Cross Ludwig van Beethoven with the Bee Gees, and what do you get? Hooked on Classics is the answer, one of the strangest compilations of well-known classical themes available. Imagine Mozart with a constant disco beat and you have an idea of the main premise of Hooked on Classics. Can you believe the main selection was played on pop stations when it was first released back in the early to mid eighties? It was, though I can’t recall exactly when, but do remember hearing it played on air.
Times have changed, and today nothing like Hooked on Classics would ever be played by any self-respecting mix station. That’s a shame, because when I first heard this album I immediately ran out to buy it. OK, so some people saw it as sacrilege. I didn’t. I immediately fell in love with this delightful collection of interwoven classical favorites. The vibrant beat makes the album perfect for exercise (great to walk to), housework (very motivational as you bounce around while cleaning), or just listening to while writing Epinions.
More than that, this is music that hopefully will inspire a greater interest in classical music in its listeners. There is just so much wonderful music here that one can’t help but want to hear more of the themes, melodies, and harmonies presented. At the time I first heard this music, I was already a classical music fan, but hearing so many wonderful pieces instilled a hunger to go out and hear the originals and explore the other works of the composers who created them.
Hooked on Classics, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Louis Clark, who also arranged the music. The album was popular enough to spawn three “sequels”:
Hooked on Classics 2: Can’t Stop the Classics
Hooked on Classics 3: Journey Through the Classics
Hooked on Classics 4: Baroque
The album features the following tracks:
Hooked on Classics Parts 1 & 2
This was the big kahuna, the one that started it all. It’s interlaced with music from many, many composers, and Clark does an incredible job of joining the music just at the right places. This is a compilation of:
Piano Concerto No. 1: Tchaikovsky, Flight of the Bumble Bee: Rimsky-Korsakov, Symphony No. 40: Mozart, Rhapsody in Blue: Gershwin, Karelia Suite: Sibelius, Symphony No.5: Beethoven, Tocatta: Bach, Eine Kleine Nacht Musik: Mozart, Symphony No. 9: Beethoven, William Tell Overture: Rossini, Aria from The Marriage of Figaro: Mozart, Romeo and Juliet: Tchaikovsky, Trumpet Voluntary: J. Clarke, Hallelujah Chorus: Handel, Piano Concerto in A Minor: Grieg, March of the Toreadors: Bizet, 1812 Overture: Tchaikovsky.
Hooked on Romance
A slow and easy listening piece featuring some very beautiful music set against a much slower paced background beat. Great for listening to with the Significant Other with lights turned down low and candles softly burning. Features:
Air from Suite No. 3: Bach, Ave Maria: Schubert, Liebestraum: Liszt, Symphony No. 9, 3rd Movement: Beethoven, 18th Variation from a Theme by Paganini: Rachmaninoff, Moonlight Sonata: Beethoven, Pathetique Sonata: Beethoven, Clarinet Concerto: Mozart, Largo: Handel.
Hooked on Classics Part 3
An extension of Parts 1 and 2 is the best description I have. Same beat, different classical pieces.
Wedding March: Mendelssohn, Radetzky March: Johann Strauss Sr., Tocatta: Widor, Alla Hornpipe from The Water Music: Handel, Humoresque: Dvorak, Lullaby: Brahms, Arrival of the Queen of Sheba: Handel, Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition: Mussorgsky, In the Hall of the Mountain King: Grieg, Caprice No. 21: Paganini, The Ride of the Valkyries: Wagner, Fingles’ Cave: Mendelssohn, Military March: Schubert, Polonaise in A: Chopin, Italian Symphony (1st Movement): Mendelssohn, Light Cavalry Overture: Suppe, Farandole: Bizet, Largo from New World Symphony: Dvorak, Prelude to Act 3 of Lohengrin: Wagner
Hooked on Bach
This one is a mélange of slow and moderate paced music. This may very well be the most beautiful track on the album, featuring some of Bach’s most delightful pieces. A wonderful journey through some of the greatest pieces written by the master of Baroque.
Ave Maria, Minuet from the Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, Choral from St. Mathew Passion, Bouree No. 2, Bouree No. 1, Gavotte, Musette, March, Choral Prelude from Wachet Auf, Ave Maria
Hooked on Tchaikovsky
Highlights some of this celebrated composers finest pieces. Tchaikovsky was a complex and storied figure whose life was complicated by his suppressed homosexuality. The ups and downs of the man are demonstrated in his music.
Capriccio Italien, Swan Lake, Dance of the Reed Flutes (Nutcracker), Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, Pathetique Symphony, Russian Dance Trepak (Nutcracker), Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies (Nutcracker), March (Nutcracker), Chinese Dance (Nutcracker), Miniature Overture (Nutcracker), Piano Concerto No. 1, Capriccio Italien
Hooked on a Song
This is a delightful collection of songs taken from opera pieces written by the great composers. A pure delight.
Torreador Song from Carmen: Bizet, Funiculi Funiculi: Denza, Tarantella Napoletana: Rossini, Polovitsian Dances: Borodin, Dance of the Hours: Ponchielli, Habanera from Carmen: Bizet, Neapolitan Serenade: Capua, Aria from Madame Butterfly: Puccini, Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore: Verdi, Toreador Song: Bizet
Hooked on Mozart
I think this is my favorite. It opens with Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca, and this music seems tailor made for Clark’s adaptation. I think Mozart would be flattered to hear this piece. Upbeat and uplifting, it gets frequent play on my MP3 Walkman when I’m out for a stroll.
Rondo Alla Turca, Piano Sonata in C Major, Eine Kleine Nacht Musik, Piano Concerto No. 21, Piano Sonata in C Major, A Musical Joke, Aria from the Marriage of Figaro, Overture from the Marriage of Figaro, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Overture from the Magic Flute, Horn Concerto in E Flat, Jupiter Symphony
Hooked on Mendelssohn
Only two selections of fast-paced violin concertos are featured, but they’re all that’s needed. Great stuff.
Violin Concerto in E minor, Scherzo from Octet Opus 20, Violin Concerto in E Minor
Hooked on a Can-Can
It’s not exactly your traditional classical music, but then neither is this entire album for that matter. It is, however, a great selection to end the album with a bang. Rousing can-can tunes that will have you envisioning lines of dancers in ruffled skirts kicking their legs in unison.
Orpheus in the Underworld: Offenbach, Thunder and Lightning Polka: Johann Strauss Sr., Hungarian Dance: Brahms, Tritsch Tratsch Polka: Johann Strauss Sr., La Vie Parisienne: Offenbach, Gallop from the Dance of the Hours: Ponchielli, Czardas: Monti, La Vie Parisienne: Offenbach, The Poet and the Peasant Overture: Suppe, Orpheus in the Underworld: Offenbach
Oddly enough, this album works. It’s different, it’s fun, and it’s great listening. If you’ve never heard it, do yourself a favor and borrow it from your local library, or better yet go out and buy a copy. Chances are that you, like me, will soon be hooked on classics.
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