Cellist Samara Ginsberg has released an uncanny rendition of the theme tune from the classic X-Men: The Animated Series - and it's stunning. The '90s were the decade of the X-Men, in almost every medium. The X-Men comics had never been bigger, with 1991's X-Men #1 breaking records as the best-selling comic book of all time. A year later, X-Men: The Animated Series launched on the Fox Kids network - and it was an absolute hit.
One reason for that, of course, is the perfect theme tune. Composed by Ron Wasserman (the mastermind behind the equally famous Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers theme), it was scored to the clips, and successfully captured the heart of the Marvel animated TV series. The theme is a powerful one, deploying a range of different musical instruments, including a superb guitar riff, drawing viewers in and promising a world of action and adventure. And now it's been remade - in the most surprising and delightful way possible.
Cellist Samara Ginsberg has been making the most of the lockdown to recreate classic theme tunes using eight different cellos. She tends to share them on Twitter, where they've well-received, and she's been taking requests. Unsurprisingly, a whole lot of followers asked if she'd do a cello version of X-Men: The Animated Series. The result is superb.
Ginsberg is a skilled British cellist, and she trained under the celebrated Stefan Popov at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She usually works as a chamber musician, and she serves as the founder, arranger, and artistic director of the Jukebox String Quartet. That explains why Ginsberg can orchestrate these eight cellos so skillfully, ensuring everyone plays at the right moment. Her YouTube channel includes several other examples along these lines, including arrangements of He-Man & the Masters of the Universe, Airwolf, and even Duck Tales. This rendition of the X-Men: The Animated Series theme tune is easily Ginsberg's best yet, testifying both to her skill and the quality of the original music.
As beloved as the theme tune of X-Men: The Animated Series may be, it's recently proved surprisingly controversial. Zoltan Krisko, manager of the estate of the late Hungarian composer Gyorgy Vukan, sued Marvel for allegedly copying the X-Men theme music from a Hungarian police comedy-thriller called Linda, which aired from 1984-1991. The tunes are strikingly similar, but whatever the outcome, the fact remains this music is one an entire generation of superhero fans will never forget.
Source: Twitter