by In ‘Shutdown,’ a hip-hop beat was added by boldly sampling the theme melody from Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a legendary Italian violinist in the 19th century. All. This song by Paganini is also famous for ‘La Campanella’, which Liszt wrote as a motif.
This is not the first time classical music has appeared in popular music. For example, Shinhwa’s ‘TOP,’ which enjoyed great popularity in the early 2000s, is a song made with the motif of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake. In addition, the piece often appeared in various commercial commercials and video background music, giving familiarity to those unfamiliar with classical music.
Also, for HOT ‘Light,’ the melody of ‘Ode to Joy’ in the 4th movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony’ Chorus’ was cited, and Mozart’s 25th Symphony was used to introduce ‘Aiyah.’ Also, Ivy’s ‘Sonata of Temptation’ is Beethoven’s ‘For Elise,’ Seeya’s ‘Love Greetings’ is Elgar’s ‘Love Greetings.’ Lee Hyun-woo’s ‘The Day After We Break Up’ is Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’ and Onion’ Love.’ what is its sampled Pachelbel’s ‘Canon’ Variations, etc. In addition, countless songs sampled classical music, such as G.O.D’s ‘Dear Mother’ and Kim Kyung-ho’s ‘Aria of a Sad Soul.’
Music also shows an unconventional stage through collaboration between K-pop and classical music. For example, it is the ‘Seo Taiji Symphony’ that the group Seo Taiji and Boys performed in the 1990s. For this performance, Seo Taiji and Boys collaborated with Tolga Kasif, music director and conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in England. He was also responsible for composing and conducting the Queen Symphony Concert, a symphonic concert for the British rock group Queen.
Classic has the best conditions for sampling. Since copyright is ambiguous until 70 years after the author’s death, most works of classical musicians such as Mozart and Beethoven have lost their copyright. Therefore, this kind of music can be freely sampled into new music. Because of this, it is also true that there were a lot of songs that were sampled classically at one time. However, sampling has rarely been the main focus for a while, as criticism of the succession of attempts to gain popularity too easily has come.
However, it is analyzed that K-pop is trying to sample classical music again because it is aimed at ‘global.’ A pop music composer said, “Now that K-pop is targeting Korea and the whole world, we decided to use classical sampling again as a way to secure global universality.” As a result, classical music can be accessed in the It is similar to how idol songs are made with English lyrics.”
Blackpink’s ‘Shutdown’ as well as the mini album title song ‘Feel My Rhythm’ released by the group Red Velvet in March this year, sampled Bach’s ‘Aria on the G String,’ and BTS member Jimin’s ‘Rai’ This song is a sample of a part of ‘Spanish Dance’ from Paya’s opera ‘A Lifeless Life.’ Topdog’s ‘Amadeus’ quoted Mozart’s ‘Symphony No. 25 in G Minor, and group girlfriend’s ‘Summer Rain’ quoted Schumann’s ‘Poet’s Love.’
Of course, there are differences from the past. The classic sampling of K-pop these days goes beyond simple borrowing. The point is that it connects an essential narrative of an idol group, that is, a story that leads to a so-called ‘worldview,’ with the story behind the specific classical music. The composer said, “Recently, idol music does not end with just the act of listening, but storytelling plays an important role. When the story of classical music with a long history meets the worldview of idols and the story of music, there is a greater synergy.”
