# Who is the biggest “one hit wonder” of classical music?



## mahlernerd (Jan 19, 2020)

I would say Carl Orff, for Carmina Burana, because that is the only work of his that is really ever performed. What do you say?


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Orff is a good choice. Pachelbel is also up there - what ever gets played outside his Canon?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Art Rock said:


> Orff is a good choice. Pachelbel is also up there - what ever gets played outside his Canon?


His organ works get decent exposure on recordings. There are at least 2 complete cycles on cd - Centaur and Dorian. However, they might be out-of-print by now.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Yeah, but I also accumulated (somehow) nine Orff CD's that do not feature the Carmina Burana.


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## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

Franz von Suppé, as the only work of his I’ve ever heard about being performed is the Light Cavalry ouverture. One might also argue that Mussorgsky belongs to this category as well (or maybe he should be described as a «two hit wonder»).


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Suppé's overture Dichter und Bauer is about as famous as Light Cavalry. Mussorgsky as a one hit wonder (or even two hit wonder) is a joke, I hope.


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

mahlernerd said:


> I would say Carl Orff, for Carmina Burana, because that is the only work of his that is really ever performed. What do you say?


Not only that, but the opening _O Fortuna_ is far more famous than everything else on _Carmina Burana_ - it's the _Spirit in the Sky_ or the _Brown Eyed Girl_ of the classical world.


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## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

Art Rock said:


> Suppé's overture Dichter und Bauer is about as famous as Light Cavalry. Mussorgsky as a one hit wonder (or even two hit wonder) is a joke, I hope.


I did not know that. Never heard about it though. You are correct in identifying the last statement as a joke.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

elgars ghost said:


> Not only that, but the opening _O Fortuna_ is far more famous than everything else on _Carmina Burana_ - it's the _Spirit in the Sky_ or the _Brown Eyed Girl_ of the classical world.


Oh no. You surely didn't just call Van Morrison a one-hit wonder, did you?


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## DaddyGeorge (Mar 16, 2020)

Julius Fučík and his "Entry Of The Gladiators"


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Just looking at the figures though...

Entry Of The Gladiators 19 recordings
Florentiner 14 recordings

But I agree, I know the Gladiators and not the Florentiner.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

I'd nominate Paderewski and his Minuet. His other works may be quite worthy but I've never heard them.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Maybe Masgacni can be mentioned for Cavalleria Rustianaca. He wrote 14 stage works, but this is just about all he is remembered for (even worse, La Maschere has the distinction of a simultaneous premiere in seven cities, where five featured hisses and whistles, and the sixth city wouldn't even let it play all the way through.)


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

consuono said:


> Oh no. You surely didn't just call Van Morrison a one-hit wonder, did you?


He pretty much is in the UK - on the radio or at any karaoke near you it's the only thing you are likely to hear, and it wasn't even a hit when it was released. I used Morrison and Norman Greenbaum as examples because their most famous singles were also right at the beginning of their solo careers - _Carmina Burana_ was also Orff's first 'proper' non-educational work.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

elgars ghost said:


> He pretty much is in the UK - on the radio or at any karaoke near you it's the only thing you are likely to hear, and it wasn't even a hit when it was released. I used Morrison and Norman Greenbaum as examples because their most famous singles were also right at the beginning of their solo careers - _Carmina Burana_ was also Orff's first 'proper' non-educational work.


I dunno. I've heard Morrison's "Gloria" pretty often as well...from the Doors and Hendrix too. And "Domino" and "Tupelo Honey" and "Wild Night" and "Into the Mystic" and "Have I Told You Lately"...I love Van the Man.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

Lev Knipper and his Symphony No. 4 / Polyushko Polye Song
Edouard Lalo and his Symphonie Espagnole (which might be my least favourite of the works of his I've heard)
Josef Franz Wagner and his Unter dem Doppeladler (an influence on Fucik, Sousa, and even Max Steiner)
Leo Delibes and his Flower Duet from Lakme
Vittorio Monti and his Czardas
John Foulds and "A World Requiem"

are some one-hit wonders

I suppose Knipper and Delibes get relatively the most for their buck


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I see we're quite stretching the meaning of both "one" and "hit".....


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

Art Rock said:


> I see we're quite stretching the meaning of both "one" and "hit".....


and "wonder" :lol:


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Manxfeeder said:


> Maybe Masgacni can be mentioned for Cavalleria Rustianaca. He wrote 14 stage works, but this is just about all he is remembered for (even worse, La Maschere has the distinction of a simultaneous premiere in seven cities, where five featured hisses and whistles, and the sixth city wouldn't even let it play all the way through.)


A very solid candidate. CR has 136 recordings for the full opera and dozens more for each excerpt. His next most recorded work is the L'Amico Fritz Intermezzo (13).


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

I'm waiting for a "I think it's Bach. He didn't do much beyond that little prelude" comment. :lol:


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

consuono said:


> I dunno. I've heard Morrison's "Gloria" pretty often as well...from the Doors and Hendrix too. And "Domino" and "Tupelo Honey" and "Wild Night" and "Into the Mystic" and "Have I Told You Lately"...I love Van the Man.


Don't forget "Moondance". (I personally don't like the song, but it's pretty popular.)

I'd also nominate the entire album "Astral Weeks" as a "hit".

(Sorry, this is a classical music forum. I'll stop.)


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

How about Georges Bizet?


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

DaddyGeorge said:


> Julius Fučík and his "Entry Of The Gladiators"


No, actually Fucik wrote some very fine works...many marches - Attila, Triglav, Florentiner, 
Semper Avanti; concert waltzes, and some pretty substantial overtures - Marinarella, Miremare, etc...
Fucik, to me, is sort of a combination of Dvorak and J.P. Sousa, with maybe a little Joh. Strauss thrown in...(much ballsier than Strauss, tho)


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Art Rock said:


> Just looking at the figures though...
> 
> Entry Of The Gladiators 19 recordings
> Florentiner 14 recordings
> ...


Fucik is no one-hit wonder....neither is Gustav Holst..(pre-emptive strike)


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

Since when is this thread about quality? It's about popularity.

Btw. the only thing Bernard Herrmann wrote was _Psycho_.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Fabulin said:


> Since when is this thread about quality? It's about popularity.
> 
> Btw. the only thing Bernard Herrmann wrote was _Psycho_.


Nope. Vertigo, Citizen Kane, The Day the Earth Stood Still, North by Northwest...

I think it's matter of being associated with only one piece. Another one could be Leoncavallo's _I Pagliacci_, maybe.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

consuono said:


> Nope. Vertigo, Citizen Kane, The Day the Earth Stood Still, North by Northwest...


Mister, I am a Herrmann completionist...


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

apricissimus said:


> How about Georges Bizet?


No way....besides Carmen, Pearl Fishers, L'Arlessienne sites, Symphony in C, etc...


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

My most likely nominee - Jaromir Weinberger - 
Polka and Fugue from "Schwanda, the Bagpiper"...I'm not aware of anything else of his that has gained any real recognition.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Fabulin said:


> Mister, I am a Herrmann completionist...


Well John Williams just had Star Wars, so it's ok... :lol: j/k, thanks for pointing out more of his work here, it's really much better than I gave him credit for.


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Heck148 said:


> No way....besides Carmen, Pearl Fishers, L'Arlessienne sites, Symphony in C, etc...


But Carmen hugely overshadows everything else he did in popularity. It's perhaps telling that I knew I didn't have to mention what his one "hit" was. Everyone would know.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

consuono said:


> Well John Williams just had Star Wars, so it's ok... :lol: j/k, thanks for pointing out more of his work here, it's really much better than I gave him credit for.


Ghost and Mrs. Muir (his personal favourite)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (my favourite of his)
Mysterious Island
Jason and the Argonauts
Marnie
Cantata "Moby Dick"
Opera "Wuthering Heights"
Symphony No. 1
the theme from Twisted Nerve

And for some guilty pleasures:
A Christmas Carol (TV film)
3 Worlds of Gulliver
and this Mozart pastiche with a pair of big sunglasses:


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

consuono said:


> I dunno. I've heard Morrison's "Gloria" pretty often as well...from the Doors and Hendrix too. And "Domino" and "Tupelo Honey" and "Wild Night" and "Into the Mystic" and "Have I Told You Lately"...I love Van the Man.


Don't forget Moondance. Shucks, I didn't realize how consistent he was.


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Found this top ten list of classical one-hit wonders online:

https://van-us.atavist.com/one-hit-wonder

10. Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) - "Symphonie fantastique" (1830)
9. Johann Strauss The Elder (1804-1849) - "Radetzky March" (1848)
8. Umberto Giordano (1867-1948) - "Andrea Chénier" (1896)
7. Gustav Holst (1874-1934) - "The Planets" (1914-16)
6. Charles Gounod (1818-1893) - "Méditation sur le premier prélude de Bach (Ave Maria)" (1859)
5. Carl Orff (1895-1982) - "Carmina Burana" (1935-36)
4. Samuel Barber (1910-1981) - "Adagio for Strings" (1938)
3. Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) - Canon in D Major (1694)
2. Jules Massenet (1842-1912) - Meditation from the opera "Thaïs" (1892-93)
1. Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) - "Silent Night" (1818)


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Ponchielli - La Gioconda

"Dance of the Hours" is the "hit", but the opera itself is virtually the only work by Ponchielli that is still performed or recorded.

Also, Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice

"One-hit wonder" means the composer has only one work that is regularly performed or recorded.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

apricissimus said:


> But Carmen hugely overshadows everything else he did in popularity.


"most popular" or "best known" does not mean "ONLY".


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

apricissimus said:


> Found this top ten list of classical one-hit wonders online:
> 
> https://van-us.atavist.com/one-hit-wonder
> 
> ...


Sorry, that list is garbage, assembled by some musical _ignorante_.

Berlioz? Holst?? Barber??? "one-hit wonders"?? No way....somebody's musical knowledge is seriously deficient....


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

elgars ghost said:


> He pretty much is in the UK - on the radio or at any karaoke near you it's the only thing you are likely to hear, and it wasn't even a hit when it was released. I used Morrison and Norman Greenbaum as examples because their most famous singles were also right at the beginning of their solo careers - _Carmina Burana_ was also Orff's first 'proper' non-educational work.


Astral Weeks is generally and widely (and rightly so in my opinion) considered one of the best rock albums of all time, and Moondance has been performed by many popular musicians like Michael Bublè or Bobby McFerrin. And Gloria too is a quite famous tune.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

anyway I would mention Pergolesi with his absolutely wonderful Stabat mater and Holst with the planets (altough I've liked the other works I've heard of Holst)


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Fabulin said:


> John Foulds and "A World Requiem"


in my opinion Foulds has better things in is work. Like the amazing three mantras. I remember someone calling the mantras "hyper-Holst", I'm not sure if he meant as a compliment but certainly it's a nice way to describe the music.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Manxfeeder said:


> Don't forget Moondance. Shucks, I didn't realize how consistent he was.


(Was trying to avoid this part of the thread.)

I have seven Van Morrison albums. I rank Moondance as one of the greatest pop/rock albums of all time.

And Bizet is not a one-hit wonder.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Can we just settle this now?? Every time the one-hit wonder thread comes up, Holst is named, and it is silly.
Holst is NOT a "one-hit-wonder". He wrote some of the greatest works for concert band/wind ensemble...absolute classics familiar to any and all who have ever played in a band program - college, community, high school, professional, whatever...he also wrote the popular "St Paul's Suite" for strings, operas, ballets (including "Perfect Fool"), plus numerous choral and Chamber works...his great and well-known contributions to wind ensemble repertoire alone discredit any "one-hit wonder" nonsense.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Charles Marie Widor: Toccata from Organ Symphony no. 5
Juventino Rosas: Sobre las olas (Over the Waves) You'd recognize it instantly. Bugs Bunny relied on it.
Anton Rubinstein: Melody in F
John Klohr: The Billboard March. Another cartoon favorite.
Reinhold Gliere: Russian Sailors Dance
Alexander Glazunov: Autumn from The Seasons


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

jegreenwood said:


> And Bizet is not a one-hit wonder.


very true!! some of the "nominations" on this thread are amazing - Berlioz?? Barber?? Holst?? Bizet??


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Heck148 said:


> Sorry, that list is garbage, assembled by some musical _ignorante_.
> 
> Berlioz? Holst?? Barber??? "one-hit wonders"?? No way....somebody's musical knowledge is seriously deficient....


Well, I mean, literally any name you can come up with, someone on the forum is going to point out that they wrote some really great quartets, or marches, or sarabandes for lute octet or whatever. Maybe his depth of musical knowledge is not up to yours, but I think that's sort of beside the point. Taking just Holst for examples, there's no denying that his Planets is far, far more popular than anything else he wrote. That puts him in the one-hit-wonder category, whether you think he also wrote some other good stuff.


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

norman bates said:


> Astral Weeks is generally and widely (and rightly so in my opinion) considered one of the best rock albums of all time, and Moondance has been performed by many popular musicians like Michael Bublè or Bobby McFerrin. And Gloria too is a quite famous tune.


I was referring to Van's performance in the singles charts, NB. Irrespective of many times it's been covered, _Moondance_ wasn't a single, and _Gloria_ - a b-side - was by Them, not Him. I agree that Van wasn't as good an example as Greenbaum - my bad.


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## DaddyGeorge (Mar 16, 2020)

Heck148 said:


> No, actually Fucik wrote some very fine works...many marches - Attila, Triglav, Florentiner,
> Semper Avanti; concert waltzes, and some pretty substantial overtures - Marinarella, Miremare, etc...
> Fucik, to me, is sort of a combination of Dvorak and J.P. Sousa, with maybe a little Joh. Strauss thrown in...(much ballsier than Strauss, tho)


I don't dispute that Fučík wrote other pieces, and I don't evaluate their quality. All the composers mentioned here have written more works and they certainly have their fans.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Some people consider Pietro Mascagni a "one-hit wonder" with _Cavalleria Rusticana_, but the other opera I've heard of his, _L'amico Fritz_, is definitely just as good IMO.


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## MaxKellerman (Jun 4, 2017)

Some people seem to take the idea of a "one-hit wonder" as being a value judgement, but that isn't necessarily the case. A composer could have created many fine works while only having one or two that they are widely recognized for.


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## MrMeatScience (Feb 15, 2015)

I agree that the notion of a "one-hit wonder" has absolutely nothing to do with quality and only to do with recognition by the general public (which in our case I suppose is the layman classical listener? Probably few of us here would qualify).

One glaring omission (unless I overlooked it somehow) from the names given so far: Humperdinck? I think _Hänsel und Gretel_ is the only work of his that ever gets played.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

apricissimus;1844281.. said:


> Taking just Holst for examples, there's no denying that his Planets is far, far more popular than anything else he wrote. That puts him in the one-hit-wonder category, whether you think he also wrote some other good stuff.


Horsedung....Holst would be considered a very fine composer if he had never written the "Planets"...his works for wind ensemble are classics, widely known and performed, the Eb Suite, esp, is a true masterpiece...calling Holst a "one hit wonder" says far more about the poster's ignorance than it does about the composer's creative output...


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

DaddyGeorge said:


> I don't dispute that Fučík wrote other pieces, and I don't evaluate their quality. All the composers mentioned here have written more works and they certainly have their fans.


The term "one hit wonder" unfortunately says more about the nominating poster than it does the composer in question....I mean we've got Berlioz, Barber, Holst, Bizet named as one hit wonders !!??
Are these posters living in some sort of music-proof, hermetically sealed bubble??


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

MrMeatScience said:


> One glaring omission (unless I overlooked it somehow) from the names given so far: Humperdinck? I think _Hänsel und Gretel_ is the only work of his that ever gets played.


Right, Humperdinck could certainly qualify, same with Weinberger...
The flaw comes when a composer is named, the listener only knows one work, but that composer has written many other prominent works that are performed and recorded with some frequency....I mean...Berlioz?? Barber?? Holst?? Bizet?? one hit wonders?? They are a far, far cry from Humperdinck and Weinberger....


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I third Hansel und Gretel (and would retire the award with that -- which is a one-hit masterpiece. Unless you include the concert ending to the prelude to Die Meistersinger -- which any of us could have composed).

Also, to whoever mentioned Delibes: the ballets (or at least the suites) Coppelia and Sylvia.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

How about Vincent D'Indy and his Symphony on a French Mountain Air. That's the only work of his that I know of/have heard.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

It's not about whether anyone here has only listened to one work only of a composer. That's not the definition of a hit.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Honestly, I kinda feel like this thread is pointless because no one can agree on what a "hit" is, what it means to have just one, or what a "wonder" is for that matter.

Some are taking it as a value judgment: one-hit wonder means everything other than the hit sucks. Others seem to be oddly taking it to mean that a composer only composed one work or at least that a composer has only a single work that's even known by anyone (which seems far too narrow a definition. Very few composers would fit this definition, if any. It's likely that any composer has composed more than one work and that _someone _knows about works other than the hit). So then what _does _it mean?

In popular music, a one-hit wonder can be better defined because of music charts that quantify popularity. A one-hit wonder is a band or artist that has only had one charting song (i.e. a "hit"). So what's the classical equivalent of a "hit"? It's possible that this concept borrowed from popular music just doesn't transfer well to classical.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

> Art Rock
> 
> It's not about whether anyone here has only listened to one work only of a composer. That's not the definition of a hit.


 Amen...................................


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Art Rock said:


> It's not about whether anyone here has only listened to one work only of a composer. That's not the definition of a hit.


Well it is a matter of that if that's the only work by a composer that gets played.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Heck148 said:


> Horsedung....Holst would be considered a very fine composer if he had never written the "Planets"...his works for wind ensemble are classics, widely known and performed, the Eb Suite, esp, is a true masterpiece...calling Holst a "one hit wonder" says far more about the poster's ignorance than it does about the composer's creative output...


We're not talking about quality, and I don't think there's nothing in his oeuvre that has a popularity even remotely close to the Planets. And actually even ignorants know the "hits", that's the point.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

norman bates said:


> We're not talking about quality, and I don't think there's nothing in his oeuvre that has a popularity even remotely close to the Planets. And actually even ignorants know the "hits", that's the point.


Meaningless...Sorry, again - Holst composed quite a few "hits", this is undeniable....the fact that some listeners are not familiar with the greatest works of an important genre of serious music (wind ensemble, concert band) is no comment on the works of Holst, but rather a commentary on the listener's lack of knowledge of basic musical repertoire ...
No way is Holst equatable with composers like Humperdinck or Weinberger. 
If someone's definition of "one hit wonder" includes composers like Betlioz, Bizet, Barber, Holst, etc, I'd say their definition of "one hit wonder" is so poorly conceived, ill-defined as to be meaningless.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Heck148 said:


> Meaningless...Sorry, again - Holst composed quite a few "hits", this is undeniable....the fact that some listeners are not familiar with the greatest works of an important genre of serious music (wind ensemble, concert band) is no comment on the works of Holst, but rather a commentary on the listener's lack of knowledge of basic musical repertoire ...
> No way is Holst equatable with composers like Humperdinck or Weinberger.


the wind repertoire is actually not "basic musical repertoire" (unless you're a wind player) not in the sense that is meant by many (Britten's Nocturnal is one of the most performed guitar pieces of the twentieth century, and still I would never consider it as a "hit"... or better a major hit like The Planets). And basically everywhere Holst is considered a one hit wonder, go look for classical one hit wonders on google and you'll see that he regularly appear on those lists. And the fact that even here, on a classical music forum of people who love the genre and listen to it regularly is known as such should say something to you. The planets is a hit, it appears on commercial, it influenced rock music and other composers like John Foulds or soundtrack music (John Williams). You could mention it to people who have a superficial knowledge of classical music and they will probably recognize the beginning of Mars. Try to mention the Eb suite and you will receive blank stares.
And again this has nothing to do with the quality of the music (as I said myself, I enjoyed everything I've heard of Holst).


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

norman bates said:


> the wind repertoire is actually not "basic musical repertoire"


sure it is....you just don't happen to be familiar with it. that's your shortcoming, not Holst's...many, many music listeners are familiar with band/wind ensemble repertoire thru participation in these groups - thru high school, college, community groups, professional ensembles....Many nations have very large and lasting band traditions - certainly Great Britain, US, France, Czech Republic, Germany, etc, etc....Holst's works are basic, core repertoire.



> basically everywhere Holst is considered a one hit wonder


, 
that simply reveals the ignorance of those posters....and don't dream of offering Google listings as ANY credible form of substantiation. in this case it simply reveals collective ignorance.



> The planets is a hit, it appears on commercial,...


totally irrelevant - the status of "The Planets" as a "hit" has never been an issue. stop erecting straw man arguments.

By your thinking - if we consider just one genre of music - say _symphonic_ [to the exclusion of other forms] - Schubert is a "one hit wonder" - his "Unfinished" Symphony is by far the best known of his works, far more than any other...ask the "man on the street" to name a work by Schubert, chances are he will say the "Unfinished"....of course, this excludes the songs, the chamber music, piano works, masses and other classifications to which he contributed most significantly...
to call Schubert a one-hit-wonder makes about as much sense as calling Holst a one-hit-wonder...both silly and inapprpropriate.


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## DaddyGeorge (Mar 16, 2020)

OK, I think it's going in the wrong direction (again). I suppose this thread is meant for fun, not for someone to dishonor composers here, and I hope no one does. I understand the nominees, but I also understand that it infuriates someone. In a narrow sense, we couldn't really nominate anyone. In the broadest sense, I can easily nominate e.g. Handel (Although of course it's nonsense! Stay calm Heck148 ), because I assume that, for example, in my country, 99% of people only know the "Hallelujah".


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Paul Dukas Sorcerer's Apprectice


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Heck148 said:


> that simply reveals the ignorance of those posters....and don't dream of offering Google listings as ANY credible form of substantiation. in this case it simply reveals collective ignorance.


collective ignorance to me means exactly that those pieces you think are popular are not actually that popular. But are "popular" only for a restricted group of people. 
And therefore, not a hit in the sense meant by many persons here. 
But I guess it depends where one sets the bar for popularity and of course, it's also a matter of personal perspective. In your world those other works of Holst are very well known to the point that you consider them "hits" as The planets. I remember a discussion I had years ago, there were many musicians talking of music and for wathever reason at some point I mentioned Ellington (who is considered by many as the most important jazz composer of all times). From my perspective it's impossible not to know at least who he was, a bit like Louis Armstrong. Absolutely nobody there (and again, there were a lot of musicians) had ever heard of him.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

norman bates said:


> ..
> But I guess it depends where one sets the bar for popularity.


Bingo. Without proper definitions, there is no reasonable discussion possible.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Popularity is easily quantified by a large number of commercial recordings. It stands to reason that many labels would want to have a popular piece in their catalog - sometimes in many versions for one label. 

So... what is large? And if we choose e.g. minimum 20 recordings as sufficient to be a hit, does that mean that 19 isn't?

Well, looking at popular music, yes, a cutoff point is a cutoff point. If you have a weekly top40, then songs that make the list are hits, and if they get no higher than the 41st place, they are not.

ETA: and as the OP asked for THE biggest one hit wonder, that would be the one that has the most hits, while that composer does not have another one exceeding the defined minimum number of recordings.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> Bingo. Without proper definitions, there is no reasonable discussion possible.


What is the definition of a classical hit? Are we referring to a work that is known to the general public or strictly classical music listeners? The Pearl Fishers may be known to a large number of classical enthusiasts but I'm sure it's unknown outside that demographic.


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## AeolianStrains (Apr 4, 2018)

Heck148 said:


> Schubert is a "one hit wonder" - his "Unfinished" Symphony is by far the best known of his works, far more than any other...ask the "man on the street" to name a work by Schubert, chances are he will say the "Unfinished"


That would actually be the Ave Maria.

I'll add another vote to "guess we need to define the terms." Hit when? Now? Then? By what criteria? Etc. It does at least seem obvious to me that we should look at album sales, which is most analogous to how "hits" are calculated.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

How about if we define a "hit" as "appeared at least once in Classic FM's Hall of Fame"? For those who don't know it, this is the annual list of works voted by listeners to a popular-classics radio station in the UK. There are 300 works in each year's list, and it's been running since 1996.

Over the years there have been about 600 works featured. The top 2 composers in terms of number of works are Mozart with 38 and Beethoven with 30.

Some regularly recurring "one-hit" composers/works are:
Addinsell: Warsaw concerto
Butterworth: Banks of Green Willow
Canteloube: Songs of the Auvergne
Gorecki: Symphony no.3
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
Orff: Carmina Burana
Smetana: Ma Vlast
Tarrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra
Widor: Organ symphony no.5

Holst isn't a "one-hit" composer, by the way, because his St Paul's Suite has appeared twice and A Moorside Suite once.

But the big ones are:
Allegri: Miserere
Pachelbel: Canon
both of which have a median ranking in the top 20. Pachelbel used to always be ahead of Allegri, but in recent years Allegri has come out on top.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

AeolianStrains said:


> That would actually be the Ave Maria.


I think that things like The trout or Winterreise are quite famous too, at least for classical listeners.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

norman bates said:


> collective ignorance to me means exactly that those pieces you think are popular are not actually that popular. But are "popular" only for a restricted group of people.
> And therefore, not a hit in the sense meant by many persons here.


the problem is, by that flawed premise, or set of criteria - a composer must be considered a "one-hit-wonder" if he is primarily known for one work, which is decidely more popular, more well-known than any of his other works, even tho those other works may be very substantial, and often performed and recorded...

hence - the following would be considered "one-hit-wonders":

Berg [Wozzeck]
Penderecki [ Threnody/Hiroshima]
Gershwin [Rhapsody in Blue]
Hanson [Sym #2, 'Romantic']
Schuman [New England Triptych]

This is silly of course, because each of those composers wrote many other significant and substantial works, tho these may not be as popular or recognized by the, so far undefined, listening public.



> I remember a discussion I had years ago, there were many musicians talking of music and for wathever reason at some point I mentioned Ellington (who is considered by many as the most important jazz composer of all times). From my perspective it's impossible not to know at least who he was, a bit like Louis Armstrong. Absolutely nobody there (and again, there were a lot of musicians) had ever heard of him.


Exactly!! to describe Ellington or Armstrong as "one-hit-wonders" is utterly ridiculous!!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

starthrower said:


> The Pearl Fishers may be known to a large number of classical enthusiasts but I'm sure it's unknown outside that demographic.


Not so sure about that. I've heard it used in commercials.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

AeolianStrains said:


> That would actually be the Ave Maria.


OK, Ave Maria - Schubert = one hit wonder [sarcasm ]


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

DaddyGeorge said:


> I can easily nominate e.g. Handel (Although of course it's nonsense!....) because I assume that, for example, in my country, 99% of people only know the "Hallelujah".


Exactly - Handel is a one hit wonder  - "Messiah/Hallelujah", far more generally well known than his other works....
you're completely correct, it is nonsense.


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## AeolianStrains (Apr 4, 2018)

Heck148 said:


> OK, Ave Maria - Schubert = one hit wonder [sarcasm ]


While you're busy with your sarcasm, you might want to note that I never said Schubert was a one-hit wonder. You said the man on the street would most likely know the Unfinished, but there are millions of Catholics who know the Ave Maria and nothing else by Schubert.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Heck148 said:


> the problem is, by that flawed premise, or set of criteria - a composer must be considered a "one-hit-wonder" if he is primarily known for one work, which is decidely more popular, more well-known than any of his other works, even tho those other works may be very substantial, and often performed and recorded...
> 
> hence - the following would be considered "one-hit-wonders":
> 
> ...


Berg's Violin Concerto and Lulu are also quite famous.
Gerswhin is very famous also for American in Paris and many songs like summertime (one of the most recorded songs in the history of music with literally thousand different versions), it ain't necessarily so, someone to watch over me, I love you Porgy, I got rhythm, a song with a progression so famous that people talk about "rhythm changes" to mention just a few ones.
So I would not call them one hit wonders at all.



Heck148 said:


> This is silly of course, because each of those composers wrote many other significant and substantial works, tho these may not be as popular or recognized by the, so far undefined, listening public.


the fact that you're using a word as "substantial" seems to me that you still think that "one hit wonder" implies low quality of other works. Starthrower above mentioned Dukas: I've heard other works of him that are as interesting as The sorcerer's apprentice (like La peri). I can even mention musicians who are considered One hit wonders that are famous for some of their worst works (ok, this is not a classical example, but Harry Nilsson is famous for his cover of "without you" (pure schmaltz in my opinion) when he was a great and creative songwriter who wrote full of humour and eclectic songs.



Heck148 said:


> Exactly!! to describe Ellington or Armstrong as "one-hit-wonders" is utterly ridiculous!!


I wasn't describing them as such though (altough Armstrong today is very close to be considered as such, nobody knows more than What a wonderful world and maybe Hello Dolly), I was just mentioning Ellington to say that this discussion does not have a lot of sense because we are talking of popularity and we are using different meters to say what is popular and what is not.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

AeolianStrains said:


> While you're busy with your sarcasm, you might want to note that I never said Schubert was a one-hit wonder.


I know, nothing directed at you, sorry if it seemed that way...I was actually agreeing with you....


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

norman bates said:


> Berg's Violin Concerto and Lulu are also quite famous.


Yes, but the point is that Wozzeck is his best known, most famous. of course he wrote many other outstanding and well-known works. Same with Gershwin, Holst, Hanson, Penderecki, etc..



> So I would not call them one hit wonders at all.


Totally agree, I wouldn't either.



> the fact that you're using a word as "substantial" seems to me that you still think that "one hit wonder" implies low quality of other works.


No, not really...I'm referring to little or NO other works of substance or popularity...that's why I nominate Weinberger and Humperdinck...definite "one-hit-wonders" - not much beyond Schwanda and H & G...



> I wasn't describing them as such though (altough Armstrong today is very close to be considered as such,


I agree completely, no way are Ellington and Armstrong one-hitters.....that's a non-starter.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Heck148 said:


> Yes, but the point is that Wozzeck is his best known, most famous. of course he wrote many other outstanding and well-known works. Same with Gershwin, Holst, Hanson, Penderecki, etc..


actually I think that The violin concerto is as famous is not even more famous than Wozzeck, same with Gerswhin and his songs... I don't think that's exactly the case with Holst, where The Planets is immensely more famous than anything else he did, with the other works known to persons into a certain kind of repertory. But we can agree to disagree I guess.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

norman bates said:


> actually I think that The violin concerto is as famous is not even more famous than Wozzeck, same with Gerswhin and his songs... I don't think that's exactly the case with Holst, where The Planets is immensely more famous than anything else he did, with the other works known to persons into a certain kind of repertory. But we can agree to disagree I guess.


Amongst some music lovers, the Suites fror Band are probably equally well known as the Planets...the point is, Holst, like Berg, Gershwin, Hanson, Schuman, etc wrote many fine works which are performed and recorded in addition to those best known. You can't call someone a _one-hit-wonder _when they've _knocked quite a few out of the park_!!:tiphat:


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Fabulin said:


> Ghost and Mrs. Muir (his personal favourite)
> Journey to the Center of the Earth (my favourite of his)
> Mysterious Island
> Jason and the Argonauts
> ...


How about Taxi Driver, his last score!


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

How about Deryck Cooke's "Mahler Symphony #10", his only surviving work


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Heck148 said:


> Amongst some music lovers, the Suites fror Band are probably equally well known as the Planets...


I'm sure there are some that know Holst very well and think that many of his other compositions are just as good. But well-known? No. There's just no question that the Planets is far more well-known than anything else he wrote. I don't know how there can even be a discussion about that.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Not a "Biggest" but if one was into HiFi in the 1950s--latest speakers, amplifiers, cartridges, turntables--one needed an LP with Mosolov's _Iron Foundry_, Op. 19 with which to impress one's friends and annoy parents and neighbors.


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Biggest one-hit wonders are obviously:

Beethoven: Fur Elise
Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Bach: The first few bars of the first cello suite


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

NLAdriaan said:


> How about Taxi Driver, his last score!


Probably my least favourite of his. Herrmann was barely alive, worked in a minimalist way, needed help composing (for the saxophone), and did not conduct. Classical instrument use is at his most boring compared to older scores. The sax and percussion feel alien and get on my nerves. Thematically kind of empty, and I am anything but a placebo listener.

I can't say I hate it, but it just does nothing of the things I love about Herrmann's music.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

apricissimus said:


> I'm sure there are some that know Holst very well and think that many of his other compositions are just as good. But well-known? No. There's just no question that the Planets is far more well-known than anything else he wrote. I don't know how there can even be a discussion about that.


That the Planets may be his best known work is not at issue....Holst, having knocked it out of the park with several other works can hardly be called a one hit wonder.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

apricissimus said:


> Biggest one-hit wonders are obviously:
> 
> Beethoven: Fur Elise
> Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
> Bach: The first few bars of the first cello suite


Lol!! Good one!!:lol:


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Fabulin said:


> Probably my least favourite of his. Herrmann was barely alive, worked in a minimalist way, needed help composing (for the saxophone), and did not conduct. Classical instrument use is at his most boring compared to older scores. The sax and percussion feel alien and get on my nerves. Thematically kind of empty, and I am anything but a placebo listener.
> 
> I can't say I hate it, but it just does nothing of the things I love about Herrmann's music.


Personally I disagree. I'm a big fan of Hermann and I think I've listened a lot of his scores and still I think that Taxi Driver is one of his finest achievements, and actually very different from basically anything in his other works, somewhat close to what Mingus was doing in his third stream pieces but with a even more pronounced expressionist vein. My only doubt is if he was inspired by Django Rehinardt and his piece Anouman, that to me has a melody that is quite similar to the theme of the score of Hermann.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

There's already enough zero hit wonders on this forum I have to wonder about why they're here.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Ethereality said:


> There's already enough zero hit wonders on this forum I have to wonder about why they're here.


That's me! I'm here because I'm also zero work and still on "furlough".


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

You're not a wonder, my friend. (At least it the way I intended). Keep at it though! Maybe one day you can bathe in the spotlight with all the zero hit wonders.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Holst and his damn Planets for me.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Heck148 said:


> Yes, but the point is that Wozzeck is his best known, most famous. of course he wrote many other outstanding and well-known works. Same with Gershwin, Holst, Hanson, Penderecki, etc..
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> I prefer Lulu and actually thought that was more famous.


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## Andante Largo (Apr 23, 2020)

I guess, they are good candidates:

Pachelbel - Canon in D major
Bizet - Carmen
Holst - The Planets 
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Andante Largo said:


> I guess, they are good candidates:
> 
> Pachelbel - Canon in D major
> Bizet - Carmen
> ...


Bizet, Holst, Gershwin?? No way x 3.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Heck148 said:


> Can we just settle this now?? Every time the one-hit wonder thread comes up, Holst is named, and it is silly.
> Holst is NOT a "one-hit-wonder". He wrote some of the greatest works for concert band/wind ensemble...absolute classics familiar to any and all who have ever played in a band program - college, community, high school, professional, whatever...he also wrote the popular "St Paul's Suite" for strings, operas, ballets (including "Perfect Fool"), plus numerous choral and Chamber works...his great and well-known contributions to wind ensemble repertoire alone discredit any "one-hit wonder" nonsense.


Egdon Heath is great.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> Not so sure about that. I've heard it used in commercials.


But does that mean the public has any idea about the music? It could be a jingle for all they know.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Does the public have to be able to identify the composer for it to be a hit?


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Art Rock said:


> Does the public have to be able to identify the composer for it to be a hit?


In my opinion, no.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I don't know about Europe? But The Pearl Fishers is not a hit on my side of the Atlantic.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

starthrower said:


> I don't know about Europe? But The Pearl Fishers is not a hit on my side of the Atlantic.


This is the same problem in discussions about one hit wonders in pop. Americans look at their charts and call Status Quo a one hit wonder (which they were in the USA). The Brits see that posted, think back of 30+ top10 hits in the UK for this band, and think WTF?


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

By the way, the duet from the Pearl Fishers, "Au fond du temple saint", made it to 93 commercially available recordings. That is a pretty high number.....


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> This is the same problem in discussions about one hit wonders in pop. Americans look at their charts and call Status Quo a one hit wonder (which they were in the USA). The Brits see that posted, think back of 30+ top10 hits in the UK for this band, and think WTF?


It's all relative to our radar screens. And there is the generational factor. I don't have any statistics but I'm guessing 90 percent of Americans have no clue about most music outside of pop, rock, and country. I'm sure most don't know the composer or the name of the ubiquitous Canon in D. It's just background music for commercials or a ringtone.


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

Max Bruch can be considered one. Only his 1st Violin concerto gets extensive play or recording. His Scottish fantasy and Kol Nidrei get an occasional dusting off and play but his 2 other violin concertos are largely forgotten, and his symphonies definitely are. I am a bit of a fan so I have actually listened to all. While I do occasionally listen to all his violin concertante works, it has been years since I heard a recording of any of his symphonies. Even there I am definitely in the minority.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I love Bruch, but the situation is less one-sided than you sketch:

Violin concerto 1: 121 recordings
Kol Nidrei: 71 recordings*

*which is higher than Orff's Carmina Burana to give you an idea.


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## nncortes (Oct 5, 2014)

Franz Biebl's Ave Maria


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