Five videos that prove a touch of Chopin makes all music utterly beautiful

27 February 2015, 19:18 | Updated: 28 February 2015, 23:26

Take a well-known tune, add a few broken chords, an undulating meter, the odd flourish, and just a touch of melancholy - you've got a Chopin masterpiece. Here are a few of our favourite arrangements and mash-ups.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 (la valse)

It's one of the greatest movements ever composed, and it works surprisingly well as a waltz. Fate may be famously knocking at the door, but with some Parisian/Polish pianism added, it's a very elegant rap. 

 


An Impromptu Blue Danube

American composer and pianist Richard Grayson shows us one of his favourite party tricks, improvisations and stylistic mash-ups. But how does Johann Strauss II's beloved Vienese waltz fare? (By the Beautiful Blue Vistula, anyone?)

 


Bossa Novelette at the Piano Bar-carole

Even Brazilian composer and master of the laid-back Bossa Nova, Antonio Carlos Jobim can be Chopin-ified. Here's Chega de Saudade - but can we please request The Girl from Ipanema?

 


"Hey, I just Étude, and this is crazy"

It's time for Carly Rae Jepsen's 2012 hit, 'Call Me Maybe'. And thanks to pianist Camille Mai, a few flattened 9ths and a healthy amount of rubato, it's no longer annoying (*hides*).

 


"Now you're just somebody that I berceused to know"

Camille Mai is back, with an arrangement of another early-2010s earworm. With a bit of harmonic colour, and the odd ornament and clashed note, Gotye & Kimbra's 2012 hit turns into a surprisingly lush Nocturne.