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Jimmie at The Sundries Shack tackles an unusual topic for bloggers, classical music, complaining about a WETA listener poll in which five of the top 10 selections were Beethoven. I'm with Jimmie in wishing for more variety. (Hello, Mozart? Liszt? Shubert?)
My tastes in classical music are eclectic. Jimmie wants more Wagner, but Wagner is mostly opera, and I can't stand operatic singing. (I'm convinced the demons in hell warble like operatic sopranos.) The only Wagner I like is instrumental parts like "Ride of the Valkyries." I like Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky, and Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris."
I suppose I'll be written off as a philistine for confessing that I also like John Williams, but it's kind of a sentimental thing. I used to have a girlfriend who was a huge "Indiana Jones" fan, and she liked to . . . uh, enjoy some quality time listening to the soundtrack.
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Trouble is there's so much classical music, it's no surprise a big name like Beethoven dominates the top spots. It's like those rock top 10's that end up 3/4 Beatles songs.
ReplyDeleteWhile I love the pieces on the WETA list, my own list would include Mozart's piano concerto #9 "Jeunehomme" or piano sonata #9 (the one featured in the movie "Groundhog Day"), Samuel Barber's "Adagio" (amazing!), Debussy's "La Mer," Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D (Op.35), and anything from Schubert. He was the man. The man died supposedly from syphillis at age 31. What a playa! ;-)
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My Wagner choices would have been less operatic pieces and more the overtures in the operas (like Tannheuser, for instance).
ReplyDeleteThe WETA listeners are a pretty sophisticated bunch which is, I think, why there are more "sensitive" pieces and fewer pieces with populist appeal (Where's the Mendelssohn??).