# Aussie's fav French music...



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Another vote by listeners of Australia's national classical radio station, ABC Classic FM, has been done recently.

We've had symphony, concerto, chamber, opera, 20th century votes, now it was time for music from the land of the Eiffel Tower, baguettes and berets.

Here is the list from ABC website, incl. youtube clips of each piece (but I think these would be familiar to you all, or at least most of them).

http://www.abc.net.au/classic/classic100/

So what do you guys think? Good, bad, ugly? I personally think its good, its got some of my favourite works there - eg. by Messiaen, Bizet, Saint-Saens, Gounod, Ravel, etc.

A few quips are: 
1. Since Satie's Caberet song _Je te veux _is there (at #100!), why didn't they include *Edith Piaf's *songs too? ; 
2. Some avant-garde like *Varese *would be good but my strong hunch is that the vast majority of Australians don't know his music. Maybe French and Americans do (since he lived there), but he's mostly known here by musicians and composers (eg. our most well known living composer, Peter Sculthorpe, said he was influenced by Varese early on). So there are reasons for things like this, Varese's music is very rarely played on radio here ;
3. That *Rebel *guy, French Baroque composer who did a work that stands out as different from most other music of the period (_The Elements_) would have been a kind of 'left field' thing that I thought would make it. His music has been played here by the Australian Chamber Orchestra quite a few times.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Maurice Jarre has a couple of entries.

O Holy Night! I never knew (or don't recall) that was Adolphe Adam.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

In a word: disgraceful. These yearly Classic 100s that radio station hosts doesn't do any justice to classical music and should be abolished before it corrupts the minds of people beginning to explore the repertoire. 

I voted in it though haha. :lol:


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

All two hundred and eight-seven of you doing rather well. The entire population of the continent, cultivated... who woulda thunk it?


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## SerbenthumInDerMusik (Nov 9, 2012)

No Dutilleux, Milhaud, Honegger,... Poulenc first pops up at #57.

Little heavy on operas and vocal music, but otherwise one would expect a list like this.

Why the fascination with Auvergne songs?


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

I wouldn't make this list, but I would surely listen to it.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

SerbenthumInDerMusik said:


> No Dutilleux, Milhaud, Honegger,... Poulenc first pops up at #57.
> 
> Little heavy on operas and vocal music, but otherwise one would expect a list like this.
> 
> Why the fascination with Auvergne songs?


Technically, Honegger was Swiss. Even though he was born in France and spent most of his life there, he never became a French citizen.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Wrt the list: I was pleasantly surprised to see my favourite Ravel composition included (Sheherazade).


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

A lot of composers are absent.


d'Indy
Maurice Emmanuel
Pierne
Ropartz
Koechlin
Roussel
Florent Schmitt
Tournemire
Vierne
Roger-Ducasse
Caplet
Cras
Gaubert
Varese
Ibert
Milhaud
Rivier
Auric
Ferroud
Sauguet
Tomasi
Bozza
Jolivet
Langlais
Saguer
Daniel-Lesur
Chailley
Alain
Desenclos
Jean Francaix
Dutilleux
Ballif
Nigg

etc.


... and this is not a comprehensive listing, just French composers in my collection born before Pierre Boulez but after 1850.

See how much is _not_ on the radio!


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Milhaud is played here on the radio & in concert. His popular works I mean, but also the occasional lesser known work (eg. chamber stuff). Boulez is more known as a conductor than a composer. Dunno about Dutilleux in too much depth, but I know the Sydney Symphony did premiere one recent work of his. Varese is a nonentity on radio here, I once heard a piece by him, but it was a one-off. Some 'second tier' composers are being played too, eg. d'Indy's _Symphony on a French MOuntain Air_ and Francaix's wind quintet. Its just a list of people's favourites, not the sum total of what people know, as some might assume. But I don't think its necessary to know everything, but some composers listed above I quite like and have explored, eg. I esp. like French organ music - names involved in that are Langlais, Alain and Widor beyond the famous _Toccata._


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

You need an Antipodean angel of mercy to spread the word about Magnard.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Sid James said:


> Milhaud is played here on the radio & in concert. His popular works I mean, but also the occasional lesser known work (eg. chamber stuff). Boulez is more known as a conductor than a composer. Dunno about Dutilleux in too much depth, but I know the Sydney Symphony did premiere one recent work of his. Varese is a nonentity on radio here, I once heard a piece by him, but it was a one-off. Some 'second tier' composers are being played too, eg. d'Indy's _Symphony on a French MOuntain Air_ and Francaix's wind quintet. Its just a list of people's favourites, not the sum total of what people know, as some might assume. But I don't think its necessary to know everything, but some composers listed above I quite like and have explored, eg. I esp. like French organ music - names involved in that are Langlais, Alain and Widor beyond the famous _Toccata._


10:30pm Saturday night to 12:30am Sunday morning and it's the best radio station in the universe.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

elgars ghost said:


> You need an Antipodean angel of mercy to spread the word about Magnard.


Indeed. Love his symphonies.


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## SerbenthumInDerMusik (Nov 9, 2012)

Art Rock said:


> Technically, Honegger was Swiss. Even though he was born in France and spent most of his life there, he never became a French citizen.


Fought in Resistance, but didn't become a citizen. Anyway, the point stands. He wouldn't have made it to the list even if he were French.

+1 Sheherazade


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