx9kl tell that to Schubert.

[@bachagain1685]

@@yantar-rx9kl My point was just that writing "songs" doesn't always diminish one's musical ability.

[@yantar-rx9kl]

@@bachagain1685 no I understand, he can be great but he is not really a composer

[@Jugejukka]

@@yantar-rx9kl McCartney is not even close to classical giants. Calling Macca "one of the best" is just nonsense.

[@The_Invisible_Man]

Everything begins with Bach. The greatest artist of mankind.

[@ahenathon]

And Bach begins with Dietrich Buxtehude.

[@sitarnut]

Our piano teacher many decades ago, insisted we learn the 3 B's.. Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

[@javiceres]

Best bassist in history: J.S. Bach

[@THyperon]

Yes, with Trombone 32' stop.

[@ilkeadrall710]

I think Cliff Burton would concur.

[@JuanIparraguirre]

You remembered me Billy Sheehan playing Jon Lord's Hammond solo from Burn - huge Bach influence.

[@audiotomb]

Bach’s Left Hand

[@topsecret1837]

@@audiotomb 👀

[@numcrun]

"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff." - Frank Zappa

[@kaloarepo288]

Actually there was an Italian 18th century composer called Francisco (Frank) Zappa and when the modern Zappa found out he wrote an album inspired by the earlier composer.

[@drinkwater319]

Mozart didn’t wear a wig

[@JeanPaul-Hol65]

@@drinkwater319 Often he was forced to wear it.

[@harvey1954]

@@drinkwater319 But he did wear Crocs.

[@jsbach9848]

@@drinkwater319 Oh yes, he did.

[@coyotegraysr]

I have been listening to Bach heavily for several years now. Beethoven called him “progenitor of harmonies”.

[@treymurray4780]

Bach is probably the greatest musical genius ever

[@ahenathon]

Listen to Prince.

[@jaikee9477]

@@ahenathon Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin didn't listn to Prince, they listened to Bach.

[@oldbeergangster2381]

Bach thought it was Couperin and Buxtehude

[@Kris.G]

I was kind of expecting Paul to start his Blackbird story with "Well, I was sleeping, y'know..."

[@misscalu3144]

😂

[@jcee6886]

He does say y'know a lot.

[@chrisw4997]

I had a dream and it sort of came to me y'know

[@ffggddss]

As in, "Please don't wake me, no, don't shake me, leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping" ? Fred

[@BartSchram]

@@ffggddss That was John, who wrote that :-)

[@kathleenbergeron1292]

I got a kick out of a small story in the old Reader's Digest, back in the sixties. It seems that in a rural area of Australia, a local character, famous for stealing sheep, had died. In spite of the man's terrible deeds, they had a nice service at the local church. But at that funeral service, a few people started giggling when the beautiful music began to play. It was Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze."

[@billiev8705]

This made me laugh so hard! In a way, that was a nice tribute to the sheep thief. 😂

[@espenlilleslatten5252]

“Good composers borrow, Great ones steal,” Igor Stravinsky

[@wilburmcbride8096]

What does that mean?

[@nadimmostafa7663]

I've always thought that's just an excuse.

[@devueltosalcampo768]

@@wilburmcbride8096 it means you take a composition that already existed and use it in your own art

[@cheopys]

Music cannot *express* anything. - Igor Stravinsky

[@musicalguy9]

Stravinsky died in 1971

[@frankied3465]

The piano solo in “In My Life” by The Beatles....the story goes that John told George Martin to “play it like Bach.”

[@mljrotag6343]

Yes, the solo sounds like Bach just dropped in for a quick cameo.

[@stargirl6659]

I heard that

[@steven6709]

He actually played it slower in a lower key on piano. The tape was sped up to give us what is on the record. Even though it sounds like a harpsichord, it was played on piano.

[@FernandoAburtoAlmazan]

It does sound like Bach

[@TouFik]

Blackbird is such a masterpiece. I now understand why it vibrates so much into our souls.

[@Guitarist166]

It was based off the bourrée in BWV 996 if you like that check out the gigue in the same suit. BWV996 gigue. It's an insane piece of guitar work I'm trying to learn at the moment.

[@williamoverly1617]

McCartney told his audience he was watching protests during the American civil rights movement of the 1960s and was inspired to compose a song about a black girl (girls are called "birds" In the idiom of English slang) living through this era. Ergo: BLACKBIRD. .

[@martinlarsson4861]

That "Blackbird" backstory is fascinating. So incredibly creative.

[@steveneardley7541]

Bach was also tremendously influential on classical music, particularly for composers who were interested in exploring new harmonies. This includes Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and later on Rachmaninoff and Gershwin. Bach was already exploring a lot of harmonies that were quite odd in the early 18th century--for instance the use of the flatted second. Bach fell out of favor for almost a century, but was brought back into fashion by Mendelssohn, who conducted Bach's Mass in B Minor, in a romanticized form fitted to contemporary tastes. It was a giant hit, and Bach has never again fallen out of the repertoire. Bach's work has so many strong ideas, both harmonically and melodically, that it sounds good even on a synthesizer, and lends itself to being repurposed by other musicians.

[@markharder3676]

Yep. The truly great composers weren't afraid to use a little dissonance now and then. Bach does it all over the place and always to great effect.

[@Myrtone]

Note: During his lifetime, Bach's works were not "classical" music but popular music. Yes, a lot of works we think of as classical today were actually works of popular music when they were first released. Today's "classical" music was not always as high brow as it is today.

[@AutPen38]

Of course The Beatles' pop music used to be dismissed as ephemeral bubblegum pop for teeny-boppers. No one imagined in the early sixties that it would later be regarded as "classic". As weird as it sounds, some of the autotuned pop in the charts of 2022 will one day considered to be "classic" too.

[@Myrtone]

@@AutPen38 What has that got to do with Bach? I did not say it was "bubblegum" pop but popular music, which by the way, used to be for adults. I did not say it was dismissed as ephemeral.

[@thealexanderbond]

That's a bit of a myth, Bach never really fell out of favor with other composers. Mozart played Bach, Beethoven was a huge fan, when the young Liszt was brought in front of Beethoven he tested him by asking him to play Bach fugues from memory but in a different keys, which of course Liszt could do, since he was already familiar with his works. Bach only fell out of favor with the sorts of oafish toffs and elites who consumed most music in those days, since following fashion and the latest trends was paramount.

[@revjohnlee]

In late 1977, my mom bought a new Lincoln Town Car. It was the '78 model. It had an 8 track tape player and the car came with a demo 8-track that contained a little bit of all sorts of music. I remember it as being boring except for one thing. I had Virgil Fox playing Bach's little fugue in G minor. It was the most incredible thing I ever heard. I wore that tape out. I learned that there were other performers I preferred, E. Power Biggs comes to mind, but nothing will ever replace the memory of the beauty of that Fox recording in my mind. It inspired me to try to learn organ and forced me to accept, many years later, that I could have a great love of music without having any talent whatsoever. Today, I still love Bach organ works. I also still try to play, if just to amuse myself and annoy the cat. BTW, that car in 1978 was the best vehicle anyone in my family ever owned.

[@ericclemens8420]

The Beatles' "Michelle" guitar solo is also inspired on a pattern by Bach Chaconne Partita No. 2 BWV 1004

[@user-hd9nc7zp1v]

Wow; really?

[@skim1589]

Thank you for showing the origins of Blackbird. I’m so impressed by McCartney’s originality and musicianship. The inspiration came from Bach but he created something truly pristine and elevated of his own.

[@bobbylee2853]

Paul McCartney was inspired when he heard a piccolo trumpet in a Brandenburg Concerto. It was then included in Penny Lane.

[@samspianos]

and who directed him to the Brandenburg?

[@johnlewis3324]

@@samspianos Jane Asher and her parents, according to him.

[@samspianos]

@@johnlewis3324 trying to "educate" him?

[@robertovelloso1192]

@@samspianos He heard it on BBC. Take a look at this kzbin.info/www/bejne/hamyZaGFeah6epI

[@lilianelucas8123]

@@samspianostrying to educate him? Why do you say that? Yes, Paul was born in a working class family but was well educated by his parents, he was brillant at primary school so he could enter a good school at 11 years old. Of course his parents didn’t teach him music classic and didn’t visit museums with him. Just have money for a house and food. But he was so clever and curious so in his twenties he learned himself arts, read a lot of books....At 18 or 19 he worked in a factory because he had to earn money, at 20 he was a millionaire and now he is the richest singer of the world. Not too bad for a working class boy.

[@andybuzzi1005]

It’s “American Tune” that truly exemplifies this riff, not “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.

[@jorden123]

The Beatles - All You Need is Love Towards the end, the trumpets performing a tiny variation of "J.S. Bach - Invention in F Major" :)

[@RonHeusdens]

true

[@beback_]

Oh god how did I not notice that

[@stevesmith291]

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw the title of the video.

[@kenchristie9214]

The Bach trumpet was first used on Penny Lane. Paul said to George Martin he heard these fantastic trumpets whilst watching a concert on TV.

[@Kirke182]

I think that was a sample on a mellotron. Same with the Glenn Miller "In the Mood" intro. Just hit the sample button over and over.

[@jakobbansch4838]

The real question is: Which songs are NOT influenced by Bach...

[@kidabear782]

yeah I wonder how different music theory and the current music we have would have been, without the existence of Bach

[@mrbaker7443]

Jakob Bänsch “Scum” by Napalm Death

[@acyutanandadas1326]

@@mrbaker7443 Every hiphop rap 'song'

[@VintageSG]

A lot of Jon Lord's work with Deep Purple was influenced by Beethoven. That which wasn't was Bach, so, err, as you were :-)

[@jakobbansch4838]

VintageSG But I would be surprised if Beethoven was not influenced by Bach

[@sytsebuwalda6570]

That weird moment when you're listening to a very interesting vid and suddenly hear your own voice singing the first line of Hasslers ' Mein G'müth its mir verwirret'. LOL

[@jenko6196]

That was you? Damn that’s awesome!

[@billiev8705]

Ha, geweldig! Prachtig stuk ook. Heeft Michael Chance dat niet ook eens opgenomen? Morgen even in de CD-collectie graven...

[@cyberdiatriber2]

My favorite rock group in high school was Jethro Tull and my favorite Jethro Tull song was a flute and bass version of "Bouree." Only later did I find out it was a classical music song causing me to wonder why I was listening to rock when my favorite song was classical! I came to believe that there are only 2 kinds and music-good and bad, and genres are irrelevant.

[@antimimoniakos]

I used to listening to them in highschool. They were ahead of their time.

[@tocov]

Of course there is the part in "In My Life" by The Beatles where I believe actually George Martin plays a Bach inspired baroque piece.

[@snookerwither9955]

And the flugel (I think) solo in Penny Lane was inspired by a Bach piece

[@MaggaraMarine]

@@snookerwither9955 Not sure about Penny Lane, but the outro of All You Need Is Love quotes Bach's Invention No.8 (F major).

[@nigelhaywood9753]

@@snookerwither9955 Piccolo trumpet?

[@Sh.moon.]

I don't think the harpsichord-sounding part in "In My Life" was inspired by any specific Bach's composition. Rather, it just has baroque feeling to it.

[@brianwolle2509]

piccolo trumpet. wayyyy up there. not a regular trumpet.

[@leedress2187]

I always wondered why I loved Bach so much. His sense of harmony and counterpoint are all over the rock world. Many of the Aerosmith harmonies have Bach written all over them.

Considering Bach made a huge contribution to the developing of the tonal system, we can say that *everyone* is influenced and inspired by him.

[@koshersalaami]

You may not know about another Beatles example: Paul saw a performance of Bach’s Second Brandenburg and loved the high trumpet, so he wanted to write something like that. The result was the high trumpet part in Penny Lane.

[@BrandonCuringtonOfficial]

"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants." - Sir Isaac Newton

[@promerops]

'I worked hard. I worked very hard. Anyone who had worked as hard could have achieved the same.' J S Bach. (I think there was quite a bit more to it than that.)

[@bronktug2446]

promerops where from?

[@annek3296]

Actually, the Newton quote goes back centuries before Newton. I believe there's a book giving the history of the quote.

[@maxmustermann9587]

Not every musician believes in God, but almost every musician believes in Bach.

[@ericscaillet2232]

@@maxmustermann9587 well...Bach is God in a way 😉

[@Pierre50mm]

Bach is the top. He tried everything. He even added jazz chords to is music. Nobody did that after him untill the beginning of jazz.

[@skyblazeeterno]

Surely you mean jazz added Bach chords

[@Pierre50mm]

@@skyblazeeterno Yeah, it's a way to see it. Why not. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZTZhnuanbeCqM0

[@Bati_]

Maybe it’d be a good idea to listen to some Debussy and Ravel to test this

[@odonohut]

Actually the circle of fifths, with major/minor 7th were used by Bach, but all the big names (ie Mozart, Beethoven and everyone in classical music) followed suite, adding 9ths, 11ths and 13ths.

[@omglolgiraffe]

beethoven has a section in his op.111 piano sonata that is essentially ragtime.

[@CrystalCountess]

The tribute to the prelude in c arpeggiated chord changes is really, the most beautiful thing I've heard in a long time. I had it pounded into my brain when I was a kid studying harmony, that J.S.B. is the "grandfather" of modern harmony. I chose to follow in good faith as I couldn't prove otherwise. Now, as a senior, I want to pound it into the head of anyone who'll listen! lol Love this channel and the work. Thanks.

[@marshwetland3808]

Something I kept hearing back in the 80s when I went to a lot of classical, baroque, and early music concerts was, from the classical people, that Bach was boring and mathematical. I have no idea wtf they were hearing in classical music that they thought was better than Bach. I never found him mathematical, always found him the most passionate. I'm a rabid atheist and I think my favourite Bach of all time is the Agnus Dei sung by Andreas Scholl. So passionate, and it's not about religion for me, even though I had to say those words in church every sunday and know damn well what they mean. I just hear the glorious music. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpWvdJaHnt2BrMk

[@pts5217]

Paul McCartney “Get Bach!” “Bach in the USSR!”

[@johnallen6039]

actually back in the ussr is a homage to the beach boys california girls

[@russellcampbell9198]

Good one.

[@compassft]

ACDC Bach in Black

[@MisterMoccasin]

Bachbird

[@mipani]

I, as a German who knows how to pronounce "Bach" correctly, cannot understand your joke. Paul Simon and Paul McCartney pronounced "Bach" correctly, whereas Carl Wilson and the video presenter did not. The German "ch" is pronounced very similar to the "j" or "x" in Spanish, e.g. as in "México" or "Juanita".

[@bigsquisums6333]

I can’t stop thinking that young Paul Simon with that hair looks like Lord Farquad 😂

[@ronanteixeira1663]

And that guy from The Monkees as well

[@gunofapreacherman1340]

He totally does look like Lord Maximus Farquaad 😂🤣😂🤣😂

[@stevethordarson5198]

Same height too.

[@keithmills778]

spicy chicken If you take the album cover w/ Art Garfunkel standing behind Paul Simon and you cover Paul’s face, it looks like Garfunkel has a massive Cossack moustache.

[@poookah]

And he also looks like Lionel Messi... 😊

[@dougimmel]

Procol Harum : I have loved whiter Shade of Pale since I first heard it as a 10-year-old In 1967 climbing up the stairs to Anne Frank's attic in Amsterdam. It has remained important and haunting ever since. I've also enjoyed the search for actual origins within the minor mystery of the Procol Harum name origin. The stories are full of fun personal trivia, misspellings, and slightly off the mark guesses. Great song - great inspiration.

[@SoCalMinion]

This is a beautiful memory! Thank you for sharing this 😊

[@BlessedHope7.7.7]

I hear " Sleepers Awake" in it

[@stevetournay6103]

Man, that song certainly would stick with you, hearing it in that location...

[@ancienbelge]

The organ solo in Deep Purple’s recent “Nothing At All” is lifted verbatim from Simfonia from Cantata BWV 29 (which Bach himself also reused, transposed a whole step up, for the opening of the violin sonata in E major)

[@chrisb8075]

A Whiter Shade Of Pale is a true masterpiece in it's own right. Stunning piece.

[@BlessedHope7.7.7]

I hear " Sleepers Awake" in it

[@kasiam6561]

Jethro Tull has used lots of Bach in their songs and just arranged his music, you must've heard their arrangement of Bouree

[@doggedout]

Cry You A Song

[@hongkongfui04]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGO1f5hon9x7e5I

[@lucanavarrete7234]

I'm not sure if it's Bach but Yes also covered a classical song on their album Fragile

[@chuckmccroskey4864]

Definitely, that tune (Bouree) is what led me to start studying classical guitar in 1977. I still play Bach’s original version today, probably three times a week.

[@Congruencia]

@@lucanavarrete7234 Yes recorded Cans and Brahms (Extracts from Brahms' 4th Symphony in E Minor, Third Movement) in Fragile. ELP also used to play lots of classical arrangements (Béla Bartók, Sergéi Prokófiev, Modest Mussorgsky, Alberto Ginastera, Leoš Janáček, Aaron Copland, etc.) and they included Bach in "Take a Pebble" (in their first album) and Carl Palmer played Bach's Invention in D minor in Woks, Vol. 1.

[@TheStockwell]

If you evaluate a composer's success by how much of their music is regularly performed and recorded, Bach is at the top of the heap. Some composers are actively represented by one work (Carl Orff: "Carmina Burana," Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings ), but 90 percent of what Bach wrote is still performed and recorded. He wrote over a thousand works, so we're looking at nine HUNDRED works of his which are in the concert repertoire. Man, his royalty checks must be amazing!

[@orekingcatan8142]

jimmy page plays bourree in the "how the west was won" live rendition of heartbreaker and it inspired me to learn it. I've probably played bourree 10x more than any song in my life and I highly recommend learning it!

[@cwkronenberg9838]

Thnx! Bach's harmonies are quite prevalent in the jazz genre too; in fact his use of the 7th (both major 7th and flattened 7th - like the dominant 7th, for example) was quite outlandish for his time. though his melodies may not feature in jazz that much perhaps, the 7th (also 2nds & 6ths, but to a lesser degree) as well as some chordal progressions (I-IV- I6/4- V7, for example) is a key feature in Cape African jazz!

[@marioromero84]

The intro for a Metallica's song "Damage" was composed by Cliff Burton based on a Bach's piece called "Come Sweet Death".

[@davidford694]

I, Johann Sebastian Bach, musician, cantor of Saint Thomas’s School in Leipzig, being near my end, praise God for his mercies; for although I am blind so I was not always, for the Lord gave me great power among all men to sing unto His greatness; witness my works which I leave behind me. For I strove long in anguish of spirit, with my soul I battled long with the Lord’s angels, knowing it was to His glory. Though I was in darkness yet I saw Him. Though I am in darkness yet I see Him. In music I saw Him, I walked with Him before the gates of Paradise, the smooth and glowing pearl, they fled apart, I walked within and heard the music of His courts echoing, twining before Him in divine, subtle-ordered canon. In my striving with His angels too I heard songs of Zion; these I have sung with deep notes of organ and organ’s sweetness I have adored Him, with choir and strings and trumpets I have praised Him greatly, and with tenderness of oboe mourned for Him. All men know me and no man, for I went alone before Him, and strove alone. Now Lord take me, for I am blind, I am blind yet the eyes of my spirit see: the ears of my spirit hear the songs of Zion no man else heard. Now take me Lord, Bach, cantor of Thomas’ school, at my end.

[@btcustis]

What is the source of this quote, please?

[@uckbee]

Didn't Bach write "Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring" on his deathbed?

[@ap6765]

Thank you for sharing his final thoughts.

[@Discrimination_is_not_a_right]

@@uckbee No, the last thing he was working on was "The Art of Fugue", before blindness took him. Actually, the blindness had already started to take him before a botched eye operation finished him off.

[@daihawkins8177]

Out of all his compositions, I think the the Art of Fugue must count among his very greatest.

[@helenaforbes2650]

Muse’s The Handler is also inspired by Bach’s Tocata in the part Matt starts that hammer on pull off sequence after the chorus.

[@mikedaniels3009]

Everything comes from Bach and leads back to him. What a guy. Thanks for YOUR contribution here. Happy New Year.

[@timmccarthy872]

I liked this. Here in the United States, musical historians often point out how much of American pop music was inspired by (or appropriated from) African music, and they're often right... but it bears remembering how much of it comes from Europe, too.

[@Mark95876]

All modern music contains elements of African, Irish, or English Music Hall (early David Bowie; Ian Drury).

[@steveeliscu1254]

But the African influence is what makes it rock!

[@txt9710]

@@steveeliscu1254 Bach IS rock 'n roll, my friend.

[@billiev8705]

@@steveeliscu1254 or swing!

[@ftumschk]

14:57 The interesting thing is that, after starting off with two bars of Air on a G String, A Whiter Shade Of Pale goes on to echo figures from another work by Bach, the chorale/organ piece "Sleepers awake" ("Wachet auf"), BWV645: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jafaln1nobGWkMU

[@mikeoverton7644]

Yep you are absolutely right. I just listened to it. Never noticed that before. Weird how stuff can remain invisible while in plain sight. Well done for pointing it out. I still think Procol Harem's version is a brilliant piece in its own right though and emotionally in a register of its own.

[@thatguy_apu]

Somewhat more obscurely, the intro to Metallica's "Damage Inc." is heavily inspired by "Come, Sweet Death". Cliff Burton loved classical music, and got Lars Ulrich into it as well. I think that's how S&M came to be

[@Me-uv6kc]

that's not the melody of jesu joy of man's desiring, that's Bach's countermelody to the actual melody which is the hymn part (the part where they start singing) . Bach is so great.

[@MoosePantz]

Bouree - Jethro Tull. Worth a mention. Your programme is superb! Thank you.

[@edwardofgreene]

It was odd to see Bouree mentioned without mentioning Ian Anderson's flute rendition.

[@ontaka5997]

A good method to avoid getting sued for copyright infringement. Defendant: "I plagiarised (was inspired) from J.S.Bach. Not from the accuser."

[@NicholasCox85]

Ron Altbach, playing alternate versions of Bach..... I love it. He was born to do that.

[@danielplacido8746]

"Horizons" by Genesis is a guitar piece inspired by Bach's cello suites

[@matpull9014]

There's a short guitar piece by Genesis called "Horizons" which is based on the Cello Prelude in G major by Bach. Also, you could make "Songs inspired by Rachmaninoff" too, as there are a lot of them based on his music: Space Dementia, All By Myself, Never Gonna Fall in Love Again, Full Moon and Empty Arms, etc.

[@franciscotoscano314]

Exactly

[@revensteed9539]

I love Horizons

[@cheopys]

Love the Bach cello suites.

[@saveusbloodymess]

2:20 David Bennett:"This just goes to show that even if you use an existing piece of music as your kicking off point of your resolting song doesn't have to sound anything like..." Me: "THIS SONG! THIS IS JUST A TRIBUTE! YOU GOTTA BELIEVE ME AND I WISH YOU WERE THERE!"

[@brianwolle2509]

david bennett is completely right and it's a great way to write!

[@nishantpawa949]

Great composition at the end man :) and of course, the rest of the video was amazing. thanks

[@howard5992]

I really like that you spend time on each example - providing an analysis and illustrating both the origin and the end result.

[@happyron]

Love this would love to see a whole video on "Classical Influences On The Beatles", thought I saw a video/podcast on this a few weeks ago and was SOOO frustrated when I couldn't find it. Thanks for all you do, you remind me of myself when I was younger except you play better piano.

[@drewdavis2392]

Two dislikes from copyright strikes filed by Paul Gerhardt and Hans Hassler.

[@benjamingruder4875]

Hans isn't alive, how would he file a copyright strike?

[@widyasantoso4910]

@@benjamingruder4875 Drew is a necromancer, and he resurrected Hans Hassler as a troll :D

[@ilikeyourname4807]

@@benjamingruder4875 He's just as alive as Paul Gerhardt

[@maxwelledison9954]

@@benjamingruder4875 r/wooosh

[@lohphat]

Drew Davis Wir sehen was Sie da getan haben.

[@johne1599]

Excellent video, David! And your own playing at the end was real nice, too. You're quite music knowledgeable for your age, young man. I always enjoy your videos. TYVM!

[@johnbrazier6503]

The Bridge Over Troubled Water section directly quotes the Chorale melody. "When tears are in your eyes" is the exact same (relative) pitches as the LAST line of the chorale. You only looked at the first line. One reason why it might not be immediately obvious is because motif is in a tonic context in the chorale, but plagal in the song.

[@thisisnotmyname4700]

Yes!!!!!

[@ihbarddx]

The song, _In the Mood_ always reminded me of _Prelude in C Major_ . Maybe it's just the arpeggio thing going on. Also, Ray Manzarek always credits Bach's circle of fifths in his explanation of the intro to _Light my fire_ . (Never understood what he was talking about.) At any rate, there are several Bach-like hooks in the song. Particularly the last chord. I can almost hear E. Power Biggs (albeit playing an inexpensive instrument).

[@RobertOrgRobert]

QE2 Mike Oldfield ‘Conflict’ contains a small piece of Bach - part of his Suite no 2 in B minor

[@gusmore26]

David Bennett's videos are always scholarly, edifying, useful, and fun to watch. Thank you David. :-)

[@sztruce]

Marian Varga was also inspired by Bach - his song ,,Hommage a J.S.Bach,, is still very popular.

[@frankfrank7921]

What about the Beatles "Get Bach"?

[@AN770]

And what about Bach in black by AC/DC

[@frbmp5100]

It's before he formed a group called Bachstreet Boys

[@quandaleinstitute5623]

How about Bach Veil Brides?

[@AN770]

Bach in the U.S.S.R.

[@Ingeniero_UNAM]

I'll be Bach ----- Baby's in Bach -----

[@weepingscorpion8739]

As for the usage of Bach in Bridge over Troubled Waters, I think you looked at the wrong segment, as those 4 notes in BoTW's sound more similar to the final segment of this chorale. I play the church organ and we use this melody as a hymn a whole lot. :)

[@giuseppelogiurato5718]

Pachelbel's variations for organ of "O Sacred Head" are especially fun; I recommend!

[@JohnSmith-oe5kx]

Giuseppe LoGiurato Did you watch the video? Paul Simon was discussing Bridge. After which David mentioned American Tune. As for "stolen", it was merely borrowed.

[@MICKEYISLOWD]

The piece you wrote at the end is very beautiful in a haunting way. Where can I hear the entire piece..? You have talent for sure:)

[@al5068]

I agree, I was floored listening to it. 🤩

[@brendanlindsaywebb4932]

Hi David, thanks again for another brilliant video. It would be great if you could do a video especially on counterpoint with more examples in it.

[@THEScottCampbell]

Byrds leader Jim ("Roger") McGuinn used "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring" for a guitar solo on the flip side of "Turn, Turn, Turn" in 1965, long before The Beach Boys.

[@danaxtell2367]

After listening to this great combination of Bach and Beatles, I just had to listen to the 1965 "Baroque Beatles Book" again. You can find it on KZbin. Never gets old.

[@JimmyWatfordGuitar]

Man I really appreciate all your information. Not only is what you have to say useful, but you do a great job as a kind of documentary host.

[@barbararperkins1379]

Thank you for this.....I love your composition. Bach lives on!

[@massimolisoni4990]

The similarities between "a whiter shade of pale" and bach's piece are quite obvious, once you heard them both. Procol harum's song is amazing, though.

[@salernolake]

I would add "Penny Lane" to the catalog. Paul is on record as attributing the inspiration for this song to the first movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 2.

[@Mark64W]

Hi . I think it was more to do with the piccolo trumpet solo played by David Mason in the middle of the song .

[@anthonyodonnell6105]

@@Mark64W still a Bach influence.

[@spindriftdrinker]

I just listened to Brandenburg Concerto no. 2. It's a very recognizable tune - it doesn't resemble Penny Lane in any way.

[@bernieross1241]

Nope. Only the instrument. McCartney had originally intended the solo to be taken by a cors anglais, or an oboe. At home that night, he saw an orchestra on TV playing the Brandenburg Concerto No 2, and was enchanted by the sound of the piccolo trumpet. He went into the studio the next morning, asked George Martin what that instrument was, said that was what he wanted on Penny Lane, and they called in the same guy from that orchestra. It's very well documented. And Penny Lane, with its key modulations and very surprising chordal structure, and the high-leaping piccolo trumpet solo, written by Paul and taking the instrument into its extremely difficult altissimo range, is an absolute masterpiece of songwriting.

[@swrennie]

Top notch. Well researched, written, presented and edited. I'll be back for more...

[@beegojeeson1834]

The intro to Orion by Metallica was based off of Come Sweet Death by Bach. Cliff Burton was a massive classical fan and Bach was one of his all time favorites. You really should check out a lot of his bass lines and you'll notice the influence immediately

[@QuartzSTQ]

Jimmy Page in Led Zeppelin also plays the start of "Bourrée in E Major" at the end of the "Heartbreaker" solo in "How the West Was Won". That's from where I recognised the melody when played in the video... Obviously this doesn't surprise me since Zep frequently interpolated other music into their own, perhaps a bit too much so in some cases.

[@elceelcevet6998]

Bouree plays Anderson and YT.

[@warrenburroughs3025]

Watching that Paul Simon interview as he was explaining the basis for Bridge Over Troubled Water and I was thinking "that's American Tune not Bridge". 2 great songs from one source, not bad.

[@AppleheadIsCool]

I was just about to comment this!

[@Oesterreicher94]

The same for me.

[@tmarkjames]

To be frank, I suspect Paul Simon was just misremembering which of his many songs was inspired by "O Sacred Head Now Wounded".

[@AB-oc5lj]

Definitely American Tune.

[@SamuelKristopher]

Alterbridge, Wayward One - the chorus is also from the Bouree in E minor. I knew it was a something like a lifting of a Bach piece but I didn't put the two together until this video - cool!

[@AmazingAwesomeAlaska]

As a German, it is so weird to hear his name pronounced like “Bak” 😂

[@idnwiw]

At least after the McCartney clip showing that english-speakers can do it correctly he improved a bit

[@justgettingby7725]

Not my fault if Germans can't pronounce their own names correctly. 😁

[@thomasschatton3481]

@@justgettingby7725This statement is pretty arrogant and silly, isn't it?

[@user-po6nm7so1e]

I understand what you mean We pronounce his name in a similar sound like yours here in Japan (^_-)

[@brenncampbell7484]

@@user-po6nm7so1e No you don't!!

[@sammoffettmusic3909]

A section of Van Halen's "Eruption" is most certainly based on Bach's Prelude in C Major from WTC 1.

[@MaggaraMarine]

Are you talking about the tapping part? I honestly doubt it - it's just basic arpeggios (and there are plenty of pieces based on arpeggiated triads), and also the chord progression he creates with those arpeggios doesn't sound anything like Bach (at least not like Prelude 1). Reminds me more of some kind of a virtuosic violin piece TBH. He did quote Rodolphe Kreutzer's Etude No.2 in the solo, though (the tremolo picking part).

[@alexbowman7582]

As Chuck Berry said you can’t think of anything that Beethoven hasn’t already thought of.

[@LS-dp2gs]

Beethoven, like Mozart, did not think of everything. He discovered and studied Bach, whose works were banned in their days.

[@coconutflour9868]

@@LS-dp2gs Bach's works weren't banned as far as I know, they were just not very well known until a couple of later composers discovered him and were inspired by him, propelling Bach to the well-known status he enjoys today

[@LS-dp2gs]

Coconut Flour I remember reading Mozart’s bio and might have incorrectly gotten that impression. The family was poor, and after he died, many things went unpublished. And yes, His legacy came back big time with genius musicians like Mozart. Interestingly though Bach’s own son was a very good composer himself.

[@MrmelodyUs]

@@LS-dp2gs Banned?

[@MrmelodyUs]

@@coconutflour9868 Wow.

[@kmacdowe]

Brilliant love that last piece of your own work. We'd love to see you in LA or SD.

[@pmarchon]

Good work done in this video! Your storytelling improved, it's now varied, keeping it interesting to listen to you, i.e. when you explain the 'descendance' of some songs, but one time "in reverse", the other time "in forward", and the third, starting right in the middle and going back and forward.

[@spriggan3935]

Jethro Tull's Bourée, from Stand Up album, 1979.

[@lorenzogiani7190]

THIS

[@hvac01453]

I immediately thought of Tulls Bouree of which he immediately gives credit all the time

[@elisha770]

Man, Netflix should sign you for your work ! Thank you

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks! That would be amazing!

[@beniaminoborciani1434]

such a good video! i also noticed the harmony to bach’s first prelude in the first volume of the welltempered clavier was taken by andrew lloyd webber for the opening lines of “don’t cry for me argentina”.

[@stevewloo]

Art Garfunkel has inserted a Bach chorale (#33 from The Christmas Oratorio) into his song “Feuilles-Oh” on the 1970s album “Angel Clare”, with himself singing all four voices.

[@WizzbrozzGamerzz]

You're a really smart dude. I'd love to be as good as you in music.🙂

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks!!

[@lauterunvollkommenheit4344]

About the "O Head full of blood and wounds" chorale: Gerhardt had nothing to do with the melody. He was not a composer but a hymn-writer. He translated Arnulf of Louvain's Latin hymn (Salve, caput cruentatum) into German. Bach used Hassler's melody with Gerhardt's text.

[@c.a.g.3130]

Precisely.

[@lamper2]

@@c.a.g.3130 you guys cracked me up-just by showing no matter how far back you go-someone ELSE did it first!

[@c.a.g.3130]

@@lamper2 No knucklehead, Gerhardt was a poet, not a musician. He wrote lyrics, not melodies.

[@frederickglasser5617]

David your videos are costing me a lot of sleep. Absolutely magnetic.

[@alexkije]

"A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum used a snipped of Air on the G String and another Bach tune I can't recall right now.

[@ricomajestic]

Great video! Love it when songwriters talk about how they were inspired to write the melody.

[@QHarefield]

Thank you, David; that was most interesting - especially the info about 'O Sacred Head.' I always enjoy watching your videos : they are well-presented, and there is always something to learn. (Incidentally, Matthew Fisher, Procol's organist at the time, says that his chief influence in AWSoP was 'Wachet Auf' - also by Bach!)

[@CARTEReBENNETT]

Bellissimo lavoro. Complimenti!

[@kidheadcase]

Great videos, young fella!

[@sschmidtevalue]

I love the way you substituted Bach for Art Garfunkel in that photo! Groovy!

[@whycantiremainanonymous8091]

Sure someone already mentioned it, but there's a rendition of the same bouree McCartney used in Jethro Tull's second album, Stand Up.

[@janeelsner]

Jethro Tull’s so underrated😩

[@2000pepesanda]

Great video. Congrats & Thanks

[@AladinFazel]

You have done great work, my friend, thanks a lot! 🙏🙏

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you 😀😀

[@AladinFazel]

@@DavidBennettPiano Noway, I had a time when I composed some songs, and I was worried if I had stollen some ideas, sometimes, somehow... 🤣🙏👍👍