# One Hit Wonders?



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Taggart & I used to play a Poetry Game we made up. Take the Oxford Book of English Verse, choose a poem, start to read it very fast, & the other person has to shout the author's name. The reader scores however many lines they managed to get out. One I lost was 'The burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna', beginning 'Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note'. It was written by a lawyer, Charles Wolfe, & as far as I know, no other piece he wrote is ever anthologised.

I'm sure there are classical composers only known for one piece. I daren't venture an example because I'd only show myself up. But I know there are people out there who can suggest names of 'One Hit Wonders'. 

Can you help?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Ippolitov-Ivanov -- two names but only one remembered work.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Paul Dukas, who was so self critical he destroyed most of his output, is remembered pretty much for his 
Sorceror's Apprentice . But his symphony , the opera Ariane& Barbe Bleue and a few other works are occaisionally performed and have been recorded .
Engelbert Humperdinck (the real one that is), is known for his beloved opera Hansel &Gretel, but his other opera Konigskinder(The royal children) has been recorded and revived once in a while . There are several other works of his which have been recorded but are otherwise totally unknown to the general public .
Pietro Mascagni and Ruggero Leoncavallo are famous for their double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, but they wrote quite a few other operas between them and songs, etc .Mascagni's L'Amico Fritz has occaisionally been revived and has been recorded by Pavarotti and Freni and recently Gheorghiu and Alagna .
Leoncavallo's I Medici (the Medicis ) has recently been recorded by DG with Domingo as the star and is worth a try .
Amilcare Ponchielli is known only for his easy to parody La Gioconda , but he wrote several other operas and other works. I Lituani(the Lithuanians) has been recorded a couple of times .
Orff's Carmina Burana has become something of a cultural icon in recent years, but his other works are almost never perforned live , but have been recorded .
Arrigo Boito is known for Mefistofele, but his other and unfinished opera Nerone, about the emperor Nero, has been recorded and is very interesting .


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## Feathers (Feb 18, 2013)

Pachelbel and Waldteufel (did I even spell his name right?).


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

*Albinoni *is known mostly for a hit he didn't even write, but I think that's more among the general public than with us hardcore types.

For *Paul Dukas*, I would argue the _La Peri_ is very well known or at least easily recognized when the fanfare is heard, so he might be a two hit wonder.

I think *Johann Molter* is well known mostly for the opening segment of something or other on American Public TV -- "Great Performances" or something.

That's all I've got. I tried to interpret "one hit" as having works mostly unknown even to hardcore collectors. That narrows it down a lot.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The Knacks, of course. "My Sharona."


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Sinding (Rustle of Spring), Rubinstein (Melody in F), Litolff (Scherzo from Concerto Symphonique #4), Alfven (Swedish Rhapsody), Clarke (Trumpet Voluntary), Addinsell (Warsaw Concerto), Arne (God Save the King).

I'm kinda cheating cos a number of these, as well as others you guys mentioned, are on this Australian cd:
http://shop.abc.net.au/products/one-hit-wonders-classical

Of course there's composers who are better known amongst classical listeners but not well known generally (or not among those listeners who are less 'hard core' or whatever). Some of those and their big hits:

Villa-Lobos (Bachianas Brasileiras #5), Widor (Toccata from Symphony #5), Boccherini (Minuet), Enescu (Romanian Rhapsody #1), Theodorakis (Syrtaki from Zorba the Greek film score), D'Indy (Symphony on a French Mountain Air), Lalo (Symphonie Espagnole).


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Fucik is known only for "Entry of the Gladiators". J. Strauss Sr. is known only for "Radetsky March".


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Humperdinck is a rather obvious one....


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I know he wrote lots of other material, and I have several CD's of his works, but for most people Holst is only known for the Planets.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Ooh another one...Thomas Arne for "Rule Brittania"


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

I can't remember ever seeing anything* performed by Paderewski other than his famous Menuet. I thought maybe this was because he was too busy as a world-famous pianist and later politican to write much, but according to wikipedia, he was a "substantial composer" who wrote e.g. a 75 minute long symphony and an opera.

(*Come to think of it I've seen his piano concerto recorded a couple of times.)


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

More from the world of light music: Lehar (The Merry Widow), Reznicek (Donna Diana Overture), Nicolai (Merry Wives of Windsor Overture), Gade (Jalousie, tango), Dinicu (Hora Staccato), Monti (Czardas), Grofe (Grand Canyon Suite).

More opera composers of this kind: Lortzing (Zar und Zimmerman), Gustave Charpentier (Louise), Flotow (Martha).

Two (or three) hit wonders?: Suppe (Light Cavalry, Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna), Coates (Dam Buster's March, By the Sleepy Lagoon, Kinghtsbridge March), Ketelbey (In a Persian Market, In a Monastery Garden, etc.).


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## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

Feathers said:


> *Pachelbel* and Waldteufel (did I even spell his name right?).


This guy actually uses the phrase "One Hit Wonder" 



 :lol:


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

Duruflé, Requiem


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Leonard Bernstein - West Side story
Ludwig van Beethoven - that wretched ninth symphony choral ending! 

/ptr


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

What? I thought Fur Elsie was Beethoven's one big hit, a sort of an ode to a hairy cow.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

I've always been amused by a passage in Michael Steinberg's compendium of Symphony notes (appropos of Walton's First Symphony) in which he quotes Colin Davis as calling Walton a "one-work composer" -- but then Davis adds: "...like Humperdinck and Britten." I assume he means that Britten's one significant work is, to him, "Peter Grimes," but the idea that he dismisses everything else is mind-boggling.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Mascagni used to lament that he was a 'one hit wonder'. However, he did cheer up a bit later when he realised at least he had one hit whereas most people don't have any!


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Weston said:


> What? I thought Fur Elsie was Beethoven's one big hit, a sort of an ode to a hairy cow.


Maybe in them USofA's, but here in Europe it is that wretched choral ending that is that golden cow fleece!

/ptr


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

A true one hit wonder: Gorecki's 3rd Symphony. 

Most suggestions in this thread are talking about long-term popularity or quality, but this one actually made the charts. Nothing else of his has come close. That's a one hit wonder.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Andreas said:


> Duruflé, Requiem


Durufle's "Ubi Caritas" is pretty popular.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

GGluek said:


> I've always been amused by a passage in Michael Steinberg's compendium of Symphony notes (appropos of Walton's First Symphony) in which he quotes Colin Davis as calling Walton a "one-work composer" -- but then Davis adds: "...like Humperdinck and Britten." I assume he means that Britten's one significant work is, to him, "Peter Grimes," but the idea that he dismisses everything else is mind-boggling.


Does anybody listen to what Colon Davis says ?


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ptr said:


> Maybe in them USofA's, but here in Europe it is that wretched choral ending that is that golden cow fleece!
> 
> /ptr


That's twice you've called it wretched which is not your usual style--I think you must mean you don't personally like it ?
Because a lot of us do and I wonder how often we are going to thrash this very point out !


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Tristan said:


> Fucik is known only for "Entry of the Gladiators". J. Strauss Sr. is known only for "Radetsky March".


Fucik's marches are standard fayre with brass and military bands throughout the world.
Also we must not be parochial--Lortzing's operas were always being produced in the 
German speaking areas when I was based there and great stuff they are !!


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

ptr said:


> Leonard Bernstein - West Side story
> Ludwig van Beethoven - that wretched ninth symphony choral ending!
> 
> /ptr


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Charles Gounod (1818-1893): Funeral march of a marionnette. For pno. (1873), a.k.a. the Alfred Hitchcock theme.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Gounod? I would have said the Soldiers' Chorus from Faust and the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria are quite well known too.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

moody said:


> That's twice you've called it wretched which is not your usual style--I think you must mean you don't personally like it ?
> Because a lot of us do and I wonder how often we are going to thrash this very point out !


Lighten up, anything written here are personal opinions and nothing more! And if You really cared about Beethoven's music you'd know that it can take any scorching joke, if it couldn't, no one would care about it!

/ptr


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

millionrainbows said:


> Charles Gounod (1818-1893): Funeral march of a marionnette. For pno. (1873), a.k.a. the Alfred Hitchcock theme.


I'm sure nobody around here is old enough to remember that! Most probably think B&W TV is simply a myth made up by their parents, like walking five miles to school through the snow, and uphill both ways...


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

The late Earl Wild with Arthur Fiedler this time with the LSO, recorded the Paderewski piano concerto for RCA many years ago , and believe it or not Paderewski's sole opera Manru has recently been recorded in Poland with a cast and conductor from one of the regional Polish opera companies . It may still be available at arkivmusic.com. I'd be curious to hear it.
Gheorghe Enescu is known to the general public only for his Romanian Rhapsodie no 1 , but a fair amount of his music ha sbeen recorded lately, including his three symphonie,s and the remarkable opera Oedipe, about Oedipus Rex ("at least he loves his mother".) There have been several reevivals in Europe, and I have the superb EMI recording conducted by Enescu champion Lawrence Foster, who is the son of Romanian immigrants to America, with Jose van Dam.
Enescu seems to have resented the popularity of th e Romanian rhapsody , which he rightly felt was not typical of his music.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

moody said:


> Fucik's marches are standard fayre with brass and military bands throughout the world.
> Also we must not be parochial--Lortzing's operas were always being produced in the
> German speaking areas when I was based there and great stuff they are !!


So you are a military man, retd.

I see.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ptr said:


> Lighten up, anything written here are personal opinions and nothing more! And if You really cared about Beethoven's music you'd know that it can take any scorching joke, if it couldn't, no one would care about it!
> 
> /ptr


Who should lighten up ?


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

hayd said:


> So you are a military man, retd.
> 
> I see.


Yes,I am, but that doesn't change the popularity or lack of it as far as Fucik is concerned.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

KenOC said:


> I'm sure nobody around here is old enough to remember that! Most probably think B&W TV is simply a myth made up by their parents, like walking five miles to school through the snow, and uphill both ways...


Yes. I had no idea what that was all about. Alfred who?


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

*Allegri* (of the Miserere) has to be the most extreme example - he wrote one of the most famous and popular pieces ever (although admittedly it was embellished by others) and yet I imagine that only hardcore early music listeners are familiar with any of his other works (I don't know of any).

EDIT: I see someone has mentioned Gorecki - he's another excellent example, although IMO still less extreme "one-hit-wonderiness".


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Carmina Burana - Orff


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Vaneyes said:


> Carmina Burana - Orff


Perhaps the 'wonder' is that this execrable piece of music is a 'hit' at all!


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

KenOC said:


> I'm sure nobody around here is old enough to remember that! Most probably think B&W TV is simply a myth made up by their parents, like walking five miles to school through the snow, and uphill both ways...


One is sorely tempted to go into a riff along the lines of "when I were a lad, we had steam radio and thought ourselves lucky, and the school was ten miles away and clogs were for Sundays ..".


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

DavidA said:


> Perhaps the 'wonder' is that this execrable piece of music is a 'hit' at all!


I really hope you're expressing a personal opinion and not a Universal Truth...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

superhorn said:


> ... Gheorghe Enescu is known to the general public only for his Romanian Rhapsodie no 1 ... Enescu seems to have resented the popularity of th e Romanian rhapsody , which he rightly felt was not typical of his music.


You get that a lot. Even Beethoven was mightily peeved that his most popular work during his lifetime was the early period Septet. Then there was Rachmaninov who was not happy at that famous prelude of his - I think the one in C Sharp minor - overshadowing his other things. Same with Sibelius' Valse Triste. Gounod, who's been mentioned, always wanted to do something more profound and lofty (Germanic?) than Faust which he thought did not show his maximum potential. I think Ravel wasn't happy with the fame of Bolero, there's that overshadowing/eclipsing thing there too. Brahms thought the Hungarian Dances to be not worthy of an opus number (and they are in truth little more than arrangement and embellishments on tunes that gypsies played in city cafes and so on) but these kinds of 'salon' works tended to fund the more meaty/serious works by composers which didn't make a mint. & if I remember correctly, due to some copyrighting error, Astor Piazzolla didn't make a cent (or not much) from his ubiquitous Libertango. I definitely know that Sibelius and Rachmaninov gave up their rights to the two pieces I mentioned for a one-off trifling fee, they didn't know these would become so big, and they where forever kicking themselves afterwards. Like turning down a goldmine, but it shows even they can't predict what will become a hit.

So seems success can be a burden...and a blessing. DEpending on how you look at it. Mascagni said something like "I got my crown before I became king." An apt quote here.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Taggart said:


> One is sorely tempted to go into a riff along the lines of "when I were a lad, we had steam radio and thought ourselves lucky, and the school was ten miles away and clogs were for Sundays ..".


Quite true,but we enjoyed the dry bread when we managed to get home.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Sid James said:


> You get that a lot. Even Beethoven was mightily peeved that his most popular work during his lifetime was the early period Septet. Then there was Rachmaninov who was not happy at that famous prelude of his - I think the one in C Sharp minor - overshadowing his other things. Same with Sibelius' Valse Triste. Gounod, who's been mentioned, always wanted to do something more profound and lofty (Germanic?) than Faust which he thought did not show his maximum potential. I think Ravel wasn't happy with the fame of Bolero, there's that overshadowing/eclipsing thing there too. Brahms thought the Hungarian Dances to be not worthy of an opus number (and they are in truth little more than arrangement and embellishments on tunes that gypsies played in city cafes and so on) but these kinds of 'salon' works tended to fund the more meaty/serious works by composers which didn't make a mint. & if I remember correctly, due to some copyrighting error, Astor Piazzolla didn't make a cent (or not much) from his ubiquitous Libertango. I definitely know that Sibelius and Rachmaninov gave up their rights to the two pieces I mentioned for a one-off trifling fee, they didn't know these would become so big, and they where forever kicking themselves afterwards. Like turning down a goldmine, but it shows even they can't predict what will become a hit...


The point is that they were all pieces of music that fitted onto a 78 rpm record,


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Herold's Zampa Overture*

One work that has not been mentioned is Herold's _Zampa Overture_.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

moody said:


> The point is that they were all pieces of music that fitted onto a 78 rpm record,


Well, except the Septet! But Beethoven didn't listen to 78s much...


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

arpeggio said:


> One work that has not been mentioned is Herold's _Zampa Overture_.


Good catch! And it reminds me of Reznicek's Donna Diana Overture, another singleton. But it suited Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, a long-running series with only two steady characters -- one of which was a dog. "On, you huskies!"


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

KenOC said:


> Well, except the Septet! But Beethoven didn't listen to 78s much...


I didn't really have that down as a "One Hit Wonder".


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Nereffid said:


> Gounod? I would have said the Soldiers' Chorus from Faust and the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria are quite well known too.


I *knew* somebody would say that!


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

glitch in forum system


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

The polka and fugue from Weinberger's "Schwanda the Bagpipe Player."


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

GGluek said:


> The polka and fugue from Weinberger's "Schwanda the Bagpipe Player."


Thanks for reminding me of this, GGluek. I remember playing probably the piece you mention when I was in the 'junior orchestra', c. 1962! After all, who could forget a name like 'Schwanda'?


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

GGluek said:


> The polka and fugue from Weinberger's "Schwanda the Bagpipe Player."


I think Schwanda der Dudelsackpfeifer sounds much more fun. I liove it!


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

What's that real lugubrious Russian theme? No, not the funeral one, but the other "trudging thru the snow" one? Is that Shostakovich?
Also, "Stranger In Paradise" is actually Borodin. Correct?


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

moody said:


> Who should lighten up ?


All of us! But if I misinterpreted Your comment, I apologize, this classical music thing is only a past time and not worthy of any declarations of war, it should be fun and a pleasure, nothing else. The only thing I can cite in my defense is that English is not my native language, but rather the third or fourth I learned so I can certainly have shortcomings in my reading comprehension, this just means that all TC members who are knowledgeable in the English language mysteries have to be a little more forgiving of us who have English deficits! 

/ptr


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

millionrainbows said:


> What's that real lugubrious Russian theme? No, not the funeral one, but the other "trudging thru the snow" one? Is that Shostakovich?
> Also, "Stranger In Paradise" is actually Borodin. Correct?


Song of the Volga Boatmen?

And yes, Strangers was written to Borodin (as was the rest of the musical "Kismet").


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> A true one hit wonder: Gorecki's 3rd Symphony.


Not quite - his 'Beatus Vir' also made the Classic FM chart albeit much lower down and for a far shorter time.

As for 'Carmina Burana', I wonder whether this is based on the entire work or just the opening 'O Fortuna' which is the bit that always gets played.
Thumbs up for Herolds 'Zampa'!


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

techniquest said:


> As for 'Carmina Burana', I wonder whether this is based on the entire work or just the opening 'O Fortuna' which is the bit that always gets played.


Within the 'classical world' I'd say it's the whole thing. It was a big hit from the start. The 'O Fortuna only' is more of a popular culture thing.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

ptr said:


> ... The only thing I can cite in my defense is that English is not my native language, but rather the third or fourth I learned ... /ptr


ptr, you are sickeningly erudite!


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Ingenue said:


> ptr, you are sickeningly erudite!


  .. well, I grew up in an environment where three languages were used simultaneously, so I developed quite a good ear for picking up the spoken part, but I've always been to lacy to learn grammar properly, so I've got some work to do or shun away from...  (I spent six months cramming Russian Grammar 12 years ago and I still get sick to my stomach thinking about the amount of work I had to do just to understand the basics...  )
So for me there is a great divide betwixt using and understanding language, I'm "just" a user, and my use of English is very much trial and error in the way a child learns; But I'm very keen to expand my vocabulary, so when other guy's have Playboy or Car magazines to read sitting on their throne, I have all of 20lb of an Old Webster to reach for... 

enough about me, back on topic; here is a one hit organ wonder:

*Leon Boëllmann* - Suite Gothique

/ptr


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

millionrainbows said:


> What's that real lugubrious Russian theme? No, not the funeral one, but the other "trudging thru the snow" one? Is that Shostakovich?
> Also, "Stranger In Paradise" is actually Borodin. Correct?


It's Tchaikovaky's Marche Slave (Slavic March) isn't it?


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ptr said:


> Leonard Bernstein - West Side story
> Ludwig van Beethoven - that wretched ninth symphony choral ending!
> 
> /ptr


I think you've been less than fair to Benstein what about : Candide, On the Town, Fancy Free, Symphony No,2 "Age of Anxiety",
Symphony No.3 "Kaddish" and the Chichester Psalms?


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

moody said:


> I think you've been less than fair to Benstein what about : Candide, On the Town, Fancy Free, Symphony No,2 "Age of Anxiety", Symphony No.3 "Kaddish" and the Chichester Psalms?


Yea, sure, but I think that You often can say similar about many of the composers cited in this thread. I just wonder how many thousands of times something like that the W.S.S. has been performed for each time any other of his works?, I might not be knowledge enough about the performance rate of Bernstein's other works, I only know that the only other of his works that I've ever heard of or seen performed in concert is the quite lovely "*Serenade* for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion"! (I've heard all of the other works You cite from recordings, and enjoyed quite a lot of them!)

I unfortunately, don't think that the "one hit wonder" moniker really has all that much to do the quality of a composers works, but rather all about the tenacity of his promoters in establishing him (or her) at the forefront of the canon...

/ptr


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ptr said:


> Yea, sure, but I think that You often can say similar about many of the composers cited in this thread. I just wonder how many thousands of times something like that the W.S.S. has been performed for each time any other of his works?, I might not be knowledge enough about the performance rate of Bernstein's other works, I only know that the only other of his works that I've ever heard of or seen performed in concert is the quite lovely "*Serenade* for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion"! (I've heard all of the other works You cite from recordings, and enjoyed quite a lot of them!)
> 
> I unfortunately, don't think that the "one hit wonder" moniker really has all that much to do the quality of a composers works, but rather all about the tenacity of his promoters in establishing him (or her) at the forefront of the canon...
> 
> /ptr


Actually I think this thread has got out of hand.I believe that a "one hit wonder" should be exactly that e.g. Reznicek and his "Donna Diana".


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## echmain (Jan 18, 2013)

Boccherini "minuet". Whenever they need a piece of generic classical music in a movie or TV show, it's damn near always the minuet.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

echmain said:


> Boccherini "minuet". Whenever they need a piece of generic classical music in a movie or TV show, it's damn near always the minuet.


You're so right, echmain. I love the minuet, and that was all I knew - but now I'm in love with his Fandango!


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I like both ptr's and moody's points above re what exactly is a one hit wonder. But I agree with Moody that Lenny aint just a one hit wonder, even if you include his conducting and promotion of music & as an 'ambassador' or educator for classical as whole.

But its why I earlier referred to some composers who've got more than one hit but not enough to qualify as composers who've got like a dozen or maybe even dozens of hits. Eg. Suppe, Eric Coates & Ketelbey are three example I gave in the light music realm.

& earlier Durufle was mentioned, like Lenny I don't see him as a one hit wonder. Sure, there's the requiem being his most famous work but there's also the 4 motets, as someone mentioned Ubi Caritas - a staple of a capella rep for 20th century, both in church and in concert - and his organ music though only filling one cd is known to organ enthusiasts at least.

So I guess thats the thing - who's interested in what? If you're interested say in Scandinavians, there's a handful of ones that have 'made it' big time (eg. Sibelius, Grieg, Nielsen), but there's also ones that haven't made it big, but people who are into that sort of music may still know them (eg. the likes of Halvorsen, Svendsen, Gade, maybe Berwald and Langgaard too?, etc)...

[note edit - its not Durufle's but Faure's requiem thats the most popular used in funerals today]...


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Stainer's Crucifixion - or, as the old joke allegedly goes: 

First man: 'What do you think of Stainer's Crucifixion?'

Second man (possibly Sir Thomas Beecham): 'I'm all in favour of it...'


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

elgars ghost said:


> Stainer's Crucifixion - or, as the old joke allegedly goes:
> 
> First man: 'What do you think of Stainer's Crucifixion?'
> 
> Second man (possibly Sir Thomas Beecham): 'I'm all in favour of it...'


It is pretty dreadful'


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

moody said:


> It is pretty dreadful'


I can't ever remember anyone saying anything particularly nice about it. Can't say it buttered my parsnips either - perhaps back in those days there was such a paucity of truly great English music that even the mediocre was championed to a degree.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

The scherzo from Henry Litolf's 4th Concerto Symphonique.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Addinsell's Warsaw concerto as well.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

Karl Goldmarck's "Rustic Wedding" Symphony.


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## Misologos (Mar 25, 2013)

Hungarian composer Rezső Seress, known for his waltzy dirge 'Gloomy Sunday' which supposed inspired -- in Goethe-like fashion -- a wave of suicides. Seress himself eventually committed suicide. Serge Gainsbourg and Billie Holiday covered it, among others. Good luck even trying to find anything else by Seress, I've tried.


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## Minona (Mar 25, 2013)

Boccherini may well have composed some incredible masterpieces, but still, no one has bothered to find out yet. (I'm not in that field, myself.)


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

Kodály doesn't seem to get much play aside from the Cello Sonata.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I think the Dances of Galanta and Hary Janos Suite are both more popular than the cello sonata.


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

Well then what do I know? :lol:


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

KenOC said:


> I think the Dances of Galanta and Hary Janos Suite are both more popular than the cello sonata.


And the "Peacock" Variations.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

ahammel said:


> Well then what do I know? :lol:


A heck of a lot more than me, ahammel - by the sound of it, you all do!


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Minona said:


> Boccherini may well have composed some incredible masterpieces, but still, no one has bothered to find out yet. (I'm not in that field, myself.)


Hmm! Try this:






and if you go to the you tube page you will see links to other Boccherini bits including 2 hours of guitars, Cellos, a Stabat Mater and much much more.

PS There are also several versions of some sort of minuet you might like :devil:


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## Minona (Mar 25, 2013)

Mmmm. maybe not then  I think I would have fallen asleep.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

The Russian composer Mikhail Ippolkitov Ivanov (1859-1935 ) is remembered today only for his colorful 
"Caucasian Sketches " , and I was just listening to my Naxos CD of music by him including this .
Hardly anyone seems to know that there is a second suite of Caucasian sketches , and both are on this CD.
The second suite is called "Iveria" , another name for the Caucasus , and this suite consists of 1. The lament of the princess Ketevan(a legendary Georgian princess ) , a Berceuse, a Lezghinka, the Caucasian dance which I discussed on another thread, ending with a "Gerogian march". It's lots of fun, particularly the exciting Lezghinka . The CD also includes the "Turkish March" and the "Turkish Fragments",(caravan, at rest, night, festival . 
Ippolitov-Ivanov was interested in the folk music of the various nationalities of Russia and the Soviet Union , and some of his works feature this . The Naxos CD features the National symphony orchestra of the Ukraine conducted by Americna conductor Arthur Fagen. Don't know if it's still available, but it's worth looking for .
The best place on th e internet for hard to find classical CD is arkivmusic.com, and their overall slection is fantastic !


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Someone mentioned Ferde Grofe and his Grand Canyon Suite, but he was also the orchestrator of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" (which I actually only just learned today). Surely that should count as another "hit".


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

millionrainbows said:


> Also, "Stranger In Paradise" is actually Borodin. Correct?


Right, from Price Igor, Polovtsian Dances. The 1953 musical "Kismet" is based entirely on Borodin's music. Remember "Baubles, Bangles and Beads"?


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## Orpheus (Jul 15, 2012)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's The Song of Hiawatha (mainly the first part, Hiawatha's Wedding Feast) seems almost the definition of a one hit wonder. I believe that for many years it was one of the most popular works of its type in the Anglophone world, but anyone has else heard another piece by the composer? I certainly haven't!


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Thank you, yes, it was the _Song of the Volga Boatmen_ that I was remembering from some long-forgotten cartoon.

I think my understanding of pop art (soup cans, etc) gives me a rare appreciation of what otherwise is viewed as "banal" or kitsch. I'm listening to Stainer's Crucifixion, and I find nothing wrong with it.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Orpheus said:


> Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's The Song of Hiawatha (mainly the first part, Hiawatha's Wedding Feast) seems almost the definition of a one hit wonder. I believe that for many years it was one of the most popular works of its type in the Anglophone world, but anyone has else heard another piece by the composer? I certainly haven't!


He wrote an exceptional Clarinet Quintet. 
I've played it, also have the CD and it's coupled with a fine piano quintet too.
Also check out his 24 Negro Melodies.

Can't find brilliant examples on Youtube. But these will give you some idea


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## Orpheus (Jul 15, 2012)

^ Thanks, that's interesting, I'll be sure to have a listen.

It's strange how sometimes one or several works by a composer become well known, and everything else by them then gets neglected even when it is of comparable or higher quality. This in fact seems more likely to be the case than the possibility (which often seems to be the presumption of most listeners) that a composer known for being a "one hit wonder" wrote one work of genius, and a lot of musical dross or filler, as would have to be the case if the neglect of other works was really _deserved_. It seems unlikely that the wellsprings of a mature and practiced composer's creativity, if they had enough to complete something of real quality to start with, would be utterly drained after just one significant work.

Composers who died young and didn't have the chance to complete many mature works might be another matter though. I suspect there are a lot of one or two hit wonders to be found among that group, some of them legitimate.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Vaneyes said:


> Carmina Burana - Orff





DavidA said:


> Perhaps the 'wonder' is that this execrable piece of music is a 'hit' at all!


I once read that in the early twentieth century, a group of anthropologists decided to make a study of the traditional clothes worn by Native Americans, before they all modernized and that bit of their culture disappeared forever. The study went well until they realized that most of the Native Americans they interviewed actually had no idea of what their traditional clothing looked like - they just repeated whatever they saw in Hollywood films, assuming that the films were well researched.

With Carmina Burana we have the musical equivalent of this phenomenon: in the public mind, this is how medieval music sounds. Except of course that it doesn't sound like that at all. Recordings of the original Carmina Burana manuscript are available, and it is something quite different, altogether more raw and earthy and in many ways far more charming than Orff's version. But I wouldn't go as far as to call the work execrable.

My own contributions to the list of one hit wonders. Well, maybe "few hit wonders" would be more accurate, though these composers are primarily known for one thing:

Rodrigo and Concierto de Aranjuez.

Bruch and his famous violin concerto (and mainly the slow movement from it).

Both of the above composed lots of very fine music that deserves to be better known, but somehow you seldom see any of it performed or recorded.

Outside of classical guitar circles, nobody knows anything by Tarrega other than "Recuerdos de la Alhambra", a work I personally cannot stand to even go find a YouTube link for out of fear that I may have to hear a bar or two of it.

And then there is Joseph Canteloube, known chiefly for his collection of folk song arrangements.

Johann Ritter von Herbeck - "Pueri Concinite", a truly lovely little work. But I have never heard of anything else he composed.






Assuming Leopold Mozart wrote the "Toy symphony" (I have seen it attributed to Haydn as well), that would be his one hit. His loins ended up producing much greater things than his brain.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

apricissimus said:


> Someone mentioned Ferde Grofe and his Grand Canyon Suite, but he was also the orchestrator of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" (which I actually only just learned today). Surely that should count as another "hit".


Not really because he didn't write it.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

brianvds said:


> I once read that in the early twentieth century, a group of anthropologists decided to make a study of the traditional clothes worn by Native Americans, before they all modernized and that bit of their culture disappeared forever. The study went well until they realized that most of the Native Americans they interviewed actually had no idea of what their traditional clothing looked like - they just repeated whatever they saw in Hollywood films, assuming that the films were well researched.
> 
> With Carmina Burana we have the musical equivalent of this phenomenon: in the public mind, this is how medieval music sounds. Except of course that it doesn't sound like that at all. Recordings of the original Carmina Burana manuscript are available, and it is something quite different, altogether more raw and earthy and in many ways far more charming than Orff's version. But I wouldn't go as far as to call the work execrable.
> 
> ...


Leopold did write the Toy Symphony,he also wrote the famous Sleigh Ride and Peasants Wedding.
Also an enormous amount of music including symphonies.
Bruch's Scottish Fantasy is popular.
Rodrigo's works for guitar and orchestra appear to be equally popular.


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## CyrilWashbrook (Feb 6, 2013)

brianvds said:


> Bruch and his famous violin concerto (and mainly the slow movement from it).
> 
> Both of the above composed lots of very fine music that deserves to be better known, but somehow you seldom see any of it performed or recorded.


Bruch's Kol Nidrei isn't particularly obscure, although as a cellist my perspective may be a little skewed.


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## nightscape (Jun 22, 2013)

Khachaturian - Sabre Dance. For the most part in terms of popular culture.


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## nightscape (Jun 22, 2013)

Just remembered Offenbach. Not only is he primarily known for one thing, "Orpheus in the Underworld" overture, but he's only known for one small section of the piece.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

nightscape said:


> Just remembered Offenbach. Not only is he primarily known for one thing, "Orpheus in the Underworld" overture, but he's only known for one small section of the piece.


He is most famed for his can-can music, but his Barcarole from the tales of Hoffmann is also well-known.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

nightscape said:


> Just remembered Offenbach. Not only is he primarily known for one thing, "Orpheus in the Underworld" overture, but he's only known for one small section of the piece.


Not true he's widely known for many compositions,what about "Tales of Hoffmann " for a start ?

2


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## nightscape (Jun 22, 2013)

I guess it depends on how you're defining one-hit wonder. I take it to mean in terms of wide-range popularity, pop-culture, etc. Within the classical community, sure, you'll find some people moderately familiar with Offenbach, but then that eliminates like 95% of the suggestions listed in this thread.

The Can-Can is his claim to fame when it comes to the majority.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

nightscape said:


> I guess it depends on how you're defining one-hit wonder. I take it to mean in terms of wide-range popularity, pop-culture, etc. Within the classical community, sure, you'll find some people moderately familiar with Offenbach, but then that eliminates like 95% of the suggestions listed in this thread.
> 
> The Can-Can is his claim to fame when it comes to the majority.


You can take it to mean what you want but a one hit wonder is a peace of music that people know well but know nothing else from that source--ONE HIT
One example is Reznicek's "Donna Diana" Overture and another Stainer's Crucifiction"
.
This is what Ingenue asked for and she asked us, not somebody walking down the high street.I am from the classical community and have been for about 65 years and know a one hit wonder when I see one.
It may be unwise to speak for the community.
The suggestions listed on the whole should be eliminated as it happens, most of them anyway.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

I think that Rubinstein's Melody In F is a WHW.


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Pachelbel (you know exactly what piece is his one hit wonder *shudders in disgust*)
Orff (every trailer for summer blockbuster action flicks)
and Reubke: he's no where near as popular as the first two, but he is only known for his Sonata on Psalm 94 for organ


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

moody said:


> Leopold did write the Toy Symphony,he also wrote the famous Sleigh Ride and Peasants Wedding.
> Also an enormous amount of music including symphonies.


Not to mention a rather nice Trumpet Concerto in D Major in 1762.


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