Playlist: 10 songs that sample Beethoven

With huge numbers of people downloading a version of ‘Ode to Joy’ performed by Dutch violinist André Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra, the great German composer was gaining new fans, 250 years on from his birth. 

Perhaps not as new to his music, but no less fans of the composer are a great variety of musicians. The man who penned the four most recognisable notes in the history of music is said to have changed the course of classical music, but his influence also extends into the worlds of pop, hip-hop, R&B and beyond. 

In 2020, in acknowledgement of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, our Head of Contemporary Music, Bengi Unsal, put together this special playlist of her top ten songs to sample Beethoven’s works.

Here then, for your listening pleasure, The Shangri-Las and Alicia Keys present the Moonlight Sonata, The Beatles take the same piece and play it backwards, and Billy Joel makes soft rock out of the second movement of Piano Sonata No.8. 

There’s also a cheeky take on the well-known opening to Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 from The Electric Light Orchestra, while Robin Thicke gives it a soulful twist, and Bright Eyes gives us a whimsical indie version of ‘Ode to Joy’. 

We won’t give it all away, but keep listening to the full playlist for more winning examples of musical conversations conducted across the centuries.