There are melodies which get recycled over and over again in movies and movie trailers, TV shows, and TV ads. You recognize them, but may not know the name. So let’s play put names to melodies:
“Round Midnight” is thought by some to be the most popular and most played jazz melody of all time. I don’t know about that but I know I’ve heard it a few times in movies and on TV. It was penned by Thelonious Monk who, perhaps because of his odd name, is thought by The Great Unwashed to be some sort of avant garde composer, when in actuality, while his melodies are almost always angular to a degree, they are unremittingly gorgeous. First I’ll play Thelonious himself playing “Round Midnight” after which I’ll play another Monk song you might recognize.
Thelonious Monk wasn’t avant garde or even slightly ahead of his time. He was just himself, a very eccentric individual. He was also one of the great composers of jazz ballads. You’ll hear this one from time to time in a movie or on TV, if you haven’t already. Here is the gorgeous love song “Ruby My Dear” with John Coltrane stating the melody at first:
And now for something completely different. Classical music accounts for a lot of tunes we recognize but can’t put a name on. How about this one. If you can’t stand the thought of two women in evening gowns in front of a classical orchestra, the part I’m referring to starts at about 1:15. Just move the slider to that position and you’ll hear one of the most beautiful melodies to come from classical music. I’ll discuss it a bit afterward:
One problem with playing “name that tune” here is that it’s known by several names. The most common two are “The Flower Duet” and “Viens Malika.” Whatever the name, it comes from Leo Delibes’ opera Lakme. This duet has been used so many times on TV, in movies, and in ads that it’s almost overused. Except, at least in my case, I never tire of hearing the duet part. It’s as gorgeous and compelling as classical music can get.
Another classical melody I’m sure you’ve heard instrumentally on (once again) TV, in movies, and in ads is known as “the Adagio movement of the Concierto de Aranjuez.” While you’ve heard it instrumentally many many times, I’m sure, I’m deviating from any preconceptions that fact may bring into play by presenting a vocalized version by Andrea Bocelli:
This piece received its first major introduction outside the world of classical music when Miles Davis included it in his album Sketches of Spain. I think you’ll have to agree that the melody is as Spanish as it gets.
Next up, you’ve heard this a thousand times, mostly in movies and trailers for movies (even when it’s not actually used in the movie). It’s used to signify tumultuous and violent times. And it does that very well. It’s “Oh Fortuna” from Carl Orff’s over-the-top Carmina Burana. Written in 1935 and 1936, it is (according to Wikipedia) “…based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana. Its full Latin title is Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanæ cantoribus et choris cantandæ comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis (“Songs of Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magic images.”)
Probably more of you know “The Girl From Ipanema” if only because the title is in the lyrics and one hears vocal versions from time to time. It is the name of what is probably the most popular single tune by the Brazilian pop music composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. Jobim has probably written more tunes adopted into the jazz canon than any single American composer other than maybe Burt Bacharach or Cole Porter. You’ve doubtless heard many of his melodies, if not in the aforementioned movies, TV, etc., then regrettably as elevator music. His melodies, done well, are sublime, but they can be turned into cotton candy for the ears effortlessly. So, in case you don’t recognize the name “The Girl From Ipanema,” here’s the melody that goes with it sung in its original form as introduced to American by Astrud Gilberto. I should note that while we are used to singers with noticeable vibratos, Astud sings totally without vibrato, which is fairly standard for Brazilian singers. It’s the way they like it. One benefit, especially for this tune, is that to our ears it makes her sound all the more naive and innocent:
Other Jobim tunes you have heard but are less likely to name are “Corcovado,” “Desafinado,” “One Note Samba,” and “Wave.” I encourage you to Youtube them.
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