# TOP 1000 greatest pieces of music of all times



## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

So if someone sat down to make a list of 1000 greatest pieces of music of all times open to all genres and traditions, a list in which the only criteria would be quality/merit, with no privileged genres nor reserved minimum quotas for any genre, what do you think the breakdown of this list would look like?

So to clarify... if the commission, or the person compiling the list thinks that only pieces of classical music deserve to enter, because even the 1000th best classical piece is better than any piece in any other genre, it's completely legit, and OK, according to rules. There's no obligation to include any genre nor to give them any number of places on the list. Only include them if they DESERVE it through their quality.

So, here's my take how this list would look like:

*Around 325 entries would be pieces of western classical music
Around 275 entries - traditional and folk music from all around the world
Around 275 entries - popular music songs from all genres (blues, jazz, rock, reggae, metal, etc)
Around 125 entries - non-western classical music traditions (Indian, Turkish, Chinese, etc...)*

What do YOU think the list would look like?


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

Although I typically enjoy these sorts of thought experiments, I see some insoluble difficulties. 

Firstly, I don't know if I can keep 1000 pieces of music in my head in any meaningful way. Have I heard more than 1000? Sure. But like the number of friends one has on Facebook, I doubt I can meaningfully engage with more than 100 at any given time.

Flowing from that limit is the question of what the standard is by which the pieces are to be judged. Can there be an objective standard within the mind of an individual? I doubt it. I think any objective standards would reside outside individual persons (sales, popularity, longevity, frequency of performance). As such, any list that functions based on an interior subjective standard would be limited to 100 or so.

Thirdly, I would have a difficult time weighing "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys against Beethoven's 9th symphony. They are both great, but their greatness seems inherently different both in magnitude and in kind.

So I guess that's a long way of saying I can't imagine the composition of such a list, and could more readily imagine separate lists by genre.


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

MatthewWeflen said:


> So I guess that's a long way of saying I can't imagine the composition of such a list, and could more readily imagine separate lists by genre.


A motivation can be for example imagining collapse of civilization or some sort of catastrophe, so you need to secure these 1000 pieces in some safe vault that can be opened by those few survivors after the calamity ends. So that would be 1000 best pieces, regardless of genre, that need to be preserved for posterity.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

On that criterion I would try to figure out those pieces that have been listened to most by the collective humanity of the earth, and preserve those as a record of what we listened to.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

But if all that survived were Beethoven's Nine, we could do a lot worse.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

MatthewWeflen said:


> On that criterion I would try to figure out those pieces that have been listened to most by the collective humanity of the earth, and preserve those as a record of what we listened to.


An attempt was done for the Voyager spacecraft. Beethoven made the list twice, Bach three times. Stravinsky got there. NO Mahler! A lot of "world music". Here's the List: Voyager Playlist


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

Oh, I've listened to it. There are Golden Record playlists on YouTube. That Klemperer 5th is wretched. :devil:


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

mbhaub said:


> An attempt was done for the Voyager spacecraft. Beethoven made the list twice, Bach three times. Stravinsky got there. NO Mahler! A lot of "world music". Here's the List: Voyager Playlist


The astronomer, Carl Sagan, who was intimately involved in compiling that list, suggested sending all Bach. but he said that would have been bragging.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

"Greetings Earthlings, take me to your Mahler."


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

In the first volume of the de la Grange Mahler bio, the introduction is by K. Stockhausen who essentially said that if beings from another world were to come to earth, the best way to teach them who we are would be to have them listen to the works of Mahler! That's probably out of self-preservation. If they listened to Stockhausen's "music", they'd think we're all insane and do a Xenu on us.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*TOP 1000 greatest pieces of music of all times *

Wait a minute here ….

J.S. Bach's listing goes from BWV 1 to 1080 in the old listing. BWV 1081 to beyond 1126 occurred in the last century with new discoveries of his music. So, how can we limit this list to a mere 1000 greatest pieces when we can't even fit it the Bach works???

If you need further help compiling this listing, count me out. I'm putting on my headphones and hunkering down to a listening session with BWV 232.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

I nominate these songs by Jon Lajoie














Unlike zillions of songs with their random, half-gibberish, half-fantasy 'luv storys' nobody actually takes seriously, 
these are songs with lyrics we can actually relate to, ones that describes this era best. 
And since pop 'music' today requires no talent of actual musical skills to write, 



 lyrics is the only thing that matters and makes the song good or bad.
After all, " Music should also be socially / politically relevant. " -ZJovicic


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

I'm sorry, but I agree with MatthewWefflen. The premise of this list is deeply flawed. Just enjoy music, man.


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