Recognizing Rossini

Once upon a time, I saw this commercial in a movie theater.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMf5cCDy1I

After a couple more chance encounters, it became my favorite commercial of all time. I love Charlie Brown, and the music was fantastic (I always love it how Coke tags on the Coke jingle at the end of a commercial in the style of the music of that commercial. "Coke is the master of advertising," Dad always said. Think about it -- how many Coke insignia do you see in a day?)... but I wasn't sure what piece it was, or whether or not it was even extant before the commercial was made. I had a hunch that it was edited to fit the commercial for a couple of reasons: (1) there are two I - vi - I6/4 - V chord patterns near the end. The first one starts at 0:40 and repeats three times, and the second starts at 0:45 and repeats five times. These numbers are a bit odd -- we expect things to repeat four, two, or maybe three times... but not three times and five times (?). With this in mind, when you watch the commercial and listen for this pattern, it kinda sounds like a deliberate vamp. Also, (2) there are other, shorter versions of the commercial with cuts in the music. Yet, I am left with an unsolved mystery.

Life goes on.

A year and change later, the Baylor Symphony 2009 audition material is announced, and I start listening to recordings. I soon happily discovered that the music in the Coke commercial was a very cleverly edited rendition of Rossini's Overture to the Barber of Seville. 8^D Awesome!!!!

I was also excited to learn recently that we (the Baylor Symphony) will indeed be playing this piece. I'll have to resist adding the Coke jingle at the end every time we play it!! (I also have to resist thinking of Bugs Bunny dancing around with a comb and a pair of scissors.) That is such a fun piece to play; I'm lovin' it.

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For another interesting rendition, check out this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O-hCtPfef8

Yes, I agree, after the first five seconds, you're already thinking, "Oh my gosh, this is terrible. A travesty!" but keep listening. It gets totally cool.

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For closure, watch the Coke commercial again, and look for a quick shot of a girl holding a football. Then, click the "Charlie Brown" link above and note any similarities. 8^)

Charlie succeeds at last; all's right in the world.