The Greatest Classical Music Works - Haydn's Symphony No. 104, "London"

Okay, here it is, as promised.

The list? Right here.

There are problems with it (why 109 works?), but it's a good starting place.

#109. The Nutcracker Suite (1892) - Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky

AVERAGE RUNNING TIME: 22 min.

There are several different versions of this one. Generally, people who want to perform it change it around in whatever way they want. This extends to one of the most famous usages of this suite: in Disney's Fantasia.

After the ballet's lukewarm reception (something that continues to help prove that the mass public is generally idiotic), however, Tchaikovsky himself created a suite from the ballet's music and this, I suppose, should be considered the definitive version.

This is unquestionably great music and it's token of the composer's genius that there isn't a single part of this suite that isn't instantly recognizeable and hummable by the vast majority of the Western world. These are pieces that get in your head and stay there. Once heard, never forgotten.

The suite opens with the Overture, proceeds into the March (one of my very favorites), and from there into a series of dances. These include the amazing Sugar Plum Fairy (another favorite), the melancholy Arabian, the bouncy Chinese, the bombastic (and hilarious) Russian and the gorgeous Reed Pipes' dance. It concludes with the longest section, the truly transcendently gorgeous Waltz of the Flowers.

Not a single weak bit in the whole bunch. Listen to this in one sitting and your brain will explode trying to figure out which one should get stuck in your head.

This should probably be more like top twenty . . .

 

I found it very hard to believe that this music wasn't a success in the beginning, and that it would rank this low.

And if you've seen "Fantastia", I defy you to hear "The Chinese Dance" and not think of toddling mushrooms. Oh, the power of visual image.

 

That link in the first post by Rogue leads to a "newer" version of the list (150 listed) and Nutcracker isn't on it! The list you were looking at appears to be here.

Tchaikovsky is one of my favorite composers, and this wonderful suite certainly deserves to be ranked much higher. I'd say in the top twenty or thirty for sure.

 

I have to say the Nutcracker is my favorite piece of classical music. I can listen to it hours on end, and i've come to find i write better papers when i listen to it. IMO it should be placed much higher.

However, the question needs to be asked, who is picking this list? Because my favorite classic music pieces as the average american girl, is going to be very different from my friend Ken who is getting his PHD in classical music. When i looked at the list i only vaugly remembered a few of them, but i knew all the Ballet suites. In fact, it was weird to me for the 1812 overture to not make the list. That is easily one of the most recognizable classic music pieces ever (not to mention really cool because of the cannons). So it begs the question, what are the judging standards for the list.

 

I haven't seen the Nutcracker in a long time to appreciate it. I saw it a few times as a kid and thought it was stupid, but as I look at it from a distant perspective, I begin to feel the story and the essential strength it has through music and ballet.

 

I've danced in 'Nutcracker' for the past 14 years, and it's never grown old. I may get tired of it as a result of hearing the music so much over the usual 4 and 1/2 months of practice, but it always seems new. I have such a hard time picking just one favorite moment in the suite. I've danced to everything in it, except for the Overture(duh!) and Sugar Plum. This past year I fell in love with 'Waltz of the Flowers'-I was in the Flower corps(here is a picture from it-I am the second girl on the left side):

http://photobucket.com/albums/b51/Thrawn1786/?action=view&current=Nutcracker05-Flowers.jpg

I used to think 'Flowers' dragged as opposed to 'Waltz of the Snowflakes', but I see it in a whole new light. 'Nutcracker' is truly one of the greatest pieces of classical music ever written. I love all of it, not just the 'Suite'.

 

A fantastic work, I really enjoy it. One of the more 'pop' works these days, but that is hardly a fault of its own, or indeed really a fault.

 

Yeah, not having the 1812 Overture on a list of the top 100 classical works is insane. It's probably my personal favorite. I think this list was just made by the guy running the web site with a few suggestions from readers; not really a big poll or anything.

 

Yeah, the list is just a personal opinion, not like a Rolling Stone poll or anything. So, yes, there are idiocies aplenty.

Bach's Cello Suites not making the list for instance.

I hadn't seen that 150 works list, but I think I'll just stick with the one I was planning to use.

 

108. Little Fugue in G Minor (1703) - Johann Sebastian Bach

AVERAGE RUNNING TIME: 4 minutes.

This is one of Bach's most famous organ pieces. One of the great things about Bach was how he was able to compose credibly for just about anything. Solo cello, choir, full orchestra, trios, quartets, harpsichord and, of course, organ. And he sold it, regardless. We'll talk about him quite a bit more on this list, but it's worth noting that Bach's organ works are stunning, something you wouldn't expect solo organ to necessarily be.

And, even, if you've never heard of it, you've heard it. It's simple, but he makes it complicated and it features one of the most stunning moments of music ever: the organ PEDALS are required to play sixteenth notes.

If that doesn't make your jaw drop, you probably don't know much about organs or music theory. That is, quite simply, about the craziest thing ever and I'm going to say this is a precursor to Hendrix or something just for that jaw dropping moment.

This was titled the Little fugue, not because it's that much shorter than most or because it's less in importance, but only to differentiate it from a previous composition by Bach, the Grand Fugue in G minor.

Regardless, this isn't as famous as some, at least by name, but it is stunning and, if only for that incredible pedal passage, I'm more than willing to give placement here.

 

107. Pomp and Circumstance (1901 - 1930) - Edward Elgar

AVERAGE TIME: 28 Minutes

Most people think this is one march. It's not. It's actually five. And, frankly, the fact that the first march was picked up as a graduation song, at least here in the US, seems pretty

As it stands, these are all brilliant pieces of music. Years of being played at graduations has yet to even begin to dim the luster of the gorgeous number one and the other four don't even have that to deal with.

This is stunning music, profound and beautiful. There's joy and exuberance here, there's sadness and grief, dignity and honor. This is one of the greatest musical line ups of all time.

If we must pick, the first, third and fifth are slightly better than the second and the third, but this is amazing music. You'll be humming them for weeks. Again, ranked far, far too low. Top thirty, I think, would be better.

 

I didn't know there was more than one, so I guess I'll now have to do some research...

 

It's in Fantasia 2000 in what I'm pretty sure is its entirety, if you're interested in that. I'll pop it into the VCR when I get home for spring break next week, come back with comments.

 

The version in Fantasia 2000 is a cobbled together version, barely over six minutes long. It's not just the first march, but neither is it anywhere close to the whole thing which is almost thirty minutes.

 

Ah, I'm glad you started this thread, Rogue. I've felt terribly guilty about letting my old hosted discussion die . But at least this time we have a ranking to analyse.

I agree that The Nutcracker is far more observing than the 109th spot, although I'm pretty sure that Tchaikovsky himself was actually ashamed of the work. But I suppose that doesn't really matter. The whole suite is great IMO, and has a special place in my heart. One of the first CDs I ever owned was a 2-CD Tchaikovsky set that included the Nutcracker Suite...I can't count how many times I listened to it on the stereo in our parlor. I think I was about 8 years old at the time. I also have fond memories of seeing the ballet performed in Boston on a field trip in 3rd grade, although I think I was one of the only kids who enjoyed it.

While I'm probably familiar with that Bach piece, that man was just so prolific I can't possibly memorise the titles of all his music.

As for Pomp and Circumstance, I have to admit that I've only listened to the first march, but it's definitely deserving of a higher spot here. I've always been in love with the majestic melody, although playing it in high school for three graduations wore down some of its magic for me.

I think someone should try actually playing the first march in its entirety for a graduation. The marchers would really have to be aware of the tempo.

 

You know, Terr, I actually considered using your list, which I still have and have now listened through in its entirity. Pretty darn good list, I think.

But this one had more breadth, I think, more modern pieces and it was, quite frankly, much more uneven which is always good for discussion.

 

Yeah, this is great thread. It means I have 159,000 albums to listen to, as well as 159,000 movies to see...

 

Blast. So much for me being helpful, then. A thousand apologies.

 

Having a great piece of music become associated with a famous tradition or film is kind of a double-edged sword. The music gets to be heard (and in the case of graduations, performed) by so many more people than would normally experience it. But then it also gets "stereotyped" or simply linked to another work of art. How many of you can listen to "The Blue Danube" without thinking of the space station scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey?

I love to listen to Pomp And Circumstance, but I always get that little funny feeling, like I'm listening to Christmas music in July.

 

106. Symphony No. 7 (1812) - Ludwig Van Beethoven

AVERAGE TIME: 38 Minutes

The theory got started somewhere that Beethoven's odd numbered symphonies were great and his even numbered ones were banal. That holds pretty well true with two exceptions: The Sixth, which is brilliant, and this one, which I quite simply do not care for.

This one garners a lot of great criticism.

Wagner called it the 'apotheisis of dance.' Carl Maria von Weber stated after hearing it that Beethoven was 'ripe for the madhouse.' And Thomas Beecham gave what remains one of the all time greatest classical music criticism when he stated that it was 'a lot of yaks jumping about.'

I've listened to this one several times, trying to tune in to what everyone's talking about, but I simply fail to see anything remarkable here. It's a weak link in Beethoven's symphonies, if you ask me. It's not bad; it commits a worse sin: there's nothing memorable about it.

I am in the minority here, yes, but I have to be honest. Either this is incredibly overrated or it's way over my head. Either way, I just don't get it.

 

I haven't heard this one, and will have to add it to the list. ("I've Got a Little List")

 

Well, I've got to disagree with you, Rogue. Allegretto from this symphony is my favourite movement of any classical work, and comes close to being my favourite musical piece of all time. I actually don't care all that much for the rest of the symphony, but Allegretto is just a work of pure brilliance, unparalleled by almost any other artist.

 

The theory got started somewhere that Beethoven's odd numbered symphonies were great and his even numbered ones were banal.

I'll have to see if I agree. I just bought a slew of classical SACDs on sale at Costco this weekend, and his 5th is among them.

 

It is, I think, safe to say that his Fifth is surpassed only by his Ninth. And his Ninth surpasses almost every musical composition ever, so anyway.

I guess I'll have to try this one again *sigh*

 

105. Violin Concerto in B Minor (1910) - Edward Elgar

AVERAGE LENGTH: 48 MINUTES

This work is a historic one. It's the only concerto for violin that Elgar wrote and it is also, to date, the longest concerto for violin anyone has written.

Frankly, both of those things are more negatives than anything else. The violin and the orchestra really don't work together very well and the work is not particularly good one, if you ask me. Add an very lengthy running time to that flaw and you have a work that I wouldn't recommend.

Elgar had genius; we've talked about Pomp and Circumstance and his Enigma Variations and Cockaigne are both masterpieces as well.

But this just falls flat. Nothing memorable and, while this is not a good word to use in criticism, it is frankly boring. Nothing seems to be going on really . . . the orchestra seems to be playing a not very inspired symphony while a violinst improvises in the foreground.

This one, I have to say, fails utterly to move me in the slightest.