Beethoven's 5th Symphony (Trilogy)

Part 1, Beethoven
I know I don't need to explain Beethoven or his 5th Symphony. But the video is worth viewing for the cleverness of this sketch, to the music of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, featuring Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray from the 1950's.

Argument to Beethoven's 5th


Part 2, 70's Disco
Walter Murphy released his single "A Fifth of Beethoven" at the peak of the Disco era in 1976. It was a disco instrumental adaptation of the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. This was way before the sampling, looping and cut and paste techniques that are now common. So for that reason alone, what he did was groundbreaking and very effective. It was also featured on the 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack.



Part 3, 00's R&B
Robin Thicke released "When I Get You Alone" under the name 'Thicke' in 2002 and it became a Top 10 hit in New Zealand and charted well elsewhere, although, it didn't chart at all in the USA. The reason it is on this blog, as part of this trilogy, if you don't know already, is because he sampled Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven," practically in full, with his vocal track added over the top. However, he manages to make it his own. Nice to see a song given another life and then that adaptation of the song also given another life.