crossover

Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres.^[1] If the second chart is a record chart, such as a "Hot 100" list, the work is not a crossover since the pop charts only track popularity and do not constitute a separate genre.

In some contexts the term "crossover" can have negative connotations, implying the watering-down of a music's distinctive qualities to accommodate to mass tastes. For example, in the early years of rock and roll, many songs originally recorded by African-American musicians were re-recorded by white artists such as Pat Boone in a more toned-down style, often with changed lyrics, that lacked the hard edge of the original versions. These covers were popular with a much broader audience.

In practice crossover frequently results from the appearance of the music in question in a film soundtrack. For instance, Sacred Harp music experienced a spurt of crossover popularity as a result of its appearance in the 2003 film Cold Mountain, and bluegrass music experienced a revival due to the reception of 2000's O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Even atonal music, which tends to be less popular among classical enthusiasts, has a kind of crossover niche, since it is widely used in filmmaking and television production scores "to depict an approaching menace", as noted by Charles Rosen.^{[citation needed]}

The largest figure to date for a crossover hit in the US has come from Grammy Award-winning country singer LeAnn Rimes^{[citation needed]}, whose song "How Do I Live" sold over 3 million copies and spent a world record breaking 69 weeks on the Hot 100 chart, more than any other song in history at the time, despite peaking only at number 2.^{[citation needed]} It was also a massive hit in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

Classical crossover

Popular Classics

Particular works of classical music sometimes become popular among individuals who mostly listen to popular music. Some classical works that achieved crossover status in the twentieth century include the Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel, the Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Górecki, and the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21, K. 467 (from its appearance in the 1967 film Elvira Madigan).

Such popularity has undoubtedly been assisted by the use of classical music in advertising campaigns. For example, the long-running British Airways advertisements familiarised a large viewing public with a duet from the opera Lakmé, by Léo Delibes.

Another means of generating vast popularity for the classics has been through their use as inspirational anthems in sports settings. The aria "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot has become indissolubly linked with soccer.

Classical to pop - and vice-versa

Within the classical recording industry the term "crossover" is applied particularly to classical artists' recordings of popular repertoire such as Broadway show tunes. Two examples of this are Lesley Garrett's excursions into musical comedy, and also José Carreras recording West Side Story, as well as Teresa Stratas recording Showboat. Soprano Eileen Farrell is generally considered to be the first classical singer to have a successful crossover recording with her 1960 album "I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues".^[2]

The Three Tenors was a landmark concert in which Pavarotti, Carreras and Domingo brought a combination of opera, Neapolitan folksong, musical theatre and pop to a vast television audience. This laid the foundations for classical crossover as we know it today.

Pop singers have consistently sought to attain a symphonic or operatic dimension in their writing and performance. A seminal early example is Une Nuit A Paris, a seminal mini rock opera from The Original Soundtrack (1975) by 10cc. Other pioneering works include The Moody Blues's Days of Future Passed (1967), Deep Purple's Concerto for Group and Orchestra (1969) and Gemini Suite Live (1970) as well as Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974) and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975). More recent examples include "Genuine Imitation Life" from Genuine Imitation Life Gazette (1996) by The Four Seasons, as well as Metallica's S&M (1999).

Collaborations between classical and popular performers have included Sting and Edin Karamazov's album Songs from the Labyrinth. An iconic collaboration between the late Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé resulted in the worldwide hit "Barcelona".

The aspiration of classical singers to appeal to a wide pop audience is exemplified by the career of Rhydian. Classically trained, Rhydian appeared in the UK version of the pop talent show X Factor (4th series, 2007, placed second). His four albums and subsequent appearances have straddled pop, classical, musical theatre and religious television fields.

This also applies to classically trained instrumentalists, such as Vanessa Mae, Bond_(band), Escala, Sterling EQ or Catya Maré.

Conversely, the aspiration of pop singers to develop the stamina, musicality and charisma for opera singing was exploited in 2010 in the ITV television series aired in the UK, Popstar to Operastar, won by Darius Campbell.

Sarah Brightman, called the best-selling soprano of all time,^[3] is considered a crossover classical artist,^[4] having released albums of classical, folk, pop and musical-theatre music. Brightman dislikes the classical crossover label, though she has said she understands the need to categorize music.^[5]

Finnish operatic rock soprano, Tarja Turunen is the most popular singer performing rock and metal as well as classical music in Finland and throughout Europe. Tarja uses her classical technique in all of her songs. She gained popularity with her former symphonic metal band Nightwish. She has sold millions of copies of her albums almost everywhere. Tarja has released two classical & several metal albums.

Italian pop tenor, Andrea Bocelli, who is the biggest-selling singer in the history of Classical music,^[6][7][8][9] is sometimes described as the king of Classical Crossover.^[10][11]

Romina Arena is considered to be one of the most prominent female Classical Crossover singers in the world^[12] and sometimes is referred to as the “Queen of Popera”.^[13] She displays a depth of emotion that runs from Pop music to the richly-woven tapestries of Classical. Her audiences know that her voice soars without effort in a five Octave vocal range, and can carry a melody in 10 different languages, which she speaks with facility.^[14] Romina writes and produces all of he rmusic, sings and speaks fluently in eleven different languages.

Christchurch soprano Hayley Westenra is primarily a classical performer, whose Pure CD has been named the United Kingdom's biggest-selling classical album of the 21st century so far.^[15] Along with her well-known classical repertoire, she also performs a mixture of easy listening, folk and pop style songs and bridges classical music to worldwide audiences with her uncommon ability to sing in English, Māori, Italian, German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Irish, Welsh, French, Portuguese, Quenya, Latin and Celtic.^[16]

The television talent shows America's Got Talent and Britain's Got Talent introduced two popular classical crossover performers, Paul Potts in 2007 and Jackie Evancho in 2010.

The pioneering work of Mario Lanza

Vocally, the most popular crossover artist was tenor and film star Mario Lanza, although there was no such recognized genre as "crossover" at the time of Lanza's greatest popularity in the 1950s. Signed to RCA Victor as an artist on its premium Red Seal label, Lanza's magnificent voice reached beyond classical music-buying audiences. His recording of Be My Love, from his second film, The Toast of New Orleans, hit Number One on the Billboard pop singles chart in February 1951 and sold more than 2-million copies, a feat no classical artist before or since has achieved. Lanza recorded two other million-selling singles that made Billboard's top ten, The Loveliest Night of the Year and Because You're Mine. Five of Lanza's albums hit Number One on Billboard's pop album chart between 1951 and 1955. The Great Caruso was the first and to date is the only recording composed exclusively of operatic arias to reach Number One on the pop album charts. The Student Prince, released in 1954, was Number One for 42 weeks. No classical label artist, including The Three Tenors has achieved the success on the popular charts that Mario Lanza did in the 1950s.

Rock Fusion

Dream Theater had a very strange and unexpected crossover^{[citation needed]} with their song "Pull Me Under" in the early 1990s. Their style of progressive metal was never intended for mainstream audiences^{[citation needed]}, and yet the song received extensive MTV rotation and radio play^{[citation needed]}.

Crossover country

During the late 1960s, Glen Campbell began aiming his music at the mainstream pop charts, adding strings, horns and other pop music flurishes to such songs as "Wichita Lineman", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", and "Galveston", which allowed his music to chart both in country and pop. While such artists as Lynn Anderson and Charlie Rich followed Campbell's example into the early 1970s, it was Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers who, during the mid- to late-'70s came to personify the concept of country pop crossover, with both artists maintaining a consistent presence on both the pop and country charts well into the mid-1980s. Others, like John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, The Eagles, Faron Young, Willie Nelson, Dottie West, Alabama, Eddie Rabbitt, Ronnie Milsap and Anne Murray began successful in Country but made the crossover to pop music.

1990s and 2000s Crossover Country

In the 1990s many country artists experienced huge crossover success. These artists include Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, Jo Dee Messina, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Lonestar, Sara Evans and LeAnn Rimes.

The early 2000s also saw continued success of these artists. Lee Ann Womack scored a big hit with I Hope You Dance". The Dixie Chicks had continued success with a less mainstream country-pop sound when they released their album Home in 2002. However, by the mid-2000s there were fewer country acts having crossover success. Carrie Underwood became a crossover success in 2006 and 2007 though, with her hit single Before He Cheats. Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus have also had crossover success in the late 2000s.

2010s Crossover Country

In the new decade, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Lady Antebellum have achieved success recently.^[when?]

Latin crossover artists

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Christian crossover artists

The term "crossover artist" may refer to musical performers and groups that are Christian music artists, who many times originally are marketed through Christian record labels, radio stations, churches and other Christian media but who start selling in mainstream secular markets as well. Other times, crossover artists may start out in the mainstream market but have Christian undertones or themes if not overtly Christian. The term "crossing over" is used to describe when an artist who had started predominantly in Christian markets starts receiving mainstream success. Some people^[who?] may feel that the artist is betraying the church for fame or glory, while others may see this as a great opportunity for the artist spread the message of their Christian beliefs.

The first major artist crossover was by Amy Grant, with her 1985 album Unguarded and 1991 hit song "Baby Baby" from the highest-selling Christian album Heart in Motion. The albums and single were distributed by a Christian label but received heavy play on pop radio stations and was a chart-topper on the Billboard charts. Since then, many artists have been labeled^{[by whom?]} as "crossover artist" regardless of whether they originally intended to market to the Christian market, secular market, or both. The most notable recent Christian crossover artists are Kirk Franklin, Switchfoot, The Afters, Relient K, and many of the artists on Tooth & Nail Records such as MxPx, Underoath, Emery, Lifehouse, Zao, and Dead Poetic.^{[citation needed]}

Crossover as a mix of genres

Besides describing music of a distinct genre that becomes broadly popular, the term "crossover" has sometimes been used to describe music that deliberately mixes genres, whether or not this music proves to be popular with a mass audience. "Fusion" is a more common term for this phenomenon. Examples include jazz fusion, Celtic fusion and worldbeat. An example of crossover of jazz and classical music is the Danish 7-piece chamber orchestra "Mad Cows Sing", which fuses composed and improvised music. Other examples of crossover in music are bands that play a mix of genres such as funk, rap, rock, metal and/or punk, for instance bands like Urban Dance Squad, Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Primus, Linkin Park and Rage Against the Machine, 311, or crossover thrash bands such as D.R.I. or Municipal Waste.

See also

• World music
• Eclecticism in art
• Polystylism

References

Bibliography

• Lonergan, David F. Hit Records, 1950-1975. Scarecrow Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8108-5129-6

Levente Egry - [http://www.leventeegry.com www.leventeegry.com classical crossover composer/pianist

Further reading

• Szwed, John F. (2005). Crossovers: Essays On Race, Music, And American Culture. ISBN 0-8122-3882-6.
• Brackett, David (Winter 1994). "The Politics and Practice of 'Crossover' in American Popular Music, 1963-65" The Musical Quarterly 78:4.
• George, Nelson. (1988). The Death of Rhythm & Blues. New York: Pantheon Books.

External links

• Article on the definition of Classical Crossover
• Article on the definition of Classical Crossover