Classic FM Hall of Fame 2018

[Michael]

Hold on to your hats, everybody.

The new number one in Classic FM's annual Hall of Fame (also known as the Top 300) is - wait for it - "Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture!"

Tchaikovsky himself didn't even like it but at least it's better than Beethoven's "Wellington's Victory".

And Beethoven still has three works in the Top Ten so all is not lost.

[Enrique]

1812 number one? What an irony!. 1812 better than the Symphony of the Battle? One must admit it certainly is, Michael, the latter being so horrible. Also, Beethoven was indignant at the sensatioon caused by the work, I understand.

[Enrique]

There are five English composers among the top 15! I think the poll is geographically biased.

[Peter]

There are five English composers among the top 15! I think the poll is geographically biased.

That's because Classic FM play the same 'popular' pieces over and over - if I hear 'the Lark ascending' or the 'Four seasons' one more time!! I never listen to the radio, but it comes on in the car when I change cds and it's always the same. The fact that something as hackneyed as the 1812 can win a poll of favourite classics tells you all you need to know! Interestingly they list whole works in their 'Hall of fame', yet they never broadcast a complete work, only excerpts or a single movement, so for example Elgar's Enigma Variations is there for one variation only, 'Nimrod'.

[Michael]

And except for the 1812, the top five has hardly changed over the past decade except for a brief period when some music from video games took over a few positions.

I could be wrong, but I don't think a single string quartet has ever made its way into the "Top 300".

It's a wonder the presenters don't die of boredom every Easter (or every day for that matter.)

[Michael]

1812 better than the Symphony of the Battle? One must admit it certainly is, Michael, the latter being so horrible. Also, Beethoven was indignant at the sensatioon caused by the work, I understand.

But he took the money and ran!

[Sorrano]

That's because Classic FM play the same 'popular' pieces over and over - if I hear 'the Lark ascending' or the 'Four seasons' one more time!! I never listen to the radio, but it comes on in the car when I change cds and it's always the same. The fact that something as hackneyed as the 1812 can win a poll of favourite classics tells you all you need to know! Interestingly they list whole works in their 'Hall of fame', yet they never broadcast a complete work, only excerpts or a single movement, so for example Elgar's Enigma Variations is there for one variation only, 'Nimrod'.

Sounds like a bunch of Nimrods. With my bad eyes I keep seeing the topic of this thread as "Hall of Shame".

The radio station I listen to in the car is similar, but with different works. There was a period of time I heard Bizet's Symphony in C about once a week, same as Beethoven's Spring Violin Sonata, and a few other works. Either programmers get lazy or they are just afraid to branch out into different works. On a refreshing note, WFMT (Beethoven Network) with Peter van de Graff has an all night broadcast where you can hear rare works and a good variety of classical music. I wake up to that in the morning and it's fun to try and guess the composer of what is playing when I wake up.

[Peter]

To be fair to Classic FM, it is a commercial station and is therefore reliant on advertising sponsorship and has to engage with as wide an audience as possible, and in playing the staple favourites they are doing this and introducing more people to music they'd probably never come across otherwise.