"A Lover's Concerto" is a pop

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

written by American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

Sandy Linzer Sandy Linzer (born 1941) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer, who is best known for his songwriting collaborations with Denny Randell and Bob Crewe in the 1960s and 1970s. He co-wrote hits including "A Lover's Concerto", "Let ...

and

Denny Randell Denny Randell (born 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, who is best known for his songwriting collaborations with Sandy Linzer and Bob Crewe in the 1960s and 1970s. He co-wrote hits including "A Lover's Concerto", "Let's Hang O ...

, based on the 18th century composition by Christian Petzold, " Minuet in G major", and recorded in 1965 by

the Toys The Toys were an American pop girl group from Jamaica, New York, which was formed in 1961 and disbanded in 1968. Their most successful recording was "A Lover's Concerto" (1965), which sold more than two million copies and reached the number-tw ...

. "A Lover's Concerto" sold more than two million copies and was awarded

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

certification by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. Their original version of the song was a major hit in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(among other countries) during 1965. It peaked on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at number 2. It was kept out of the number 1 spot by both " Yesterday" by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and "

Get Off of My Cloud "Get Off of My Cloud" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for a single to follow the successful " (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Recorded in Hollywood, California, in early Se ...

" by

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

. "A Lover's Concerto" reached number 1 both on the US '' Cashbox'' chart (''Billboard''s main competitor), and in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on the ''

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'' national singles chart. It peaked at number 5 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

History

Linzer and Randell used the melody of the familiar " Minuet in G major" (BWV Anh. 114), which first appeared in J.S. Bach's ''

Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach The title ''Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach'' (german: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach) refers to either of two manuscript notebooks that the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach presented to his second wife, Anna Magdalena. ...

''. The only difference is that the "Minuet in G major" is written in time, whereas "A Lover's Concerto" is arranged in time. Although often attributed to Bach himself, the "Minuet in G major" is now generally accepted as having been written by Christian Petzold. The melody had been popularized by bandleader

Freddy Martin Frederick Alfred Martin (December 9, 1906 – September 30, 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist. Early life Freddy Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Raised largely in an orphanage and by various relatives, ...

in the 1940s, in a recording that was released under the title "A Lover's Concerto".
Critic Dave Thompson (author), Dave Thompson wrote of the Toys' version: "Few records are this perfect. Riding across one of the most deceptively hook-laden melodies ever conceived ... 'A Lover's Concerto' marks the apogee of the

Girl Group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

sound." The song also had an unusual structure that blurred the differences between its verses and choruses. The lyrics begin: : ''How gentle is the rain'' : ''That falls softly on the meadow,'' : ''Birds high up in the trees'' : ''Serenade the clouds with their melodies''

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lover's Concerto, A 1965 singles Songs written by Sandy Linzer The Toys songs Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Arrangements of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach Songs written by Denny Randell 1965 songs Popular songs based on classical music