Talk:Flight of the Bumblebee

Comment
"where it can be heard in the scene detailing the Bride's arrival in Tokyo. In most of this scene, the Bride wears a yellow track suit like the one that Bruce Lee was wearing in his swan song movie, Game of Death

Is detail concerning the filmography of Bruce Lee really necessary to the concise article regarding one of Rimsky-Korsakov's greatest works? I accept its position as a homage to the genre of martial arts movies, but this is a minor point compared to the music itself.

--Lejend 22:42, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I am not so sure FOTB was used as the theme for the Green Hornet TV show (which also featured Bruce Lee, by the way;)) As I recall, and I have a tablature file to back me up, it was a different song very obviously inspired by FOTB but not the same song.  The trumpet line was still extremely fast to the tongue but each note in the main melody was played twice.  Still pretty hard for mere mortals to play, and any trumpeter who could articulate it should have an amazing love life  (big wink!)

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I vaguely remember The Green Hornet from TV. If current MIDI versions are reliable, there are a couple of melodic fragments from the original "Flight" that are incorporated into the theme music for Hornet, but it's hardly an arrangement of Rimsky's piece at all.

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Talk:Flight of the Bumblebee
The Green Hornet theme was played by legendary New Orleans Jazz trumpeter, Al Hirt. The most recognizable version of this tune is played by trumpet great Harry James. James was Benny Goodman's lead trumpet and was married to Betty Grable. It was a big hit for him and his band and plays over the opening titles in Woody Allen's Radio Days - Probably the most famous versions were those for the Green Hornet on radio and television (Al Hirt's). Was Harry James' the radio 1? If somebody knows, include it! Trekphiler 01:14, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

extreme/nuno
i'm pretty sure I remember the sleeve notes to pornograffiti crediting the "bumblebee" solo to somebody other than Nuno (I remember this because I remember thinking, "why did they get someone else in, surely Nuno could play it, couldnt he?"

Unfortunately I've now lost the CD so I cant confirm. Can anyone else?

Stevekeiretsu 18:36, 15 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I remember that the sleeve notes says it was played by Dweezil Zappa, but i´ve also lost the CD. So if someone could find the CD (shouldn't be too hard, i think) we could verify this. Woden 12:04, 21 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I found my old tape version of the album, and the sleeve notes credit Nuno Bettencourt with the "Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee". Dweezil Zappa is credited with the Intro/Outro solos to the song "He-man Woman Hater".


 * On a different subject entirely, the popular culture section of the article is a list and should be cut right down with anything noteworthy being folded into the rest of the article. I'll put up a tag for that into the article. Major Bloodnok (talk) 21:01, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't have my CD case but you're correct; in the CD sleeve it said Dweezil Zappa.

John Petrucci
missing reference to John Petrucci's uber-famous electric guitar adaptation. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 151.37.245.6 (talk) 02:14, 8 April 2007 (UTC).

Kill Bill
in the film kill bill vol 1 the music appears when the girl takes the airplane to tokyo, can someone put it there? 189.28.199.207 (talk)
 * It is not FotB, it is the Green Hornet Theme. Alex Spade (talk) 20:50, 13 November 2018 (UTC)

Danny Key once conducted this piece, using a flyswatter. Spike Jones also did a version. I think Tim Conway may also have done it (as conductor) on the Carol Burnett Show.

In the Presence of Enemies
In the Presence of Enemies by Dream Theater does not quote Flight Of The Bumblebee. It has a similar chromatic section, but it is not a direct lift from Rimsky-Korsakov's composition. 88.107.20.150 (talk) 16:04, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Jennifer Batten
I'm surprised that there is no mention of Jennifer Batten's arrangement of the piece for guitar, played entirely with tapping. For reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kng1oTF9img Winterdenni (talk) 14:49, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Pop Culture
I'm uneasy about the presence of a pop culture section - | this edit removed a whole lot of them. I think that WP:INDISCRIMINATE should be our guide here; is it going to deeper our understanding of the Flight of the Bumblebee that there should be a note about every single use of this piece of music in pop culture? Demonstrably not. It may be notable enough for The Green Hornet that the music was used, but not for this entry. What does the community think? I'm in favour of removing the Pop culture section entirely. As it is I'll remove the computer game and Muppet Show entries for lack of notability. Major Bloodnok (talk) 18:06, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

Malmsteen and guitar speed records
a.f.a.i.k. when Yngwie Malmsteen have performed the Flight of the Bumblebee it won him the fame of the "fastest rock/metal guitarist" of the time. which in turn spun the fashion for "outspeeding" Yngwie, and for setting guitar speed records. although Tiago Della Vega is a talented guitar player, he is just one of the many setting such a record.

I cannot back this statement with references, and I could be accused in original research. but if references are found I think it is worth mentioning as the music piece set a direction in the popular culture. --188.126.16.0 (talk) 12:55, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Article title
Why does "The Flight of the Bumblebee" redirect to "Flight of the Bumblebee" when cited sources in this article, including AllMusic.com, and sources in the Rimsky-Korsakov article all use the definite article "The" in the title?

At the very least, this discrepancy needs to be addressed. And if "Flight" without "The" is demonstrably and conclusively the title of this piece of music, then it needs to be changed across other Wikipedia articles for accuracy. --Tenebrae (talk) 22:55, 1 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I have placed a post at User talk:Jengod, who made the redirect from "The Flight of the Bumblebee" to "Flight of the Bumblebee", inviting him or her to join the discussion. --Tenebrae (talk) 17:03, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

Rachmaninoff's version
The piano version made by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff is not mentioned. Isn't that one of most important data about the topic. Something else is where to put it... Trombek Bombek (talk) 19:36, 15 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Totally agree! 2A01:599:A44:AA04:82FA:5BFF:FE15:2B0 (talk) 09:40, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

Bravura?
I always thought Flight was a blatant example of Bravura, but that's not mentioned in the article. Should it be? Or is there some technical reason it's not considered that? Equazcion ( talk ) 05:32, 18 Mar 2012 (UTC)
 * All of the equivalent adjectives appear to be used. "challenges the musician", "requires a great deal of skill to perform", "a standard showcase for solo instrumental virtuosity". If someone wanted to toss "bravura" in somewhere as an additional adjective that would probably be fine, but I don't think its a word that's required or anything.DavidRF (talk) 06:38, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

Tiago Della Vega has beaten the John Taylor's record - update the information
Guys, I suggest that the information: "Brazilian rock guitarist Tiago Della Vega established the world record as the fastest guitar player in 2008 playing a 320 beats per minute rendition of "Flight of the Bumblebee".[1][2] This was subsequently broken by John Taylor of Colorado in 2011 playing this piece at 600 beats per minute" be updated to something that says the actual record: Tiago Della Vega 750 BPM in a live festival in Cannes. On YouTube there's a video about it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 177.155.106.127 (talk) 03:51, 8 March 2014 (UTC)

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The disco version recorded by Walter Murphy in 1976, titled "Flight '76", should also be listed here (section "In popular culture") - especially since the hyperlink on his Wiki page redirects here. It reached 44 on the Hot 100 Singles chart. Discogs page: https://www.discogs.com/The-Walter-Murphy-Band-Flight-76-Flight-76-Pt-2/master/1433709. 212.67.149.248 (talk) 18:16, 9 October 2018 (UTC)

"Getting Married Today"
I see that you have the Muppets included in your Culture section, but you do not mention this song from the Stephen Sondheim's musical, Company. Here is a video of Madeline Kahn singing it with "The Flight of the Bumblebee" clearly playing in the background. Please include some information on this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrRDrz53Q1E Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 01:41, 14 December 2020 (UTC)

Popular Culture
Danny Kaye famously conducted "The Flight of the Bumblebee" with a flyswatter. Drsruli (talk) 05:53, 10 February 2024 (UTC)