Wrinkles Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Radio Station WRR 101.1 took this poll and from responses came up with the top 90 classical music pieces. Interesting to see what people are favoring for 2011. http://www.wrr101.com/ It streams. How many have you never heard? TOP 90 Classical Music Pieces voted on in 2011 by the listening audience of Radio Station WRR 101.1 1 Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 - Choral / Fidelio Overture 2 Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue 3 Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (Le Quattro Stagioni) Op 8 Nos 1-4 4 Dvorak: Symphony #9 "New World" 5 Handel: Messiah 6 Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 7 Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring 8 Debussy: Clair de Lune 9 Barber: Adagio for Strings 10 Orff: Carmina Burana 11 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 in c 'Organ' 12 Pachelbel: Canon in D 13 Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 "Emperor" 14 Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Op 43) 15 Beethoven: Piano Sonata #14 "Moonlight" 16 Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 17 Bach: Toccata and Fugue in d minor 18 Beethoven: Symphony #7 19 Copland: Appalachian Spring 20 Mozart: Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 21 Beethoven: Symphony #5 22 Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade 23 Elgar: Enigma Variations 24 Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture 25 Holst: Planets 26 Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1 27 Smetana: Moldau 28 Sibelius: Finlandia 29 Beethoven: Symphony #6 "Pastoral" 30 Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze 31 Grieg: Piano Concerto in a minor 32 Ravel: Bolero 33 Handel: Water Music 34 Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis 35 Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3 36 Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker 37 Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake 38 Stravinsky: Rite of Spring 39 Tchaikovsky: Symphony #6 "Pathetique" 40 Brahms: German Requiem 41 Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man 42 Grieg: Peer Gynt 43 Copland: Rodeo 44 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition 45 Bach: Mass in B minor 46 Beethoven: Symphony #3 "Eroica" 47 Respighi: Pines of Rome 48 Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto 49 Beethoven: Fur Elise 50 Mahler: Symphony #2 "Resurrection" 51 Chopin: Piano Concerto #1 52 Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun 53 Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien 54 Rossini: William Tell Overture 55 Mozart: Symphony #40 56 Schubert: Symphony #8 "Unfinished" 57 Wagner: Tannhauser 58 Bizet: Carmen 59 Albinoni: Adagio 60 Massenet: Meditation from Thais 61 Mozart: Piano Concerto #21 "Elvira Madigan" 62 Wagner: Tristan and Isolde: Prelude & Liebestod 63 Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez 64 Vaughan: Williams Lark Ascending 65 J. Strauss II: Blue Danube Waltz 66 Mozart: Clarinet Concerto 67 Verdi: Requiem 68 Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain 69 Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream 70 Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks 71 Stravinsky: Firebird 72 Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik 73 Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #2 74 Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals 75 Haydn: Trumpet Concerto 76 Wagner: Ring 77 Rossini: Barber of Seville Overture 78 Prokofiev: Peter & the Wolf 79 Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto 80 Mahler: Symphony #1 "Titan" 81 Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5 82 Schubert: Piano Quintet "Trout" 83 Shostakovich: Symphony #5 84 Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique 85 Tchaikovsky: Symphony #4 86 Sibelius: Symphony #2 87 Mozart: Marriage of Figaro: Overture 88 Dvorak: Cello Concerto 89 Schubert: Symphony #9 90 Liszt: Les Preludes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 All worthy listens but not all classical. The romantic, 20th century, and baroque are all represented. I suppose if the knowledgeable listeners of WRR want to categorize all orchestral music as classical well, as you said, opinions are like them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Oops, missed the question at the end. I have heard pretty much all of them and performed around 30 to 40 % of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrinkles Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 All worthy listens but not all classical. The romantic, 20th century, and baroque are all represented. I suppose if the knowledgeable listeners of WRR want to categorize all orchestral music as classical well, as you said, opinions are like them. Probably "Orchestral" would have been a better term to use than "Classical". Fortunately, one does not have to be knowlegeable to enjoy this music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Too right it's all good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 All worthy listens but not all classical. The romantic, 20th century, and baroque are all represented. I suppose if the knowledgeable listeners of WRR want to categorize all orchestral music as classical well, as you said, opinions are like them. Yeah, "classical" has the two meanings. One, to include all non-"popular", which is useful to make the broad distinction; and the other, more academic, for the Haydn-Mozart-Beethoven era (~1750 - ~1827). That was a good list, and I was relieved I knew all of them. I think that someone who thinks the subject is too difficult and overwhelming will start to feel much better about it if they work at familiarizing themselves with even a fraction of that list. I think Youtube is a good place to start -- type in the composer and name of the piece, and Youtube will start filling in the list and bring up huge number of samples to select from. A big advantage of Youtube is that you can often watch it being played as well as just hearing it, and I think that is very worthwhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 W-Ahrr-Aharr...pirate radio, isn't it? [] Probably "Orchestral" would have been a better term to use than "Classical". If you are good with including ELO, Paul Whiteman, and Percy Faith. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 W-Ahrr-Aharr...pirate radio, isn't it? Probably "Orchestral" would have been a better term to use than "Classical". If you are good with including ELO, Paul Whiteman, and Percy Faith. Dave As I was listening to WRR this morning and getting ready for work, I was thinking out loud to myself... W-Ahrr-Aharr...how funny..... still laughing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 That's a Liszt I could Handel without going baroque. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 W-Ahrr-Aharr...pirate radio, isn't it? Probably "Orchestral" would have been a better term to use than "Classical". If you are good with including ELO, Paul Whiteman, and Percy Faith. Dave If Dave can include ELO, then I get to include Queen--Parts of Bohemian Rhapsody are near orchestral. Actually, I've heard it played in so many genres...by a hundred member choir, by a string quartet, by a guy on piano surrounded by four guys with various horn instruments...yeah, it definitely qualifies. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Although 20th Century, I absolutely love Sibelius. His Symphony No. 3 reminds me, in parts, of more recent Howard Shore, especially his music for Lord of the RIngs. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Duke Ellington is often quoted: "There are two kinds of music. Good music and the other kind." A friend is a professional violinist. His tastes are eclectic, skewed toward "classical." He played on a Roy Orbison recording session. Although not his musical preference, he was impressed with Roy's professionalism, attention to detail and incredible vocal range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Not to take anything away from the better known works but there are so many lesser works that are very enjoyable. Try this one: 'Un Petit Train de Plaisur' by Rossini as an example. Many contemporary listeners get their classical perspective from mere snippets woven into the soundtracks of cartoons and films. I listen to classical far more than any other genre. When one considers that masterpiece music prior to recording was relatively rare such intricate works hold even more meaning. Yes, they had their folk musics, etc..... but organized pieces and formal presentations were few and far between. Not many common folk got to enjoy them. And now we have them all at our fingertips. Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 The ARTS cable TV channel is available in many locations: http://www.classicartsshowcase.org/. It's a sort of MTV for classical music videos as well as film segments. This morning, I saw Janine Jansen, a great violinist, and the Berlin Phil play the Saint-Saens Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for violin and orchestra. Each video opens and closes with a legend giving the name and composer, the performer(s), recording info, and other details. Youtube.com only has this live perf of the Saint-Saens by Joshua Bell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmvEdfNYsEg&feature=related. I liked Jansen's better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrinkles Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 That's a Liszt I could Handel without going baroque.[Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Great thread. Really shows the tolerance and open mindedness of the Kuivering Klipsch Klan. I think "classic" music is anything that is still loved decades after it is mooted, and "classical" after a century or so. One of my coworkers gave me a copy of "Ain't nobody played like him yet," the early 80s documentary about Leon Bix Biederbecke. I had not seen it since I lived in Singapore in the late 80s and hadn't ever found it available. Extraordinary piece of work and it re-affirmed the near Mozart genious of Bix. It's a shame that he never really mastered notation. It took the guy assigned to write the music down for "In A Mist" MONTHS to do so because Bix played it different every time...and every time it was a masterpiece worthy of Beethoven, Brahams, Chopin, or any of the masters. What we have is just a snapshop of genious in motion. No question in my mind this is "classical' music. Also, the piece was done so long ago that it's loaded with interviews with his ex wife, girl friends, and band members who played with him. One of them played a piece that had never been written down that Bix called "Cloudy." This guy heard it ONCE, and played it on the documentary 50 years later. It was every bit as complex, colored, and stunning as "In a Mist." I hope it got written down or someone has studied this film and reconstructed a score as it is a masterpiece. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Different every time. It's the beauty of jazz. It was never meant to be notated and reproduced exactly like the traditional music before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Different every time. It's the beauty of jazz. It was never meant to be notated and reproduced exactly like the traditional music before. That is true of many of the classical composers. Satie's "Gymnopedies" are simple notationally, but one could spend a lifetime interpreting them. Beethoven's sonatas are hardly simple, but performer reputations are built or lost on them. Biederbecke's compositions are incredibly rich and complex, and the casual listener might make no connection between his cornet work and his piano work, as the former is incredibly complex and rich, but very much stylistically of the times. His piano music is unique and virtuoso, and one might not be able to place the period without know his work. I am no good at describing these things, being niether musician nor musicologist. I highly recommend some time spent with Beiderbecke for anyone interested in innovative music in general, however, as when it suddenly hits you it is mind boggling and you realize this is a genious who, though recognized, is far greater than the recognition he has recieved to date. If he'd been able to write his stuff down, I believe he'd rank with the best of all time. Didn't start out to do a Bix commercial, but seeing that documentary again last night got me going... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Don't worry about cheerleading. Everyone should give Bix a listen. When i studied music I had the fortune to be in the same place as the foremost interpreter of Mozart of the time, maybe of the last two generations. She was wonderful and played Mozart with the joie de vive you might expect. Written or not, there will always be interpretations of an artist. We are lucky in our time to have original recordings from the artist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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