Stories

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Composer stories, trivia, origin reveals; get to really know the music behind the music you already love, built around the real, fully licensed recordings on the Essential Classics channel.

The Same Eight Bars Score a Breakup and a Breakdown

Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" theme does two opposite jobs in six years: a clean music-box intro on Beyoncé's "Sorry," then torn apart for the "Black Swan" horror score. Hear the original whole.

The Sweetest Tune Tchaikovsky Ever Wrote Is Now a Horror Sound

Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" is now a horror cue, from Dizzee Rascal's grime to creepy film scoring. He built it in secret. Hear the real thing, celesta and all.

The Internet's Favorite "Dreamy" Sound Is a Piano Piece From the 1890s

The internet's go-to "dreamy / aesthetic" sound is Debussy's "Clair de Lune," written in the 1890s. It floods TikTok partly because it's public domain. Hear it in full.

Nas's Biggest Single Is Built on Beethoven. The Hook You Hummed as a Kid.

Nas's "I Can" is built on Beethoven's "Fur Elise," and Beethoven's Fifth topped the US pop chart in 1976. Rap has raided the classical canon for 40 years.

The Most Famous Villain in Movies Is a 150-Year-Old Trick

Darth Vader's theme, the Jaws two notes, and Peter and the Wolf all use the leitmotif, a tune glued to a character. Wagner built the trick, and hated the name. Hear the source.

The Song You've Heard a Hundred Times and Cannot Name

That wall of voices in every epic trailer is Orff's "O Fortuna." It's not medieval, he nearly disowned everything else he wrote, and you've never heard the whole work.

The Sound of Outer Space Is a 19th-Century Ballroom Waltz

Kubrick scored a spaceship docking with Strauss's "Blue Danube," a ballroom waltz, then threw out the original score he had commissioned for "2001." The story, and where to hear the whole waltz.

The Troll Music That Became Cinema's Favorite Way to Say "This Is About to Go Wrong"

That creeping-then-pounding chase music is Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King," written for trolls in an Ibsen play. From "M" and "The Social Network" to "Trolls." Hear it whole.

The Charging-Doom Music in Loki and Apocalypse Now Was Written for Goddesses Collecting Corpses

That charging-doom cue in Loki and Apocalypse Now is Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries," from his opera "Die Walküre." It scored goddesses gathering the dead first. Hear the whole thing.

The Saddest Piece in Classical Music Is a Forgery, and a Twentieth-Century One

The famous "Albinoni" Adagio in G minor, heard at funerals and now sampled by Central Cee, was written by his biographer Remo Giazotto in 1958. Hear the story.

The Disco Hit That Flopped Until Manilow Put a Chopin Prelude Out Front

"Could It Be Magic" first flopped in 1971 as uptempo bubblegum pop. Only when Barry Manilow re-cut it in 1975 with Chopin's Prelude Op. 28 No. 20 out front did it become a hit. Hear all three.

The Pop Ballad That Pays Royalties to a Composer Dead Since 1943

The swooning part of Eric Carmen's "All By Myself," later a Celine Dion hit, is lifted from Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. The dead composer still earns 12%. Hear the original.

The 60s Pop Hit Built on a Bach Minuet That Bach Never Wrote

The Toys' 1965 hit "A Lover's Concerto" is built on the famous "Minuet in G major." The twist: that Bach minuet was actually written by Christian Petzold. Hear the original.

The Sound of Every Cannes Film Is Two Minutes Saint-Saëns Hid in a Drawer

The shimmer that opens every Cannes screening is Saint-Saëns' "Aquarium," a piece he hid for 35 years. A critic heard it in Days of Heaven and made it the festival's signature. Hear the whole Carnival.

The Sound TV Reaches For When Someone's About to Die Is the Music Mozart Died Writing

Mozart's "Lacrimosa" is the music screens reach for when someone's about to die, from the Peaky Blinders finale to a Hobbs & Shaw trailer. He died writing it. Hear it whole.