X Factor theme tune triumphs classical world

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28 December 2009, 13:50

The X Factor theme tune O Fortuna, heard by millions on a weekly basis during X Factor season, has been named the UK’s most widely-heard piece of classical music since records began.

Carl Orff's 1937 Carmina Burana oratorio topped the most-played recordings of the past 75 years, after receiving exposure from scary movie The Omen, aftershave ads for Old Spice and laterally as the tension builder intro to the hit reality talent show.

Beating off recordings of classical artists such as Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky, Schubert, Beethoven, Vivaldi and Mendelssohn, the chart-topper was inspired by a medieval Latin poem.

The stirring, slightly sinister-sounding tune is the perfect accompaniment to add suspense to an event and has been widely used in sporting and musical events.

However it has become best known in recent years as the theme tune for The X Factor, whose series six winner Joe McElderry missed out on last week’s number one Christmas spot to Rage Against The Machine.

The 1973 Munich Radio Orchestra's recording, which featured the Bavarian Radio Chorus & Tolzer Children's Choir, secured the top spot on Monday, after the royalties collection body PPL compiled the ratings of songs played on TV, radio, online streaming and in public places such as shops for BBC Radio 2.

The results were revealed by comic and musician Bill Bailey: "Of course, we all knew the No 1 would be a 13th century Latin goliardic poem."

Everyone's favourite intellectual Stephen Fry added: "For some reason, it almost sounds satanic, although it's actually a religious piece."

Finishing a close second was the 1986 recording by Thomas Tallis and the London Philharmonic of Vaughan Williams' Fantasia On A Theme.

Again, this piece gained its widely-played status after becoming engrained in popular culture. The piece was used in Russell Crowe epic Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World and throughout TV coverage for the Oxford-Cambridge boat race.

Third place went to a 1990 recording of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade by the London Symphony Orchestra.

Lewis Carnie, Radio 2's head of programming said: "O Fortuna is a timeless piece of music that continues to be played, performed and loved over 70 years after its composition and this is a wonderful recording of the work."

Fran Nevrkla, chairman and CEO of PPL, said: "This PPL People's Chart shows classical music's enduring popularity, from the great old recordings to new versions of the classics.

"We hear these recordings so often on the radio, on TV and out and about that it's good to remind ourselves of the artists and the record companies that put their time, talent and investment into making them.

"The chart is a huge compliment to the talent of all the musicians, singers and other performers who created all this fabulous music and whom PPL is very proud to represent among its constituents."

Last updated: 28 December 2009, 14:13