Top 50 List (Utah)

[Sorrano]

Classical 89, based in Provo, Utah, did their own top 50 survey of favorites. Dvorak's 9th tops the list with Beethoven's 9th at 3rd. The criteria for submitting the individual lists were to list the 10 favorites in any order. Some of the pieces included I think were influenced by the frequency that they were played on the station.

https://www.classical89.org/events

[Peter]

I always have a problem with these lists which as you say are influenced not only by the frequency they are presented but also by the excerpts from these works - for example by the Moonlight sonata they mean the 1st movement, how often is the lovely 2nd movement heard out of context? This applies to virtually all the pieces on the list which are chosen for no more than 5 minutes of the most popular 'bits' which are quite predictable - Holst at no.4 almost certainly means 'Jupiter' etc...

[Quijote]

Classical 89, based in Provo, Utah, did their own top 50 survey of favorites. Dvorak's 9th tops the list with Beethoven's 9th at 3rd. The criteria for submitting the individual lists were to list the 10 favorites in any order. Some of the pieces included I think were influenced by the frequency that they were played on the station.

https://www.classical89.org/events

Hi Sorrano, I have to say I agree with Peter's comments above. I stopped giving any credence to such lists many years ago. The only "Top 50" list that has any validity whatsoever (without going into the "scientific criteria") is the one and only "Don Quijote's List of the Top 50 Classical Pieces Because I Say So". This unique and infallible list is available by subscription at a bargain cost of a mere 25$. Hurry, hurry, while stocks last!

[Sorrano]

I'm with you guys on this one. I thought of submitting my own list of works but figured it would not make any impact. Typically, I hear the same works with a lot of frequency over the course of a month when I listen to that station (I tune in a couple of times for about 20 minutes each at the same times of the day). A couple of years ago I nearly memorized Bizet's Symphony in C for hearing it so often. Fortunately, in the evenings I can pick up on a broader base with Exploring Music with Bill McLaughlin and Performance Today (which the latter features many contemporary works), I just thought you'd be interested in another popular list.

[Peter]

I would find it impossible to compile such a list, there is just so much great music out there and to attempt to put it in any order of preferences would be meaningless - how can one even begin to compare a Chopin Prelude with a Beethoven symphony for example? They are completely different and yet masterful in their own way.

[Chris]

Well, it's all just a bit of fun. People love lists, and it does get some conversations started, so I'm not going to criticize lists like this.

[Zevy]

I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but the only list I am interested in is my own. In addition, I believe everyone should be interested in his or her own list more than anyone else's list. No radio station or the like should have any bearing on someone's opinion.
I hope I did not offend anyone.