Cover vs. Original - Justin Timberlake's 'Mirrors'

Justin Timberlake's song 'Mirrors' is one of my most listened to songs of 2013, but I stumbled across the cover performed by Boyce Avenue and Fifth Harmony and immediately preferred it to the original.

In the original, JT's performance is flawless (my personal opinion) and his voice is definitely suited to songs like this. The simple accompaniment isn't too overpowering of the vocals, and therefore gives the voice the limelight.

When listening to the cover by Boyce Avenue and Fifth Harmony, they started off by having Boyce Avenue's front man (Alejandro Manzano) singing the opening line, followed by lines performed individually by each of the Fifth Harmony girls. When they all come together as one, the performance is flawless with perfect harmonies, and I think this is why I prefer the cover to the original. Having six voices instead of one gives the song more depth and makes it fuller and (personally) nicer to listen to.

Obviously these are entirely my personal opinions, and you may think differently, but give them both a listen. Here are the links:

JT's original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuZE_IRwLNI
Boyce Avenue and Fifth Harmony cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvEZUbzqqyM

Enjoy :)

George Gershwin - An American in Paris (Basic Notes)

Hello!!

I recently listened to a 'BBC Proms Music Guide' about George Gershwin's 'An American in Paris'.

It was actually very helpful, and gave me some of the basic information I needed to know about this piece. Here are the notes that I took:

An American in Paris was composed in 1928. It was about Gershwin's second trip to Paris to take lessons with Nadia Boulanger.

The piece is light and jolly, and represents Gershwin walking through the streets of the French capital. It is in a loose rondo (ABA) form:

• A represents Gershwin strolling through the streets of Paris
• B represents Gershwin feeling quite homesick. This is conveyed by a bit of blues/Americana.

Gershwin composed this piece for a symphony orchestra, plus car horns, saxophones and a celesta. For the New York premiere, he bought 4 taxi horns from Paris to use when displaying this work.


These are the very few, basic notes that I collected from this very short overview. Here is the link to the guide narrated by Andrew McGregor:

http://player.fm/series/bbc-proms-music-guide/pmg-04-sep-12-gershwin-an-american-in-paris

Enjoy!!