A Look Back at the Classic 100 Baroque and Before

The Classic 100 Baroque and Before has come and gone, but what an enjoyable ride it was. It probably didn’t present too many surprises; JS Bach dominated the countdown, Handel followed and his Messiah came in at No 1; Vivaldi and Purcell did well and there were generally more Baroque pieces than Before. But, despite such broad things that were always going to happen, the countdown did reveal the sheer depth and breadth of early and Baroque music.

It could be argued the music was mostly the same but that’s said about every type of music by people who don’t appreciate it. In truth we had polyphony, plain chant, early opera and sacred and secular choral works; plus sonatas and concertos in several instruments in styles that showed more variety than might be assumed. How can you compare the power of an organ toccata with the gentle beauty of Biber’s Rosary Sonatas?

Which brings me to the discoveries of the countdown! No matter how well known many of the pieces in countdowns like this are, there are always some surprises and new encounters – at least for me. Biber’s Rosary Sonatas were one of the most exciting for me, they were amazingly evocative and got just as much, if not more, out of the violin than the flashier sonatas like Tartini’s ‘Devil’s Trill’.

Another curious encounter was JS Bach’s ‘other’ Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the one called ‘Dorian’. It lacked the dramatic and powerful opening and wouldn’t have the same impact when being played by a mad genius or evil mastermind, but it made up for that with its rolling pace and friendlier melody. In some ways I would argue it’s the more accessible of the two works as the fugue is less complex, something some people find off-putting about organ music.

But what of the Before? There was some complaint on social media that it didn’t get a good enough look in because the Baroque overwhelmed it. And it certainly didn’t do as well overall. There was some, including two in the top 10, but Baroque music was much, much more prominent. Was this a failing of the countdown? Of the voting public? Or just the ABC for not programming it enough?

All those arguments got trotted out on social media as the countdown reached the end. Not just about early music either; the presence of Pachabel’s Canon and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in the top 10 caused an inconsiderate amount of moaning on Twitter and apparently showed how ignorant people are and how ABC Classic FM needs to program “insert the complainant’s favourite composer here”. I found it quite ironic that the same people complaining that The Four Seasons are overplayed were very happy about the Messiah being No 1 – surely it’s hard to be more hackneyed than the Hallelujah Chorus.

Of course, in the end I believe it’s a combination of things. The programming informs what listeners know and like and what listeners know and like informs programming – it’s a circle just like all commercialised processes. And it’s beside the point. So the top spots were largely predictable, big deal, the event of the countdown attracts a lot of listeners who may not know much music beyond those ‘monumental’ pieces. It gives them a chance to hear the lesser known works like the ‘Dorian’ and Biber. And from there perhaps they’ll find the love of the music and seek out more. Only then will the ‘what the listeners like’ grow and that will help the programming grow in turn.

And that’s why I love Classic 100 countdowns. That and I get obsessive over lists and this gives me a chance to make a heap of them.

In conclusion, this was a splendid collection of music that celebrated some true ‘classics’ and introduced me to some beautiful works I hadn’t encountered before – and, as always, encouraged me to keep exploring this wonderful sound world. Get listening!

Voting is Open

Well, the final voting list is up and voting has commenced. I totally missed the nomination period so I can’t complain about any absences I would have liked to see on there but it’s a big selection, quite varied and presents some areas for me to explore, which is always exciting.

I have to admit, as a pedant who obsesses over lists I do have some issues with the list. Some of them are true pedantry as some entries are in different formats than others. One puzzling entry is Louis Couperin’s Pieces de Clavecine…. The subeditor in me (that’s my paying job) reviles the fourth dot in the ellipsis, the rest of me just wonders what the ellipsis means. A quick look on Wikipedia tells me his works weren’t published in his lifetime but he wrote a lot of music for the harpsichord. It appears that perhaps the ellipsis means the entry is for the sum total of his keyboard compositions, which seems somewhat strange.

In a roundabout way that brings me to my main issue with the list, some entries are for huge swathes of composition while others are for succinct pieces. If for example we can vote for Louis Couperin’s entire solo harpsichord output as one thing, why must we vote for specific Keyboard Sonatas by Scarlatti, none of which is longer than three minutes? Of course, there is no grouping of Scarlatti’s sonatas like Francois Couperin’s ‘Books’, but there isn’t for Louis’ either beyond collecting them all under one title.

Perhaps the most obvious example for me is that the Brandenburg Concertos are all listed separately yet everywhere else such groups are listed as one piece. Handel’s Concerto Grossi Op 6 No 1-12 for instance and his three Water Music Suites which are simply listed as Water Music (that’s the pedant in me I know). Even worse would be Rameau’s Pieces de clavecin en concert, which are unrelated works written over a number of years that just happen to be, essentially, harpsichord concertos. Why would such distinct works be listed as one when the Brandenburgs are six?

On another point of pure pedantry, the Pieces de clavecin en concert are listed as ‘Solo instrument’ despite being concertos.

Pedantic asides aside, I do find some of those listings annoyingly inconsistent. It’s not going to hugely detract from the experience and I’m definitely enjoying exploring the music and pondering my voting options. And I look forward to the final countdown with proverbial bate all over my breath. But the consistency would be nice.

As to what I’ll be voting for, the shortlist is still forming but there are some early favourites. I’m somewhat torn when it comes to JS Bach; I want to spread the love among composers again and only vote for one piece each, but that leaves me with deciding between his Cello Suite No 1 and Toccata and Fugue in D minor. The latter has been with me since before I can remember, but the former is breathtakingly beautiful.

Handel is somewhat easier for me. There are parts of two of his oratorios I’d possibly vote for by themselves, but I don’t want to vote for the whole works so they’re out. Which leaves me with his Concerto Grossi Op 6 and Music for Royal Fireworks to decide between.

Vivaldi is another problem; I love The Four Seasons but they’re surely going to do fine as they are – although I predict his Gloria will be his top ranked piece. That leaves me with choosing one of his other pieces, almost certainly a concerto but which one?

Other frontrunners are Corelli’s Concerto Grossi, although I’ve recently discovered his Violin Sonatas and they’re wonderful so there’s another choice. Tartini’s Violin Concerto in G is another recent discovery I’m enjoying immensely.

Hmm. There’s a lot more to be considered. I’ll keep you informed.

Keep exploring!

Initial Thoughts on New Classic 100

I’m back – well, sort of, I expect entries will be more sporadic than before – and so is the Classic 100. This year the theme is Baroque and Before, essentially covering everything written prior to 1750. Which is obviously very broad but I think there are some assumptions we can make.
Despite the huge array of music covered and number of composers, I think it fair to say JS Bach, Handel and Vivaldi will dominate (in that order I predict). The problem being, while other composers’ music is played it isn’t played a lot and it’s tricky to know which piece to vote for.

For example, Telemann is a brilliant composer and well loved. He will no doubt feature several times in the countdown; but I couldn’t tell you what pieces. I’d like to vote for him because I love his music but I have no idea what I’ll pick. I don’t even really know what my options are – besides vast. Or take Dowland, which of his motets or other songs will people vote for – and which piece of Gregorian chant is your favourite?

No doubt many people can answer those questions and they will help determine where some pieces feature but I suspect a lot of people will be in the same position as me and will resort to voting for what they know the names of, hence the likely domination of the big three.
I’m going to do my darndest not to vote for the same composer twice though; as always, I want to spread the love. For JS Bach my big question is which Brandenburg concerto to vote for so I’ll be listening to the Orchestra of the Antipodes recordings again soon. If I’m up to it I may blog about it, we’ll see. The problem with Handel is my favourites of his are movements from oratorios and I don’t want to vote for the whole of Solomon or Xerxes; but there’s always the Royal Fireworks.

Vivaldi is another matter altogether. Beyond his Gloria – which I predict will be in the top 10 – and his Four Seasons, which I predict will suffer from an assumption that everyone else will vote for it and from people wanting to appear ‘sophisticated’ and therefore not voting for such a ‘cliché’, his works suffer the same problem as Telemann’s. We’ve all heard a number of them but can we remember which ones were our favourites? I may just vote for The Four Seasons anyway.
There’s still lots of time to decide of course. Meanwhile I’ll try to do some composer surveys like I did for the French and Movie countdowns.