Even a Toddler May Listen to More Symphonies Than You Do!

     Woah, wait, no offense. You have also listened to a rich reportouire of symphonies or orchestral works already if you enjoyed cartoons as a kid. Can you imagine that, you were already listening to the piano concerto no. 2 by Shostakovich when you watched Fantasia by Disney, Symphony no. 7 by Beethoven when you watched A Ham in a Role and The Barber of Seville by Rossini when you watched Rabbit of Seville?

     And of course, I do have my favourite one too, and yes, I have listened to the Die Fledermaus Overture by Johann Strauss when I didn’t even know what is an orchestra or a symphony. This piece appears in the famous  American cartoon, Tom and Jerry. Here’s a formal performance in the 2010 Vienna New Year Concert.

     Here’s a fragment of the Tom and Jerry version (The Hollywood Bowl), too.

     It’s funny in the way that the writers of Tom and Jerry made use of the orchestration of the Die Fledermaus to arrange the plot. How talented were they to make Jerry saw underneath the riser and floor to dispose of the orchestra members, one by one, when the orchestration is cut down towards the end of the piece? Of course, there are some ridiculous parts (for who can play five violins, five violas, four trumpets and a bass drum at the same time like Tom?), but that’s the funny part, so sit back and enjoy!