Many years ago there was a morning show called "Here's to You" on CBC Radio 2. It was a show whose entire playlist consisted of listeners' mailed-in or emailed musical requests, along with a short story about what the listener liked about the music and why they wanted it played. The host, Catherine Belyea, would select requests, usually around a common theme, and would then make a three hour show of wonderful music and interesting stories from people all across the country. I'd been a regular listener for long time and, finally, I decided to request something myself-this piece. I was just a kid, so I was a bit nervous that Catherine, whose voice was both a pleasure to listen to and intimidatingly smart, would just ignore me. I wrote up a one-page story anyway, telling her all about how I'd originally heard this on an HP printer commercial during the 1998 Winter Olympics. Compared to now, the internet was empty, so finding things like what music played in the background of some printer commercial was next to impossible. It wasn't until 2007 that I discovered the PCO and heard the full piece for the first time, and I still remember how excited I was. So, there I was thinking that Catherine would either blow me off, or that she would love it and, with her infinite musical wisdom, add some of her commentary about how excited she was to get a PCO request. A few days later, I got a response thanking me for my request, and that it had been approved. I was so excited. I thought Catherine and I had connected, even if in some distant way. I told my mom about it, which just made her laugh because she could never understand how somebody could like "generic commercial music" so much. When the time came, I sat there by the radio impatiently waiting for my request to come on. When it finally did, she read the story exactly how it was sent in and then let the music play. I couldn't believe it; something I had written was being read on air to millions of people by somebody I admired. It was an incredible feeling for a kid. When the music stopped and Catherine came back on to introduce the next piece, she said, "That was Perpetuum Mobile by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and, boy... does it ever live up to its name." She then sighed, laughed under her breath, and moved on. And that was it. Over. I remember feeling crushed that she thought it was too long and repetitive. How could she, a tasteful CBC radio host with sound musical judgement, not appreciate one of the PCO's most famous pieces? I couldn't imagine a universe in which it were possible. The disappointment was real. Anyway, I learned a lesson in there somewhere, but I'm not all too sure what it was.
I see genius in this piece. I am reminded of Ravel's Bolero. How the music is transformed over time. How it builds to a wonderful climax. I would expect more from a CBC DJ.
CptSchmidt i first heard this son in a commercial too, a Brazilian bank one. Love at first listen! It also took me years to find it, and when I did it was pure bliss. Whenever I travel by plane I like to listen to pco. I think it's the best music to listen to while you're up there in the clouds
Very similar experience. Heard this song on a commercial when I was a kid in the 80s, felt moved and inspired by it, but then forgot about it until the night before my high school graduation. I was laying in bed and listening to the radio when I came across it on a classical music radio station. The incredible feeling this song evokes rushed back over me. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear/understand the DJ after it finished. I spent the next ten years desperately trying to figure out what the song was. I'd try to hum it to my friends and family, and especially to anyone I met that I thought really knew music. I listened to every track on my dad's old classical music albums and CDs. It was so frustrating! I feared I'd never find the source of this amazing music, and worse yet, I thought I'd never hear it again. Finally, after watching the movie Napoleon Dynamite for the second time, I noticed Music for a Found Harmonium at the end and thought to myself, "that sounds like it could be the same band". Sure enough, by looking up the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack on ITunes, I found the Penguin Cafe. When I found, purchased and listened to Perpetuum Mobile, I cried through the whole song. Now I own the 4 disc box set and listen to it all the time. I just wish I could meet more people who know and love their music as much as me, but I do have a three year old son who seems to be pretty into it. Just today, when we got to daycare, Numbers 1-4 was playing and he asked me to get his sister out of the car first because he wanted to listen to it a little longer.
Mary and Max brought me here. I was eternally searching for the title of this song until I stumbled into the films musical score. This song is amazing anyone agree
Andres Licea: A former workmate, a smart woman, recommended me to watch that picture about 9-10 years ago. It was a very good one indeed. But this music was out of this planet. When i watched to the movie I only wanted to listen to this music again and again. Extraordinary. That workmate had enjoyed the music also, but she payed attention to the movie specially. And I always thanked the movie for letting me discover this music.
This is literally the end of a 3 hour middle-of-the-night search….6 years after your comment!!!! All I could remember was “penguin” was in the band name and I remembered the piano as cello plucking. 😂
This song downright perplexes me. I find it almost surreal that a 'song' which is so powerful and emotive can at the same time be so simple. Wonderful piece.
Key of C, so really simple, though it modulates there toward the end. And of course C is down at the bottom end of the trombone slide, so you get to see some excellent technique!
I'm in love with the song Avicii made with this. Last night I watched Mary and Max and as soon as I heard this I fell in love with the original version, too.
Mary and Max is one of the most emotionally moving movies I've ever seen. Just listening to this song reminds me of it and I want to cry all over again.
Music such as this certainly needs to have this effect on people. It's a shame that the genre is not appreciated by a larger audience as that of the pop or rock genre.
This song was used in a Documentary about Andrew Wiles and his solution to Fermat's last Theorem. Fell in love with it then and did not know the name so glad I have found it.
The Penguin Cafe Orchestra live on, with Simon Jeffes' son Arthur, in a group called 'Music From The Penguin Cafe Orchestra', playing original Penquin Cafe Orchestra compositions & new stuff. I saw them at the Delawar Pavilion In Bexhill-On-Sea last year & it was a thrilling gig.
I literally love both handmade’s tale and marry and max so this song is so close to me. Time to get some condensed milk and Froot Loops. Blessed be the Froot Loops.
Still blows my mind that such a wonderful piece of instrumental music was turned into an even better version of house music with Aviccis levels. Thank you to Tim and to the orchestra
ive heard a lot of pices of music in my lifetime, but this for whatever reason really puts a renewed faith in humanity for me! it's beauty is beyond words, it's simplicity is perfection.
10 ปีที่แล้ว +8
Uma das melhores orquestras que já ouvi, pena que tais músicas não sejam muito divulgadas na região aonde vivo... :(
Strange, I feel like this gorgeous song has been playing in the back of my head for years. I have an early childhood memory of hearing it on the radio in the late 80s and I never forgot it. And just today I finally ID'd the song and artist... amazing, the power of the internet.
This tune brings back memories for me and I looked everywhere here in Germany for it, but I´d forgot the name. How happy I was when I found it by chance. This to me is good times.... Memories!!!!
Saw these guys play an old church in Islington in 1990 (maybe?) for the first time after more than a decade of long-distance love (sorry, Lowell). Aren't many times in life when imagination pales in comparison to reality in music, but that was one - to be able to watch and delight in the talent, eye-contact and humour this astonishing collective depended on for its magic was a life-affirming evening. We will never see their like again. Thanks for the memories, Syllables . . .
Just watched that episode, had to search to find out what this song was called. Perfect song choice for that section. Every song on the soundtrack is perfectly placed so far, especially this song and the eerie cover of heart of glass.
Thankyou so much for uploading my earliest ever memory. Seriously, track is the earliest thing I can ever remember in my 25 years of being on this Earth. It makes me quite emotional just listening to it. A very significant aspect of my life for me this piece. So thankyou again :)
Paul Esson avicii is kinda good, is not penguin orchestra, or an classical but is better than other eletro/pop bands (they have the good taste to use penguin orchestra =D)
i kinda wish i knew why 111 people hit the dislike button. seriously. i can't imagine any reason whatsoever for a person to dislike this piece. it really puzzles me.
This is so catchy. I heard this in a documentary I watched a few weeks ago. Haven't gotten it out of my head since then, and just now finally found it what it was.
I've been trying to find this music for 10 years or so now! I first heard it in a PBS show about New York City, specifically the episode featuring Phillipe Petit tight rope walking between the Twin Towers, and I've loved it ever since! It was only tonight that I discovered who did it.
Well 6 years later still fabulous music. I can just imagine the pistons on a steam locomotive moving to the rhythm of this piece. Perfect travelling music.
I discovered Penguin Cafe in my first year at uni (1989) when Little Ian who was into jazz and all sorts kept playing it at immense volume. Great stuff.
I recently heard this in the background of commercial on the radio. It's nice to hear something you like, that others don't know about yet, heard like that. I hope it introduces others to such a remarkable sound.
When I was a kid, my mum told me about this band, and I thought it was literally a group of musicians who played in penguin suits. Years later, I'm glad to see that my confused mind was in keeping with the spirit of Simon Jeffes' venture. Having lived in Germany for four years now, it's stuff like this that evokes England for me.
Many years ago there was a morning show called "Here's to You" on CBC Radio 2. It was a show whose entire playlist consisted of listeners' mailed-in or emailed musical requests, along with a short story about what the listener liked about the music and why they wanted it played. The host, Catherine Belyea, would select requests, usually around a common theme, and would then make a three hour show of wonderful music and interesting stories from people all across the country. I'd been a regular listener for long time and, finally, I decided to request something myself-this piece. I was just a kid, so I was a bit nervous that Catherine, whose voice was both a pleasure to listen to and intimidatingly smart, would just ignore me. I wrote up a one-page story anyway, telling her all about how I'd originally heard this on an HP printer commercial during the 1998 Winter Olympics. Compared to now, the internet was empty, so finding things like what music played in the background of some printer commercial was next to impossible. It wasn't until 2007 that I discovered the PCO and heard the full piece for the first time, and I still remember how excited I was. So, there I was thinking that Catherine would either blow me off, or that she would love it and, with her infinite musical wisdom, add some of her commentary about how excited she was to get a PCO request. A few days later, I got a response thanking me for my request, and that it had been approved. I was so excited. I thought Catherine and I had connected, even if in some distant way. I told my mom about it, which just made her laugh because she could never understand how somebody could like "generic commercial music" so much. When the time came, I sat there by the radio impatiently waiting for my request to come on. When it finally did, she read the story exactly how it was sent in and then let the music play. I couldn't believe it; something I had written was being read on air to millions of people by somebody I admired. It was an incredible feeling for a kid. When the music stopped and Catherine came back on to introduce the next piece, she said, "That was Perpetuum Mobile by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and, boy... does it ever live up to its name." She then sighed, laughed under her breath, and moved on. And that was it. Over. I remember feeling crushed that she thought it was too long and repetitive. How could she, a tasteful CBC radio host with sound musical judgement, not appreciate one of the PCO's most famous pieces? I couldn't imagine a universe in which it were possible. The disappointment was real.
Anyway, I learned a lesson in there somewhere, but I'm not all too sure what it was.
CptSchmidt that's a really good story; a bittersweet story that goes together with this song
I see genius in this piece. I am reminded of Ravel's Bolero. How the music is transformed over time. How it builds to a wonderful climax. I would expect more from a CBC DJ.
CptSchmidt i first heard this son in a commercial too, a Brazilian bank one. Love at first listen! It also took me years to find it, and when I did it was pure bliss. Whenever I travel by plane I like to listen to pco. I think it's the best music to listen to while you're up there in the clouds
Very similar experience. Heard this song on a commercial when I was a kid in the 80s, felt moved and inspired by it, but then forgot about it until the night before my high school graduation. I was laying in bed and listening to the radio when I came across it on a classical music radio station. The incredible feeling this song evokes rushed back over me. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear/understand the DJ after it finished. I spent the next ten years desperately trying to figure out what the song was. I'd try to hum it to my friends and family, and especially to anyone I met that I thought really knew music. I listened to every track on my dad's old classical music albums and CDs. It was so frustrating! I feared I'd never find the source of this amazing music, and worse yet, I thought I'd never hear it again. Finally, after watching the movie Napoleon Dynamite for the second time, I noticed Music for a Found Harmonium at the end and thought to myself, "that sounds like it could be the same band". Sure enough, by looking up the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack on ITunes, I found the Penguin Cafe. When I found, purchased and listened to Perpetuum Mobile, I cried through the whole song. Now I own the 4 disc box set and listen to it all the time. I just wish I could meet more people who know and love their music as much as me, but I do have a three year old son who seems to be pretty into it. Just today, when we got to daycare, Numbers 1-4 was playing and he asked me to get his sister out of the car first because he wanted to listen to it a little longer.
what absolutely beautiful comments. this piece never fails to uplift and inspire me :)
Mary and Max brought me here. I was eternally searching for the title of this song until I stumbled into the films musical score. This song is amazing anyone agree
Andres Licea: A former workmate, a smart woman, recommended me to watch that picture about 9-10 years ago. It was a very good one indeed. But this music was out of this planet. When i watched to the movie I only wanted to listen to this music again and again. Extraordinary. That workmate had enjoyed the music also, but she payed attention to the movie specially. And I always thanked the movie for letting me discover this music.
Oh god I found it, at long last I found you 😭
Im so happy for you. Would pain me if I didn't know the name of the song because I know for damn well everyones heard it.
I felt exactly the same way!
This is literally the end of a 3 hour middle-of-the-night search….6 years after your comment!!!! All I could remember was “penguin” was in the band name and I remembered the piano as cello plucking. 😂
This song downright perplexes me. I find it almost surreal that a 'song' which is so powerful and emotive can at the same time be so simple. Wonderful piece.
what's with that mercia flag
Bach prelude in c 846
I bet a data analyst can "proof" that a good valuable melody doesn't need many notes.
Key of C, so really simple, though it modulates there toward the end. And of course C is down at the bottom end of the trombone slide, so you get to see some excellent technique!
It's cause it's in 15/8
One of my favorite performances of this piece.
Oh, yeah...Penguin Cafe Orchestra brought me here.
Yes, someone introduced me to Penguin Cafe back around 1985, and I loved them a lot more than I loved him.
I'm in love with the song Avicii made with this. Last night I watched Mary and Max and as soon as I heard this I fell in love with the original version, too.
This song brings me to tears very time I hear it. It is a butterknife that cuts the soul. At least .. Thank you PCO! Love you!
As a musician. And a music scholar... i continually find this orchestration amongst the most important pieces of our time.
15/8 time at its finest.
CHEERS MATE ..
i'm gonna drink some condensed milk now, bye!
Mary an Max
That Mary and Max reference tho😏
+Daily Kayla idd Daily, fantastic english anime
RUBIK I love that movie so much
@@gijsmertens6858 Australian actually!
Such an amazing song, Mary and max brought me here
Mary and Max is one of the most emotionally moving movies I've ever seen. Just listening to this song reminds me of it and I want to cry all over again.
Music such as this certainly needs to have this effect on people. It's a shame that the genre is not appreciated by a larger audience as that of the pop or rock genre.
That's exactly what makes this music unique and exclusive... you see, 14 years later, I am replying to your comment from Ontario, Canada.
Need a 10 hour loop of this
Timeless flowing piece by mastermind Simon Jeffes and his friends from the Penguin Cafe Orchestra !
I posted this on facebook in 2011 and came back every year to listen to this great music
This song has been in my head for 3 years from Mary and Max, such a relief to finally find it.
this song gives me chills and then brings me to tears. love it.
Mary and Max!!
1989 ? Wow ! Still works in 2022.
This song was made to be listened to on a rainy day
heard this song in Max and Mary last night and it reminded me of my ballet classes when we used to stretch to it! Such beautiful nourishing music!
Ahh I've heard this everywhere, finally tried to find it and here it is! Such a great melody
This song was used in a Documentary about Andrew Wiles and his solution to Fermat's last Theorem. Fell in love with it then and did not know the name so glad I have found it.
Flawless.
Still love this
This Is my new favorite song
The Penguin Cafe Orchestra live on, with Simon Jeffes' son Arthur, in a group called 'Music From The Penguin Cafe Orchestra', playing original Penquin Cafe Orchestra compositions & new stuff. I saw them at the Delawar Pavilion In Bexhill-On-Sea last year & it was a thrilling gig.
having my chocolate hotdog.
I rather have regular hot dogs wrapped in bacon before coated in chili oil and ground Sichuan Peppercorns
Back again after 3 years. (:
I literally love both handmade’s tale and marry and max so this song is so close to me. Time to get some condensed milk and Froot Loops. Blessed be the Froot Loops.
MAY THE LORD OPEN!
simply one of the best peaces I have heard in a long time. Beautiful in every sense of the word..thanks God there is music like this, brightens my day
"Dear Mary Daisy Dinkle..."
Rumble Delta "You are my best friend, you are my only friend."
Still blows my mind that such a wonderful piece of instrumental music was turned into an even better version of house music with Aviccis levels. Thank you to Tim and to the orchestra
Sublime....Like a musical description of birth life and death.
Forever my favorite song. Makes me feel like my life is a movie that is just flying by as swiftly as a train.
ESSA MÚSICA FAZ ME SENTIR VIVA!!!!!!
ive heard a lot of pices of music in my lifetime, but this for whatever reason really puts a renewed faith in humanity for me! it's beauty is beyond words, it's simplicity is perfection.
Uma das melhores orquestras que já ouvi, pena que tais músicas não sejam muito divulgadas na região aonde vivo... :(
verdade mas achamos é isso que importa
Os filmes ajudam a divulgar músicas boas, estou aqui por causa do Mary & Max
@@elainewetler446
Yo, a _movie_ with this song in it? 😍
Strange, I feel like this gorgeous song has been playing in the back of my head for years. I have an early childhood memory of hearing it on the radio in the late 80s and I never forgot it. And just today I finally ID'd the song and artist... amazing, the power of the internet.
If only I could get my friends to do the other instruments. :/
this is beautiful music i have always loved it and i listen to it all the time!
Fermat's Last Theorem brought me here!
Sam S.
This tune brings back memories for me and I looked everywhere here in Germany for it, but I´d forgot the name. How happy I was when I found it by chance. This to me is good times.... Memories!!!!
It feels like my whole life from birth to death is passing by me. My own personal soundtrack......................
I used to listen to these guys years ago, and I've heard this somewhere.The tube of you is great for this!
I did a ballet routine to this
PUT It on TH-cam I WOULD LOE 2 SEE THAT !
This makes me so happy.
Nolite te bastardes carborundum bitches
Heard this on a paint advert on tv.. loved it ever since 😍
Anyone come from A Handmadiens Tale?
Nope i came because Avicii's song fade into darkness he took this piece and made it a little bit different
Saw these guys play an old church in Islington in 1990 (maybe?) for the first time after more than a decade of long-distance love (sorry, Lowell). Aren't many times in life when imagination pales in comparison to reality in music, but that was one - to be able to watch and delight in the talent, eye-contact and humour this astonishing collective depended on for its magic was a life-affirming evening. We will never see their like again. Thanks for the memories, Syllables . . .
loved Avicii's Fade into Darkness rendition of this piece, but this shit right here nigga is beast.
listening to this day just makes my day and takes my breathe away
nolite te bastardes carborundorum bitches
Just watched that episode, had to search to find out what this song was called. Perfect song choice for that section. Every song on the soundtrack is perfectly placed so far, especially this song and the eerie cover of heart of glass.
Oh I love this song so much. It is close to my heart... brings feelings of nostalgia whenever I listen to it... just beautiful
skip to 2:20... that one note...
I've listened to this music one million times, and never heard THAT one note. Unfortunately now I can't unhear it anymore. :P
Nuuuuuuuu, you ruined the wonder! ;(
Oh shit, I had to click didn't I. Now, not only will I always hear it, I'll always be waiting for it. DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN
one of my favourite songs ever. it's really great to listen to it while flying.
I brought myself here :P
My absolute favourite PCO song. Thanks for this video!!!
RIP Avicii
i love the cord progressions and the folding back on itself with variation, whomever wrote this was brilliant.
Alex Bragdon sent me here!
One of the most beautiful and touching performance at piano concert cafe❤️🙌
Avicii - Fade Into Darkness? Anyone?
Yup
he took sample from this?
he used this music to sell mainstream dance music. Money without talent, well done 🤔
SOUNDS LIKE PACHABEL N BACH TO ME ...
Thankyou so much for uploading my earliest ever memory. Seriously, track is the earliest thing I can ever remember in my 25 years of being on this Earth.
It makes me quite emotional just listening to it. A very significant aspect of my life for me this piece.
So thankyou again :)
avicci- into the darkness
Avicci contributed no improvements on this great music.
Paul Kounine Amen bro
nachtwulf007 God I had never heard Avicci before, I didn't know Perpetuum Mobile could be made to sound so terrible.
Paul Esson avicii is kinda good, is not penguin orchestra, or an classical but is better than other eletro/pop bands (they have the good taste to use penguin orchestra =D)
Wonderful.
Sounds like Avicii! Spot on!
i kinda wish i knew why 111 people hit the dislike button. seriously. i can't imagine any reason whatsoever for a person to dislike this piece. it really puzzles me.
Avicii - Fade Into Darkness is more melodic , but this is cool !
Dear Simon, thanks for the marvelous music you gave to the world !!!
Fantastic! It was absolutely brilliant in Mary and Max.
It is my firm belief that if every kid listened to this song, the average world IQ would increase by at least 10 points.
i could listen to this all day, i love it so much
I LOVE THIS SONG....
I absolutely love this. Thank you for posting.
I have also been looking for the name of this piece for well over a decade. This is a fantastic day.
I have been looking for this for an incredibly long time.
This piece is so utterly, breath-takingly beautiful.
Found from burberry campaign. Most beautiful song ever, no reason for dislike. Brings all the emotions into my life
This is so catchy.
I heard this in a documentary I watched a few weeks ago. Haven't gotten it out of my head since then, and just now finally found it what it was.
ive been lookin for this piece for ages, ever since i heard it. love it!
I've been trying to find this music for 10 years or so now! I first heard it in a PBS show about New York City, specifically the episode featuring Phillipe Petit tight rope walking between the Twin Towers, and I've loved it ever since! It was only tonight that I discovered who did it.
Simply stunning.
It is all about the melody. I love it!
Well 6 years later still fabulous music. I can just imagine the pistons on a steam locomotive moving to the rhythm of this piece. Perfect travelling music.
I discovered Penguin Cafe in my first year at uni (1989) when Little Ian who was into jazz and all sorts kept playing it at immense volume. Great stuff.
This is BY FAR their best song. It is so seductive
I've heard this song on This American Life so many times, and I finally found it! So awesome!
I recently heard this in the background of commercial on the radio.
It's nice to hear something you like, that others don't know about yet, heard like that. I hope it introduces others to such a remarkable sound.
This is absolutely brillent so happy we got shown this in class
I cant tell you how much i love this song, its so amazing, great job, penguin cafe owns
I love classical and orchestral music! Maybe tthat's why I love EDM so much. No need for words. Just music to take you into another world
this is a piece of cake...one of the first tunes I learned when I was just starting out...
When I was a kid, my mum told me about this band, and I thought it was literally a group of musicians who played in penguin suits. Years later, I'm glad to see that my confused mind was in keeping with the spirit of Simon Jeffes' venture. Having lived in Germany for four years now, it's stuff like this that evokes England for me.
beautiful song, great group too
such a masterpiece, can listen to it forever
This song makes me so happy and sad at the same time, I love it so much and I'm going to learn it on the piano now :') Truly a beautiful song
I always get the feeling of time swiftly passing us by when i hear this song.