Chloe sings a Chinese song

[Celeste]

No, the subject line is not a misprint. It's true!

Chloe has, in fact, sung a song based on a Chinese melody.

Please listen to the following YouTube clip, and see if you recognize which song it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxHNyZs1gvI&fmt=18

You don't have lo listen to the whole clip. The melody in question begins plays at 0:22 and 1:45 in the video.

Recognize it?

HINT: It's from Chloe's first solo CD.

[Jeanine]

"When You Believe", interesting . . . that song is originally from  Disney's Prince of Egypt.  I wonder whether the Chinese piece is where the idea of the melody originally came from or what . . . hmmmm . . . : |

[Celeste]

Nicely done, Jeanine! Yes, you're exactly right.

According to Wikipedia:

Although the composers are not credited, the first 18 notes of ["When You Believe"]'s melody are drawn from a 1952 Chinese composition entitled "Dance of the Yao People."

And furthermore,

["Dance of the Yao People] was composed collaboratively by Liu Tieshan and Mao Yuan in 1952, inspired by the long drum dance, a form of traditional festival music of the Yao people of southern and southwest China. It was premiered in Beijing in 1953.

So yes, the Chinese song is where the melody originates -- which makes it all the more ironic that "When You Believe" won for Best Original Song at the 1999 Academy Awards, since it turns out that it's not quite so original after all.

Incidentally, here is how the song is situated in Prince of Egypt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gur8ccqrQ9c&fmt=18

I much prefer Chloe's version . . .