MY TOP 100 CLASSICAL MUSIC FAVORITES CONTINUE BELOW. THEY ARE NUMBERED ~ BUT NOT RANKED IN ANY PARTICULAR ORDER.
61. ERIK SATIE'S GNOSSIENNE NO 1.
Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1 already made my list -- #44, HERE -- and I also love his Gnossienne No. 1, a hauntingly beautiful and beautifully haunting song.
At the right: The Gnossienne No. 1 on the piano -- as it was written.
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Far left: Gnossienne No. 1 on the guitar.
Center: On the harp. Left: On the...well, you'll just have to listen! ; ) |
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62. FINLANDIA BY JEAN SIBELIUS
Finlandia is a tone poem by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece was written in 1899 (and revised in 1900) for the Press Celebrations, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian Empire.
From Wikipedia: "Most of the piece is taken up with rousing and turbulent music, evoking the national struggle of the Finnish people. Towards the end, a calm comes over the orchestra, and the serene and melodic Finlandia Hymn is heard." |
At the right: Two different flash mobs performing "Finlandia".
Below: "Finlandia" transcribed for solo piano by the composer. |
Interestingly, the Finlandia Hymn was the tune to my high school's Alma Mater. I can't say that I ever remember singing it -- or even having heard it sung. I was in the band, too, and I don't remember ever playing it. Maybe we did at the annual graduations? Maybe?
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63. DER FREISCHÜTZ OVERTURE BY CARL MARIA VON WEBER
I'm not sure when/where I first heard the overture to Weber's opera "Der Freischütz," but I've loved it ever since I heard it. I think that it might have been a piece we played in high school band --maybe?
The opera premiered in 1821, and then in 1846, Franz Liszt wrote a piano transcription of the overture (below on the left). |
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Karel Arnoldus Craeyvanger wrote an introduction and variations on a theme from Der Freischütz for guitar in c. 1851 At the left: The guitar transcription by Craeyvanger. |
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64. 2ND MOVEMENT OF PIANO SONATA NO. 16 IN C MAJOR BY MOZART
The first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major (below left) is quite well known, but it is the second movement (at the left) that I love. It is a sweet and delicate tune. I play it on the piano often. The complete sonata is below on the right.
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For the longest time, I thought the first movement of the sonata was called "In An Eighteenth Century Drawing Room," not realizing that composer/band leader Raymond Scott had actually adapted the first movement of Mozart's sonata into a popular song.
At the left: A copy of the sheet music I owned. At the right: The Raymond Scott Quintet's version of "In An Eighteenth Century Drawing Room." |
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65. CHOPIN'S FANTAISIE-IMPROMPTU IN C SHARP MINOR
Wow -- how can anyone have written this? How can anyone play it? LOL -- the key in the title alone scares me. C# minor -- let's see, that's F#, C#, G# and D#? Right? Not a popular key according to Wikipedia: "There are only two known symphonies in the 18th century written in this key," HERE.
I love the performance in the video at the right, although the video is a bit goofy. One listener in the comment section said, "The performance is incredible, the video made me cringe." |
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Below left: Another great performance of the piece by Dmitry Shishkin -- and it's fun to watch his fingers and facial expressions. Below center: The melody of the Fantaisie-Impromptu's middle section was used in the popular Vaudeville song "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," and here it is sung by Judy Garland. Below right: Can Fantaisie-Impromptu be played on guitar? Well, you be the judge. I have to give the guy credit, though, for trying! Try playing the video at 1.5 or 1.75 speed -- it's impressive! : )
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66. AN DER SCHÖNEN, BLAUEN DONAU (THE BLUE DANUBE) BY JOHANN STRAUSS II
I'm publishing this post on New Year's Eve on 2020, so I thought I'd post one of my favorites that is closely associated with the holiday: The Vienna New Year's Concert is an performed annually by the Vienna Philharmonic on December 30, December 31, and January 1. The final concert on the 1st is broadcast on radio and television. The program always includes Viennese waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, and marches followed by two encores. The unannounced first encore is usually a fast polka. The second is Strauss' "The Blue Danube." The introduction to the waltz is always interrupted by applause and then a New Year's greeting from the conductor and orchestra to the audience.
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Did you know that there is a choral version of "The Blue Danube"? The video at the right includes the lyrics. The song starts as follows:
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The complete poem in the song is HERE. |
67. BEETHOVEN'S SYMPHONY NO. 9 IN D MINOR
Emily Dickinson once defined poetry this way: “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry."
I don't know if Emily ever heard Beethoven's 9th Symphony or not, but if she did, I suspect it made her head explode because it is pure poetry -- and I'm not just referring to the fact that the final movement incorporates Friedrich Schiller's poem "Ode To Joy." The entire piece is magnificent. |
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One comment under the video above at the right states, "This is, without a doubt, the greatest piece of music ever created. I rank it as one of the greatest things ever produced by a human being." Another says, "Music that wants me to just get out of the house and change the world!" Still another: "They are not playing a symphony. They are expressing Joy through the pen of someone who thought of this entire piece as his gift to the world. He suffered, but managed to turn that into the greatest piece of music ever created." One person joked, "this Beethoven dude is fire, when is his next album gonna drop." Finally, one person quipped, "Surely I'm not the only one here fake conducting to my screen along with this masterpiece."
Below left to right: Musicians spreading joy in Flash Mobs around the world with Beethoven's "Ode to Joy' (from the final movement of his Symphony No. 9).
Below left to right: Musicians spreading joy in Flash Mobs around the world with Beethoven's "Ode to Joy' (from the final movement of his Symphony No. 9).
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68. OVERTURE TO RUY BLAS BY FELIX MENDELSSOHN "Ruy Blas" is a drama by victor Hugo, and it was the first play presented at the Théâtre de la Renaissance and opened on November 8, 1838. The play -- said to be a thinkly veiled cry for political reform -- takes place in 1699, during the reign of Charles II, and title character Ruy Blas, an indentured commoner (and a poet), dares to love the Queen.
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Although Mendelssohn was not a fan of the play, he wrote a song and an overture for "Ruy Blas" on commission in 1839. The overture is his opus 95 (above left), and the song is La chanson des lavandières in his 3 Lieder (Op. 77) (on the right) with words by Austrian poet Karl Ferdinand Dräxler. The overture is one of my favorites (obviously...since it's on my Top 100 list), but I tend to think it's underrated as it's not played very often on the radio and/or in concert. |
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69. THE "GRAND WALKAROUND" FROM CAKEWALK BY LOUIS MOREAU GOTTSCHALK
I really knew nothing about Gottschalk or this song -- I've just always thought it was a fun piece with an attention-grabbing opening, exuberant brass lines, and interesting cross-rhythms and syncopations. I have to admit, though, that I could find little about this song in various Google-searches in preparing this post, and what I did find was confusing and concerning.
First the confusing part: Information I found was that the "Grand Walkaround" was from a ballet called "Cakewalk" -- but I'm not sure who wrote the ballet -- Gottschalk? Or Hershy Kay, basing the score on piano music by Gottschalk? |
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The video at the right is of "Cakewalk, ballet in three parts" by Hershy Kay "after Louis Moreau Gottschalk," and the opening piece of Part One is "Grand Walkaround." So it seems as though Kay wrote the ballet based on pieces by Gottschalk.
Part One 00:00-16:35 I. Grand Walkaround II. Wallflower Waltz III .Sleight of Feet IV. Perpendicular Points V. Freebee VI. Skip-away Part Two Magic Act 16:35-28:00 VII. Entrance of Magicians VIII. Venus and the Three Graces IX. The Wild Pony X. Pas de deux XI. Exit Part Three Finale 28:00-33:00 XII.Grand Cakewalk Performed by the Louisville Orchestra conducted by Akira Endo. |
The concerning part in researching this song was what I discovered about the history of the cakewalk -- it originated on plantations in Florida among enslaved people and judged by plantation owners. One article I found at NPR.org about the history of the cakewalk is HERE.
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70. SOLACE BY SCOTT JOPLIN
In some of the articles I read about Louis Gottschalk (see #69 above), it was stated often that his music was "recognized as a direct precursor to ragtime" -- and of course, his own style was influenced by Creole rhythms, South American and Cuban dances, and African-American music as lines began to blur between popular and "classical" music. Gottschalk lived from 1829 to 1869, and the song above -- the "Grand Walkaround" from the ballet "Cakewalk" -- was based on a piano piece by Gottschalk called "Bamboula," written in 1848.
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Scott Joplin lived from 1868 until 1917, and he wrote "Solace," his "Mexican Serenade," in 1909. I have no idea if he knew of or ever played any of Gottschalk's music, but obviously, Joplin was influenced by the music that came before him -- just as later musicians were influenced by his works.
Below left: "Solace" for piano and orchestra (as played in "The Sting"). Below center: Another favorite of mine by Joplin, the "Pineapple Rag." Below right: Piano music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk where you can here the Creole, South American, and African-American influences.
Below left: "Solace" for piano and orchestra (as played in "The Sting"). Below center: Another favorite of mine by Joplin, the "Pineapple Rag." Below right: Piano music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk where you can here the Creole, South American, and African-American influences.
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