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- Classical guitarist Alexandra Whittingham posted a video on TikTok
- She plays Francisco Tárrega’s “Gran Vals” – the piece on which the tune is based
It’s one of the most iconic — and perhaps annoying — ringtones in phone history.
And now a TikToker has shed light on the origin of the classic ‘Nokia ringtone’.
Classical guitarist Alexandra Whittingham posted a video of herself playing Francisco Tárrega’s “Gran Vals” – the piece on which the ringtone is based.
“I won’t rest until this piece gets the appreciation it deserves,” she joked.
Viewers were amazed by the clip, with one person responding: “Is someone going to answer the guitar or what?”
In a recent video, Ms Whittingham took to her guitar to show her fans where the original Nokia ringtone came from
Ms Whittingham is a professional guitarist who studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and regularly posts videos on her TikTok app.
In a recent video, Ms Whittingham took to her guitar to show her fans where the original Nokia ringtone came from.
The first 15 seconds or so of the piece feels like a typical waltz.
However, at the end of the clip, the famous Nokia ringtone appears, before Ms Whittingham ends the video with a chuckle into the camera.
Thousands of viewers took to the comments to express their happiness with the video.
“It looks like a Pixar movie sponsored by Nokia,” one user wrote.
Another quipped: “Sir, your Nokia phone is ringing.”
One joked: “But now when I heard that I expected Dom Jolie to jump up and shout at the top of his lungs ‘Hello, yes, I’m in the library.'”
Gran Vals is a solo guitar piece written by Francisco Tárrega in 1902.
The original little ringtone first appeared in an advertisement for the Nokia 1011 in 1992. But since then, it has gone through several iterations
According to Classic FMOne of the big attractions of using the excerpt was that the composer had long been dead.
“Nokia needed a soundtrack free from the complexities of expensive copyright,” she explained.
“European law makes music available to the public 70 years after the composer’s death. Tárriga, who died 84 years ago, was the perfect choice.
The original ringtone first appeared in an advertisement for the Nokia 1011 in 1992.
But since then, it has gone through many iterations.
For example, the version released in 2004 features a real piano, while the version released in 2008 features an expanded guitar-based score.
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