1. The Nokia Ringtone
This short passage was taken from the piece "Grand Vals" by Francisco Tárrega for guitar. Originally, "Grand Vals" was taken from Chopin's waltz "Grand Valse Brilliante" which he composed in 1834. The vice President of Nokia in the person of Anssi Vanjoki and Lauri Kivinen who was then Head of Corporate Communications selected bars 13-16 as the common Nokia Ringtone we hear now.
2. The Cat Concerto
The Cat Concerto is the 29th episode of Tom and Jerry. It was an episode where Tom was a concert pianist, playing a classical piece and doing it with enjoyable flair. Unfortunately his playing awakes Jerry, who sleeps inside the grand piano. This leads to a chase in and around the piano. The piece was originally composed by Franz Liszt and named as "Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2", a very challenging piece dared to be played by virtuosic talents alone.
3. The National Maths and Science Quiz Them Song
This sound track has rung in our minds for more than 10 years now. It has brought good and bad memories to students who either won or lost the competition. This theme is an excerpt of "Voi che sapete" from the opera "Figaro" composed by Mozart
4. Thine Be The Glory
This is a hymn sang by most Orthodox churches all over the globe. It is mostly used during Easter to commemorate the Rising of Jesus Christ on the third. The origin of this hymn is from a chorus entitled "See the conq'ring hero comes" from Judas Maccabeus. It was composed by George Friedrich Handel. This piece was also included in his oratorio, "Joshua".
5. UEFA Champions League Anthem
This anthem has proven to be one of the most inspirational anthems even to the ears of those who do not understand the languages used in it. It was composed by Tony Britten in 1992. This anthem was adapted from Britain's most popular coronation anthem, Zadok The Priest which was composed by Handel.
6. Millenium Prayer
The title may not sound familiar, but the song is one of the most popular songs on the Lord's Prayer. The musician Cliff Richard set the words of the Lord's Pray to this tune. Originally, the tune is a hymn composed by Robert Burns called "Auld lang syne" translated from old English as Old Long Since.
7. You Raise Me Up
Who composed the tune of this song? ...... I knew you'd say Josh Groban. I just busted his ass. The origin of the tune is from a funeral song entitled "Silent Story" composed by an Irish-Norwegian called Rolf Lovland. It was performed for the very first time at his mother's funeral.
8. Battle Hymn of The Republic
If you were thinking the tune in this piece was composed by a ManU fan, you are fatally mistaken. Manchester United fanatics decided to use it as the club's song. It surprised me when I found out that the original tune was from the song "John Brown's body". The lyrics were collectively written by a group of Union soldiers for John Brown.
So now we know the origin of some of the tunes of which we kept on wondering about their history. Feel free to share any other popular tunes and their origins.
