Queen, Love of My Life - A Classical Musician’s First Listen, Reaction, and Study
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2022
- This is the first Rock piece that I took the time to listen to. It seems appropriate that it came from the iconic The Queen. It really surprised me - harp, piano, and Freddie Mercury’s stunningly expressive voice - not at all what I had associated with Rock music! The trouble Brian May had to go through in order to play the harp part of the piece, Freddie Mercury’s Classical influence, and the source of inspiration for the piece are some of the things I discovered along the way. Let me know what your thoughts are about this beautiful piece of music!
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Join the classical musician Amy Shafer in her first listen of Love of My Life by Queen and watch her follow-up thoughts and discoveries about this piece of music.
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Amy Shafer, LRSM, FRSM, RYC, is a classical harpist, pianist, and music teacher, Director of Piano Studies and Assistant Director of Harp Studies for The Harp School, Inc., holds multiple degrees in harp and piano performance and teaching, and is active as a solo and collaborative performer. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, she teaches privately, presents masterclasses and coaching sessions, and has performed and taught in Europe and USA.
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Credits: Music written and performed by Queen
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Freddie would have just adored his music being discussed in comparison to Mozart, Brahms etc al! Such a great pity he's not still around to hear this beautiful analysis.
Your knowledge,insight,depth of enjoyment and love for music is such a gift you share. Grazie! You Rock!
Chopin was his favourite classical composer though.
This is a direct quote from Freddie " “All my lovers asked me why they couldn’t replace Mary, but it’s simply impossible. The only friend I’ve got is Mary, and I don’t want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage…We believe in each other. That’s enough for me. I couldn’t fall in love with a man the same way as I have with Mary.” She was truly the love of his life.
I would be interested where this direct quote is from
@@leaisstillhere i found a portion of the quote featured in this video about the relationship between him and Mary: th-cam.com/video/qG3dEJtQdUU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=BpBig5I90bDMYzSn
@@leaisstillhereSame,I'd love to know where Freddie said that quote. I know Freddie said in "the bigger the better" interview that Mary was his only friend though.
@@isaacesparza2742 Yes, but he never said that he couldn’t love another man the way he fell in love with Mary…It contradicts so much about what we know from interviews from Mary herself. Especially because Freddie is a gay man. I believe they were best friends but nowhere near romantic.
Yes, Freddie is quoted as saying that in the 2019 book "Freddie Mercury, A Life, In His Own Words"
Brian May is not only a master guitarist, he returned to Imperial College in 2008 and earned his PhD in ASTROPHYSICS.
2007 ;-)
I heard he returned to the observatory every year to gather more data for his thesis each time the stars were in the same positions .
Freddie Mercury's death is still one of the greatest losses in the history of all music.
Queen are basically a genre all by themselves
I have a lot to discover :)
The Queen catalog is one of my choices for a deserted island playlist.
Queen did every genre, really. You will find them so interesting!
React to "The Millioaire Waltz" which is also in this "classic" style, but a bit more rock definitely
@@michaellueneburg2261 Yup that and Led Zeppelin
Spot on!
The joy of a person discovering Queen!!! I was 9... I just can't remember how it felt to me back then
That “nasally cello” was indeed Brian May’s homemade, hand built guitar - fed through a little made-from-scraps amp built by bassist John Deacon.
Oddly enough, these two inexpensive pieces of equipment are hugely responsible for the unique “Queen sound” on many of their songs.
Brian dubbed his guitar The Red Special - he built it alongside his father Harold when when Brian was a teenager, because the family couldn’t afford to by a manufactured electric guitar. - the neck came from a 100 year old fireplace mantel slated for scrap, the body from an old oak table. Brian sometimes fondly calls his guitar “The Fireplace” or “The Old Lady.”
John Deacon , as a young electronics student, saw some wires sticking out of a builder’s skip (dumpster) - he investigated and found the wires attached to some odd-looking circuit board. He decided to take it back to his flat and tinker around with it to make a little practice amp. He mounted his creation inside a cheap little bookshelf speaker case.
John took it along with him to rehearsal … Brian heard a quality to it he wanted to experiment with, so he plugged his guitar in …
- and discovered that this guitar and amp combination (both homemade) allowed him to mimic orchestral instruments-because their utterly unique qualities were seemingly *made* to work together !
Wikipedia article about Brian’s The Red Special : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Special
Hackaday blog article about John’s The Deacy Amp: hackaday.com/2017/05/08/a-queen-mystery-the-legend-of-the-deacy-amp/
Thank you for this information! It is really amazing and these stories speak volumes about their musical genius.
just for your education: Brian didn't give any name to his guitar. All the names were given by others.
@@VirginRock
if you think "classical" instruments can't rock, then check out Jethro Tull playing *_"Locomotive Breath"_* . Ian Anderson's flute solo is *_EPIC_*
@@VirginRock
not simply musical genius, but all were university educated in their various fields. for example, the drummer (Roger Taylor) was pursuing Dentistry, and the lead guitarist (Dr Brian May) has a PhD in Astrophysics.
I’m Weak for Deacy: I copy/pasted your post to a friend of mine. I really appreciate your input regarding Deacy and Brian, and I really, REALLY appreciate the way you value and understand John Deacon’s underlying contributions to the group as a whole, aside from his obvious (and painfully overlooked) bass mastery. Awesome stuff.
This is quality content. Most reaction channels just listen and call it a day, but the depth of your research, analysis, and demonstration is excellent.
You are going to love discovering Queen. One of the greatest, creative, genre defying groups. 4 musicians who all contributed to the songwriting. An iconic lead singer and showman, a fantastic rhythm section and a legendary lead guitarist (who built his own guitar from scratch).
I’m looking forward to it! Thank you!
Brian May, the lead guitar, is also an astrophysicist!
In addition to the 4 contributing, they’re the only band where all 4 members wrote a number 1 hit for them. Another One Bites the Dust” written by John Deacon
“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” written by Freddie Mercury
‘Fat Bottomed Girls” written by Brian May
“Radio Ga Ga” written by Roger Taylor
Stephen, i absolutely agree.
What kind of voice is that anyway? Well. Amy we stopped trying to figure it out and we just love him. That's is Freddie Mercury. And he was a vocal master. 😔
Now I want to see Brian May react to this video.
Me too 😂😂
Side Note: On all Queen Albums in the 70's there is a liner note saying " No Synthesizers used " this was so that people knew all the different sounds were made using the traditional instruments, mostly Brian's guitar, he could make any sound with that thing.
“Is this really rock?” Queen can’t be put into a box. They experimented with everything. Live this song was transformed. Stripped down to just Brian & his 12 string, Freddie’s voice and then the audience comes in.
Great reaction.
I’m thinking that Freddie is listening to this from Heaven and is loving it! Someone who can help us appreciate the depth of his talent! ❤❤❤ Thank you!
Not only did Brian May “learn” to play the harp for Love of My Life he also learned to play the Japanese Koto for The Prophet’s Song. (I would recommend you give that a listen Freddie’s canon in the middle of the piece is quite interesting.). Also, John Deacon learned to play the double bass for Who Wants To Live Forever. I think that shows their dedication to their music.
Indeed, great musicians!
@@VirginRock Dr Brian May is also an astrophysicist.
and also deac's learned to play the fender rose on you're my best friend, he took one home and practiced until he got it! 👑✊🇬🇧
@@robynmurray7421 so true, we tend to forget that
@@VirginRock Not exactly right, John Deacon played double bass as early as on two tracks from A Night At The Opera Album: "Death On Two Legs" and "'39"
Queen is a class in and of themselves. There is no one like them. In sound, composition, musicality, instrumentation and performance they are unique. Yes, they do have much harder rock songs. But they also have many songs that don’t really fit into any genre
Hurry up and finish doing this weekend
Send it in Shenzhen
Love your commentary it's perfectly right
THE musician's band!!!!
As a musician, Queen will blow your mind. I'll say no more.
Long live Freddie!
I enjoyed every minute of your review of this song. I have listened to this song hundreds of times and your unusual perspective and expertise has allowed me to listen to it with fresh ears. I appreciate the time that you took to research and demonstrate on both the piano and harp. Thank you.
Thank you!
Stacey, I second your thoughts.
And a third from me
And a fourth from me! I must admit, some of the "reaction channel" videos I watch are so I can vicariously experience those songs the first time again. But her perception and depth of analysis has opened up songs I have listened to and loved for decades in a new way. The next time I listen to them in their entirety it will literally be the first time again, because of a new understanding and new ears!
Late to party - as I just discovered this channel - but I agree! This woman is so knowledgable and completely delightful!
Freddie Mercury brought a theatricality to Queen, tapping into and expanding upon his love of theatre, opera, music hall, vaudeville, ballet & more. Queen was an enigma among the rock world and perfectionists in the studio. But with four very distinct styles btwn bandmates, they supported each other which created their own varied sound. LIVE, their songs are revisited with their audience & entertainment in mind. You will have a field day within their song catalogue!
Yes, this is what I hear over and over again about this band and Freddie Mercury in particular. I am eager to explore more of their work!
Virgin Rock: Please do! I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis of this song all the way till the very end of the video. I shared this video with my good friend and fellow musicophile and told him that he would enjoy it immensely. I’m sorry that I keep gushing, but I find your reactions to be unique amongst reactors.
@@VirginRock Freddie love Opera, and sang with Montserrat Caballé on several occasions. They became the very best of friends.
One of the most frustrating things about the Freddy Mercury story is how little is said about his musical training. It’s seems he had no formal music training yet his pianistic style is mature. His chord changes are very Romantic and the voice leading in the chord changes is highly sophisticated.
he certainly had piano lessons as a boy, I think when he went to boarding school in Zanzibar?
@@Blackadder75 Boarding school in India. Piano lessons and he joined the choir. So he had some vocal guidance at least for that.
Actually he had several years of piano lessons as a child. Actually, he and Brian May were at the same course level.
With Queen you will discover they mix every kind of music : classical, rock, hard rock, jazz, metal, music hall etc... without being boring. And every musician has his contribution.
Where has this channel been all my life. This is like an advanced species coming down and casually talking about our great achievements.
I love your reaction to this. I am a huge Queen fan since 1975 and thru high school years often criticized for being a Queen fan, Their talent was beyond rock n roll and was more unique than any other band ever.
Yes,you are right, I am big fan too
Same here. Fell in love with A Night at the Opera, went back to Queen & Queen II, and followed on the whole carreer. And yes, they weren't appreciated in my high school at all
Queen from 1974 - 1978 is untouchable genius. No-one will ever produce rock music like that again.
It's a beautiful love letter, soft, gentle, sweet and full of emotion. Not every Rock song needs crunching power chords. You can't eat burgers all your life, some melon or strawberries are required too.
I think you would appreciate “you take my breath away” studio and live version.
Thank you for the suggestion - I’ll put it on my list!
@@VirginRock 100% that should be your next step.
@@VirginRock The two versions are very different, as are the recorded/studio version of Love of My Life' and the arrangement of it they usually do live, which is much simpler, with all the instruments in the recording replaced by acoustic 12-string guitar (played, incidentally, by an astrophysicist - fun fact!).
You might enjoy the elaborate harmonies of the studio version of You Take My Breath Away, but my favourite by far has always been the live version, with just Freddie at the piano, singing to a rowdy crowd in the park... by the time it's over (only c2 1/2 minutes later) you could hear a pin drop. Absolutely riveting stuff. You can find it on YT under YTMBA, Live at Hyde Park. Since the song is so short, you might like to compare the two versions.
Oh, yes, other gems from the Queen repertoire I think you might find interesting:
White Queen - Live at Hammersmith (featuring an extraordinary rock piano/electric guitar duet)
Bohemian Rhapsody - The official studio version, with video, is recommended, to get the full, crazy, visionary rock-opera effect.
These are all early to mid- Queen songs, my favourite period. Some of their most popular and famous songs though are from the later period and are often played/ sung at sports matches, and it's possible you may even have heard them without knowing who or what they were:
We Will Rock You (usually followed in live performances by:)
We Are the Champions (complete with audience participation)
Freddie loved opera and did delve into writing operatic/ classical style pieces later, performing his composition 'Barcelona' with his friend and idol, the opera singer Monserrat Caballe at the opening of the Barcelona Olympics in Spain. A pretty bold move and personally it's not to my taste and I'm not sure how successful it really was. Freddie had an incredible voice, but self-taught and wholly untrained for opera. It gets a lot of attention for the novelty of it, I guess, with the two world-famous stars from quite different musical spheres.
Thoroughly enjoyed your review of LOML, the effort put into research, and your classical perspective - thank you. :-)
Yes, definitely
I suggest listening to albums rather than individual tracks, though of course that's less practical for content creation.
Enjoyed your reaction! That's the beauty of Freddie Mercury and Queen. They didn't limit themselves to one genre of music. They delved into many different genres. Including classical, jazz, gospel, R&B, disco, funk and rock.
That's what I hear over and over again! I will definitely come back to them and review more of their work.
Also Metal!(Mainly because of Brian May's Influence)
They basically invented Speed Metal with Stone Cold Crazy in 1973!
@@jonasrmb01 Actually Stone Cold Crazy was played as early as by Freddie's previous band Wreckage. Freddie also wrote first really metal-ish sounding Queen song - Ogre Battle. Let's also not forget about fantastic prog-metal like songs from 1st LP - Liar, Great King Rat.
Welcome to the Rabbit hole that is 'trying to figure out Freddie's voice'
Lovely reaction.
We still miss you Fred
x
Queen is their own style. There is no box to put them in. Freddie was a true genius along with all the rest of the band members. So talented all of them.
loved your reaction. You will love 'you take my breath away', 'Nevermore', 'My Melancholy Blues', 'Lily of the Valley' and Jealousy'
Thank you for the suggestions - I’ll put them on my list!
To mention only a few 😄
@Bill Blackman Thank you! All of them except for the last one are already on my list!
And what about "Lap of the gods" ?
And the "revisited" of course 😉😎
@Bill Blackman
The March... and The Fairy...👍👍👍👍
Good to see someone who appreciate the early albums 🤝😉😎
Queen is most definitely a rock band, and all four members wrote hit songs. It might be the only rock band in which all members wrote songs and compositions. Their style is unbelievably varied, so not all their songs sound like rock. But overall, mostly yes.
Enjoy the journey!
Thank you!
Queen is a rock band
The Beatles all contributed songs, even Ringo, eventually. 'Don't Pass Me By', 'Octopus's Garden.' Sure there's others.
Not the only band. 10CC also had all 4 members as songwriters.
Around 40% of their output is hard rock/regular rock, 30% are pop songs, and the rest are a wonderful mix of vaudeville, waltz, prog rock, even songs that defy genre classification like Fairy Feller’s Masterstroke.
I recommend you to watch the video of them doing this Live at Wembley. You will get to see Brian play this on a 12 string acoustic guitar, Freddie sing live and use his favourite instrument...the audience. Also helps that I was in that audience :)
You lucky you.
No-one was sitting by the last song in their concerts. #FreddiesMagic
@Lisa Vivera Actually while it was a great gig, we did the Knebworth show which totally out did Wembley. however that may be because the line up had 3 of my favourite bands, Big Country, Status Quo and Queen as a perfect Rock day :) Ah the memories of those great rock years :)
I was lucky enough to see Queen in 1979. I found this quite emotional and I agree with your conclusion here. I also think when you’ve analysed him some more you’ll conclude he was a genius. ‘Barcelona’ will confirm it.
The most wonderful thing in the music world is that Freddie Mercury was given to us. The most tragic thing is that he was taken from us so soon.
Having listened to Queen since i was young, some 40 years ago, watching your exploration of this song is such a pleasure. I got so much pleasure seeing you connect the beauty of this music with the extensive classical body of work you have clearly studied in detail. Thank you for sharing your journey.
The greatest feeling when you listen to Freddie's songs are you don't want them to stop. He always leaves you wanting more.
I relate to your reaction to Queen as "rock" - personally I'd call their music simply "queen" - now they DO have some pieces that are definitely rock, some very hard rock - but then, Queen was always an unusual band - interesting side note - one of the band members [Brian May] is an astrophysicist [well known in the field] at the same time as being a band member. I suspect that you would find Bohemian Rhapsody - now that one IS rock, but it also is a real rhapsody.
It's on my list and it will come soon!
Oh my, you are amazing
You have just wowed yourself a new subscriber!! 😮
Why, thank you!
Queen and Freddie in particular are not a “ typical “ rock band ✌🏼💕
Since I have zero experience with Rock Music, I guess I will have to compare. But it seems like you're not the only one saying that!
@@VirginRock they're definitely not a typical rock band. Bohemian Rhapsody will best showcase this to you.
At the time, no rock band had done something like "Mustapha."
Wow. Just wow. Your ability to break down and communicate this song with such depth and musical passion and knowledge is like a found treasure. Bless you and your hard work!
"Is that what they call an electric guitar?" Love it!
It was great to see the joy on your face as you discover the music of Queen. They're a band that cover all genres of music.
I might also recommend some live Queen performances because they can differ greatly from the studio recordings. For example, my fav live Queen performance is the song “White Queen,” live at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1975-Freddie’s vocals and emoting are at their top, and his piano playing, it’s as if he was possessed. The back and forth between the piano and Brian May’s guitar, top notch guitar orchestrations. Brian’s guitar is like a voice. And of course subtle but noteworthy is John and Roger’s backing instrumentals.
The live is vastly different from the studio. Much better in my opinion.
Of course, every live performance is very different from the studio version and there are multiple reasons for that! Thank you for your suggestion! I will write it on my list!
I have watched your other videos. You are such a joy. I hope you never lose your enthusiasm of discovery. BTW: I have been a Queen fan for 50 years and you have provided me with a new look at the band. Thank you.
Oh boy - wait till you hear the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. You will be here for hours. Superb video - really so interesting to hear your breakdown.
The TH-camrs so incensed at your reaction to The Beatles "She's Leaving Home", should come to this one. There's so many things to respond to in this song. Freddie's voice, and how you can feel each note he sings. How the music echoes, supports, and responds to that voice. The care put into making everything fit together. For me, Mike Leander's string arrangement in She's Leaving Home is the only thing providing emotion, dramatics, suspense, sadness, confusion. Because the singing carries none of this. And if I were to hear both songs for the first time, for voice alone, Freddie would win by a landslide. He sings with so much emotion. Yet retains every part of the melody that's important.
This is Art.
This song belongs to an album named "A night at the opera",released in 1975. They wanted to prove they could join classic music and rock. From the same album you should here Bohemian rapsody. I liked a lot your video!
I learned that and it seems that so many are recommending Bohemian Rhapsody. It is definitely on my list!
Please..."Barcelona" a spectacular duet with Monserrat Caballe , the glorious beloved operatic soloist.You'll be astounded!
@@sharonroyal1410 It's already on my list!
Queen is rock that works at the scale of opera and classical. Masterpiece performances. Artistic expression. That is why they are so unique
Never been a Queen fan, although in the last decade I have found an appreciation for their music & their talent. Never heard this song, but for you. I thought it was beautiful
Hello Virgin Rock. Speaking of structure and ‘ turn of phrase’ You might find Killer Queen interesting… a song Freddie wrote when he was in his early 20’s which I have always found remarkable . Brian May said in an interview that Freddie wrote a perfect song and it was genius.
Killer Queen is used as part of the UK GCSE music exams!
It is already on my list!
Killer Queen is the song that really launched them internationally, especially in America.
The obvious choice of song would be “ The millionaire’s waltz”
That sounds very, very interesting!
Very nice counterpoint between the piano and bass guitar. The bass part is more similar to a cello part and very melodic, whereas bass guitar is normally viewed as a rhythm instrument that plays in lock step with the drums. (I play bass myself - thus is the TL:DR)
I second that!
And 'You Take My Breath Away'
Queen never tried to replicate this song in a live performance, but what they achieved live is amazing in its own right. I recommend Love of My Life live at Wembley 1986 to see what they decided on for live. Very different but still awesome! You will really be amazed at Freddie and Montserrat Caballe performing Barcelona. Would love to see your reaction.
It's on my list!
I thought live in Montreal was more visceral and truly moving
Live in Rio is powerful.
Queen was so eclectic, arguably the most eclectic of them all. Especially Freddie let all sorts of genres influence his songwriting. So you could certainly argue that individual songs have very little to do with rock. But taken as a whole, Queen was a rock band with a typical rock band lineup: Guitar, bass, drums and piano - and three of the four members supplying vocals.
I enjoyed your perspective and would be very interested in your opinion of Freddie's more complex compositions like Bohemian Rhapsody or Somebody to Love (should you decide to do more Queen). The Fairy Fellers Master-Stroke is a mind boggler if you're interested in going back to the early seventies. The songwriting side of Freddie Mercury has always intrigued me. Freddie and Queen expanded the musical tastes of young listeners for decades - they crossed so many genres of music. And then there was Freddie's collaboration with Montserrat Caballe.
Your journey into rock may not keep you reacting to Queen very long, but their catalogue is immense and diverse. Good luck with the channel! I just remembered - Who Wants to Live Forever, the official video, features an orchestra. John Deacon, Queen's bass player, taught himself the double bass and that's him playing it in the video😀. He also taught himself the electric piano when Freddie refused to play anything other than a grand. All four guys are amazing.
Thank you for your lovely comment - and I’ll put those pieces on my list!
I would definitely second (and third and fourth) Bohemian Rhapsody. It caught the world by surprise back in ... '74, I believe? It defies categorization.
@@TheScottSlater 1975 actually but it is a great song
Yes this is all true. For me it sometimes seems as if Queen "dumbed down" musically. The early music, to me has more atmosphere, and and is also more interesting musically (harmonic structure and and composition), it is more ambitious. When you get to the 80's, the idealism of "we can do anything" had disappeared when Punk happened and rock journalism started to accuse them of pretentiousness. So they needed to change to fit with the fashions. And they did. But unlike many others, they succeeded!
@@yinoveryang4246 I agree! By the time of The Miracle, Freddie had gotten word of his AIDS and seemed to want to return to the 70s which resulted in songs like The Miracle and Was It All Worth It harkening back to the high production, intricate sounds of the 70s. A lot of Innuendo seems to sound like a weird mix of the 80s synths coupled with the old “Just do whatever we want” attitude.
I think you really have to listen to the entire album, A Night At The Opera to get the context of Love of My Life. It sits comfortably alongside all the other songs which include 1920s English music hall, folk, operatic rock. And its sister LP, A Day At The Races (both are named after Marx Brothers films) is also very varied with waltzes sitting alongside glam-metal belters like Tie Your Mother Down. That's what makes Queen so intriguing... they were hugely experimental and were willing to try anything...
This is one of the most delightful videos I've ever watched. Incredible song, lovely naive reaction. Love it :)
Looking forward to your remarks after viewing Freddie and Montserrat Caballe. This is the first ever collaboration between an opera diva and a rock star. I thouroughly enjoyed your treatment of Love of My Life. I think you would like My Fairy King; my favorite track from their debut album.
They are on my list!
@@VirginRock I would highly recommend the piece "The Fallen Priest" from Freddie and Montserrat Caballe album "Barcelona". I think this is the best composition on the album, their voices wonderfully harmonize with each other. You will be amazed.
It’s Queens style, it’s what set them apart. Intertwining classical, opera, and rock music.
Freddie’s exquisite voice always tying it all together. Brian May is an astrophysicist and an outstanding musician.
IMHO A night at the opera is their masterpiece, Bohemian Rhapsody their greatest song.
I am so glad I stayed till the end of your show! To hear and watch you breakdown and compare the way this song was constructed was simply amazing! Thank you, even though you’re “Classical”, YOU ROCK!!! 🤟😎🤟
Your reaction brings a smile to my face, Brian May is responsible for all the string and wind instruments, all played on his Guitar. In a song”Good Company” from this album, Brian does a full Jazz band on his guitar
that is phenomenal! Queen can rock your face off and be gentle as this song. Thank you SO MUCH for reacting to such a beautiful Queen song!!!
I have to admit, that even being a lifelong Deep Purple fan, Queen are on another level. To be honest, I’ve been following Queen since 75-76, so they’re most certainly not unknown to me. 😅
But, as being a hard core Deep Purple fan, I feel obliged to bring your awareness to the group. The former, late, keyboard player Jon Lord was classical trained as well as their former guitar player Ritchie Blackmore, while their drummer Ian Paice was swing/big band trained.
A mixed bunch most certainly. In the song “Pictures of Home” from their masterpiece of an album “Machine Head” really show a lot of classical inspiration.
To be reccomended.
Another relic from the 70’s is Ian Andersons “Jethro Tull” where he plays the flute standing on one leg (😳🤨🤷🏼♂️).
A song reccomended is “Locomotive breath”.
I look forward to be following you.
That was a great review. You have really put some effort into this. I bet you have heard Queen before without knowing. Who hasnt heard We are the Champions or We will rock you? Anyways. If you like the classical influences I would go for early Mercury compositions like "Fairy Fellers Master Stroke". Very interesting song.
Thank you for the suggestion - I’ll put it on my list!
@@VirginRock In that case, give Brian May's song Save Me a chance too.
@@VirginRock I would love for you to listen to some Zappa. Try peaches off the Hot Rats album
@@VirginRock Regarding "Fairy Fellers Master Stroke", it's part of mini-suite with two other pieces (Ogre Battle, Fairy Fellers Master Stroke, Nevermore) so it would be the best to listen to them together. I would highly appreciate if you could take into account this suggestion.
Most of the internet is a mistake: at best innervating, often frustrating, largely rage-inducing and generally utterly awful. This is not such a thing. Rarely I have enjoyed half an hour more than this fascinating video. Bravo!
What a great review of my favourite 'rock' band of all time - been a fan since 1974 and especially of the great Freddie. There is nothing Freddie wouldn't try in terms of music, a unique and very complex character and an unmatched stage presence.
To see more of classical influences on Freddie Mercury's writing, you may want to listen to 'It's a Hard Life', as the opening phrase is based on an aria called "Vesti La Giubba" from the opera Pagliacci by Italian opera composer Ruggero Leoncavallo.
That sounds so interesting! I will put it on my list right away!
@@VirginRock maybe it was already mentioned but for sure you have to listen to the millionaire waltz :)
And a movement of a Grieg chamber piece starts with the same melody but I can't remember which one
Thank you for your analysis and demonstrations. Enjoyed it so much. I love Freddie Mercury and Queen. Please do more analysis of Freddie and Queen songs and also Freddie and Montsy.
Thank you!
@@VirginRock "Montsy" means Monserrat Caballe, who recorded an album with Freddie. That album is called "Barcelona."
@@clintonsmith5163 Yes; I am aware of that now.
I wonder if her head will explode upon hearing Bohemian Rhapsody 🧐
Classical composed arrangements by
Brian may and Freddie Mercury . Amazing musicians. Bach, Mozart and Beethoven layered instruments and chromatic runs . Just amazing
This is the most detailed reaction video I've ever seen. I also enjoy The Daily Doug, with Doug Helvering, a classical composer. The difference is that he isn't a rock virgin, although he is learning about many new artists he never knew before.
I love the fact that you went and did some research on the music.
QUEEN is a Rock Opera band, a term pretty much created to describe. They play various musical styles from fairly heavy Rock to Pop etc. But they were often influenced by Opera and Classical music. You should listen to "Barcelona" (operatic) and "Bohemian Rhapsody"(Rock Opera).
Fascinating video. You did a great job with it. It is both entertaining and informative, which is something very rare in the "field" of music reaction videos. Two Queen songs that I would love for you to react to are My Fairy King and Nevermore.
Okay; they are on my list!
Wow 🥰 our beloved Freddie is magical 🤩 best vocalist, charismatic pianist and a beautiful person ❤️ Freddie Mercury ❤️ liked subscribed 😁
I could clearly see only from this one piece of music that Freddie was indeed a great musician. Too bad that he left us so early!
Such a beautiful voice, and no autotune. Freddy was the best. Classic rock was may more experimental than I seemed to remember or maybe just took for granted. Compared to today's over-produced songs, these classic songs are just amazing. Thank you for your video. Great analysis on a wonderful song and band.
The typical pop/rock-formula is ABABCB, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, often extended by an intro, solo, and/or outro. In this sense, Love Of My Life is pretty formulaic, but it works out.
Further extensions of this formula can be a pre-chorus, (which might not lead to the chorus at first but second time) or an extended bridge or c-part consisting of several subdivisions (Queen: Innuendo).
Your reaction is so amazingly beautiful and entertaining! I wish your channel and ideas lots of success!
This is a great channel! It’s obvious why you’re getting so many followers so quickly.
It's such a pleasure seeing an expert of your level take your time to really analize and explain your ideas about what basically is a new genre of music for you.
Your explanations where everything and more of what I would expect from a great professor, the scoring was more than fair.
Probably the beginning of an incredibly journey, an amazing video.
I grew up with rock which is my first love but did a deep dive into classical music of all kinds later in life. And Schubert Lieder came to mind immediately when I heard this piece. I also developed a love for opera and Freddy Mercury's voice here is like a female coloratura. The more I listen to music in all its forms I've come to realize how interconnected all forms of music are. I'm sure if Schubert were alive today he would love and admire this little gem! I love your insight on the little harp parts. I don't know if you are aware of the harp's use in jazz but my first real exposure to the instrument was through the playing of Dorothy Ashby. Great video.
El mejor video con análisis musical que he visto en youtube. Por fin alguien que se toma el tiempo, la dedicación y tiene el conocimiento necesario para poder analizar cada aspecto de una obra musical. Super interesante todo lo que contaste sobre el arpa, la experiencia de Brian May y cómo fue grabado. Lo mismo respecto al piano, y las reminiscencias de Mozart y la música clásica en general.
Queen es absolutamente único, reducirlo a banda de rock es realmente un pecado. De hecho es mi banda popular favorita, pero disfruto más sus no-hits con obras de charleston, jazz, blues, rock progresivo, funk. Queen dentro de sus obras incluso mezcla géneros, tiene momentos totalmente diversos dentro de una misma canción. Bohemian rhapsody es su mejor ejemplo, pero diría que casi toda su discografía tiene ese sello. Y por supuesto freddie mercury a nivel compositivo, creativo y vocal está por encima de cualquier banda de rock.
Realmente agradezco esta reacción y análisis. Lamentablemente el contenido de calidad tiene menos visitas y menos aceptación popular, pero rralmente es necesaria gente como vos.
What you’re saying is really interesting and makes me want to explore more of Queen. I will surely do so in the future! I am glad that my work is useful for you!
Here’s the Google Translation of Dragos’ comment:
“The best video with music analysis I've seen on youtube. Finally someone who takes the time, the dedication and has the necessary knowledge to be able to analyze every aspect of a musical work. Everything you said about the harp, Brian May's experience and how it was recorded was super interesting. The same with respect to the piano, and the reminiscences of Mozart and classical music in general. Queen is absolutely unique, reducing it to a rock band is really a sin. It's actually my favorite popular band, but I enjoy their no-hits more with works by Charleston, jazz, blues, progressive rock, funk. Queen within their works even mix genres, they have totally different moments within the same song. Bohemian rhapsody is his best example, but I would say that almost all of his discography has that label. And of course freddie mercury on a compositional, creative and vocal level is above any rock band. I really appreciate this reaction and analysis. Unfortunately, quality content has fewer visits and less popular acceptance, but people like you are rare.”
Entiendo porqué lo dices, sin embargo ellos mismos se definirían, y orgullosamente, como una banda de Rock; lo mismo ocurre con The Beatles, por ejemplo. Creo que es compatible si se piensa en el concepto de Rock más como una actitud, una visión, incluso si lo que está haciendo esa banda de Rock es objetivamente jazz, blues, folk, etc.
What I feel that comes through from your reaction here is your joy as you experience a "rock" song for the first time and you then explain what you feel and think so nicely and in a way thatis thoughtful. Then your latter part on the harp and piano is such a unique factor, combing "classical" instruments with rock to my ear and mind shows the skills that rick musicians have. Thank you.
I absolutely am dumbfounded at your reaction/analysis to this song! You have a unique input and insight in your reactions. I’ve been listening to this song for decades and loving it, but you’ve helped me develop a new understanding and appreciation for the subtleties inherent in this composition. I’m glad I discovered you this evening. Liked and subscribed!
Excellent! Most enjoyable. This is the 2nd of your videos that I've watched. My 1st was your 2nd, She's Leaving Home., by The Beatles.
I think that this is a grand concept. Your naivete as regards rock is delightful. Your musicianship and talent are obvious.
Your remarks and explanations are succinct and to the point.
I think that your title, VIRGIN ROCK, is perfect!
I'm 74, a hippy and a reprobate, and have played electric bass in rock, pop and blues bands for bloody years!! Still do, but gigs are in short supply!
I look forward to more of these.
Well done Amy... even though I've known this song for decades, I've never paid much attention to it. You're fascinating analysis, however, has given me a whole new appreciation. Love your channel!
Only one solution here we need to get you an interview with Brian May about playing the harp :)
Lol “what kind of voice is that anyway “ oh man lady, the voice of an angel
Queen, Zeppelin - expect and enjoy the unexpected 🙂 As to 'is it rock?' No, not at all, but its being played by a rock band showing their diversity - its what stood them apart from the rif-raf. Just FYI, Brian wouldn't have been sweating over anything - the guy is so laid back, he's practically a fluid - as well as an exceptional guitar player. 🙂
This song always fills my heart with joy and your analysis just adds even more to it.
Queen is a British rock group, formed in 1970 and its classical lineup is:
Freddie Mercury - Lead vocalist and piano
Brian May - Lead guitarist and vocals
Roger Taylor - Drummer and vocals
John Deacon - Bass guitar.
All four members of Queen were not only extremely talented musicians but they also were talented songwriters who each produced hit singles. They did all love rock music but they had other different tastes in music which is why their music was so varied. Their interests in life were all different from each other and varied.
FYI - All four members are college educated. Freddie Mercury had a degree in Graphic Design, Roger Taylor has a degree in Biology; John Deacon has a degree in Electronic Engineering, and Brian May, has an undergraduate degree in Physics and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics.
"Love Of My Life", when performed live in concerts would just be Brian playing a 12-string acoustic guitar as Freddie sang. Actually, Freddie would often lead the audience in the singing of this song. Watch this video of "Love of My Life" being performed in Rio de Janeiro in front of an audience reported to be 250,000 - th-cam.com/video/gblZ2drKK1M/w-d-xo.html
Queen's music catalog is very eclectic. It includes soft rock, hard rock, progressive rock, arena rock, thrash rock, rockabilly, r & b, pop, ballads, folk, jazz, opera, blues, soul, disco, etc.
Freddie loved music, all music. When he was seven years old, his aunt was visiting and noticed that young Farrokh (Freddie was born Farrohk Bulsara in Zanzibar) was able to play on the family's grand piano the tunes he heard on the radio. She implored his parents to give young Farrokh piano lessons and they did.
An example of Freddie's piano ability along with his "unique" technique, you should watch this video of Queen performing their ballad, "White Queen" composed by Brian May. Queen performed a live concert broadcast by the BBC from the Odeon Theatre in Hammersmith on Christmas eve, 1975 - th-cam.com/video/f8usNj4x9NA/w-d-xo.html
When he was eight, he was sent to a British-style Christian boarding school outside of Bombay (Mumbai), India. His parents paid additional so he could continue his piano lessons. Apparently, Freddie reached the 4th grade in piano training. FYI - Freddie never had any voice training other than singing in the choir in school.
He taught himself to sing and never realized that he was really a baritone. In 1987, he recorded an album with one of his favorite singers in the world, Spanish Opera soprano, Montserrat Caballe, The album is called "Barcelona" and the title song, "Barcelona" was the official song for the 1992 Olympics, held in Barcelona (Freddie wrote a lot of the music on the album including "Barcelona" with Michael Moran). Sadly, Freddie didn't live to know this since he passed in November 1991. Here is the video of it - th-cam.com/video/hkskujG0UYc/w-d-xo.html
Montserrat and Freddie became close friends and she did pass on some tricks and techniques which he gratefully took to heart. She admonished him for not singing in the baritone range since he was a natural baritone though he usually sang in the tenor range. He never realized that he was a baritone (he had a 4-octave range) even though his speaking voice was baritone. Freddie told her he was sorry but he couldn't do that since he felt his fans would not be able to recognize him if he did.
Freddie had an intriguing physical phenomenon called subharmonics that he used to drive his vocals to the limit. Subharmonic is a form of singing where the vocal folds vibrate along with a pair of tissue structures called ventricular folds. This form of singing is only used by Tuvan throat singers of Mongolia, except in a more extreme way.
Freddie’s vocal cords vibrated at 7.04 Hz - higher than a typical vibrato range of 5.4 Hz to 6.0 Hz. To put it more scientifically, the famous opera singer Luciano Pavarotti produced a perfect sine wave for vibrato when he sang - a value of 1. Freddie, on the other hand, averaged a value of 0.57 - which means he was vibrating something in his throat even Pavarotti couldn’t move.
There is much to explore when you dive into the world of Queen. i.e. When Brian May's homemade electric guitar called The Red Special, is connected to a treble booster (increases the high-end tonal range of the guitar and, yes, it has a pedal) and then they are connected to the "Deacy Amp" (one-of-a-kind amplifier designed and built by Queen bass guitarist, John Deacon), Brian can produce sounds reminiscent of various orchestral instruments, such as violin, cello, trombone, clarinet, or even vocals.
Thanks for sharing so much interesting information - I have a lot to discover!
Curiously, Brian's guitar has a system Brian built in which is a little reminiscent of the Harp pedals...
Brian installed 6 switches to have control over the three electric pick-ups on the guitar.
Three switches are on/off and the other three are phase switches.
This means that Brian has over 16 individual and distinguishable tones set within the build of the guitar (meaning less reliance on pedals).
Brian designed and built the extremely unique system, doing all the maths himself (with his father) and it may be that Brian was able to gain a working understanding of the Harp's switches partially as a result of that.?.
@@grandtheftmanualv945 That is interesting - I didn’t know that about his guitar! He must have had a real aptitude for the mechanical/technical workings of things. :)
@@VirginRock well, Dr Brian May is an astrophysicist so, yeah, he certainly has a brain suited to such.
I look forward to the next Queen song that makes you question all you thought you knew about Rock music! 😊
@@grandtheftmanualv945 Well, I know nothing about Rock Music but what I found so far makes me really interested in pursuing it! I will surely come back to Queen, but I would like to take a look at some other names' works that I heard about as well.
You can watch the culmination of 10 years of progression of this song in the live version at Wembley Stadium - just Freddie singing and Bryan May on his 12-string acoustic. You will also get to hear Freddie really belting out the vocals. It's heart-wrenching.
Ah, yes. Queen. Wonderful introduction to the world of rock music. Queen was a very lyric rock band. I'm a sort-of retired wagnerian soprano, and I totally love Freddie and his band of merry musicians! It appeals to my sense of drama and everyone involved is a virtuoso, just like in opera! Enjoy listening to "A night at the opera" and "Jazz". And yes, it definitely has Lieder undertones, assorted with vocal harmonies. I enjoyed your discovery very much! :)
As a suggestion, Metropolis by Dream Theater. All of Dream Theater, in fact. All albums of Yes. Gentle Giant, early Genesis... So many to discover! Enjoy! :)
Just stumbled across your channel. 😁 I'm a huge Queen fan but many don't realize that Freddy Mercury was a classically trained pianist. I don't believe he was a trained vocalist but clearly he knew how to use his voice to create amazing music. Add in the rest of the band and you get some of the best rock music created.
Along with piano lessons he had joined the choir at his Indian boarding school.
Thank you so much for posting this wonderful, informative, and engrossing reaction and exploration of this song. I've loved this song ever since I first heard it when I bought Queen's album "A Night at The Opera" in 1975. I felt in later years, this beautiful studio version was overshadowed by the voice-and-acoustic-guitar live version. I am delighted to see the original recording receive the attention it deserves! Subscribed!
They were rock in the sense that rock was their base, but they experimented with lots of other sounds. Basically thanks to the Beatles wild musical experiments in the 60s, for many years afterwards rock (and many other styles) bands felt they had to have a lot of variety in their sounds. On this same album there are much heavier and aggressive Rock tracks, but queen liked to experiment and write softer songs like this.
Very gifted!
Queen picked up where the Beatles left off.
Or maybe it's better to say each member of queen preferred to write very different styles of music. Generally speaking I'd say; Freddie liked vaudeville, disco, pop, classical and showtunes, Brian May liked blues, hard rock and British folk music, Roger Tayor liked 60s psychedelic rock, punk, disco and funk, and John Deacon enjoyed motown soul and funk. They decided that they would all get equal share of writing credits and just let each other write what they wanted. Made for an eclectic sound for sure.
It’s a 10 from me! Funny, I was listening to the song “Killer Queen” on the radio the other day, and I just said to myself “Why don’t they write songs like that any more?”. It has long seemed to me that great songs have become rarer and rarer over the last 50 years.
At least in the mainstream music scene.
Most mainstream music today suck donkey balls. Sadly.
Really, really enjoyed this. I love watching someone learn about and experience music that I love, only for them to teach me things about that same music as well. Subscribed! Fantastic!
Thank you for your very interesting reaction to this beautiful song. Freddie said that the whole point of Queen was to be original. They wrote songs in every genre. Interesting that you asked why they didn't just hire a harpist. That is something other bands did. Queen prided themselves on doing everything themselves. Brian's guitar was so unusual sounding that after the first album reviewers thought they were hearing a synthesizer. The 70s albums then all had "no synthesizers" on the liner notes. The drummer had a very high voice and did the operatic notes. There are lots of examples but My Fairy King might be my one of my favourites. The bassist wrote a song that he wanted electric piano on so learned how to play it himself.(You're My Best Friend). On Seaside Rendezvous the drummer, Roger Taylor does vocal orchestration of brass and Freddie does vocal orchestration of woodwind. They are not your usual rock band! The critics didn't know what to make of them a lot of the time! Roger Taylor also played timpani in the 1981 live concerts. On Somebody To Love they overdubbed the vocals to sound like a 100 voice gospel choir with just 3 singers (Freddie, Brian and Roger). It's great how Queen keeps finding new fans. I look forward to your reactions.
Yes, I asked myself that question simply because I did not know a thing about Queen and especially Brian May. After shooting this video, I read all the comments as well as other materials about these musicians and I have to say that I am fascinated by what I found so far. I will definitely come back to them and explore more of their work!
The one time they parted from all this was in the song Innuendo. They actually hired a spanish style guitarist to do the spanish music part. Very unusual.
@@janetd8198 That was Steve Howe from Yes. He is a friend of Brian's and he dropped by the studio in Montreux. Don't think they hired him. He was a guest guitarist for sure, though.
@@janetd8198 That’s interesting; I wonder why would Brian do that?
@@VirginRock I think that Freddie insisted and Brian agreed 👍
Thank you, wonderful video, took me by surprise and very pleased to have heard your analysis of one of the most beautiful songs ever written, Look forward to viewing more of your content, Stephen
The band Queen is fabulous.
It proves to us that there are also free soft rocks in Nature.
From what I see, I think playing the harp must be one of the most difficult instruments to play, apart from pedals, so you deserve my respect for your dedication and joy in showing us, as an audience, the beautiful sound of the harp.
Totally loved your analysis. Cannot wait for your next one!
Thank you! Me too! Actually the next one is ready, but TH-cam flagged me for copyright violations, so I'm working through the Fair Use defense.
@@VirginRock Good luck with your defence. I have my own channel & although I receive copyright claims, I have never had a strike against any Queen songs I've played.
@@bigmallly7863 Not for Queen, but for The Beatles!
@@VirginRock Ah! I don't go that far back, I play mainly 70's & 80's. I've had a few worldwide blocks which I just delete.
@@bigmallly7863 I see. Well, maybe you want to take a look at “She’s Leaving Home”. I did and what I found is really interesting: th-cam.com/video/Q3uPEZqT0gQ/w-d-xo.html
I very much enjoyed watching this video, and learning more about the harp!
One aspect to the lyrics of Love Of My Life is that it is actually as much from written from Mary's perspective, as she was the one being left behind.
Interesting... I haven't thought of that!
I'm so jealous of you. This being your introduction to Queen, you have so many songs to hear for the first time and appreciate Freddie's voice both as a member of Queen and in his solo work. Must views include: Live Aid, Bohemian Rhapsody, Under Pressure, Don't Stop Me Now, I Want to Break Free, How Can I Go On (duet with Montserrat Caballé)
It's no rock music, it's Queen! They combine any kind of genre.