Classical Origins of popular songs

"This is one of a group of songs from the Big Band jazz era that were written as popular adaptations of classical music. This song is based upon the Act 2 love theme, "O nüit divine" from the Charles Gounod opera, Romeo et Juliette."

The only classical song I know is "Roll Over Beethoven," by Chuck Berry.

Well, this does say "Classical Origins of popular songs," plural, so here goes. Much of the music of the highly successful Broadway musical (also a west end success in London), Kismet (Lederer and Davis) was based on melodies by the Russian composer Alexander Borodin. In particular, the "Gliding Dance of the Maidens," one of the Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor became a hit. (This was not the only use of this melody in popular music.) Lederer and Davis used it for "Stranger in Paradise," which became a hit in its own right.



Here, Ann Blyth and Vic Damone do the song "Stranger in Paradise" from the 1955 MGM motion picture Kismet. Vic Damone reprised the performance in a 1957 recording. From the Broadway show, the song was number one in the United States in February, 1954, and in the UK in May, 1955.



Finally, in this recording from Japanese television, the great English soprano Sarah Brightman sings "Stranger in Paradise" to the orchestral score from the Polovtsian Dances.

"In the Hall of the Mountain King" by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, from the incidental music he composed for Ibsen's play Peer Gynt. The music from that suite has been used extensively, and has been recorded as popular music since at least 1960 when Duke Ellington recorded his "swing" version of many of the melodies.

In particular, "In the Hall of the Mountain King" has been recorded by groups as diverse as The Who (recorded in 1967, it was no released until 1995), Big Brother and the holding company and European groups too numerous to list here.

In this rather grandiose production, Trans-Siberian Orchestra offer their version:



Another part of the Peer Gynt suite was used in the sound track of the animated motion picture Ice Age--"Anitra's Dance" (here adapted for ballet):



If one pays a little attention, one can hear the similarity to "In the Hall of the Mountain King."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Melodia/List_of_popular_songs_based_on_classical_music

You seem to have a good storehouse of classical information so try this one. What classical piece is the 1959 Arthur Lyman beautiful piano hit, It's So Right To Love, derived from? For research, you can hear it on YouTube or see a TV commercial with the piece playing in the background. It shows a Cadillac SUV maneuvering through a herd of cows on a big city street. This one is tough. Good luck. Please reply ASAP with the correct answer for bonus brownie points.

Found the answer myself..........Chopin's Nocturne No 2 in E Flat Major, Op. 9.

Incredibly sensitive and moving. Best original reproduction when played on a 19th Century Pleyel grand, but Rubinstein or Barenboim do it great justice. Poon is too mechanical, IMO. but technically perfect.

I listen again Eric Carmen - All By MySelf
  The verse is based on the second movement (Adagio sostenuto) of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18.

OK so you know the start of the original star trek TV show theme?
It starts off with a little four chord tune before the main bit kicks in. I know I've heard that before in some pretty famous piece of classical music but I can't put my finger on it.

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