# The last classical music HIT so far?



## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

What is the last classical piece of music that is widely known and appreciated and that has become a part of collective unconscious?

Here's a couple of most recent pieces I can think of that might fit such a criteria:

Puccini - Turandot (1926 - especially Nessun Dorma)
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana (1935) - (especially O Fortuna)
Maurice Ravel - Bolero (1928)

Anything more recent, excluding film music?


----------



## Schoenberg (Oct 15, 2018)

4'3", if you consider it classical music.


----------



## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

Does West Side Story by *Bernstein* count as classical piece in your opinion? If so, then these songs are certainly very well known.

And what about the works listed below? Would you consider them "popular" enough?

*Barber* - Adagio for strings (1938)
*Copland* - Fanfare for the Common Man (1942)
*Cage* - 4′33″ (1952)
*Górecki* - Symphony No. 3 (1977)


----------



## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1 (1989) is programmed with enough frequency for it to come close to a "hit." I think Joan Tower's Concerto for Orchestra (1991) also fits the bill. Other than that, there's really not much else I can think of. Maybe Short Ride in a Fast Machine by John Adams, or Lux Aeterna by Ligeti.


----------



## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

I was going to reply Gorecki Symphony No. 3


----------



## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

Also:
*Prokofiev* - Lieutenant Kijé (1934)
*Prokofiev* - Montagues And Capulets (Dance of the Knights), from Romeo and Juliet (1935)
*Shostakovich* - Waltz No. 2, from Suite for Variety Orchestra (1938)
*Khachaturian* - Waltz, from Masquerade (1941)
*Khachaturian* - Sabre Dance, from Gayane (1942)
*Khachaturian* - Adagio, from Spartacus (1954)


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Rodrigo: _Concierto de Aranjuez_, 1939
Rachmaninoff: _Symphonic Dances_, 1940
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No.2, 1957
Addinsell: _Warsaw Concerto_, 1940


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

I've been a "classical" nut for decades, and I'm not familiar with the Corigliano/Tower works, I'm afraid.. I know and enjoy the Górecki, Adams and Ligeti, but I don't think they've attained the widespread popularity of Nessun Dorma, say. The Barber _Adagio_ and Copland _Fanfare_ probably have, and I'd offer up Gershwin's _Rhapsody in Blue_ (1924) and _Summertime_ (1935) as suggestions. I say _Summertime_ specifically, because it's probably the widest known - and most "covered" - aria/song from _Porgy and Bess_. Sure, a lot of people know _I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'_ and _It Ain't Necessarily So_, but I don't think they're quite at the Nessun Dorma level.

Like Mifek above, I wonder whether West Side Story counts, because there are one or two pieces from that show which would certainly register on the Dorm-O-Meter


----------



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Zjovicic uses the term "collective" and think this means music that is actually recognizable by the public at large, even those who don't actively listen to it. Like William Tell Overture, "1812" and Beethoven's 5th. The Barber Adagio may be one, but then is it because of it's use in the film Platoon? In my youth we were exposed to snippets of the classics in Warner Bros. cartoons, but what passes as kid's entertainment today has nothing comparable. No one outside of orchestral players, classical listeners would recognize the Adam's Short Ride at all. I was thinking maybe something by Leroy Anderson, but then his music isn't that well-known today. As our music listening has become more and more diverse, and people are able to listen only to what they want without ever having to hear something they don't like, for any classical work to enter the popular psyche may be impossible. Even though the only part of Carmina Burana that people know is O, Fortuna, thanks again to the movies, that music is very well known.


----------



## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

Strange Magic said:


> Rodrigo: _Concierto de Aranjuez_, 1939
> Rachmaninoff: _Symphonic Dances_, 1940
> Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No.2, 1957
> Addinsell: _Warsaw Concerto_, 1940


I definitely agree about Rodrigo. As for Rachamninoff (Symphonic Dances) and Shostakovich (Piano Concerto No. 2), I don't think they are commonly known. Addinsell shouldn't count when ruling out any music composed specifically for a movie (see what OP says about film music).


----------



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

And again, the Rodrigo is best known because of its use on a TV commercial for Chrysler I think it was. The power of TV, radio, and the movies should not be underestimated.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> I've been a "classical" nut for decades, and I'm not familiar with the Corigliano/Tower works, I'm afraid...


Not "hits" I think. Both are American pieces but in the 2016-17 season, the latest I have records for, the Corigliano piece was programmed just 2 times by the 40+ major US orchestras and the Joan Tower work not at all.

In contrast, John Adams's _Lollapalooza _was programmed by 4 orchestras and _The Chairman Dances_ by 8! But I wouldn't describe them as hits...


----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

mbhaub said:


> Zjovicic uses the term "collective" and think this means music that is actually recognizable by the public at large, even those who don't actively listen to it. Like William Tell Overture, "1812" and Beethoven's 5th. The Barber Adagio may be one, but then is it because of it's use in the film Platoon? In my youth we were exposed to snippets of the classics in Warner Bros. cartoons, but what passes as kid's entertainment today has nothing comparable. No one outside of orchestral players, classical listeners would recognize the Adam's Short Ride at all. I was thinking maybe something by Leroy Anderson, but then his music isn't that well-known today.


well, even if maybe not everybody knows his name The typewriter and even more Sleigh ride are definitely well known everywhere.


----------



## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

mbhaub said:


> And again, the Rodrigo is best known because of its use on a TV commercial for Chrysler I think it was.


I don't think so. It is quite well known in many European countries where those Chrysler commercials have never been shown. Also, during the cold war, Concierto de Aranjuez was frequently aired in communist countries where TV or radio commercials practically did not exist.


----------



## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

Though a comparative stripling at only 40 years of age, Arvo Pärt's 'Spiegel im Spiegel' has become a bona fide hit that tintinnabulates in the ears of many, having appeared in at least a dozen films and at least that many TV shows, including 'The Simpsons'. It was even featured in a Jeep Cherokee commercial during last year's Super Bowl.


----------



## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

RICK RIEKERT said:


> Though a comparative stripling at only 40 years of age, Arvo Pärt's 'Spiegel im Spiegel' has become a bona fide hit that tintinnabulates in the ears of many, having appeared in at least a dozen films and at least that many TV shows, including 'The Simpsons'. It was even featured in a Jeep Cherokee commercial during last year's Super Bowl.


I clicked on the thread to post this...but I wonder how many people who'd recognize the piece know the title or composer.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

isorhythm said:


> I clicked on the thread to post this...but I wonder how many people who'd recognize the piece know the title or composer.


That holds for many warhorses as well though. Recently I saw a fragment of a British TV show with celebrity guests, where they showed a clip of a football (soccer) player getting hit in the unfortunate regions, accompanied by a famous classical music tune. The presenter asked for the composer. "It's Mozart, isn't it?" was the only reply. it was of course from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.


----------



## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> The Barber Adagio may be one, but then is it because of it's use in the film Platoon?


In more recent years, I suspect William Orbit has more to do with this piece's familiarity than anything else.



> Recently I saw a fragment of a British TV show with celebrity guests, where they showed a clip of a football (soccer) player getting hit in the unfortunate regions, accompanied by a famous classical music tune. The presenter asked for the composer. "It's Mozart, isn't it?" was the only reply. it was of course from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.


Hmm. Football; being hit in the unfortunate regions, and celebrities not having a clue...sounds like typical British TV.
A few people have mentioned Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez as being a full-on hit, but I wonder if this is more just the second movement? The same can very easily be said about the Shostakovich 2nd piano concerto; far fewer people will know the whole work than know the second movement. Take any section from Carmina Burana that isn't 'O Fortuna' and I suspect many will shrug their shoulders. Take any Khachaturian that isn't the Sabre Dance or the adagio from Spartacus and the same response is likely. So in terms of actual full-work hits, I suspect we hit a problem: many musically-minded people who enjoy classical music will know some pieces of music outside of that field in their entirety, but far fewer people who listen to music other than classical will know any classical work in it's entirety, but may have a reasonable knowledge of 'bleeding chunks'.


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Arturo Márquez - Danzón No. 2


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Danzon No. 2 was composed in 1994


----------



## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

techniquest said:


> Take any section from Carmina Burana that isn't 'O Fortuna' and I suspect many will shrug their shoulders. Take any Khachaturian that isn't the Sabre Dance or the adagio from Spartacus and the same response is likely.


Very true. However, this is actually a very common phenomenon and applies to many earlier "hits", as well. Take, for example, Turandot (Nessun Dorma), Prince Igor (Polovtsian Dances), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Wedding March), Die Walküre (Ride of the Valkyries), Tannhäuser (Overture) or Brahm's symphony no. 3 (3rd movement), or, to a slightly lesser extent, Tosca (E lucevan le stelle), Messiah (Hallelujah), Enigma Variations (Nimrod), and many others.


----------



## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

While we tend to think that we all live in a global village, there are some apparent local differences regarding the popularity of particular classical pieces (and this includes the modern pieces too). As has been already pointed out, the TV commercials are one source of such differences. Another source are non-English language movies and "national" TV shows that are certainly capable of making some classical tunes very popular (or at least recognizable) locally but are relatively unlikely to affect any listeners/spectators from other countries. Here are two examples from Poland where the *Sextet for Piano and Wind Quintet by Francis Poulenc* was used as an intro to a TV show named Kobra (TV crime theater, aired from mid 50's to 80's) while a fragment of the *Variations for piano, op. 27 by Anton Webern* was used as an intro to another TV show named Pegaz (Pegasus, a program devoted to art and culture). Both these tunes are today very easily recognizable by a large proportion of modern Poles, but (unfortunately) this does not include the younger generation of modern Poles who have never been really exposed to those TV shows (and this has something to do with rejecting TV and switching to the internet).


----------



## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

I would think something by John Williams if you consider that classical music.


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Excluding film eliminates the main way music becomes part of the "collective unconscious" now. Otherwise Ligeti's Musica ricercata (1953) or Lux Aeterna (1966) might join the candidates. 

This kind of query is interesting, though: the essence of classical music is elitism, a particular form of unpopularity, so any work that becomes too popular becomes, as a result, suspect.


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

janxharris said:


> Arturo Márquez - Danzón No. 2


I don't believe I've ever heard this piece. Is it popular somewhere?


----------



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

In the strictest sense surely it has to be Górecki - the Elektra/Nonsuch album which featured the 3rd symphony got into the top ten of the UK pop charts, and the work itself didn't need to feature in a TV ad or a movie in order to get there.

I wonder if the spike in popularity for Rodrigo was helped by Miles Davis's _Sketches of Spain_ album?


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Decades ago The Protecting Veil (John Tavener) was said to be a hit. I never understood how that could be but was quite impressed by the listening public because it is not an obvious best seller.


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

science said:


> Excluding film eliminates the main way music becomes part of the "collective unconscious" now. Otherwise Ligeti's Musica ricercata (1953) or Lux Aeterna (1966) might join the candidates.
> 
> This kind of query is interesting, though: the essence of classical music is elitism, a particular form of unpopularity, so any work that becomes too popular becomes, as a result, suspect.


I must object! I don't think the essence of CM is elitism. Not at all. Even if it is better - deeper, more rewarding, more meaningful - and even if many of us say so, that still doesn't make it elitist. You don't need to be elite in any way to enjoy it. But, these days, you may not get exposed to it until you are an adult (with a brain less able to digest new experiences and knowledge) unless your family is wealthy enough to send you to an elite school. And even then, as an adult, people will laugh at you and see your interest as an affectation if you try to explore CM. The reason for all this is the myth that liking CM in an elitist pursuit and not something for everyone. In this way many potential music lovers are denied their right to good music!


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Enthusiast said:


> I must object! I don't think the essence of CM is elitism. Not at all. Even if it is better - deeper, more rewarding, more meaningful - and even if many of us say so, that still doesn't make it elitist. You don't need to be elite in any way to enjoy it. But, these days, you may not get exposed to it until you are an adult (with a brain less able to digest new experiences and knowledge) unless your family is wealthy enough to send you to an elite school. And even then, as an adult, people will laugh at you and see your interest as an affectation if you try to explore CM. The reason for all this is the myth that liking CM in an elitist pursuit and not something for everyone. In this way many potential music lovers are denied their right to good music!


A thousand posts with this message could not outweigh the tens of thousands expressing scorn for the Four Seasons and the people who like it, Bolero and the people who like it, Pachelbel's canon and the people who like it, the 1812 Overture and the people who like it, the Vienna Phil's new year concert and the people who like it, and on and on and on and on and on.

There is no way to separate all this, and "better - deeper, more rewarding, more meaningful" into the mix, from elitism; nor any reason to expect cultural elitism to map onto other kinds of elitism, such as wealth, especially if the cultural strategy is at least fifty years out of date.

Let's just embrace it, admit it, let it drop quietly into the category of things that we don't have to be ashamed of as long as we don't insist on faking populism.


----------



## Zofia (Jan 24, 2019)

Enthusiast said:


> I must object! I don't think the essence of CM is elitism. Not at all. Even if it is better - deeper, more rewarding, more meaningful - and even if many of us say so, that still doesn't make it elitist. You don't need to be elite in any way to enjoy it. But, these days, you may not get exposed to it until you are an adult (with a brain less able to digest new experiences and knowledge) *unless your family is wealthy enough to send you to an elite school*. And even then, as an adult, people will laugh at you and see your interest as an affectation if you try to explore CM. The reason for all this is the myth that liking CM in an elitist pursuit and not something for everyone. In this way many potential music lovers are denied their right to good music!











Four Seasons certainly not my own favourite thing but it is much better than anything crafted today Winter is easily the best for me.


----------



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Bulldog said:


> I don't believe I've ever heard this piece. Is it popular somewhere?


Very popular all over the place. It's a catchy Latin-infused, jazzy piece that is very popular with orchestras large and small, and I've heard it on serious as well as pops concerts. I've played in 5 times in recent years. It's a lot of fun and audiences love it. Completely tonal. Even the Berlin Philharmonic has played it. But outside of people in the classical biz and regular concert attendees, the general public is completely in the dark.


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> That holds for many warhorses as well though. Recently I saw a fragment of a British TV show with celebrity guests, where they showed a clip of a football (soccer) player getting hit in the unfortunate regions, accompanied by a famous classical music tune. The presenter asked for the composer. "It's Mozart, isn't it?" was the only reply. it was of course from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.


Reminds me of a TV quiz/gameshow many years ago, where the following exchange happened:

*Host:* Which composer wrote _The Messiah_?

*Contestant:* Ooh, I know this!

*Host:* Take your time.

*Contestant:* Come on! It's on the tip of my tongue! It's... it's _Handel's_ Messiah, isn't it?

*Host:* So, who was the composer?

*Contestant:* Er... Mozart?


----------



## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass have all had a lot of crossover appeal to the non-classical world. Arguably their most famous pieces (_Music for 18 Musicians_, _In C_, _Einstein on the Beach_) could be considered modest hits.

You could also make a case for John C. Adams' _Shaker Loops_.


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Stockhausen had some serious hits


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Bulldog said:


> I don't believe I've ever heard this piece. Is it popular somewhere?


It's regularly played on Classic FM (UK).


----------



## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> In the strictest sense surely it has to be Górecki - the Elektra/Nonsuch album which featured the 3rd symphony got into the top ten of the UK pop charts, and the work itself didn't need to feature in a TV ad or a movie in order to get there.


That was a marketing excersise carried out for Classic FM when the station launched in the early 1990's. The Gorecki 3rd symphony, along with Gavin Bryars' 'Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet' and Phillip Glass' 'Low' symphony were all relatively obscure works which were given extraordinary airplay and prominence to test whether such works could be successfully and profitably promoted through a commercial classical radio station (the first such venture in the UK). It worked.


----------



## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

techniquest said:


> In more recent years, I suspect William Orbit has more to do with this piece's familiarity than anything else.
> 
> Hmm. Football; being hit in the unfortunate regions, and celebrities not having a clue...sounds like typical British TV.
> A few people have mentioned Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez as being a full-on hit, *but I wonder if this is more just the second movement? *The same can very easily be said about the Shostakovich 2nd piano concerto; far fewer people will know the whole work than know the second movement. Take any section from Carmina Burana that isn't 'O Fortuna' and I suspect many will shrug their shoulders. Take any Khachaturian that isn't the Sabre Dance or the adagio from Spartacus and the same response is likely. So in terms of actual full-work hits, I suspect we hit a problem: many musically-minded people who enjoy classical music will know some pieces of music outside of that field in their entirety, but far fewer people who listen to music other than classical will know any classical work in it's entirety, but may have a reasonable knowledge of 'bleeding chunks'.


some good points - same can be said of many classical and romantic era hits. k467 for example.


----------



## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

techniquest said:


> That was a marketing excersise carried out for Classic FM when the station launched in the early 1990's. The Gorecki 3rd symphony, along with Gavin Bryars' 'Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet' and Phillip Glass' 'Low' symphony were all relatively obscure works which were given extraordinary airplay and prominence to test whether such works could be successfully and profitably promoted through a commercial classical radio station (the first such venture in the UK). It worked.


and who listens to Gorecki sy 3 now? It was plucked from obscurity to prove that modern classics can be melodic. Thankfully it has gone back to where it belongs.


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

science said:


> A thousand posts with this message could not outweigh the tens of thousands expressing scorn for the Four Seasons and the people who like it, Bolero and the people who like it, Pachelbel's canon and the people who like it, the 1812 Overture and the people who like it, the Vienna Phil's new year concert and the people who like it, and on and on and on and on and on.
> 
> There is no way to separate all this, and "better - deeper, more rewarding, more meaningful" into the mix, from elitism; nor any reason to expect cultural elitism to map onto other kinds of elitism, such as wealth, especially if the cultural strategy is at least fifty years out of date.
> 
> Let's just embrace it, admit it, let it drop quietly into the category of things that we don't have to be ashamed of as long as we don't insist on faking populism.


I don't think having taste and discriminating are the same as elitism. I like some jazz from some periods and some rock music (broadly speaking) as well as CM but in all of those I want to hear the good stuff! Elitism would involve CM being the music of an elite or perceiving it to be that way. It might involve thinking that those who listen to it are superior in themselves. I love CM but I am not in any way a member of an elite. If you go to a classical concert you might get the impression that you are at an elite event but that is because CM is effectively denied to many. The accusation of elitism tends to help CM become an elite activity.


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

ZJovicic said:


> What is the last classical piece of music that is widely known and appreciated and that has become a part of collective unconscious?
> 
> Here's a couple of most recent pieces I can think of that might fit such a criteria:
> 
> ...


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

^ 1914/1920 - not really a contender.


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> ^ 1914/1920 - not really a contender.


The op doesn't explicitly specify a limit.


----------



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

techniquest said:


> That was a marketing excersise carried out for Classic FM when the station launched in the early 1990's. The Gorecki 3rd symphony, along with Gavin Bryars' 'Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet' and Phillip Glass' 'Low' symphony were all relatively obscure works which were given extraordinary airplay and prominence to test whether such works could be successfully and profitably promoted through a commercial classical radio station (the first such venture in the UK). It worked.


Fair dos - thanks for the info.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

janxharris said:


> The op doesn't explicitly specify a limit.


The op gives examples from 1926 to 1935 and asks for anything more recent than those.


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> The op gives examples from 1926 to 1935 and asks for anything more recent than those.


It certainly can be read that way


----------



## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

stomanek said:


> and who listens to Gorecki sy 3 now? It was plucked from obscurity to prove that modern classics can be melodic. Thankfully it has gone back to where it belongs.


TalkClassical is where I come to see posts like this. Nowhere else.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Plenty of people still listen (and love) Gorecki 3. I'm one of them.


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Art Rock said:


> Plenty of people still listen (and love) Gorecki 3. I'm one of them.


Same here. Stomanek is engaging in wishful thinking.


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Second Movement of the Gorecki:


----------



## LezLee (Feb 21, 2014)

Classic FM’s ‘Hall of Fame’ 2018 includes these in the top 100:

42. Shostakovich - Jazz Suite No.2. 1938
48. Jay Ungar - Ashokan Farewell 1982
52. Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue 
53. Vaughan Williams - Five Variations on Dives and Lazarus 1939
59. Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez
60. Pärt - Spiegel im Spiegel
84. Shostakovich - The Gadfly 1955
88. Gorecki - Symphony No.3
89. Finzi - Éclogue 1920s unfinished


----------



## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

LezLee said:


> Classic FM's 'Hall of Fame' 2018 includes these in the top 100:
> 
> 42. Shostakovich - Jazz Suite No.2. 1938
> 48. Jay Ungar - Ashokan Farewell 1982
> ...


I stand corrected.


----------



## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Couperin - Les Barricades Mysterieuses - Cziffra

but only if played well, like the above example. Some recordings don't do it justice. The above isn't my favorite, just was convenient.





Mysterious Barricades - Couperin - Michael Chapdelaine - Guitar - Steel String

Looks extremely hard to play on the guitar.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

^ please tell be that you posted this to the wrong thread.........


----------



## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

stomanek said:


> and who listens to Gorecki sy 3 now? It was plucked from obscurity to prove that modern classics can be melodic. Thankfully it has gone back to where it belongs.


No, it was 'plucked from obscurity' to prove that modern classics can sell. It may however have largely gone back to where it belongs, and the Zinman/Upshaw recording which was so heavily promoted at the time is now standard charity shop fayre. Interestingly, on the back of the 3rd symphony, Classic FM later tried to repeat the venture by promoting Gorecki's 'Beatus Vir' but did not acheve anything like the same success.


----------



## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Adams Doctor Atomic (2005), an opera that gets played and recorded.


----------



## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Peter and the Wolf - 1936
Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra - 1945


----------



## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> . . .
> Like Mifek above, I wonder whether West Side Story counts, because there are one or two pieces from that show which would certainly register on the Dorm-O-Meter


More that one or two in my opinion. And bearing in mind that Bernstein converted parts of the score into a concert piece, I think it should count.


----------



## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

I can only think of a small handful from the last 50 years (and quite frankly NONE of them are nearly as popular as music from the likes of R. Strauss, Rachmaninov, Khachaturian, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, or Puccini):

Henryk Gorecki (Symphony No. 3 "Sorrowful Songs")
John Adams (Short Ride in a Fast Machine)
Arvo Part (Spiegel im spiegel)
John Williams (music from Star Wars films, esp. the Main Theme)


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

techniquest said:


> No, it was 'plucked from obscurity' to prove that modern classics can sell. It may however have largely gone back to where it belongs, and the Zinman/Upshaw recording which was so heavily promoted at the time is now standard charity shop fayre. Interestingly, on the back of the 3rd symphony, Classic FM later tried to repeat the venture by promoting Gorecki's 'Beatus Vir' but did not acheve anything like the same success.


Actually, the albums you see so often in the second hand bins are usually the ones that sold really well.


----------



## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Perhaps this?






Composed in 1971, rather popular and quite good too!


----------



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

janxharris said:


> Arturo Márquez - Danzón No. 2


Alondra de la Parra is absolutely gorgeous. I could watch her all day.


----------



## BabyGiraffe (Feb 24, 2017)




----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I suppose it could be argued that with such highly developed forms of popular music - pop songs, musicals etc - there is no longer any reason to expect new classical music to be a hit?


----------



## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Enthusiast said:


> I suppose it could be argued that with such highly developed forms of popular music - pop songs, musicals etc - there is no longer any reason to expect new classical music to be a hit?


In spite of your obvious sarcasm it's not too far from the truth. While most of the pop is rather simple and not particularly deep, there are some fairly advanced songs, such as this:






Classical music can obviously give us more new hits, but to do this it needs to do exactly the same thing that a pop song needs to become a hit, it needs to have a hook, to be catchy, to have at least one memorable, iconic part that has immediate appeal. Like the opening of Beethoven's 5th symphony for example.

When classical composers stop considering such thing a mortal sin, they might give us more hits.

And I am not saying that catchy parts and hooks are the only thing of worth in classical music. They are just that: "hook" something that needs to grab your attention, so that it can subsequently transport you into much deeper waters of musical complexity.


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

^^^ Obvious or not, I intended no sarcasm. As for the rest, as you know I do not agree that our current classical composers should do anything different than follow their inspiration. I like what many of them do. And I am happy that they leave more popular music to popular musicians. I have found again and again that when highly reputed contemporary music doesn't seem to talk to me the problem is with me rather than the music. I enjoy greatly opening out such music so that it does talk to me. And it is only when it does talk to me that I really know how much the music can mean to me.


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

ZJovicic said:


> In spite of your obvious sarcasm it's not too far from the truth. While most of the pop is rather simple and not particularly deep, there are some fairly advanced songs, such as this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


the greatest novels are rarely bestsellers. Most people read crime thrillers, young adult fantasy and similar stuff that is as shallow as a puddle of water. And those are hits. To appreciate something like the Man Without Qualities, you need to make an active and conscious effort to find the book and also to read it.

And in the music industry, most hits today are products of carefully planned marketing and propaganda. The music industry decides what the probable hits are going to be, and the pays to have them constantly played on the radios, and the people subconsiously get this music and it becomes a hit. This is for people with passive approach to music listening. An active approach means that you make active effort to seek out music you enjoy, and the you will not be susceptible to this marketing of new "hits" anymore. I have no idea about any TOP10 charts of popular music. I still think the majority of that music is trash


----------



## BabyGiraffe (Feb 24, 2017)

Jacck said:


> To appreciate something like the Man Without Qualities, you need to make an active and conscious effort to find the book and also to read it.


It is funny that you mentioned a book that is very popular as a 20th century "masterpiece" and is in every must read book list; obviously, it is not something obscure or hard to appreciate (despite all the flaws - I don't want to comment the second part of the book - I only remember that it had like no plot, there was some incest + vague pseudo philosophy + it was unfinished = ideal book for snobs, but not some work of genius, I would say).


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

BabyGiraffe said:


> It is funny that you mentioned a book that is very popular as a 20th century "masterpiece" and is in every must read book list; obviously, it is not something obscure or hard to appreciate (despite all the flaws - I don't want to comment the second part of the book - I only remember that it had like no plot, there was some incest + vague pseudo philosophy + it was unfinished = ideal book for snobs, but not some work of genius, I would say).


very popular? I frequent a literary forum similar to this one (Czech one) and only a handful of people have actually read the book. Incomparable to the number of people who read Nesbø or something like that. For snobs? Maybe. But I like challenge, that is why I try to read all those books suchs as Man Without Qualities, Magic Mountain, Ulysses etc. I wouldn't say that I agreed with Musil's philosophy 100%, but it was fun intellectually. He strikes me as neurotic as anyone from the twighlight of the Austrian-Hungary Empire - Freud, Schoenberg, Kokoshka, Musil. It was a time of collapse and decadence and this book shows it like no other. The breaking apart of the old monarchy and of the old world order and it was not yet clear what is going to be born instead. And this books is an attempt to search for this new thing, especially for some kind of morality. It was also Musil's attempt to come to terms with the philosophy of Nietsche


----------



## BabyGiraffe (Feb 24, 2017)

Jacck said:


> very popular? I frequent a literary forum similar to this one (Czech one) and only a handful of people have actually read the book. Incomparable to the number of people who read Nesbø or something like that. For snobs? Maybe. But I like challenge, that is why I try to read all those books suchs as Man Without Qualities, Magic Mountain, Ulysses etc. I wouldn't say that I agreed with Musil's philosophy 100%, but it was fun intellectually. He strikes me as neurotic as anyone from the twighlight of the Austrian-Hungary Empire - Freud, Schoenberg, Kokoshka, Musil. It was a time of collapse and decadence and this book shows it like no other. The breaking apart of the old monarchy and of the old world order and it was not yet clear what is going to be born instead. And this books is an attempt to search for this new thing, especially for some kind of morality. It was also Musil's attempt to come to terms with the philosophy of Nietsche


You are right that the book was funny.
Well, in my opinion, there is way more decadence in the world today than in the time the book was written (I learned yesterday that all the rivers in my country are now considered "dead"). 
I don't think that most young people are much into reading at all - even fiction. Non-fiction (which is the hard part - reading all these modernist novels is a child play compared to reading any decent philosophy/physics/logic/mathematics etc text ) is even less popular now when there are video tutorial series on almost any topic.
About (classical and other kinds of ) music industry decadence - there are many youtube videos with millions of views, so people now don't really have to go to the concert hall or buy the CD. (There is still interest even in classical music, but noone wants to pay for music that is essentially free.)
I guess we may see soon again composers/performers becoming protegees of rich sponsors...


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

BabyGiraffe said:


> You are right that the book was funny.
> Well, in my opinion, there is way more decadence in the world today than in the time the book was written (I learned yesterday that all the rivers in my country are now considered "dead").
> I don't think that most young people are much into reading at all - even fiction. Non-fiction (which is the hard part - reading all these modernist novels is a child play compared to reading any decent philosophy/physics/logic/mathematics etc text ) is even less popular now when there are video tutorial series on almost any topic.
> About (classical and other kinds of ) music industry decadence - there are many youtube videos with millions of views, so people now don't really have to go to the concert hall or buy the CD. (There is still interest even in classical music, but noone wants to pay for music that is essentially free.)
> I guess we may see soon again composers/performers becoming protegees of rich sponsors...


I am not sure if the current crisis is deeper or worse than the fin-de-siécle crisis, but it is here. That is for sure. We also have a feeling that the old system is no more tenable, that is why all those populists get elected. There is an ecological crisis, large social changes due to technology etc. There is an anxiety and uncertainty about the future. I hope it will not culminate into something similar like the last big crisis (WWs) . That young people do not read is true, but that is the negative effect of technology. And it will only get worse.


----------



## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Jacck said:


> the greatest novels are rarely bestsellers. Most people read crime thrillers, young adult fantasy and similar stuff that is as shallow as a puddle of water. And those are hits. To appreciate something like the Man Without Qualities, you need to make an active and conscious effort to find the book and also to read it.


Is Symphony no. 5 by Ludwig Van Beethoven shallow? Is it trite? Is it as shallow as puddle of water?

I guess perhaps it is (at least according to your logic) because it's such a huge planetary hit, and everyone can enjoy it, including kids. And not just enjoy it, but be blown away by it.


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

ZJovicic said:


> Is Symphony no. 5 by Ludwig Van Beethoven shallow? Is it trite? Is it as shallow as puddle of water?
> 
> I guess perhaps it is (at least according to your logic) because it's such a huge planetary hit, and everyone can enjoy it, including kids. And not just enjoy it, but be blown away by it.


that is simply not true. You overestimate the appeal of Beethoven to non-CM listeners. I remember myself in my non-CM phase and I was not impressed by Beethoven or any of his symphonies. I tried Beethoven to hook people on CM and it never worked. What got me into CM was Arthur Bliss (atypical) and Bruckner. I recently hooked a female friend on CM using Purcell. Nothing before had worked, not Beethoven, not Mozart, not Bach, not anything modern.


----------



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Regarding Pop hit: I'm not sure that even these can be created anymore. Back in my era, radio stations that played music basically played the same Top-40 Hits. But nowadays, there are so many alternatives that a national (or international) consensus of what makes a great hit seems more unlikely than it did say in 1969. And I don't care what pop genre you consider, today's songwriting is pretty thin gruel compared to earlier times. Can't anyone write a tune anymore? Ok, I'm old, but there is no one today who can match the tunesmiths of Tin Pan Alley. I listen to old songs like Always, El Paso, Strangers in the Night, My Way, even Red Rubber Ball and realize that there were some damned good song writers. Not so much these days. So, as hard as it is for any new classical work to get an audience and become part or the repertoire, it's not that much easier for pop music.


----------



## vesteel (Feb 3, 2018)

I heard Johan de Meij's Lord of the Rings Symphony (1988) is pretty popular


----------

