Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines has been an unexpected boon for an 86 year old classical music composer from Canada. John Beckwith has seen sales surge for his own composition of the same name a 1997 duet for harpsichord and violin.
The happy synchronicity was discovered by Allegra Young recording and licensing manager with the Canadian Music Centre. This Toronto institution is an archive and a label that champions the country's new music composers. I was having a look at the numbers and Beckwith's Blurred Lines received over 4 000 streams in one month Young explained to PRI. It's a great disc but I was wondering why everyone was listening to the same track.
Across the internet thousands of music fans looking for Thicke's raunchy cowbell stoked summer jam stumbled instead on a recording of Beckwith's sombre dirge released on the 2010 CD Jalsaghar. My piece doesn't have lyrics Beckwith wrote in an email. It's a 10 minute piece with quarter tone glides for both violin and harpsichord. I wrote it after hearing some recordings from the Swedish hardanger fiddle repertoire so it's like a slow elegy.
Beckwith still hasn't heard Thicke's Blurred Lines. I'm told the lyrics are 'bawdy ' he wrote. Thicke in turn shows no indication of having listened to Beckwith's version. But with hundreds of listeners getting their introduction to Beckwith's experimental harpsichord music Young said she would love if this turned them on to other non traditional textures .
Beckwith is one of the composers who really helped to define what Canadian music is today she said. But unlike fellow luminaries such as Ann Southam Stephen Chatman Harry Somers and John Weinzweig Beckwith is the one who happened to have a similar title to a pop song.
Beckwith is also still composing he rides his bike over to our office Young said. His next project may or may not be a cello sonata called Get Lucky.
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