Classic FM Made A Stupid List - Reaction

[@SRPM-yk9xw]

Rumour has it Classic FM might buy another CD later this year.

[@ftumschk]

... and I bet it'll be called "Adagio II"

[@nickray4529]

😂

[@HarryS77]

Is Classic FM run by the same guy who does userbenchmark?

[@lewisedmundscomposer]

☠️☠️☠️☠️ excellent comment

[@alexeykkk9557]

But that’s not for certain

[@failsafe6596]

The fact that none of the Chopin ballades or the Liszt Sonata in b minor is in this list, but a bunch of film score is straight up baffling

[@notsorandom889]

The term “Classical Music” is quite ambiguous and people might consider those orchestral film music to be in classical style just because it is using an orchestra.

[@bobmeyers186]

Funny you mention. I just learned the Scherzo 1 and part of the liszt sonata lol

[@tt-ew7rx]

"Liszt is trash" - Dave Hurwitz.

[@deividfost]

@@tt-ew7rx It seems like context is meaningless this day and age, sadly

[@tt-ew7rx]

@@deividfost That seemed to be a non-context remark meant as a global view by the speaker of that sentence - my understanding. I watched the whole video where that remark was made and there were no ifs or buts.

[@SimonFrankau]

I'm loving the thoughtful but endlessly polite critique of this list, and want more!

[@thomasramsay8212]

I believe the Shostakovich Jazz Suites were called that because they were written for a jazz orchestra (in the soviet sense). I’ve seen them billed as “Variety Suites for Jazz Orchestra” before and I think it’s a much better term! Unfortunately, Shostakovich wasn’t terribly jazzy. His writing for piano (for example the cadenza of his 1st piano concerto) seems to show the influence of ragtime & stride, but I’m not terribly sure, I’ll be honest.

[@jacobbass6437]

It’s actually just a complete mistitle all together. A publisher incorrectly titled the work “Suite for jazz orchestra no. 2” when the actual name is “suite for variety orchestra no. 1”.

[@thomasramsay8212]

@@jacobbass6437 Ah, got it. Thank you for clarifying!

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you for pointing this out. Apparently its correct title is 'Suite no. 1 for Variety Orchestra'. There was an editorial error in the tenth volume of the Shostakovich collected works edition published in 1984 which resulted in the Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 1 being misidentified as the "Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2" or "Jazz Suite No. 2". The score was first published with the correct name in 2001.

[@frankwales]

@@themusicprofessor It's mildly irksome to me that Classic FM persist in using the wrong title for this, given how long the correct one has been known.

[@jamesoliver6625]

With DS, the first criterion for evaluation is what was the personal psychological political climate under which the piece was written and has his penchant for sarcasm manifest.

[@davidrobinson7684]

Classic FM is to classical music what Reader's Digest is to literature.

[@johnchessant3012]

I do insist on a part 2! Also, I agree with your hot takes: Rach 2 is absolutely genius (especially the counterpoint in that 3rd movement), and The Phantom Menace is epic and unfairly gets a lot of hate.

[@dzinypinydoroviny]

I'm not against including film scores but Hans Zimmer making it into the list kind of devalues it.

[@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks]

Absolutely not. The score of Gladiator is one of the best things ever written for a film. Its place in the TOP50 is really deserved.

[@Moelocomoe]

Ashokan Farewell according to Wikipedia “The piece is a waltz in D major, composed in the style of a Scottish lament (e.g., Niel Gow's "Lament for His Second Wife").[3] Jay Ungar describes the song as coming out of "a sense of loss and longing" after the annual Ashokan Music & Dance Camps ended.[3] The most famous arrangement of the piece begins with a solo violin, later accompanied by guitar and upright bass. Another arrangement, featuring Ungar, Mason, and their family band, is performed with two violins, an acoustic guitar, and a banjo, with the piece beginning with a solo violin.” It was used in the Ken Burns Civil War Documentary.

[@isaacbeen2087]

his recordings with his wife are wonderful…fab fiddler

[@chrisperyagh]

Einaudi is 'Classical' music for people who don't like Classical music.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes, I think that's probably a fair assessment (with all due respect to Einaudi lovers!)

[@toruscore]

Einaudi has the slight disadvantage over watching paint dry that I can do the latter in silence

[@carbonmonoxide5052]

Ashokan Farewell is a fiddle tune written for a documentary. Not classical music. It’s very popular for fiddle players.

[@gingercat6128]

The version Classic FM plays is too sanitised, too "tamed". Listen to the original played by Jay Ungar to hear what it should sound like.

[@carbonmonoxide5052]

@@gingercat6128 it’s in the folk tradition now, everyone (myself included) plays it a little differently.

[@robinhillyard6187]

Yes, it was featured in Ken Burns’ first big hit, the (American) Civil War.

[@eosborne6495]

It’s ironic because not only is the tune not from the Civil War, it doesn’t even sound especially American. It was Jay Unger’s attempt at writing in a Scottish style. That type of slow sad waltz is not really found in the American fiddle tradition. It’s a great tune though, and I’m happy to see it entering the folk process.

[@PiersHudsonComposer]

"I love democracy" - Palpatine

[@ashleyderevnin7933]

I love the Republic

[@Arnoldiepin]

imagine if the voters of this list were given the opportunity to engage with 'classical music' on a level beyond the most superficial possible?

[@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks]

What does exactly demonstrate that the voters were superficial? Actually, it looks like a quite good list to my eyes.

[@the_eternal_student]

The Ashokan Farewell was a tune written by Jay Ungar in the style of a scottish mournful tune for the end of a fiddle camp or folk music camp. It's a beautiful tune.

[@carsonfarley2560]

I can hear this playlist when I'm at the dentist . . .

[@BlossomedJewelsOfficial]

I TOTALLY AGREE!! Bach should’ve been in top 3

[@karenbryan132]

Does anyone else hear "Stormy Weather" every time they play that Khachaturian "Spartacus" bit? (It was used to fine effect in a Coen Brothers movie I liked though nobody else did: "The Hudsucker Proxy"). And that Pachelbel Canon got popular when a fellow named Remo Giazzoto did his version back in the '60s. Nobody would have picked up on it otherwise. (I'm old--that's why I remember this.)

[@nigelhaywood9753]

Yes, that version of Pachelbel’s Canon is a wonderfully, lush Romantic version if I remember rightly. I also liked the Hudsucker Proxy when I saw it all those years ago!

[@Warfire30]

yes please release the 2nd half. I really enjoyed this reaction.

[@stubbs5257]

Thank you for the Video, but thank you most of all for the title. What a stupid list indeed! Unquestionably there are a lot of masterpieces, but... did I miss them or is there none of Bach's, Schubert's, List's and other's works? Many of the compositions (at least their themes) from the list Bach would just have improvised into a grand fantasia, sonata, or even a 3 part fugue. And Schubert can bring me to tears like none other (f.e. "Et incarnatus est" - Credo, from the Grand Mass in E flat major). My top criterium is, does it touch my soul? Everything else (craftmanship, popularity) comes next - despite my musical education.

[@stubbs5257]

This November (2024) I had the privilege to sing tenor (choir) at a performance of "The Messiah" in "Stephansdom" (Vienna). I admit, it wasn't my favorite work by Haendel before, but I got to really love some of the Choirs, Recitativos and Arias ("Comfort Ye/Every Valley" and "There Were Shepherds Abiding in the Fields/Glory to God" - amongst others) But maybe it's just the time of the year, that makes them touch my soul. By the way: I still prefer Bach's oratorios, passions and many of his other works.

[@jeremyjeffes8603]

Please I beg of you good sir, I do insist that you release the second part immediately! Having been shocked myself I am dying to see your reaction.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thanks for your encouragement. We are planning on releasing it after all of the insistent comments though it will have to be edited first so cannot be released immediately!

[@MrBulky992]

So nice to hear you pronounce "Dives and Lazarus" correctly, something you will never hear on Classic FM, even though listeners such as myself have pointed it out to them. I was a talk given by the Vaughan Williams Society a few years ago when this point was mentioned!

[@chrisperyagh]

Beethoven's 'Moonlight' sonata only voted in because every ClassicFM listener knows the 1st movement, a few know the last movement and hardly any of them know the 2nd movement.

[@karenbryan132]

Except those of us who have played it. Yes, you are right!

[@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks]

Can you demonstrate that they don't know the entire sonata?

[@chrisperyagh]

@@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks Chances are they don't know what sonata form is. I bet you a fiver if you play the 2nd movement to them in isolation and ask them what piece (or 'song' as they probably call it) is, they won't have a clue.

[@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks]

@@chrisperyagh I don't see why shouldn't they know the sonata form, considering that they are fans of classical music. You treat them as if they were idiots... and why? Perhaps only because they create lists that you don't like. For me, the list I see in this video is good, and I ensure you that I'm perfectly aware of the structure of classical music.

[@chrisperyagh]

@@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks You really are taking this far too seriously for your own good. You do realise Classic FM is a commercial radio station and rarely ever plays entire works in full, unless they're really short like the Baroque era symphonies by Boyce which are shorter than a Romantic era scherzo movement. Have you even heard of Classic FM?

[@vincentfernandes8384]

I stopped caring when I realised the Bach Brandenburg concertos is one entry, Beethoven's nine symphonies get nine entries and that stupid Karl Jenkins crap thing got too high.

[@mrssonging]

Please release the next lot. I listened to the top 50...spent a good while in despair...

[@myouatt5987]

Part 2 please - and with the same humour (see last sentence)!😀 I generally find these lists interesting but fundamentally depressing as they don't push the boundaries but tend to exist in their own cocoons - being harsh, the music largely described in Part 1 could be seen as 'easy listening' or 'muzak' (... or 'furniture music'??!!) That said, a genuine 'hats off' to your instantaneous improvisation ... I loved the Eric Carmen impression on the second Rach 2 ... and did you really mean to say 'Onegin' for 'Onedin' at ~2:33-2:37?! (or that's what it sounded like on this computer!) 😉 Cheers - thanks as ever!

[@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks]

Which pieces are muzak?

[@myouatt5987]

@@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks Thanks - any of the pieces which could be played in the background whilst you're going round a store or supermarket or lift or while hanging on the end of a phone - they may be (very) pleasant but not challenging - as I said, they don't push the boundaries, they exist ... the 'furniture music' is a reference to a previous video (see Erik Satie on this channel). Hope this helps. 😀

[@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks]

@@myouatt5987 I know what is muzak. I was asking which are the pieces of the list that you see as muzak.

[@jamesupton4996]

Go for it. I'm Radio 3 more then Classic FM, but more than both my own ability to explore via KZbin. No - I won't pay for a subscription service, and have collected CDs, and will continue to do so, since these days, in charity shops you can get them for 50 pence, and even complete opera sets for 2£. Classic FM are on to something though. Just one observation from me: Saint Saens Organ Symphony 1980s - RFH - tremendous. One of those pieces you have to be there for. All music is like that, but I wonder how many of the voting audience of Classic FM had actually heard it, in its concert -hall - encompassing reality. I think Radio 3 still points the listener to performances. Classic FM commodifies the marketable, the already recorded.

[@feraudyh]

Well you better listen to some "more then".

[@BennoWitter]

It seems that there are only two types of classical music listeners left. The ones that listen to this station and think movie scores are classical music and the ones that only listen to stuff that is at least as weird as Stravinsky. If it doesn't make your ears bleed, they don't like it. I wouldn't listen to Classic FM anyway. Radio Swiss Classic is my online radio station of choice, when it comes to classical music.

[@Ploist]

I wouldn’t take this list to generalize all classical listeners. Boulez and penderecki pieces have 100,000+ views here on KZbin.

[@isaacbeen2087]

@@Ploist lol I think ur proving his point

[@ajames283]

Seems like most "Classical" music listeners Only likes film scores, new age, and "Classical crossover" Only likes Romantic era, and maybe also Bach or Mozart.

[@amarug]

i like it all, from beethoven to phantom menace to rach and shostakovich. i don't give a flying flip what you call it, classic, romantic, baroque, film score. most of it just sounds beautiful in different and interesting ways, made by extremely gifted and hard working people. can't stand all the snobs who first categorize everything and then look down on people who have certain "deemed inferior"- preferences among these made up categories. silly humans...

[@RuthvenMurgatroyd]

​@@Ploist That's the exact sort of drivel he was talking about with the Stravinsky bit 😂

[@worldmusictheory]

it was refreshing to hear a musical academic not just, as you put it, denegrate rachmaninoff. its only now that those in academia are starting to appreciate rachmaninoff’s genius. his harmony is a personal influence on my own compositions.

[@susanfleming3128]

Looking forward to part 2!

[@peteannells4218]

Perhaps if Rolling Stone Magazine did a classical chart and Classic FM did the All Time Top Guitarists they would each be nearer the mark.

[@FilipusWisnumurti]

Shostakovich's jazz suite no 2 was actually originally titled Suite for Variety Orchestra! I don't know who gives it 'jazz suite' as the title, but that explains why it doesn't sound jazz at all

[@samuelblack4792]

Who on earth could dislike Rachmaninoff? I completely agree with you about the beauty of his melodies wrapped in incredible harmonic complexity, and feel that the merit of this would be immediately obvious to anyone who listens to him for more than two minutes.

[@witsukyai1685]

Absolute bullshit from the classicFM. Jurassic park over Rach 3 is just nonsense. Objectively it makes absolute no sense. These deaf people gotta listen to the second movement and the finale of the this concerto, maybe it will enlighten them. Absolute shame

[@cquelhas]

Part 2! Part 2! Part 2! 🙏🙏🙏

[@libertytree3209]

Ashoken Farewell is a wonderful Americana piece played in the series The Civil War. They read the death letter of Sullivan Ballou through it and it is touching, ethereal. Guitar, violin, bass. It's good to see a traditional American folk piece of beauty represent here.

[@Chrisranthony]

Pachelbel Canon is probably in the list as it is often played at weddings. Over the last two years, I have heard it played on the organ, played by a small quartet and even streamed from the internet and played using the church sound system.

[@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks]

Or maybe because it's a beautiful piece, and I'm speaking about the modern version released in the 20th century (the original version is not so great).

[@MrCinemuso]

Thamks for this list! I just watched Gladiator a couple of days ago. Zimmer echos a bit of Don Giovani in it, which works realy well with the revenge themes

[@ykaylow1803]

looking forward to part 2 of your responses to this list

[@TheGoosington]

Part 2 please!

[@markvwood2007]

Can't quite read the clip on your lapel. Does anyone know what it says, what it means? Thanks in advance.

[@jamesboswell9324]

Basically if it's been used in a modern film then it makes the list.

[@martineyles]

The prelude from Suite Bergamasque is excellent. Love it from the first bar, the grand opening Gm/F disolving into a delecate run of semiquavers. Lovely harmony. Easy enough to play the opening, though my rendition falls into shreads when you have the demi-semiquavers and the fast hand postion change - I failed my Grade 5 piano, and I have a feeling this is harder than grade 5.

[@SilverCello]

What troubles me more than this are the so-called "playlists" that these internet radio stations like Sirius XM invoke as standard rotation. No longer is the DJ sitting in the control booth making the listening of his or her show interesting. It's all prescribed by the "bean counters" upstairs! According to what they like. Incidentally here in the New York City area we had some good Classical DJs and program directors that made interesting and varied choices in their programming. The only ones who are trying to keep it alive are the small independently funded stations.

[@MusicalScreaming]

considering its fame (but not to the point where it's overplayed) I was actually suprised that Handel's Messiah didn't place higher

[@ant7936]

Even for most of the classical music on this list, I could name a film for you.

[@toohuman2]

My favorite movement of Suite Begamasque is the Passepied, not Clair de Lune (beautiful though it is). This list is way off, but stuffy academics who find it fashionable to dinegrate Rachmaninov are just sticks in the mud. Thanks, professor, for giving Sergei his due!

[@davidgardiner6123]

Why don't they have a separate 'chart' for film music? It wouldn't be so bad if they showed that they KNOW more than the same pieces that crop up every year. For an outlet called Classic FM they do seem to dilute the 'Classic' part more each year.

[@rogeriomelofranco]

Where's part 2 lol? Great vid

[@themusicprofessor]

@@rogeriomelofranco it's the next video along

[@rogeriomelofranco]

@@themusicprofessor thank you! I had figured it out, but I appreciate the reply 😀

[@Blimey2342]

I insist vehemently for a part 2!

[@themusicprofessor]

Perhaps a part 2 is very much in the works...

[@yondertz]

thanks for this, sir! more!!

[@themusicprofessor]

Your wish is granted

[@Lindelwirt]

Please continue.

[@alhths-n9w]

keep it up!

[@ricucci-hillmusic]

The way I became aquainted with the Adagio from Spartacus was from the movie Caligula… I was in high school and watched it for a theater project (had to do fake movie reviews and perform them like a radio show). Let’s just say my teacher did not do a Google search on that movie before or after I presented on it because I saw things that were probably not advisable for a 16 year old, but hey, exposed me to an amazing piece by Khachaturian. Also, I agree about Handel’s works. Solomon is my favorite.

[@brunoscuiller818]

Greetings. I have been watching your videos for a while now. I have learned quite a lot from you now. I have learned quite a lot from this stupid list video. Am I a stupid watcher ?

[@themusicprofessor]

No. You are an intelligent watcher!

[@JJJRRRJJJ]

Rachmaninov gets scoffs from academia because he composed music that normal people actually enjoy listening to… unlike most of his contemporaries.

[@themusicprofessor]

Academia and the compositional community have been wrong about him for more than a century. Regular listeners have always loved his music from the start. It's a fascinating example of how enduring popularity MEANS SOMETHING!

[@tarasubramaniam6191]

Why no Women composers? Prokovieff influenced John Willuams "Star lWsrs" that has matchbox enlarged Space ships crashing into each other Shoshtakovich era had "purges" Soviet styles: of social.. in Music Jamming of Capitalist western music on Radio Morricone.. Rota should be on the list!

[@themusicprofessor]

The absence of some amazing women composers (and also quite a few amazing male composers) is bizarre.

[@karenbryan132]

EVERYBODY has influenced John Williams! Holst, especially. And it's great. If you. can, find Dmitri Tiomkin's Oscar speech, wherein he thanks all the classical composers he gleefully stole from.

[@VRnamek]

Ah, the great Hollywood pastiche top 50...

[@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks]

Pastiche of what? If the Lord of the Rings and Gladiator were ispired to already existing classical pieces, I want to know their titles!

[@straiwilam7420]

Didn't notice the Schopenhauer on the piano

[@dwdei8815]

Spartacus was used in the Oneidin Line (thanks to which it became one of my earliest true musical loves - along with Tubby the Tuba). This list was clearly compiled to reflect that earlier self. Whose fingers russelled the corn? Good question. If there was a scarecrowe in the field, yup, probably not his. Strange how many of the top-of-the-list film scores are ones that left zero imprint on my memory. No Morricone? From his outstanding symphonies and concertos (and preludes & fugues), the Jazz Suite is one of Shostakovich's feebler offerings. It's disappointingly staid, jazz-less and uninteresting. I would love to have heard him accompanying silent films to really capture his spontaneity, stride technique etc.

[@themusicprofessor]

Like all Shostakovich, it's got something! The melodies/harmonies are strong and the orchestration gives it a unique quality.

[@grahamfisher307]

Their list only says what is most popular not necessarily what is best. It happens every year in the run up to Easter, and listeners are invited to submit their 3 favourite pieces of classical music, and they include film scores. I cannot narrow done a selection of only 3 for my choices, so never take part.

[@sg_dan]

Marvelous scene in the phantom menace? Really? You're not getting any pizza rolls. 😂😂😂

[@themusicprofessor]

Actually, that particular scene is rather impressive (although the film in general is a curate's egg).

[@johnmillholland6550]

I agree that Messiah is a mid tier Handel oratorio. My favorites are Alexander’s Feast, Israel in Egypt and Saul. 4:29 that is wheat not corn

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes. 'l'Allegro, Il Penseroso e Il Moderato' is one of the best. In the UK “corn” can mean either wheat or all traditional cereal crops (wheat, barley, oats, etc).

[@johnmillholland6550]

@@themusicprofessor well I’ll be damned, yet another funny difference with British and American English. Which oratorios have you seen w the Monteverdi Choir?

[@themusicprofessor]

'l'Allegro, Il Penseroso e Il Moderato', 'Israel in Egypt' and 'Semele' (which I should have mentioned above - an amazing piece). I also saw Acis and Galataea with John Butt's ensemble quite recently. All marvellous pieces.

[@jamesoliver6625]

To include film score, with it's ulterior requirements and subservience, indicts the whole list.

[@daymoonfarm2903]

I insist on a part 2! I want to see if the list continues to be as ridiculous as the list in part 1.

[@peterwimmer1259]

You should do a video talking about the difference between classical music and film music. Film music has its great moments, but the quality is below classical music due to its structure and purposes. Like all great art, classical music wants to be appreciated in its development, structure and details, not just for the smoothness of a melody you can whistle and film music is only there for the mood of a film scene. Film music does use classical principles, but "behind", there is much less substance. There is a reason why one cannot put classical music and film music in the same concert (although some might do that).

[@themusicprofessor]

Some older film music (Korngold for example) or Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, Miklos Rosza etc. they were really superb composers, and I think there is a clear 'classical music' component with those guys. John Williams is also a composer of concert music and it would be difficult to say that he isn't worthy of comparison with other living classical composers.

[@peterwimmer1259]

@@themusicprofessor absolutely! Rozsa has a concerto for orchestra and a viola concerto (etc.), both oriented at Bartok, Williams has a violin concerto (etc.) and I love a lot of Korngold's orchestral works, chamber music and operas. The film scores are great (I do love many of them) but hardly belong into the same concerts. Also mention the great film music by Danny Elfman! But nevertheless, would you mix a gastronomically composed meal with simpler cuisines? Simpler meals are lovely, but each at its times.

[@peterwimmer1259]

@@themusicprofessor Btw, I am charmed by your habit to seriously and always politely replying to every reader's comment, whatever the latter's contents may be. I find that a quite rare quality in today's social media, it makes it a pleasure to follow your videos and discussions. A big thank you for that!

[@isaacbeen2087]

I think Einaudi just took some orchestration classes with Berio, but I could be wrong…

[@christender3614]

I like how you still respect film scores and their composers, unlike in some of the comments. Of course one can’t put them on the same level with the all time greats as this list does, but why must people be so spiteful and negative? We definitely need part 2!

[@ClassicalMusicAndSoundtracks]

I don't agree. Many film scores deserve to be placed in lists of "best music ever composed". I see Gladiator and Lord of the Rings in the list. Two examples of film scores that I consider to be masterpieces like Mozart's pieces.

[@OctopusContrapunctus]

Some piece I expected some not, like I expected Mozart, And Vivaldi but not Vaugh Williams

[@albiepalbie5040]

Hans Zimmer develops the Gladiator score into a more extreme version in the score for Dune - which in context is fantastic

[@themusicprofessor]

Our next video is on this very topic!

[@albiepalbie5040]

@@themusicprofessorFantastic It’s got amazing noises in it

[@xavierignatiuscordeiro8336]

Regarding the similarity between POTC and Gladiator, I do have some information as to why it’s similar, as well as my own personal theory. So, what happened when they were making POTC is that they wanted Alan Silvestri to score it, but it wasn’t working out, so they asked Zimmer. However, Zimmer had other projects, and couldn’t commit, so apparently he wrote that main theme, and entrusted the rest of the film, plus orchestration to one of his protégés, Klaus Badelt. Badelt also worked on Gladiator, along with Lorne Balfe. And this is where my theory comes in (Don’t take it too seriously at all, as it is purely conjecture) Zimmer does seem to delegate work quite often, and I’m pretty sure he’s credited for films which he wrote little or even nothing of. I can’t say this for certain, but listening to them, it doesn’t sound like his style. I think what happens is that he maybe offers some advice on the music, and helps lesser known composers get opportunities through his production company Remote Control productions. So the composers may not get full credit, but they get the opportunity. Anyway, my belief, after watching a few of these films he’s scored is that Badelt wrote both of those scenes, and that’s why they’re similar. By the way, love the channel. Just discovered it recently, and am enjoying it so far!!

[@themusicprofessor]

You're definitely right about Zimmer and delegation.

[@chrisoconnor9521]

Anyone else think that movie scores and the likes of Einaudi should NOT be included in crap like these lists? Let's be honest - people haven't a clue what's good or not.

[@Sixsmite]

What is bad on this list?

[@RhiannonRaven]

I absolutely insist you release part 2. Now.

[@Vincent-ig2cb]

Do come back to Ashakan's Farewell in part 2. I would love to hear your opinion of it. I encountered it from Burn's American Civil War Epic, as has already been pointed out here. I thought it was a traditional melody until I read up on it.

[@FirstGentleman1]

Rachmaninoff is insanely loved by people. I constantly hear lovers of classical music or young pianists name him as their favourite composer. James Rhodes even got a tattoo of his name on his arm. I do prefer other great composers but Rachmaninoff is great as well.

[@cliffhughes6010]

To be fair, Classic FM isn't for people who appreciate good music, but for those who like a cuddle - an undemanding experience of familiar favourites. Radio 3 is there and still pretty good, despite concessions to chatty populism. I suppose I'm a bit of a snob, but I can't stand adverts, jingles, phone-ins and inane chatter. And the very idea of a "hall of fame" seems ludicrous.

[@GeorgeFloyd2023]

Museum? I think that was just tongue in cheek mockery. A nuclear lab would be cool though.

[@RickMalteseERP]

Morricone’s score to the Mission is a favourite of mine. Oboe’s lament is a highlight but the way he contributes to the story is he gives the indigenous people great musical depth and spirituality that contrasts with the pompous Jesuits who lack the moral purity of the primitive people. It makes you realize the film composer can make or break a film. Much like trying to imagine Star Wars without John Williams.

[@themusicprofessor]

To my shame I Admit I've never seen the Mission. But I must watch it. Morricone's a marvellous film composer.

[@RickMalteseERP]

KZbin has complete soundtrack

[@ThomasBerger-de6tq]

Many of the composers mentioned are second rate. Including such grossly exaggreated ones as Mozart, Tschaikowsky, Grieg, Elgar, Sibelius, Rachmaninow etc. The greatest and most important Works in music history are: Bach: B minor Mass Beethoven: 3.Symphony Eroica Liszt: B minor Sonata Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Brahms: 4.Symphony Debussy: Prelude a‘lapres midi d‘un faune Strauss: Elektra Mahler: 9.Symphony Schönberg: Chamber Symphony Strawinsky: The Rite of the Spring That‘s the truth!!!!!!!!! :

[@themusicprofessor]

I love your list but I can also think of 10 equally marvellous pieces!

[@R08Tam]

Not Russell Crow's fingers but Theresa May's

[@themusicprofessor]

Naughty fingers!

[@helenchelmicka]

🤣🤣🤣

[@nanthilrodriguez]

Canon probably so interesting because of wedding music?

[@łypek_oficjalnie]

you know, M. Strakosch 'Yankee doodle concert variations' Is really hard on piano, If you play to this piece in 5:12 I mean, It's more harder than la campanella! Sorry Lisit.

[@JeffWardMusic]

One cannot help but think that had BBC Radio 3 or Radio France run such a popularity poll, the results might be somewhat different. This is, after all, merely a reflection of the tastes of Classic FM listeners and for whom these pieces resonate well. Anyway, more please. I insist!

[@llehmorfzzaj]

Which Handel oratorios are better than Messiah in your opinion?

[@themusicprofessor]

Israel in Egypt is spectacular. Theodora is beautiful; Semele is a knock-out, 'L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato' has some of his best music; Solomon is full of wonderful choruses. Acis and Galatea is a wonderful English Pastorale. He's an amazing composer. There's so much more to Handel than Messiah.

[@llehmorfzzaj]

@@themusicprofessor Acis and Galatea is nice and cute, but better than Messiah? Come on.

[@themusicprofessor]

I didn't say it was. I said it's a "wonderful English Pastorale". We don't always have to compare things which can't really be compared. Yes, in the video, I said there are other oratorios I prefer to Messiah - I also acknowledge that Messiah is a masterpiece. My main point is to suggest that people listen to more Handel.

[@llehmorfzzaj]

@@themusicprofessor Good point! 👍

[@dr.impossibleofcounterpunc1984]

Classic FM is a joke. I stopped listening to the commercial station back in the mid 00s. The music selected by listeners is often heard in films, including classical music. The rest of the composition by the composer is best forgotten. It does no service to what classical music is all about. That Jazz Suite by Shostakovich was used in Eyes Wide Shut. It's been in the Hall of Fame for decades since the film was released in 1999, and its inclusion . I rest my case.

[@themusicprofessor]

You're preaching to the converted!

[@dr.impossibleofcounterpunc1984]

@@themusicprofessor That's good then. The choir must sing louder to evoke change. But do Classic FM REALLY want to change? That is the question.....

[@timothy4664]

You can tell Americans made that list if Ashokan Farewell is even on it, let alone that high. Its basically a short instrumental with violin playing the melody from the early 80s. It acheived fame here in the states during the 90s when it was used as the theme for Ken Burns documentary about the American Civil War. The graphic next to the song in the list showed both the Union and Confederate flags.

[@andresklavierraum]

I think it's actually based on votes from the listeners of classic FM (so UK based)

[@djysmallman2183]

Same old regurgitated pieces every day and night. Shallow and manipulating the listeners with safe bets to bow to the non highbrow classical fans.

[@williamevans9426]

Surely, among many others appearing with wearying frequency in the list, none of John Williams' Ennio Morricone's nor John Barry's film scores can be described as 'classical music' by any stretch? Every time I switch to Classic FM, the theme from 'Dances with Wolves', Gabriel's Oboe, or a piece from the Star Wars series never seem far away (neither do 'Spiegel im Spiegel nor Pachelbel's Canon in D major, btw). For obvious reasons, Classic FM is a no-go area for me every Easter weekend, when the entire 'Hall of Fame' has taken residence for the last 28 years!

[@themusicprofessor]

Insofar as pieces like Gabriel's Oboe seem to be high up on a list that excludes Beethoven's Late quartets or Bach's St. Matthew Passion or composers like Bartok altogether, it's certainly weird and mystifying, but I guess all the list demonstrates is that a certain rather odd bunch of pieces are enduringly popular among the demographic who listen to the station. Personally, i take quite a broad view. I remember Ligeti used to say that he wasn't so much interested in genre as in whether the music was good or bad, and I tend to agree. There's plenty to admire in the composers you mention above, even though a list that elevates their music above other more interesting music is a problematic one!

[@williamevans9426]

@@themusicprofessor All to their own tastes, I suppose!

[@davecook8378]

@@themusicprofessor I bet you could sneak in individual movements of the Beethoven quartets or some choruses from the St. Matthew Passion. I gather that this audience likes a good tune and for things to move on after a few minutes.

[@streamoftimesavesnine99]

I despise lists. This is better than that or this is a masterpiece over this. Classic FM is a commercial radio station designed to do what it's mean't to do. Provide music to the masses. All of the film composers pay lip service to the classical composers, and even some of the classical composers pay lip service to other classical composers like Beethoven, Bach and Mozart, Haydn. The real masters were these four composers. Brahms, Schubert, Wagner and even Mahler all took nods from the master Beethoven. The world of music today encompasses newer works that are inspired by past masters. John Williams has Aaron Copland and Holst to thank for Star Wars and Dvorak for Jaws. Seeing that all film composers are trained by people with the knowledge of what the classical masters achived.

[@Chrisranthony]

You mention Pachelbel Canon during this talk, for a very differnt take on this piece of music take a listen to this version. It's described as Canon in D - Hungarian Dance Style (Pachelbel meets Brahms) kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHfTm5WZoK1gnrs

[@applin121]

Rachmaninoff was a genius 👍🏻

[@gamer46653]

This list is fucking grim

[@anthonymccarthy4164]

What an incredibly vulgar and stupid idea such a list is. It's why I NEVER listen to music on FM radio, anymore. Back in the 1970s and 80s the approximately four different classical music U.S. "public radio" stations I could tune in did some interesting programming, none of them do that anymore due to this kind of thinking. I absolutely hate what has become of most of the "classical music" business.

[@themusicprofessor]

I still have a soft spot for BBC Radio 3 although I listen to BBC Radio 4 more often!

[@ianwebb8760]

Ashoken Farewell was used as the theme for the Ken Burns documentary “The Civil War”. It’s a wonderfully evocative bluegrass tune that sounds like a 100 year old folk song, a bit like Mark Knopfler’s “Local Hero” theme. Not sure why it’s on a “classical” list though. Bring on part 2! (And big 👍 for mentioning Berio!)

[@hertor8803]

Consider yourself insisted.

[@GeorgeCarlin88]

Not a source to be taken seriously. They made a list of gay composers and everyone was gay :D chopin, schubert, handel, lully, corelli...

[@karenbryan132]

Nonsense, most of it. Tchaikovsky, Barber, Copland--yes, we know for sure. Further back, we don't know, and never will, barring the unearthing of some dusty document nobody's known about before.

[@N-JKoordt]

Where is the dog? I was expecting to see the dog. I want my money back 😑

[@themusicprofessor]

He'll be back

[@SandyKay-qr3gk]

More!

[@hanssvoboda]

Hans Zimmer is a dreadful composer, who has a lamentably huge influence on film and TV composers in general. The fact that his scores are similar to each other is no accident - the story goes that from a certain point in his career he mostly stopped actually composing, instead employing a team of people who churn out music in his style.

[@themusicprofessor]

It's really an industrial process. He's the factory owner.

[@jonb4020]

Well it is all subjective isn't it? I detest most Debussy! My list would be largely Bach, Mozart and Haydn plus a lot of piano concertos and sacred choral music, with a few other one-offs interspersed. And if someone, let alone a lot of people, likes a work, then the composer has surely won. But I'm afraid you and I fell out the moment you rated Berio above Einaudi, Professor. The grotesque above the lovely, even if somewhat simple at times, can never work. As Mozart said: "Ich möchte alles haben, was gut, ächt und schön ist" - and schön is hardly a word one could use with Berio, in my view! But at least you didn't mention S****hausen...

[@themusicprofessor]

Definitions of beauty are notoriously subjective. Even Mozart's music was thought grotesque by some of his contemporaries!

[@thienpool]

Moonlight Sonata only at 44 is pure BS!