OK Mendelssohn

[dougo]

Recently I started listening to the local classical station, WCRB, for no particular reason other than a change of pace from the MIT station, WMBR, where I usually keep my nightstand clock-radio parked. (Well, I suppose it's also because I've been reading Gödel, Escher, Bach and wishing it had come with a soundtrack CD.) Anyway, last night I heard Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture and a melody from it sounded familiar. Watch it on YouTube and see if you also recognize it: it first comes in at the 2:18 mark.

Isn't that the same melody as the "from a great height" part of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" (at the 4:20 mark)? Do you think they used it on purpose, or is it just a coincidence?

Comments

[dkuznick.livejournal.com]

Well OK Computer IS a progressive rock album... (no matter what Radiohead themselves say). :-)

I do hear the 4-note motif, but the surrounding melody doesn't sound too similar. But I wouldn't at all be surprised if they did it on purpose.