# National One Hit Wonder Day



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Today, Sept. 25th, is National One Hit Wonder Day. In our pop music obsessed culture, that's the genre it's aimed at (such as Achy Breaky Heart sung by Billy Ray Cyrus). But there certainly are classical composers who are know primarily for one and only one work. Let's start a classical One Hit Wonder Day list.

1. Ferde Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite
2. Ippolitov-Ivanov: Procession of the Sardar
3. Howard Hanson: Symphony no. 2
4. Eduard Lalo: Symphony Espagnole
5. Luigi Boccherini: Minuet from String Quintet


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Of course, that one ubiquitous piece by Pachelbel.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater?


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Holst: The Planets
Bliss: A Colour Symphony
d'Indy: Symphony on a French Mountain Air
Mosolov: Iron Foundry


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## The nose (Jan 14, 2014)

If we think in terms of Mainstream famous on the top of my head i'll say:

Edward Grieg's _In the hall of the mountain king_ (I was tempted to write _Peer Gynt_ but let's be honest, it's just this little passage of it that's really famous)
Georges Bizet's _Carmen_
And of course there's Sibelius which is mostly known as a Music Notation Software :lol:


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Handel - Messiah
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
Orff - Carmina Burana
Dukas - Sorcerer's Apprentice


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

starthrower said:


> Handel - Messiah
> Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
> Orff - Carmina Burana
> Dukas - Sorcerer's Apprentice


Handel may not be quite fair, he has the Water Music and Royal Fireworks music too.

Chabrier - España probably counts.


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## The nose (Jan 14, 2014)

John Cage's_ 4'33''_


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Far from his only valuable work, it seems to be what he is mostly known for today.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

flamencosketches said:


> Handel may not be quite fair, he has the Water Music and Royal Fireworks music too.


I was basing my decisions on the OP's mention of our "pop obsessed culture". If we're going by those guidelines I'd say even Beethoven is known only by Da, Da, Da Dah...


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## Littlephrase (Nov 28, 2018)

starthrower said:


> I was basing my decisions on the OP's mention of our "pop obsessed culture". If we're going by those guidelines I'd say even Beethoven is known only by Da, Da, Da Dah...


No, Beethoven also has Fur Elise, Ode to Joy and the Moonlight Sonata.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Back in the 1950s, Reinhold Gliere was known chiefly for the Russian Sailors Dance from _The Red Poppy_. And Khachaturian primarily for the Saber Dance from _Gayne_, though the Piano Concerto was becoming more widely known.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I guess we can throw in Satie's Gymnopedie No. 1, though his Gnossiennes are starting to pop up in a few movies.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Henry Litolff is known not just for one piece, but for *one movement* of one piece.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I'm surprised at many of the entries which are not one-hit wonders. I'm outta here.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Easier with primarily opera composers, I think.

Zandonai - Francesca da Rimini
Catalani - La Wally
Charpentier - Louise
Humperdinck - Hansel und Gretel
Leoncavallo - Pagliacci

Giordano and Cilea are on the cusp too, but I figure people do listen to L'Arlesiana and Fedora occasionally. Mascagni doesn't count because of Fritz and Iris.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Bulldog said:


> I'm surprised at many of the entries which are not one-hit wonders. I'm outta here.


Agree with this. Almost all of the composers mentioned I can think of several if not many other works well known and played. And I have to think most of the regular posters here can too. Likewise, outta here.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I agree mostly with what you're saying, but keep in mind that people on this site are for the most part far more knowledgeable about classical repertoire than the average concert goer (and a lot of conductors). Those people - who might attend the local symphony - don't have much depth. Take the Planets. Sure. those of us who collect cds, listen to music or even perform will know the St. Paul Suite and the two Military Suites, but the average listener? Not so much. Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel of course isn't the only thing he wrote - but even the most die-hard concert goer will be hard pressed to name anything else he wrote, and the chances of having heard it almost zero. It's no different in the pop world. I know Billy Ray Cyrus made a lot of other records other than Achy Breaky Heart, but I can't name one.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Since the genre wasn't specified in this thread, I nominate:


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Littlephrase1913 said:


> No, Beethoven also has Fur Elise, Ode to Joy and the Moonlight Sonata.


I'd be willing to bet most people don't know who wrote those pieces.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

There's Mouret's Rondeau, thanks to Masterpiece Theatre.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

starthrower said:


> I'd be willing to bet most people don't know who wrote those pieces.


I don't know. Everybody knows Fur Elise was written by Will Smith.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

flamencosketches said:


> Handel may not be quite fair, he has the Water Music and Royal Fireworks music too.


I've also heard his Lascia ch'io pianga crop up in a few pop culture contexts, including a couple of commercials (one was a car commercial; don't remember the other).


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Manxfeeder said:


> I don't know. Everybody knows Fur Elise was written by Will Smith.


I'm a little older so I heard it on the Benny Hill Show in the 70s! :tiphat:


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Smash Mouth—All Star


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

howlingfantods said:


> Easier with primarily opera composers, I think.
> 
> Zandonai - Francesca da Rimini
> Catalani - La Wally
> ...


Charpentier wrote quite a bit of sacred vocal music as well, some of which might even be higher regarded than his opera.

I was also very surprised to see Handel and Berlioz mentioned on this thread. Surely both these composers have done enough to be unambiguously lifted from the 'one-hit-wonder' category.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

I think a one hit wonder refers to a piece that singularly counts as one of the most popular works in the classical music canon when the rest of the composer’s works do not. That’s not to say the rest of the output isn’t good, they just haven’t achieved anywhere near the popularity of the one “hit.” On mere mention of the composer’s name, generally the first thought is to that one work to which his name is indelibly attached.

Best examples:

Albinoni, Adagio
Allegri, Miserere
Barber, Adagio for strings
Bizet, Carmen
Bruch, Violin concerto No. 1
Holst, The Planets
Leoncavallo, Pagliacci
Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana
Orff, Carmina burana
Pachelbel, Canon
Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade
Satie, Gymnopedie No. 1
Vivaldi, The Four Seasons


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## rice (Mar 23, 2017)

The nose said:


> If we think in terms of Mainstream famous on the top of my head i'll say:
> 
> Edward Grieg's _In the hall of the mountain king_ (I was tempted to write _Peer Gynt_ but let's be honest, it's just this little passage of it that's really famous)
> Georges Bizet's _Carmen_
> And of course there's Sibelius which is mostly known as a Music Notation Software :lol:


Grieg's piano concerto is quite famous too imo.


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## rice (Mar 23, 2017)

How about Mussorgsky with his Pictures at an Exhibition
He has the Night on Bald Mountain too. So 2 hits wonder?


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## WildThing (Feb 21, 2017)

rice said:


> How about Mussorgsky with his Pictures at an Exhibition
> He has the Night on Bald Mountain too. So 2 hits wonder?


Boris Godunov is a well known and well liked opera.


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## Texas Chain Saw Mazurka (Nov 1, 2009)

Possibly whoever wrote Toccata and Fugue in D minor, if it wasn't Bach. I'll probably be hearing from the Johann Ludwig Krebs fan club now. Apologies in advance for any offense caused.


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## Ras (Oct 6, 2017)

Jacob Gade: "Tango Jalousie/Tzigane"


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

BachIsBest said:


> Charpentier wrote quite a bit of sacred vocal music as well, some of which might even be higher regarded than his opera.


Are you thinking of Marc Antoine instead of Gustave perhaps? They're not the same person, they lived two centuries apart. Marc Antoine is the one known for writing sacred vocal music, Gustave pretty much solely for Louise.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

howlingfantods said:


> Are you thinking of Marc Antoine instead of Gustave perhaps? They're not the same person, they lived two centuries apart. Marc Antoine is the one known for writing sacred vocal music, Gustave pretty much solely for Louise.


Ah yes. My mistake.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

No way are Hanson and Holst "one hit wonders"!! not even close....


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Heck148 said:


> No way are Hanson and Holst "one hit wonders"!! not even close....


Hanson didn't have any "hits".


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Bulldog said:


> Hanson didn't have any "hits".


I strongly disagree. I remember Mmmbop being quite a hit!


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Hanson has lots of hits....some fine symphonies [1 and 3 are outstanding], Opera Merry Mount, Suite from same, Song of Democracy, Lament for Beowulf, etc, etc....


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

a definite one hit wonder - 
Weinberger - Polka & Fugue from Schwanda, the Bagpiper....

neat piece. have heard of anything else by him.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Heck148 said:


> Hanson has lots of hits....some fine symphonies [1 and 3 are outstanding], Opera Merry Mount, Suite from same, Song of Democracy, Lament for Beowulf, etc, etc....


I'll just have to conclude that your notion of what constitutes a hit is different than mine.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Looks like we all have different definitions of "classical one-hit wonder". This is my definition: a composer that has only one work that's regularly recorded/performed. By this definition, there aren't many that qualify. A composer having one piece that's more popular than his other popular pieces doesn't count in my mind. Thus Bruch wouldn't qualify because his Violin Concerto No. 2 and Scottish Fantasy have some notoriety; Smetana wouldn't qualify because Ma Vlast and The Bartered Bride overture are both well-known; Lalo wouldn't qualify because his Cello Concerto is recorded on a few major labels, just as the Symphonie Espagnole is. But Lalo and Smetana could be argued to be _two-hit wonders_.

My examples:

(already named by others)
Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Holst - The Planets
Humperdinck - Hänsel und Gretel
Leoncavallo - Pagliacci
Pachelbel - Canon in D

(new ones I'm contributing)
Balakirev - Islamey
Ponchielli - La Gioconda
Suppé - Light Cavalry Overture
Waldteufel - The Skaters' Waltz
Widor - Organ Symphony No. 5


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Giazotto: Adagio in G minor


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

Thomas Augustine Arne.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Allerius said:


> Giazotto: Adagio in G minor


Henri Casadesus: "*JC Bach's Cello Concerto in C minor*" (orig. a viola concerto)

This piece is still played all the time with its false attribution!


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Holst and Suppe are definitely NOT "one hit wonders"....


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