Your Top 5 Favorite Pieces

[allegroamabile]

with a performance taking place an average of once a day somewhere around the world.

Are you sure about that?

[Melodia]

No, I'm not sure. I just remember reading it.

[sbeckmesser]

To judge by the live and delayed-live concerts available on the Web, especially from the European national broadcasting entities (BBC, ARD, Radio France etc.) there probably is NOT a live performance of Bolero every single day during the year. Assuming that the European concerts accessible by the Internet are a representative sampling of all symphony symphony concerts globally (and I believe that these broadcasts are actually a sufficiently large fraction of such concerts for a good quasi-statistical generalization), Bolero simply is not performed often enough in Europe for it to be performed at least once a day globally. Then again, there may be some orchestra on some isolated Pacific island giving daily concerts with a repertory consisting only of Bolero. It would have to come up with instruments often played by freelancers even with major orchestras: an oboe d'amore, 3 saxophones, and a contrabassoon.

--Sixtus

PS: The way to definitively establish this is to look up the Durand licensing records, if they are publically available. But these will have become obsolete when the work passed into the public domain.

PPS: It may be a safer claim to make that Bolero is sufficiently popular for it to be played -- by somebody, somewhere, via some electronic medium -- continuously 24/7/365.

[Deinonychus]

I've heard Boléro performed with strings, 2 horns and a side drum.

[allegroamabile]

What about your five least favorite pieces, huh. Let's twist this up a little bit.

1. Jaromir Weinberger- Polka and Fugue from Schwanda, the Bagpiper (This is one you may like, Sean Martin.)
2. Hector Berlioz- The Roman Carnival Overture
3. Cesar Franck- Chorale No. 2 for Organ
4. Robert Russell Bennett- Suite of Old American Dances (It wouldn't hurt to give this one a try if you haven't, Sean Martin.)
5. Arthur Sullivan- Pineapple Poll (Another one you should check out, Sean Martin.)

[Melodia]

I don't see how anyone could consider ANY of those among least favorites, unless they have no soul.

[allegroamabile]

I defintely have a soul. Let's just say it's has a taste for a deeper type of music.

[Leonard Vertighel]

Let's just say it's has a taste for a deeper type of music.

"Music began when Arnold Schoenberg has invented ze tone row (...) Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, all has been superficial. Schlagers! Or like you say, flagellated cream." ("Dr. Domgraf-Fassbaender", The Hoffnung Interplanetary Music Festival)

SCNR...

[SeanMartin]

I know "Pineapple Poll" very well, actually -- and youre right, not one of Sullivan's best. There are worse -- Rose of Persia, for example -- but Poll is pretty close up there.

Least favourite? I'd have to think in terms of genre instead of specific pieces, but let's face it: a bad performance can ruin anything for you for weeks, if not months, on end. Still, if I have to listen to the Overture to Wilhelm Tell one more time, I will go slightly mad. And the Pachabel Canon, for that matter - a little goes a long way with that one.

However, I do have to ask... "deeper music"? So unless something's not been performed by a symphony orchestra, it's not "deep"? How does one make the appropriate distinction?

"Music began when Arnold Schoenberg has invented ze tone row (...) Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, all has been superficial. Schlagers! Or like you say, flagellated cream." ("Dr. Domgraf-Fassbaender", The Hoffnung Interplanetary Music Festival)

I love that quote! Thank you!

[vinteuil]

2. Hector Berlioz- The Roman Carnival Overture

Woah. I know that Benevenuto is better, but that's still worse than WELLINGTON'S VICTORY? o.O

[allegroamabile]

I think we can say Pineapple Poll is not deep music (more serious).

[Melodia]

I know "Pineapple Poll" very well, actually -- and youre right, not one of Sullivan's best.

Uh, if you knew it so well, then you'd know it's not by Sullivan in the sense that he wrote the music as it stands. Charles Mackerras arranged it from various music of Sullivan into a cohesive ballet (as was done with other ballets such as Gaite Parisienne and La Boutique Fantasique, to name a pair of well known ones).
But I can't imagine, with all the music that exists, that anyone could ever not like it so much to actually consider it a least favorite.

[steltz]

I'm struggling to think of 5 least favorite, actually -- I can think of lots of pieces that are pretty unmemorable, and I wouldn't like to waste energy playing them, but that's not really the same as something that really rubs you the wrong way.

1) Beethoven's Wellington Victory is definitely on the list.
2) Unfortunately, some of the second Act of Beethoven's Fidelio is on the list -- it's obvious that much time elapsed between the writing of the first (which I love) and second Act of this opera, and there is a march in there that always strikes me as a bit of an idiot's march.
3) Max D'Ollone, Fantasie Orientale (a Paris Conservatoire Concours piece that is cheesier than just about any of the others)
4) Come to think of it, Berlioz' Trojan March is also on the list -- maybe I just don't like marches -- no wait, I like March to the Scaffold, and quite a few others.
5) Ketelby, In a Persian Market

There, I did think of 5!

[SeanMartin]

I know "Pineapple Poll" very well, actually -- and youre right, not one of Sullivan's best.

Uh, if you knew it so well, then you'd know it's not by Sullivan in the sense that he wrote the music as it stands. Charles Mackerras arranged it from various music of Sullivan into a cohesive ballet (as was done with other ballets such as Gaite Parisienne and La Boutique Fantasique, to name a pair of well known ones).
But I can't imagine, with all the music that exists, that anyone could ever not like it so much to actually consider it a least favorite.

Yes, and I should have qualified it as such as being a mash-up and not an original piece. My comment was made in jest, and I didnt convey it properly. My apologies for not making that clear.

But I"m sorry, I"m still waiting to hear what's supposed to qualify as "deep" around here. Anything with an opus number attached to it? Something only the New York Philharmonic would approach without blushing in embarrassment? Something only to be performed by a group of 40? I love classical music as much as anyone here, even if I'm not as conversant in it as most of you. But to immediately dismiss anything else as not sufficiently "deep" seems a bit disingenuous.

Further to the point, when asked about one's favourite underrated composer, I put something serious out there. Not a list, but the reasons why I find this particular composer so sadly missing -- and I'm greeted with "Well, if it's never been recorded, how do you know it's any good?", as though only something on DeutcheGrammaphone will serve the needs of those apparently in the know. Well, folks, here's the deal -- if my history of the work of Arthur Penn is so juvenile in relation to the demi-gods thrown on a few lists, then kindly say so. I will tip my hat, take up my coat, and leave you to your 19th century peace. God knows, one doesnt want to be an intrusive guest.

My apologies if I'm coming across as hyper-sensitive, but I have to tolerate elitism in my work environment every. Single. Day. I'd prefer not to have to deal with it in free time activities, but frankly, some of the comments around here smack of straight-up "who the hell are you?" And perhaps this isnt the place for me. If that's the case, no mas -- but I'd recommend putting up a list of rules and regulations so the unwashed wont wander in without a leash.

Have a nice day, eh?

[vinteuil]

Truly deep music is nigh impossible to find, as one can find superficial aspects in almost any work (except a few Webern pieces, and that's because they're so short).