The Beatles had a lot of inspiration when they first started making music. That inspiration evolved as they continued into their career. Surprisingly, classical music was one occasional inspiration for Paul McCartney, in particular. He enjoyed the traditional sound of classical music and even incorporated it into his songwriting on occasion. Let’s look at just a few examples of times when The Beatles added classical music flair to their songs!
1. “Eleanor Rigby”
This is probably the most obvious example of The Beatles being inspired by classical music on this list. This 1966 song from Revolver has a very classical feel, and it was directly inspired by Antonio Vivaldi’s famed work “The Four Seasons”.
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Paul McCartney was listening to “Four Seasons” quite a bit while writing this song. He even got George Martin to put together a string arrangement for “Eleanor Rigby” that was similar to “The Four Seasons”. The end result sounds very different and very uniquely The Beatles.
2. “Penny Lane”
Believe it or not, the 1967 song “Penny Lane” was influenced by a Johann Bach composition. Specifically, the song was inspired by “Brandenburg Concerto No. 2” in F major. According to the famed bassist himself, McCartney was chilling on the couch, watching television, when a performance of Bach’s arrangement came on. He once said that he was particularly inspired by the trumpet solo.
“For that piece, you use this thing called piccolo trumpet because there’s some very high trumpet notes,” said McCartney. “So I said to George Martin, ‘What was that funny little trumpet I heard in the [‘Brandenburg’] concerto, it’s a great sound.’ And he said, ‘Maybe it’s just what we need for the ‘Penny Lane’ solo.’ And that was that.”
3. “Blackbird”
A surprising entry on our list of Beatles songs that were inspired by classical music, “Blackbird” has a very modern sound that one wouldn’t immediately associate with classical music. However, this gorgeous 1968 folk-rock tune was influenced by another Johann Bach composition titled “Bourrée” in E minor.
McCartney once said that The Beatles performed Bach’s piece during a party and that they enjoyed how the bassline sounded. They would go on to adapt it into the melody of “Blackbird”.
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