Today I had a conversation with mom. She says she’s into music therapy, listening to Chopin and Tchaikovsky. Wow, I say, tell me what you’re listening to. And she puts something on. “Rain Waltz” by Chopin. I listen and realize, Chopin could not have composed this in the mid-19th century, no way. Turns out, with a bit of Googling, that the so-called “Rain Waltz” attributed to Chopin was actually written by the contemporary composer Yaroslav Nikitin, and arranged by Sergey Kuznetsov, the one who created almost all hits of the “Laskoviy May” band. Google “Chopin autumn waltz”—you’ll be surprised.
Moving on. She puts on “Spring Waltz.” Says it’s by Chopin. Beautiful, isn’t it! But I hear it, and it’s definitely not Chopin, but who is it? Hard to tell, I’m no Shazam. I ask Siri – it identifies “Marriage d’amour” by Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint. What classic? Written the year I was born.
Then Vivaldi, she says, listen to this. And she puts on – surprise, “Song from a Secret Garden.” I say, that’s not Vivaldi, and play this piece by Rolf Løvland for my mom right there on the piano (it’s a simple one). Seems she called it “Soul”?
“So, wait, does this mean I’m being duped? And Tchaikovsky—isn’t Tchaikovsky?” But Tchaikovsky turned out to be the real Tchaikovsky.
Overall, fake news has long been around in music. And the main thing is, it’s unclear what to do about it. For the sake of likes, ignorant reposters add whatever they can.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 