Is there a link between classical music and pop/rock music

A.� There is a link, but it takes many and various forms, from obscure influences, to outright copying, and serious attempts to break into the ''opposition' camp.

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Q.� Opposition�- is there a war going on then

A.� Not in any serious sense, but the two extremes of musical style are so far apart that there has been very little common ground, although that is slowly changing as the boundaries between all musical styles break down and merge.

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Q.� So why are the two styles of music so different, and what has happened to bring them together

A.� OK, first things first, a little history. Classical music has been around for hundreds of years, and has changed fundamentally very little in that time. The orchestral works and operas that were written to be played and sung to concert audiences of thousands without the aid of microphones are still performed in the same way today, so the emphasis is all on breadth and musical volume. Rock and pop on the other hand have been around less than fifty years, and quickly embraced amplification, which means that the composition and delivery relies more on intimacy and less on training and technique.

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The bringing together of the two styles has occurred as the 'borrowing' of aspects of a variety of musical genres becomes more acceptable, and audiences are encouraged to listen to, and enjoy a more musically adventurous outlook, as delivered by the pairing of one-time angry young Elvis Costello and Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sophie von Otter.

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Q.� That does sound like a marriage of the two extremes!�

A.� It is, but Costello's approach was to take suitable pop and rock songs by the likes of Tom Waits and Abba and blend his and Ms von Otter's disparate approaches to see what the result would be. The result was highly successful, the purity of a classically trained opera singer mixing with the soulful emotive style of one of pop's acknowleged best songwriters produced a result that both pop and classical fans can enjoy. This album's success�may lead to the continued further erosion of barriers between the two styles begun by Costello when he recorded with the Brodsky Quartet. Costello confessed he was pleased to find his new colleagues equally at home discussing beer and football as well as classical music.

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Classical musicians really don't live in ivory towers, it's simply that their training and practice regimes leave less time for the sort of socialising that is a vital part of the rock and roll lifestyle.

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Q.� Surely music is music, however it's created

A.� That's true, but classical music is not only written and performed differently from pop and rock, it is marketed separately, has its own chart, its own radio stations, it's easy to see why the notion of cross-overs is still fairly new and novel.

Q.� So this merging of styles has all happened recently then

A.� Not really,�there has always been classical influences on pop stars, because they often grow up listening to it, and finding aspects of it that they can adapt into their own work. The Beatles' A Day In The Life is heavily influenced by avant garde German composer Karlheiz Stockhausen, Procul Harum's Whiter Shade Of Pale's melody is devolved from a Bach composition, Paul Lansky, a classical composer, has seen his work sampled by Radiohead on their song Idioteque, so the influences have been there from pop's formative years right through to the present.

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Q.� Have pop and rock bands tried their hand at classical material themselves

A.� Classically influenced material, most certainly. Heavy rock pioneers Deep Purple recorded a self-penned concerto for a rock band and orchestra back in the 1970s. Prog giants ELP toured the US with an entire symphony orchestra in the 1980s and Yes are due to do the same later this year. Even thrash superstars Metallica have worked with an orchestra, much to the bemusement of their fans. The point is, barriers are being broken down, which has to be good for the future of music.

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Q.� So there's a future for this kind of thing

A.� Most assuredly, and another healthy sign is that some classical stars are moving styles the other way, into rock and pop. Violinists Vanessa Mae and Nigel Kennedy have both brought their formidable technical ability to the rock and pop area�- Kennedy recording Jimi Hendrix material, and Vanessa Mae's latest album overseen by renowned dance producer Youth.

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Soul diva Aretha Franklin, who delivered a magnificent version of Nessun Dorma at the Grammy Awards two years ago, has hinted that an album of opera material could well be on the way. MOR superstar Michael Bolton has already delivered a similar album, although its reception was less than successful. Italian pop superstar Andrea Bocelli has enjoyed the patronage of Pavarotti and is keen to ensure that people see his move into opera as a natural progression, rather than some sort of treacherous defection. Bocelli wants his music to be enjoyed by as many people as possible, and no one who enjoys music in any of it various styles could argue with that.

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