ABSTRACT
Berberian had discovered The Beatles in late 1965, thanks to her daughter Cristina's enthusiasm for the group. Founded in Liverpool, England, in 1960, The Beatles gained popularity throughout the early 1960s, achieving initial success in their native UK. Philosopher Bernard Gendron has written about the process of 'cultural accreditation' that accompanied the growing popularity of The Beatles in the mid-1960s. Classically trained musicians began to publicly express their own affection for The Beatle's around the same time. In 1965, a pair of records appeared that recast Beatles' tunes according to the stylistic and formal conventions of classical music. Around the same time that these albums appeared, The Beatles themselves began to adopt classical music conventions, particularly through their use of certain instruments. When Berberian began her Beatles' covers in 1966, she already had several models: 'serious' musicians like Rifkin who had also covered The Beatles, as well as The Beatles' own use of classical music conventions in their songs.
