Tom Hodge
Paganini Rocks
As with Aerodynamic, everything begins with a preexisting piece. This one though was written in the early 1800s- Caprice 24 for solo violin by Paganini.
You can read all about Caprice 24 and the Paganini Variations on Wikipedia here
As with Aerodynamic, everything begins with a preexisting piece. This one though was written in the early 1800s- Caprice 24 for solo violin by Paganini.
You can read all about Caprice 24 and the Paganini Variations on Wikipedia here
And here is the legendary violinist Heifetz playing Caprice 24.
The top comment on this YouTube link reads:
"Every year, there is a Bieber, every decade there are the Beatles, every century, there is a Heifetz, every millennium there is a Paganini."
Too kind to Bieber and too harsh on the Beatles but about right other than that I think!
Paganini's Caprice 24 has fascinated composers (including such greats as Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Liszt and Schumann to name but a few) for the last 200 years and I found myself drawn to it also.
My version, recorded at the same session as Aerodynamic in fact, starts out with piano, string quintet, vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba, xylophone but then takes a post-rock twist.
Music consultant, Jesper Gadeberg, soon found a home for this piece on this pan-European Audi commercial.
But this was to be only the start of Paganini Rocks' journey, when publisher Boosey & Hawkes played the piece to Radio 1 DJ, Sunday Best owner and Bestival founder, Rob da Bank
Rob da Bank then teamed up with Tom Middleton and ROBORTOM was born. They then recruited Au Revoir Simone and busied themselves turning Paganini Rocks into a dance floor filler. A host of remixes from the likes of James Talk & Mighty Mouse followed, and Paganini Rocks is set to land again on Ibiza's shores this summer.
Watch and listen to some of Paganini Rocks' many iterations below.
Watch and listen to some of Paganini Rocks' many iterations below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r95iypk9eY&feature=channel_video_title
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpkMTUIW-I4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptGmw51cUsE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnuR4YtYgaM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yyK6iznafw
New versions of Paganini Rocks in turn created new sync opportunities and it became the theme tune to Orange Rock Corps on Channel 4
And not long after that, the music supervision team at Crime Scene Investigation came knocking.
Robortom's Paganini Rocks was featured in CSI:NY Series 7, Episode 2 "Unfriendly Chat"
But as music usages go, here is my personal favourite...