MY TURN: Music to my ears

Music surrounds us every day. We hear catchy jingles in advertising, a musical theme that calls our attention to a certain product or service. McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ it,” Burger King's “Have it your way,” and you might remember Alka-Seltzer’s “Plop Plop Fizz Fizz” jingle. 

When you watch television, you probably hear the chimes on the NBC network and know that you are tuned into a National Broadcasting Company station. Good advertising, right? But do you know where the musical jingle came from and what it represents? 

When General Electric Company owned NBC, it developed the musical jingle to the notes of G, E and C, the initials of General Electric Company, to identify the NBC network. Play the notes in order on any musical instrument to hear the jingle. 

The four-note motif in Ludwig van Beethoven’s "Symphony No. 5" is widely recognized, making it one of the most popular and frequently played orchestral pieces around the world. This now-famous and well-liked symphony premiered in 1808. 

There are quite a few well-known musical works that we like and probably hum along with when we hear them, but we do not know what they are.  

Remember the musical nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?” Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) used that melody as the motif in his "Symphony No. 94," the “Surprise Symphony,” written in 1791. The melody is from the French melody "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman," first published in 1761. 

Well-known and ubiquitous soundtracks in movies, especially cartoons, add ambiance as a background for the action of the scene. 

One very familiar musical soundtrack in cartoons is the tranquil flow of the opening movement of Gioachino Rossini’s "William Tell Overture," which premiered in Paris in 1829. This music lulls us into the beauty of a pristine spring morning when, suddenly, blaring trumpets announce the next movement of the Overture. You may recognize this as the theme of the “Lone Ranger.”  

Selections from Georges Bizet's 1875 opera "Carmen" are frequently used in movies, especially cartoons. The lyrical melody “Procession of the Toreadors” is instantly recognized. 

Oh, let’s not forget “Can-Can” by Jacques Offenbach, which is the most played piece from his 1858 operetta, Orphée aux enfers ("Orpheus in the Underworld"). The “Can-Can” is usually associated with burlesque dancers or a raucous barroom brawl. 

Another rousing piece is the “1812 Overture” by the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). The roar of the cannons in this piece musically depicts the wartime battle during which the United States declared war on the United Kingdom in the War of 1812. 

Tchaikovsky also composed "Swan Lake," "Sleeping Beauty" and, of course, "The Nutcracker." The “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and “Dance of the Mirlitons” are audience favorites. 

Background music in movies is mostly incidental, with simple ongoing melodies adding substance to each scene. The dramatic effect of the theme for “Jaws” when the great white shark is in the area is well known and signifies danger.  

Popular movie theme music heard in “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” is instantly recognized. Both were composed by John Williams and are easily identified because we hear them when we watch the movies. 

Saving the best for last, making you a musical scholar, Warner Brothers Pictures ends its movies with its studio logo and the instrumental version of the last bars of the song, “As Time Goes By.” The song is featured in the 1942 movie “Casablanca” with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Bogart plays Rick Blaine, who owns “Rick’s Café Americain,” where Rick’s friend and house pianist, Sam, sings “As Time Goes By” during the movie.  

As a side note, (a little musical humor here), “As Time Goes By” was voted No. 2 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years Songs special, only to be surpassed by Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow,” according to a Wikipedia article on the internet. 

You can hear the musical selections mentioned in this article on the internet for your musical pleasure. Ta-da! 

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Jack Evensizer resides in Dalton Gardens.