James, the pioneering electronic dance music artist known as Aphex Twin, and Philip Glass, the veteran minimalist composer, would collide. Aphex Twin: 'Icct Hedral' (Philip Glass Orchestration) When the beat finally drops, and the theme gets transformed again, Orbit's phase-shifting arrangement induces a kind of musical dizzy spell. 56, into a delirious, swirling pulsation introduced by shimmering guitars, gentle thunder and tinkling bells. Here, Orbit brilliantly transforms Beethoven's sublime cello melody, from the slow movement of his Triple Concerto, Op. Others, like the intoxicating Beethoven Triple Concerto, are barely recognizable. Some pieces, like Barber's Adagio, are straightforward synth arrangements. After making dance remixes of pop songs and producing for Madonna ( Ray of Light), William Orbit released Pieces in a Modern Style in 2000, in which he embraced a broad range of classical music from Handel to Satie, Cage and Gorecki. William Orbit: 'Triple Concerto' (after Beethoven) This isn't subtle music making, but it'll surely get you pumping up and down with the rest of the sweat-drenched crowd. The beat, subdued momentarily, returns to the spotlight, this time dressed in variations on the Barber theme.

The warmth of Barber's long-lined theme is nowhere in sight until over two minutes in, when the pounding breaks to reveal the drowsy melody, oscillating alone, followed by icy string synths. Sturdily built for maximum club appeal, this man-handled makeover of Barber begins with a persistent throbbing. Here, Tiesto actually savages a soothing beat. If only Samuel Barber could have imagined the millions of glowstick-twirling dance rats swaying to the head-splitting decibels of his somber Adagio for Strings transformed by mega-star Dutch DJ, producer and remixer Tiësto. Soothing The Savage Beat: When Electronic Artists Conjure Classical Tiësto: 'Adagio for Strings' (After Samuel Barber)

Here are a few extraordinary examples of what can happen when those two worlds meet on the dance floor or chill out room. Two hundred years later, we find the electronic dance music artist known as Aphex Twin, overhauling one of his pulsating tracks with composer Philip Glass.Įlectronic artists, be they traffickers in trance, techno, ambient or house, have turned to classical music for inspiration. In 1795, Joseph Haydn blended a toe-tapping Croatian folk tune into the finale of his Symphony No. The divide between classical and popular music is often narrower than we might think. Electronic artists such as Mason Bates (pictured above), Aphex Twin and Tiësto have blended classical music into their dance beats.

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