# One Hit Wonders



## Dedalus (Jun 27, 2014)

Are there any classical composers that have had "One hit wonders", that is, there is a work by them that is in the classical repertoire perhaps, or is very well known and talked about, yet the rest of their oeuvre is basically unnoticed by people at large. This definitely and obviously exists in rock, rap, and all popular music in general. Does this exist in classical? Examples?


----------



## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Gustav Holst and his Planets?


----------



## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Pachelbel and his Canon?


----------



## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Beethoven and his Für Elise?


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Certainly Rott and his symphony. He wrote some other things, but who's heard them?

Oh, My Sharona by the Knack...


----------



## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, Allegri's Miserere, Tartini's Devil's Trill sonata,...


----------



## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Der Leiermann said:


> Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, Allegri's Miserere, Tartini's Devil's Thrill sonata,...


I _really_ want to hear the Devil's Thrill sonata!


----------



## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

Isaac Albéniz and his Iberia. He wrote a couple of operas too but those sound 'just fine'.

Engelbert Humperdinck and his opera Hänsel und Gretel.

Canteloube and his Chants' d'Auvergne, though it could be considered as a collection of works. (which anyway I find too sweet for my taste)


----------



## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Bizet and Carmen? Depends on definitions, as always


----------



## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

dgee said:


> Bizet and Carmen? Depends on definitions, as always


What do you mean? Define "depend"


----------



## Fagotterdammerung (Jan 15, 2015)

The Pearl Fishers is pretty popular in opera circles, though I think people are less familiar with it than Carmen.

On the topic of one-hit opera composers: *Thomas*'s _Hamlet_; *Boito*'s _Mefistofele_, *Leoncavallo*'s _Pagliacci_, and *Mascagni*'s _Cavalleria Rusticana_.

Then again, a lot of composers with hits elsewhere are one-opera men otherwise - _that_ list is huge!


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Bizet's L'Arlesienne suites are and have always been tremendously popular.


----------



## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Dim7 said:


> What do you mean? Define "depend"


How big is the hit? How much bigger of a success than the rest of the oeuvre?

Is Samuel Barber a one hit wonder? Probably to many listeners he is.


----------



## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

MoonlightSonata said:


> I _really_ want to hear the Devil's Thrill sonata!


It's not that good imo, overhyped due to the nickname.


----------



## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Der Leiermann said:


> Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, Allegri's Miserere, Tartini's Devil's Thrill sonata,...


Mascagni also composed Iris that is at least a hit for me.
Once it was a popular opera but its popularity have declined.


----------



## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Yes, of course, L'arlessiene, Pearl Fishers, the Symphony, the quite charming Jeux d'Enfants and Petite Suite. But they're not "hits"

BTW L'arlessiene excerpts was the very first piece I played in an orchestra and I don't think I've even heard it since. Some of that early to mid C19 music that used to be very popular has fallen out of fashion a bit


----------



## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Der Leiermann said:


> It's not that good imo, overhyped due to the nickname.


Devil's _"Thrill"_?


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Cheers! :cheers:

I posted a thread on the same subject and with the same title in 2013 & post the link here for interest - *Ingélou, One Hit Wonders* - http://www.talkclassical.com/24459-one-hit-wonders.html?highlight=

So - *great idea!!!*  
It will be interesting to see how many of the same things come up!


----------



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

I suppose the interpretation of one-hit wonder can be open to question - there are some composers whose present-day reputation rests on maybe just a single work (Orff's Carmina Burana seems an obvious one) but that doesn't necessarily mean that other works of theirs weren't popular before. Instead of 'one-hit wonder' perhaps it's more relevant to say 'most enduring composition'?


----------



## Giordano (Aug 10, 2014)

Adagio in G minor by "Albinoni"


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> I suppose the interpretation of one-hit wonder can be open to question - there are some composers whose present-day reputation rests on maybe just a single work (Orff's Carmina Burana seems an obvious one) but that doesn't necessarily mean that other works of theirs weren't popular before. Instead of 'one-hit wonder' perhaps it's more relevant to say 'most enduring composition'?


Good point. Boccherini is remembered today chiefly for his ubiquitous minuet, but wrote many other pieces of great merit.


----------



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

Ingélou said:


> Good point. Boccherini is remembered today chiefly for his ubiquitous minuet, but wrote many other pieces of great merit.


I wonder if, in the UK at least, that was thanks to The Ladykillers?!


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I think it does depend on your perspective. For nearly half my life I only knew Brahms through his famous Lullaby, now almost never heard at all, certainly never in its original context. But Brahms is scarcely a one hit wonder.


----------



## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

dgee said:


> Yes, of course, L'arlessiene, Pearl Fishers, the Symphony, the quite charming Jeux d'Enfants and Petite Suite. But they're not "hits"


Pearl fishers is still one of the most popular French operas more popular than Samson et Dalila and Pelleas et Mellisande.
I heard Bizets symphony on radio a few weeks ago.


----------



## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

Richannes Wrahms said:


> *Isaac Albéniz and his Iberia. He wrote a couple of operas too but those sound 'just fine'.*
> 
> Engelbert Humperdinck and his opera Hänsel und Gretel.
> 
> Canteloube and his Chants' d'Auvergne, though it could be considered as a collection of works. (which anyway I find too sweet for my taste)


His piano concerto (Concerto Fantastico) is a great work, and quite popular too.


----------



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

It all depends upon how you define a "hit". Boccherini has a marvelous Stabat Mater and a slew of quintets that include at least a couple other well known works. Bizet has a good number of works of the highest merit beyond Carmen. Tartini has any number of delicious violin sonatas and concertos.

And The Knack had Good Girls Don't as well as My Sharona.


----------



## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

The concept probably only applies to those who do are not very familiar with classical, and know the 'odd piece' here and there from certain composers.

e.g. many will only know Mahler for his _adagietto_.


----------



## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> It all depends upon how you define a "hit". Boccherini has a marvelous Stabat Mater and a slew of quintets that include at least a couple other well known works. Bizet has a good number of works of the highest merit beyond Carmen. Tartini has any number of delicious violin sonatas and concertos.
> 
> And The Knack had Good Girls Don't as well as My Sharona.







They're also immortalized by Winona.


----------



## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Ponichielli's Dance of the Hours, and the "Flower Duet" from Delibes' Lakme come to mind


----------



## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

I am discounting well-known composers who are known my childfren through one piece (eg Beethoven's _Für Elise_, Debussy's _Claire de lune_ and Mozart's _Rondo alla turca_, and have drawn up a list of composers who are primarily know - even by some music lovers -through only one work.

Alfvén - Swedish Rhapsody No 1
Allegri - Miserere
Bądarzewska-Baranowska - Maiden's Prayer
Barber- Adagio for Strings
Binge - Elizabethan Serenade
Boccherini - Minuet from String Quintet in E
Chabrier - España
Charpentier - Te Deum (Prelude only - Eurovision theme)
Clarke - Prince of Denmark's March
Delibes - Flower Duet from _Lakmé_
Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Flotow - The Last Rose of Summer (actually the aria _Letzte Rose_ from his opera _Martha_
Fučík - March of the Gladiators
Giazotto - "Albinoni's Adagio"
Halvorsen - Entry of the Boyars
Hofstetter - Serenade (for a long time known as "Haydn's Serenade")
Holst - The Planets
Jessel - Parade of the Tin Soldiers
Khachaturian - Sabre Dance from _Gayaneh_ and/or Adagio from _Spartacus_
Leoncavallo - I pagliacci
Martini - Plaisir d'amour
Mascagni - Cavalleria rusticana
Massenet - Méditation from _Thaïs_
Mouret -Symphonies de fanfares (Rondeau only)
Nicolai - The Merry Wives of Windsor (overture only)
Offenbach - 'Cancan' from _Orpheus in the Underworld_
Orff - Oh, Fortuna! from _Carmina Burana_ (a one-hit wonder within a one-hit wonder)
Pachelbel - Canon in D
Paderewski - Minuet in G
Ponchielli - Dance of the Hours from _La gioconda_
Rezníček - Donna Diana (overture only)
Rimsky-Korsakov - Sheherazade
Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez
Rubinstein - Melody in F
Shostakovich - Waltz No 2 (thank you, Andre Rieu!)
Sinding - Rustle of Spring
Stölzel - Bist du bei mir (usually attributed to JS Bach)
Suppé - Poet and Peasant (overture only)
Tàrrega - Gran Vals (Nokia ringtone)
Villa-Lobos - the Little Train of the Caipira
Waldteufel - Skaters' Waltz
Widor - Toccata from Symphony No 5 for Organ


----------



## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Devil's _"Thrill"_?


Oops 
.................................


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Perhaps Busoni for Doktor Faust?


----------



## aajj (Dec 28, 2014)

Bruch for his 1st Violin Concerto and Rossini for Barber of Seville.


----------



## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

aajj said:


> Bruch for his 1st Violin Concerto and *Rossini for Barber of Seville*.


No, c'mon...

Even I (not into opera at all) know of his Guglielmo Tell, Italiana in Algeri, La gazza ladra... and of course his Stabat Mater.


----------



## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

I think you all are making an implicit 4'33'' joke by NOT mentioning (being _silent_ about) it as the only hit by John Cage. I thought we all agreed at this point that 4'33'' jokes are lame, shame on you


----------



## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Gorecki's 3rd Symphony, in the most traditional sense of the term. It charted, and nothing else he wrote sold nearly as much.


----------



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

One "hit" wonder?


----------



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Massenet?!

Massenet?!!!


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Ingélou said:


> I posted a thread on the same subject and with the same title in 2013 & post the link here for interest - *Ingélou, One Hit Wonders* - http://www.talkclassical.com/24459-one-hit-wonders.html?highlight=


If I took a time machine back to 2013, I'd guess I'd mention Satie's Gymnopedie No. 1. If I didn't then, I will now.


----------



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Offenbach?!!!

Rimsky-Korsakov?!!!

Shostakovitch?!!!

Frickin' Rossini??!!!!!!


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> Perhaps Busoni for Doktor Faust?


I'm surprised with this one. Busoni wrote plenty of works that are performed and recorded more frequently than DF. Then again, maybe if I was a major opera enthusiast, I'd feel the same way.


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

A couple of others:

Ferde Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite
Johann Strauss: An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 (although he was hugely popular in his own time)

[Edit: I suppose I am guilty of subtly not mentioning 4'33". Sorry about that. I did and thought slyly better of it.]


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> I'm surprised with this one. Busoni wrote plenty of works that are performed and recorded more frequently than DF. Then again, maybe if I was a major opera enthusiast, I'd feel the same way.


That's why I added a question mark. I simply do not know enough about Busoni, except for his monument, Doktor Faust.


----------



## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

brotagonist said:


> That's why I added a question mark. I simply do not know enough about Busoni, except for his monument, Doktor Faust.


The Piano Concerto?


----------



## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Offenbach?!!!
> 
> Rimsky-Korsakov?!!!
> 
> ...


Let it sink in.


----------



## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Cosmos said:


> Ponichielli's Dance of the Hours, and the "Flower Duet" from Delibes' Lakme come to mind


Delibes' Coppelia is still relatively popular, and the Pizzicato movement from Sylvia has been used in media for decades.

How about:

*Rubinstein* - Melody in F
*Waldteufel* - The Skater's Waltz
*Dukas* - The Sorcerer's Apprentice
*Widor* - Toccata in F
*Ippolitov-Ivanov* - Caucasian Sketches
*Clarke* - Trumpet Voluntary


----------



## Guest (Feb 4, 2015)

This thread should have a health warning:

*WARNING
YOUR EYEBALLS MAY EXPLODE READING THIS!*


----------



## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Icarus said:


> This thread should have a health warning:
> 
> *WARNING
> YOUR EYEBALLS MAY EXPLODE READING THIS!*


Beethoven, a one-hit wonder.... (mutter mutter)


----------



## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Weston said:


> A couple of others:
> 
> Ferde Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite
> Johann Strauss: An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 (although he was hugely popular in his own time)
> ...


He also composed several famous operettas like Der Zigeunerbaron and Die Fledermaus.
He is probably the most succesfull operetta composer together with Offenbach and Franz Lehar.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Mascagni apparently despaired because he was a 'one hit wonder'. But he then came to the conclusion that it was better to have one hit than no hits at all!


----------



## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

What about Roy Harris and his 3rd Symphony? One for the train spotters, perhaps. Or how about some known for a lite concert piece - Reznicek and the Donna Diana overture, Ippolotov-Ivanov and Caucasian Sketches, Liadov's Enchanted Lake, Schwanda the Bagpiper by Weinberger

From opera I can think of the La Wally song everyone knows and then there's the Widor organ thing that the chapel organist periodically struggled through


----------



## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

The _L'Arlesienne_ (sp?) suites are very much a "hit".



Sloe said:


> Pearl fishers is still one of the most popular French operas more popular than Samson et Dalila and Pelleas et Mellisande.
> I heard Bizets symphony on radio a few weeks ago.


----------



## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

For John Q. Public, Samuel Barber is a one-hit wonder, but for classical music fans such as TC users, he's at least a two-hit wonder, thanks to his violin concerto. But yes, for "many listeners" he is a one-hit wonder.



dgee said:


> How big is the hit? How much bigger of a success than the rest of the oeuvre?
> 
> Is Samuel Barber a one hit wonder? Probably to many listeners he is.


----------



## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

Tristan said:


> Delibes' Coppelia is still relatively popular, and the Pizzicato movement from Sylvia has been used in media for decades.
> 
> How about:
> 
> ...


Sad to see dukas in that list because his piano sonata is really good. You're are right to put him in that list of course.


----------



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

Piwikiwi said:


> Sad to see dukas in that list because his piano sonata is really good. You're are right to put him in that list of course.


Dukas didn't compose that much so perhaps we should be grateful that he's remembered for anything at all. I agree with you about the piano sonata - a fine work.


----------



## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

elgars ghost said:


> Dukas didn't compose that much so perhaps we should be grateful that he's remembered for anything at all. I agree with you about the piano sonata - a fine work.


Didn't he destroy a lot of his work?


----------



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

I gather so, but I've no idea how complete any of it was. Wikipedia lists ten works/projects in total that he junked. He was a busy man anyway what with writing and then teaching but as regards his own compositions he was very self-critical and apparently found the process of composing a bit of an ordeal on the whole. At a guess I would say that all of his formally acknowledged output would probably fit onto four discs, and that includes his opera.


----------



## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

Dim7 said:


> Gustav Holst and his Planets?


It might have been his biggest hit. But it was not his only one.


----------

