Nokia tune

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Nokia tune is a phrase from a composition for solo guitar, Gran Vals, by Francisco Tárrega, written in 1902.[1]

In 1993 Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President of Nokia, brought the whole Gran Vals for Lauri Kivinen (now Head of Corporate Affairs) and together they selected the excerpt that became "Nokia tune". [2]

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[edit] Nokia tune

The Nokia tune. The final A is an octave lower in Gran Vals.
The Nokia tune. The final A is an octave lower in Gran Vals.

A phrase from Gran Vals is used by Nokia for promoting its cellphones. Known as the Nokia tune (also called Grand Valse on old Nokia mobile phones), it is taken from measures 14-17, and appears again towards the end at measure 142.

The tune, which Nokia claims as a sound trademark,[citation needed] was the first identifiable musical ring tone on a cellphone.[3]

[edit] Media representation

The Nokia tune was sampled in the 1999 song "I Wanna 1-2-1 With You" by the Solid Gold Chartbusters.

The cold open of many episodes of Trigger Happy TV feature Dom Joly screaming into a humorously oversized Nokia phone, always prefixed by an otherwise normal-volume Nokia tune ringer.

The Nokia tune was heard extensively during the first and second seasons of the television show Alias as Nokia was one of the biggest sponsors of the show's first season. The main character of the show, Sydney Bristow, owned a Nokia bar phone. It is also used in the television show Medium for the main character's, Allison Dubois', phone. It was also heard during a sequence of The Simpsons Movie when Homer Simpson received a mobile phone call.

The podcast for this WEEK in TECH includes Leo Laporte vocalizing the tune in the podcast's end theme.

Gran Vals was also played in the commercial for the Nokia 6630 phone, with a child on the piano, and the signature Nokia bar played in the end.

In 2003, it was heard throughout the romantic comedy Love, Actually, when Sarah's mentally ill brother kept calling her every few minutes.

In Kill Bill (2003), The Bride identifies one of her would-be killers by remembering that her cellphone had the Nokia ringtone.

As of 2006, the pianist Marc-André Hamelin has been playing a short piece of his own composition that improvises on the Nokia tune as a concert encore. Written in a jazz-inflected style reminiscent of Poulenc, the piece is titled "Vals Irritation."

At 2006 Nokia Israel established the Nokia Music leader[1] competition, aimed to challenge young electronic artists to create cover tracks for the original tune.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tony Skinner, Raymond Burley (2002). Classical Guitar Playing: Grade Seven (LCM). Registry Publications Ltd, 10. ISBN 189846667X. 
  2. ^ Juutilainen, Esa-Markku and Kukkula, Tapio (2007). Lukion Musa 1. WSOY, 41. ISBN 9789510307564. 
  3. ^ Ryzik, Melena Z. (2005-07-10). The Nokia Fugue in G Major. New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.