In 1868, Orlando McLean Scott founded the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company in Marysville, Ohio. That same year, half way around the world in Russia, Alexander Borodin began composing his opera, Prince Igor. Little did either of these men know that 148 years later, Mr. Scott's company would be using the music of Borodin, specifically his Polovtsian Dances (from the opera), in a commercial for Scotts Turf Builder Weed & Feed. Take a look:
Borodin was a well respected chemist as well as a composer. He was quoted as saying "Science is my work, and music is my fun." He worked on Prince Igor for 18 years but died (1887) before he completed it. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov completed the opera for him, and it was first performed in 1890.
I love hearing classical music used in contemporary media. It's fun to learn that the composer and the company founder both shared the earth at the same time.
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