From The Beatles to ‘Bridgerton’: when pop goes posh
Netflix’s costume drama has revived interest in a much-derided musical genre. By Marianka Swain
It has been dubbed “the Bridgerton effect”. Following the success of Netflix’s blockbuster drama, demand for corsets, formal tea sets and Georgian properties have all surged. Now we can add to that list classical covers of pop songs.
Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ), whose takes on hits such as Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy and Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next featured prominently in the costume drama, have seen their music catalogue pass a billion streams, following a 350 per cent increase in listeners, and their Bridgerton album top both the iTunes and classical charts.
“It’s mind-boggling,” says James Curtiss, the creative director for the group. But it is also encouraging, he adds, proving there is value in the much-maligned “crossover” genre.
“The best thing that can happen is it’s not just a string quartet version – it becomes something greater and transcends [the original],” says Leo Flynn, the group’s brand manager. But without that creative ambition, adds Curtiss, there’s a danger that “it slips into elevator music”.
The Los Angeles-based quartet was formed in 1999. Rather than having permanent members, numerous performers and arrangers have joined the group over the years, contributing work to TV shows such as House, Gossip Girl and Westworld, and covering tracks such as Janet Jackson’s Control, INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart and Coldplay’s Yellow.
But why devote yourself to covering pop hits? Curtiss says the group is interested in “what speaks to people now”, and, since they drop the lyrics, delving more into “the rhythms and intricate moments in the melodies” – or, in the case of
Eilish, the use of atonality and breaths, which present an interesting challenge to instrumentalists.
Nick Stewart, a veteran of the music management business, agrees that the crossover genre “can be very cheesy” if done poorly, and that some may feel “orchestral versions of rock are an oxymoron”. “Rock is meant to be played on guitars and drums. That’s the intent,” he says.
However, he points out that the crossover trend predates Bridgerton by many years. “The Beatles were probably the first. I remember listening to the pop versions as a child, while my father preferred Arthur Wilkinson and his Orchestra’s Beatle Cracker Suite – Beatles songs fused with Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. Worlds colliding!”
Stewart thinks cross-genre work “can be artistically interesting”. Jon Lord, the Deep Purple keyboardist, produced a concerto; Jeff Wayne and the Moody Blues used an orchestra for, respectively, Musical Version of the War of the Worlds and Nights in White Satin; Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody was inspired by opera, and in 1965 the Andrew Oldham Orchestra recorded a string arrangement of The Last Time, by The Rolling Stones, which was subsequently the subject of a fraught legal battle when The Verve sampled it for their Bitter Sweet Symphony. This can be big business. It is also an
ongoing trend: last year, Neil Diamond released a covers album with the London Symphony Orchestra. But the best crossover, argues Stewart, is Miss Sarajevo, the 1995 single by U2 and Brian Eno, with guest vocals from none other than Luciano Pavarotti.
“A lot of rock musicians are classically trained, so it’s not that surprising,” he adds.
Philip Noyce, the managing editor of Classic FM, says there is “no snobbery” at the station towards crossover. “We take Miles Davis’s view: good music is good no matter what kind of music it is. We play what our listeners want to hear,” he adds.
Anyhow, it is a false distinction, he argues. “Now, with streaming, you can move between genres – rather than just visiting one section of HMV. Besides, classical music was the pop music of its time. Liszt paraphrased big numbers from popular operas.”
If it’s a way into classical, so much the better. “We’re very aware that [classical music] can feel daunting; there are barriers to entry. It’s different if someone comes across it in a video game, and experiences the thrill and texture of an orchestra.
“[The snobbery] will continue to be around, I think, because people feel threatened. But you have to be careful. It’s great to be passionate about the classical music you love – less so if you tell someone their tastes aren’t as good as yours, excluding them.”
The reverse can happen, too. “We had a request from a couple in their seventies for [the Lithuanian accordionist] Martynas playing Lady Gaga’s Telephone. They had no clue who Gaga was, but they loved the tune.” In 2017, to celebrate their 25th anniversary, Classic FM teamed up with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic for Pop Goes Classical, a covers album featuring 12 of the biggest pop hits from the past 25 years, including songs by Adele, Bryan Adams and Take That. “That still continues to perform really well for us,” says Noyce. “It’s streaming about half a million every year. We get messages from people saying they walked down the aisle to the Bryan Adams arrangement.”
Sandra Parr, artistic planning director for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, similarly says that they play to “a wide audience. They’re all important to us. I do have colleagues in the classical world who are sniffy about [crossover], but I’d say use your ears, not your prejudice.”
Operating in a city “that’s known for its music”, the orchestra has often dipped into other styles, she adds. “There’s nothing wrong with easy listening. You don’t always want Mahler blasting at you.” As for classical covers, they can be revelatory. “I’d heard Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah done by so many people – it wasn’t my favourite. But then hearing Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s version, it hit the core of his soul, and mine,” she recalls.
Is there a danger of the Liverpool Philharmonic eroding their reputation? Certainly not, says Parr. “We’re still very much in the mindset of ‘We’re a world-class orchestra in the classical field.’ But the players enjoy doing other things. As long as it’s high quality, we’re happy.”
Naturally, The Beatles crop up regularly in their repertoire – such as the socially distanced concert held in December marking the 40th anniversary of John Lennon’s death.
“The pandemic has made us more appreciative of live music and connecting to it. When I looked out at the end of the show, it was a sea of Kleenex. That’s worthwhile, no matter what the genre.”