Air on the G String
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The Air on the G String is an adaptation of Johann Sebastian Bach's famous Air. The air is usually played slowly and freely, and features an intertwining harmony and melody.
[edit] History
The original piece is part of Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068, written for his patron Prince Leopold sometime between the years 1717 and 1723.
The title "Air on the G String" is not original. It comes from violinist August Wilhelmj's late 19th century arrangement of the piece. By transposing the key of the piece from its original D major to C major, Wilhelmj was able to play the piece on only one string of his violin, the G string.
[edit] Other arrangements
The popular name Air on the G String has today more or less taken the meaning of any arrangement of Bach's Air. These include:
- Anime music composer Shiro Sagisu (known for composing the original background music for Neon Genesis Evangelion) arranged a version of Air for the movie The End of Evangelion.
- Sweetbox sampled part of the song into Everything's Gonna Be Alright.
A brief excerpt of Bach's version appears in the Beatles animated movie "Yellow Submarine" where the submarine lost in the Sea of Monsters lights an exploding cigar it gave to a boxing monster. It is also popular in Italy, in its version performed by The Swingle Singers, as the opening song of historical Rai Uno science TV show Quark since 1981.
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