musichistory: “If I Were a Rich Man” by Zero Mostel [1964] Random Music History Song of the Day I could go dozens of places with this post, but let me start here… Classical music finds its way into more “popular” music more often than one might realize. There are the obvious examples like The Toy’s 1965 hit “A Lover’s Concerto,” for which the melody was taken directly from “Minuet in G,” composed by Christian Petzold in 1725 (often mistakenly attributed to J.S. Bach). There are also less well-known examples. Both “The Free Design’s “Kije’s Ouija” from 1970 (a previous song of the day) and Greg Lake’s “I Believe in Father Christmas” from ‘75 take their melodies from “Troika,” the fourth movement of Sergei Prokofiev’s 1934 Lieutenant Kijé film score. “If I Were a Rich Man” takes both its style and melody from a theme in the third movement of Gustav Mahler’s 1896 first symphony (click to 2:35 into the linked song), which itself was partly a reworking of the traditional European folk song “Frère Jacques” into a funeral march. Follow all that? The point, then, is that new melodies are hard to come by these days. Where modern artists make their mark is in performance. Zero Mostel’s interpretation of Tevye, the Russian Milkman protagonist in Fiddler on the Roof, won him a Tony Award, and for good reason. The most impressive moment in the entire musical for Mostel came with “If I Were a Rich Man,” a performance so overflowing with personality it became arguably the defining work of Mostel’s career. The small idiosyncrasies he incorporated brought out both the solemnity and humor of Tevye’s life. The fun version of “If I Were a Rich Man” posted here comes from the cast recording of the 1964 original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof. I have a ton more fun facts and interesting angles to take on this song (did you know Bea Arthur was an original cast member in the ‘64 Broadway production?), but I suppose this post is long enough already…

musichistory:

“If I Were a Rich Man” by Zero Mostel [1964]

Random Music History Song of the Day

I could go dozens of places with this post, but let me start here… Classical music finds its way into more “popular” music more often than one might realize. There are the obvious examples like The Toy’s 1965 hit “A Lover’s Concerto,” for which the melody was taken directly from “Minuet in G,” composed by Christian Petzold in 1725 (often mistakenly attributed to J.S. Bach). There are also less well-known examples. Both “The Free Design’s “Kije’s Ouija” from 1970 (a previous song of the day) and Greg Lake’s “I Believe in Father Christmas” from ‘75 take their melodies from “Troika,” the fourth movement of Sergei Prokofiev’s 1934 Lieutenant Kijé film score.

“If I Were a Rich Man” takes both its style and melody from a theme in the third movement of Gustav Mahler’s 1896 first symphony (click to 2:35 into the linked song), which itself was partly a reworking of the traditional European folk song “Frère Jacques” into a funeral march. Follow all that?

The point, then, is that new melodies are hard to come by these days. Where modern artists make their mark is in performance. Zero Mostel’s interpretation of Tevye, the Russian Milkman protagonist in Fiddler on the Roof, won him a Tony Award, and for good reason. The most impressive moment in the entire musical for Mostel came with “If I Were a Rich Man,” a performance so overflowing with personality it became arguably the defining work of Mostel’s career. The small idiosyncrasies he incorporated brought out both the solemnity and humor of Tevye’s life. The fun version of “If I Were a Rich Man” posted here comes from the cast recording of the 1964 original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof.

I have a ton more fun facts and interesting angles to take on this song (did you know Bea Arthur was an original cast member in the ‘64 Broadway production?), but I suppose this post is long enough already…