From: bobl@cs.ubc.ca (Bob Lewis)
Subject: musical coincidences [SUMMARY]
Organization: Computer Science, University of B.C., Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 92 21:06:00 GMT

Thanks to everyone who contributed "musical coincidences" to the collection
I'm posting here.  I first thought of putting them in some kind of tabular
form, but there were enough interesting parenthetical remarks that I think
it's better to present the (only slightly edited) responses themselves.

Some of these are probably ripoffs rather than coincidences, but that's
okay.  Calling them "coincidences" just avoids any allegations of wrongdoing.

If anybody thinks of any other coincidences, send them along and when I get
enough, I'll post an updated list.

	- Bob Lewis
	  bobl@cs.ubc.ca

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Here are the coincidences I originally posted myself.

Brahms, "Horn Trio"
"I'll Never Say No [to You]" from "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"

Hindemith, "Alla Marcia" from "Symphonic Metatmorphoses"
"My Darling Clementine"

"Foolish You", Anna & Kate McGarrigle
"The Marine Hymn"
	(see below for additional information about "The Marine Hymn")

"If You Could Read my Mind", Gordon Lightfoot
"The Greatest Love", Whitney Houston
	(see below: there seems to have been a lawsuit involved)

Here are the other contributions.  I've added a few comments of my own in
paragraphs enclosed in []'s.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From conrad@ravel.udel.edu

And here I thought I was the only person in the world warped enough to
hear "I'll Never Say No" in Brahms!  I think of that every time I hear
the Trio.

Another Brahms coincidence is the second(? one of the secondary themes
anyway) theme of the last movement of the 2nd piano concerto, and "The
Sweetest Sounds" from NO STRINGS by Richard Rodgers.

Spike Hughes, in his FAMOUS XX OPERAS books, loved to point these out;
you might enjoy skimming through them (I don't own them so can't do it
for you!).  Two that I remember from Verdi are DON CARLOS, the beginning
of the Auto da Fe scene, with the pop song "A Day in the Park."  And the
end of the Aida-Radames duet in Act III of AIDA has a phrase identical
to ["You may not be an angel, but..."] "I'll String Along with You."

More as and if I think of 'em.  

Nice idea!

Jon

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>From maverick@ginkgo.CS.Berkeley.EDU

One of my favorites is the Band song "Chest Fever" (off _Music from Big
Pink_), an obvious :) ripoff of the last movement of the Jupiter Symphony.

	Vance

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>From mckinzie@math.wisc.edu

Just mailing you my .sig file -- but it will only make sense if you
remember the Banana Splits show from the late 60s US tv.


Mark McKinzie          	| Tra la la, Tra la la la, Tra la la la la la la la
mckinzie@math.wisc.edu 	|               -The Banana Splits, 1968-
UW Dept. of Mathematics	| Oy oi oi, Oy yoi oi oi, Oy oi oi oi oi oi oi oi
Madison, WI 53706      	|               -Bob Marley, 1974-

[ Mark provided further title information: ]

The Banana Splits Song  (It was also released as the Tra La La Song).
Buffalo Soldier

I don't know if it is a coincidence, or if Marley stole the riff.

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>From peter@spock.physik.uni-konstanz.de

I am not sure wether this is a musical coincidence in your sense, but the
movie theme of star wars has a close resemblence to a tune in Bruckners 4th
symphony (i believe in the 2nd movement). 

[ Sounds like a coincidence to me. ]

It would be fine if you could publish your collection on the net when you
has finished it.

[ Done. ]

Peter.

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>From prfc4@syma.sussex.ac.uk

Listening recently to Puccini's girl of the golden west (nice, but I
wouldn't go out and buy it, chocolate is cheaper!) I was somewhat
surprised to hear in one of the arias a phrase very similar to one of
the songs from Phantom of the Opera - wonder if it's coincidence or
plagiarism?

[ Anyone care to fill in the details? ]

-- 
Gil Perkins, SPRU, Mantell Building, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RF, UK
Email: prfc4@syma.sussex.ac.uk   Phone: +44 273 686758  Fax: +44 273 685865

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>From fernande@cps.msu.edu

Here are two:

1. "If I should love again" (Barry Manilow)
	Rachmaninov Sym #2 3rd Mvmt
2. "All by myself" (?)
	Rachmaninov Piano Cto #2 2nd Mvmt
-- 
Jose Roberto Fernandez
fernande@cps.msu.edu

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>From hudu@well.sf.ca.us

The theme associated with Agamemnon in =Elektra= is the same as the theme
associated with Iolanthe in =Iolanthe=.

It's not classical, exactly, but the melodies of "One Kiss" from =New Moon=
and "No, No, Nanette!" from the musical are very similar, except that the
former is a ballad and the latter is quite peppy.  I'm not sure if this is a
coincidence; Mr. Youmans may have been indulging in a private joke.

Stephen Sondheim's "Night Waltz" from =A Little Night Music= is very similar
to one of Erik Satie's "Trois Nocturnes", the second one if my memory is
right.

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>From cerrlss@techunix.technion.ac.il

In rec.music.classical you write:

>It occurred to me that people on the net might enjoy helping me assemble a
>collection of musical coincidences.  The more dissimilar the sources, the
>better.

>Please don't followup, but instead send any musical coincidences you can
>think of to me by email and I will edit and post the results.

The Israely Nathioal Anthem "Hatikva" is very simmilar to Smetana's
"Moldaw".
-- 
 /=== Shahar Steiff  -   Computing and Process Control Engineer ===\
/ Chemical Engineering, Technion , Haifa, ISRAEL 32000   (room 318) \
\ Ph.(+)972-4-293420 Fx.(+)972-4-230476 | cerrlss@tx.technion.ac.il /
 \==Home:Ramat Yochanan 30035 04-459536 | cerrlss@technion.bitnet==/
                Today's fortune (Added automaticaly):

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>From tait@spruce.cs.columbia.edu

Hi, Bob,

Here are two that aren't exactly "coincidences" in the sense you
describe, but are so similar that they can be played simultaneously
in the style of PDQ Bach:

(1) The Pachelbel Canon AND
    The old Burger King jingle that goes:
    "Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce; special orders don't upset us"

[ I read a review once that explained the popularity of Pachelbel's Canon
  by noting that the chord progression was very similar to a common one
  in country music.  A coincidence, in fact. ]

(2) The allegro first theme of Beethoven's Lenore Overture No. 3 AND
    The theme song of "Petticoat Junction"
    (The Beethoven even has a break in the texture where one can
    insert the obligatory spoken interjection, "Petticoat // Junction")

[ Actually, these are both good examples of what I call a coincidence.
  An essential question to ask is "When you hear one, do you think of
  the other?" ]

Regards,
Carl

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>From ex.heurikon.com!mikem%heurikon.UUCP@cs.wisc.edu

I think this is a borrowing and not a coincidence:

Star Trek TV show theme and Mahler Symphony 7, first movement.

Just the three note trumpet theme, but it sounds identical.
-- 
Mike Mayer                                             mikem@heurikon.com

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>From darrin%mekong.engin.umich.edu@srvr2.engin.umich.edu

I recall reading somewhere that at the beginning of the century (I think) a
composer from America wrote a song. Some composer from Europe, I think an
obscure village in Germany, had already written the same song. They differed
by only two notes, supposedly. It would have been attributed to plaigarism,
except that the German composer was so obscure that there was really no way
the American would have heard his piece. I don't remember where I read this,
the name of the songs or composers, and I can't verify it, but I thought it
was an interesting antecdote.

[ Great story!  Can anyone provide details? ]

						Darrin Cardani

darrin@engin.umich.edu

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>From @texbell.sbc.com:cl0729@swuts

	Well, everybody else in the world will probably send these to you as
well, but still:

"I've Been Workin' on the Railroad" and Von Suppe's "Poet and Peasant" Overture
(specifically the 'cello tune in the introduction)

[ Yes!  I remember this one!  Nasty spoiler, isn't it? ]

"Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" and "Come, freinds who plow the seas" from
"Pirates of Penzance" (this may not actually be a coincidence; the song may
have been derived from the G&S tune)

[ As I hear it, the melody is identical over quite a few bars, making a
  coincidence highly unlikely. ]

And here's a non-coincidence that's still kind of amusing:  Waldteufel's
"Espana Waltz" (itself adapted from Chabrier) was used as a popular song in
the 50s entitled (I kid you not) "Hot Diggedy Dog" by Eddie Fisher.

[ I once heard that there was some sort of pop composers' strike in the 40's
  or 50's that led to a lot of arrangements of classical themes (especially
  Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky) for pop songs.   Details? ]

Life is strange.

Chuck
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From telco@netcom.com

I have always thought that the theme from "The Bob Newhart Show", with
Suzanne Plushette(sp?) and Jimmy Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun"
shared a certain guitar riff.  I'm I crazy, or what?

-mark%homer@key.amdahl.com
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>From hinz@picard.med.ge.com

One that I noticed a while ago is from Alan Parsons Project & Yngwie
Malmsteen (sp?):

Two of a kind, off of, perhaps, eye in the sky, and 'to the other side?'
from, I think, rising force.  I can look this up and get back to you
tomorrow nite.
--
Dave Hinz  -  Opinions expressed are mine, not my employer's.  Obviously.
hinz@picard.med.ge.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From martin@ursa.cis.umassd.edu

You've probably gotten this one many times:
Pachelbel's Canon & the Burger King commercial "Hold the Pickle, Hold the 
Lettuce ..."  (I'd guess more than coincidence, though)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From alberta!uunet.UU.NET!mcrware!jejones

In article <1992Jul14.190127.15395@cs.ubc.ca> you write:
>Whitney Houston: "The Greatest Love"
>Gordon Lightfoot: "If You Could Read My Mind"

I think there was a plagiarism suit over this one.

Anyway...there's a Mozart symphony (the "Hafner" symphony?  I'm not sure)
in D major that for a few bars in the main theme of the first movement
sounds like someone switched the music with "Joy to the World."

[ Since Handel wrote "Joy to the World", it's possible that Mozart borrowed
  the theme, but I'd be surprised if W. A. ever had to intentionally crib a
  melody.   Probably a coincidence. ]

	James Jones
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From SFRIEDMAN@pbs.org

>send any musical coincidences you can
>think of to me by email and I will edit and post the results.
>Thanks in advance.  This should be fun!
>	- Bob Lewis
>	  bobl@cs.ubc.ca

Yes, it should!  Thanks for starting it.

What comes right away  to mind is `Memory,' from CATS -- the first
few bars are somewhat similar to Ravel's `Bolero';       ~
a phrase farther into the song resembles Chabrier's `Espana' 
rhapsody nearly to the point of tautology, so that I must
wonder whether we are being too charitable to Andrew Lloyd
Webber by calling this a musical `coincidence.'   :-)
Actually, just about everything I've heard from this man sounds
to me like something else.  But of course, that's just MHO,
and I'm not responsible for anything I say or do.   :-) again

[ Including the statement "I'm not responsible for anything I say or do"?
  B-) ]

More obscure: I and some friends meet every Wednesday night to
sing and play traditional, quasitraditional and pseudotraditional
music of the British Isles.  A Scottish song called `Mormond
Braes' sounds like `They Call the Wind Maria' from PAINT YOUR WAGON.
The end of an Irish number called `Cruiscin Lan' (`kroosh-keen lawn')
always seems to impel us toward `The Teddy Bears' Picnic.'  Between 
verses of the Scottish `Twa Corbies' I find myself playing a little
harmonica phrase lifted from Mussorgsky's `Night on Bald Mountain' --
it just seems to belong, so nobody really notices.  And you'd
be astonished at how many of these songs seem to go so well with
both `Auld Lang Syne' AND `Five Feet of Heaven and a Ponytail' 
(`The cutest ponytail/That shakes with a wiggle when she walks').

BTW: Gordon Lightfoot also noticed the similarity between his song
and the Michael Masser-Linda Creed number `The Greatest Love of All.'
He sued.  I don't know what came of the suit.... And the music for
`The Marines' Hymn' comes from an Offenbach opera, `Genevieve de
Brabant'!

Steve Edw. Friedman, p/k/a `Fred'
-- 
<<<<<sfriedman@pbs.org     ...{uupsi,vrdhxq,csed-1,ida.org}!pbs!sfriedman!>>>>>
<<<<<<<<   I'm Fred.  Don't blame my employer; it's not responsible.   >>>>>>>>
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Avoid contact with eyes. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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>From aruss@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu

Here are a couple:

	The choruses of "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush and "Mandy" by 
Barry Manilow.  

	"Rollercoaster" by the Jesus and Mary Chain and "Mr. Tambourine
Man" by Bob Dylan.  

				andrew

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From ndrose@husc.harvard.edu

The song "John o Dreams" borrows a melody from Tchaikovsky.

Nathan Rose

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>From tmorgan@as.arizona.edu

I certainly know what you're taking about -- in fact after you notice this sort
of thing it sometimes interferes with listening to the piece.  Therefore I'm
slightly reluctant to mention the one that comes to mind, but I will anyway.
Now whenever I hear the "Imperial March" from the _Empire Strikes Back_ I
can't keep the words "A spoon-ful of sugar makes the med-icine go down, 
medicine go down..."  out of my head. Its just that bit and at a slower tempo, 
but now I can't keep a silly smile off my face when I hear this in the movie 
(sorta spoils the menacing feel, doesn't it 8-) ).

Tad
:   Tad Morgan  --  "To baldly go where no one has gone before..." - ST:TNG   :
:   Internet: tmorgan@as.arizona.edu   CI$: 71650,471     GEnie: W.MORGAN12   :
:   "I was compelled to take the laws of physics into my own hands." - Opus   :

Newsgroups: rec.music.classical