My parents would not have believed it. Their followers are probably not aware of it. The artists probably don't boast about it, but many rock and roll musicians were classically trained; Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Ian Anderson, and Keith Emerson to name a few.
Add to that the fact that plagiarism is widely accepted in the musical world (interesting to me that with the variables of around 100 notes, length of composition, combinations of harmony and so on, that composers widely "use" the work of others) and you have a strong influence of classical music on popular songs.
A bit of digging uncovers the following, which is only a partial listing of many more examples:
1960's
Elvis Presley: It's Now or Never (O Solo Mio)
The Ventures: Rap City (Brahms' Hungarian Dance in G Minor)
Procol Harum: A Whiter Shade of Pale (Bach's Air on a G String and Sleeper's Wake)
John Lennon: Because (Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata)
Deep Purple: Prelude B - I'm So Glad (Rimsy-Korsakov's Shaharazade)
The Doors: Abinoni's Adagio in G Minor (Abinoni's Adagio in G Minor)
1970's
Emerson Lake and Palmer:
Knife Edge (Leos Janacek's Sinfonietta) (
Abbadon's Bolero (Ravel's Bolero)
Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition)
Tocatta (Ginastera's First Piano Concerto, 4th Movement)
(MANY MORE)
Eric Carmen: All By Myself (Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2)
John Denver: Annie's Song (Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony, 2nd Movement)
Neil Diamond: Song Sung Blue (Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 21, 2nd Movement)
Barry Manilow: Could It Be Magic (Chopin Prelude in C Minor)
Yes: Cans and Brahms (Brahms' Symphony no. 4, 3rd Movement)
Beach Boys: Lady Linda (Bach's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring)
1980's
Bad Manners: Can Can (Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld)
Billy Joel:
This Night (Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata)
And So It Goes (Charles Hubert Parry's Jerusalem)
Leningrad (Brahms' Waldesnacht, du Wunderkuehle)
Sting: Russians (Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite, Opus 60)
1990's
Enigma: Mea Culpa (Gregorian Chant Kyrie Eleison)
Rob Dougan: Clubbed to Death (Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations)
Santana/Dave Matthews: Love of My Life (Brahms' Symphony no 3, 3rd Movement)
Now for one comparative example that is, note for note, the same for the greats: Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Aaron Copland:
Hoedown (Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer)
Hoedown (Aaron Copland
So, it would seem that the two genre's are not so far apart!
Once again, we are of a like mind. I loved Ian Anderson and his flute... Many more modern artists were classically trained. You can hear it in theit music. The nuances of phrase, meter, and tone are evident if one only listens. Many songs th a t are sung in church were also different words put to great music from the masters...
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