# One Hit Wonders for Orchestra



## Truckload

Can you name a piece for orchestra that is really, really wonderful, yet it seems that the composer just never could repeat with anything else as great again? Hense the name, a "One Hit Wonder".

The two I have in mind that caused me to think of this topic:

Paul Dukas - A Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Gustav Holst - The Planets.


----------



## Prodromides

Samuel Barber, for instance, has a respectable catalogue of works; Barber's Piano Concerto won a Pulitzer Prize, as an example.
Yet, it appears that, if Barber will be remembered for anything, then it will be his "Adagio for Strings".

Would "Adagio for Strings" be a one-hit wonder (if any classical music piece can be said to be a "hit")?


----------



## Prodromides

Here's an oddball example: Marius Constant!

Constant wrote some amazing concert pieces like "Turner - 3 Essays" or "103 Regards dans l'eau".
Yet, Constant composed some library stock music for CBS television during the late 1950s, 2 pieces of which were cobbled together and served a subsequent purpose as the "theme" for THE TWILIGHT ZONE!

That TWILIGHT ZONE theme has entered the lexicon of pop culture, but I expect most of the public is unaware of who wrote it (let alone explore Constant's absolute music). 

This stretches the boundaries of the OP's initial focus, but is this not a possible one-hit wonder (I wonder )?


----------



## Sid James

Prodromides said:


> Samuel Barber, for instance, has a respectable catalogue of works; Barber's Piano Concerto won a Pulitzer Prize, as an example.
> Yet, it appears that, if Barber will be remembered for anything, then it will be his "Adagio for Strings".
> 
> Would "Adagio for Strings" be a one-hit wonder (if any classical music piece can be said to be a "hit")?


Problem is that when a composer has a huge hit like that, some listeners expect him to do another thing almost exactly like it (eg. rehash). Barber was a very creative composer who was not interested in doing rehash. So this is the issue, the so called fault may not be with the composer but with people expecting him to do things that goes against the grain of the creative process (in general, unless we talk about rehash composers, who don't interest me at all).

Re Dukas, his _La Peri _is a good work, it is a ballet with an oriental theme. Despite Ansermet recording and championing it, it hasn't entered the repertoire, at least not to the degree of the _Sorcerer's Apprentice_. But_ La Peri _has been recorded many times, in terms of recordings there is no shortage of good ones for this work. Another thing is Dukas' high self criticism and tendency to destroy many works - his catalogue of works is very thin.

As for Holst, he also did many other works, but ones in genres other than orchestral stand out for me. For string orchestra, there's the _St. Paul's Suite _(also a version for brass band). Then there's the chamber opera_ Savitri,_ which is an amazing work. & he considered _Egdon Heath _to be his finest work, apparently (which is an orchestral work, but I'm not highly familiar with it). But I do love _The Planets_, it's one of the key works of its time.


----------



## violadude

Are we defining this "one hit wonder" notion as a composer who wrote a great orchestral piece but never wrote one as great again? or a composer who wrote a great orchestral piece but never wrote one as popular as before? If the former, I definitely do not think that Barber qualifies


----------



## Truckload

Sid James said:


> Problem is that when a composer has a huge hit like that, some listeners expect him to do another thing almost exactly like it (eg. rehash). Barber was a very creative composer who was not interested in doing rehash. So this is the issue, the so called fault may not be with the composer but with people expecting him to do things that goes against the grain of the creative process (in general, unless we talk about rehash composers, who don't interest me at all).
> 
> Re Dukas, his _La Peri _is a good work, it is a ballet with an oriental theme. Despite Ansermet recording and championing it, it hasn't entered the repertoire, at least not to the degree of the _Sorcerer's Apprentice_. But_ La Peri _has been recorded many times, in terms of recordings there is no shortage of good ones for this work. Another thing is Dukas' high self criticism and tendency to destroy many works - his catalogue of works is very thin.
> 
> As for Holst, he also did many other works, but ones in genres other than orchestral stand out for me. For string orchestra, there's the _St. Paul's Suite _(also a version for brass band). Then there's the chamber opera_ Savitri,_ which is an amazing work. & he considered _Egdon Heath _to be his finest work, apparently (which is an orchestral work, but I'm not highly familiar with it). But I do love _The Planets_, it's one of the key works of its time.


Barber is somewhat of a enigma. But I agree that probably only the Adagio will ever enter the standard repertoire.

Holst, like Dukas, was very modest and very self critical. He wrote quite a bit of very good music for SSA chorus. And of course there is the St. Paul's Suite for strings, but it is really sad that he did not continue to write more for full orchestra. He obviously was a highly competent orchestrator.

Dukas wrote a major piece "Polyeucte" that I personally like a lot. The La Peri I am familiar with is less than 2 minutes long and thus not a major work. I also find his Symphony in C interesting.


----------



## Truckload

violadude said:


> Are we defining this "one hit wonder" notion as a composer who wrote a great orchestral piece but never wrote one as great again? or a composer who wrote a great orchestral piece but never wrote one as popular as before? If the former, I definitely do not think that Barber qualifies


A hit is a piece that has entered the standard repertoire. Another potential definition would be a piece popular with a large percentage of the discerning orchestral music loving public (as opposed to the general public who may only recognize 5 or 10 pieces of art music, if that many).


----------



## Jeremy Marchant

Checking this subject on Wikipedia reveals very few orchestra-only examples.

There's Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov's _Caucasian sketches_, which I've never heard of (which rather contradicts the original premise!)

Slightly more convincingly, it suggests
Jeremiah Clarke, _Trumpet voluntary_, more properly known as _Prince of Denmark's march_
Amilcare Ponchielli, _Dance of the hours_ from_ La Gioconda_
Aram Khachaturian, _Sabre dance_ from _Gayane_


----------



## Truckload

Jeremy Marchant said:


> Checking this subject on Wikipedia reveals very few orchestra-only examples.
> 
> There's Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov's _Caucasian sketches_, which I've never heard of (which rather contradicts the original premise!)
> 
> Slightly more convincingly, it suggests
> Jeremiah Clarke, _Trumpet voluntary_, more properly known as _Prince of Denmark's march_
> Amilcare Ponchielli, _Dance of the hours_ from_ La Gioconda_
> Aram Khachaturian, _Sabre dance_ from _Gayane_


"Dance of the Hours" is a perfect example of the category! Very well known piece. Even familiar to some of the general public (by sound probably not by name).

I agree about the Clarke as well.

Khachaturian is a surprise to me. I would have thought that even if the rest of "Gayane" was excluded from the repertoire we would still have "Spartacus".


----------



## suffolkcoastal

Barber's Violin Concerto, the First and Second Essays for Orchestra and Knoxville Summer of 1915 are in the repertoire these days and outside of orchestral music, the Piano Sonata, Four Excursions and some of the songs are in the repertoire of pianists and singers, so I would in no way consider him a one hit wonder. 
Holst may once have been but there is now a much greater appreciation of his other works, Egdon Heath is a masterpiece IMHO.
One could argue that Max Bruch is a one hit wonder with the 1st Violin Concerto, but again the Scottish Fantasy and Kol Nidrei get enough performances/broadcasts to probably counter this.
There's also Lalo with the Symphonie Espagnole for Violin & Orchestra, very few of his other works get played.


----------



## jalex

suffolkcoastal said:


> There's also Lalo with the Symphonie Espagnole for Violin & Orchestra, very few of his other works get played.


I read that Debussy considered Lalo's ballet _Namouna_ to be 'something of a masterpiece'. I haven't heard it, but I'd be interested.


----------



## Vaneyes

Khachaturian being the King of Concertos, is hardly a one-hit wonder.


----------



## Truckload

suffolkcoastal said:


> Barber's Violin Concerto, the First and Second Essays for Orchestra and Knoxville Summer of 1915 are in the repertoire these days and outside of orchestral music, the Piano Sonata, Four Excursions and some of the songs are in the repertoire of pianists and singers, so I would in no way consider him a one hit wonder.
> Holst may once have been but there is now a much greater appreciation of his other works, Egdon Heath is a masterpiece IMHO.
> One could argue that Max Bruch is a one hit wonder with the 1st Violin Concerto, but again the Scottish Fantasy and Kol Nidrei get enough performances/broadcasts to probably counter this.
> There's also Lalo with the Symphonie Espagnole for Violin & Orchestra, very few of his other works get played.


I just listened to Egdon Heath (for perhaps the second time in my life) and it left me cold. Cant see it qualifying.

The Bruch Kol Nidrei is most definately in the standard repetoire for cellists. Virtually everone who studies cello has to learn it.

Lalo's cello concerto is very popular with cellists.

This is a tougher category than I thought!


----------



## GraemeG

Maybe that Scherzo of Litolff from the Piano-something No 4?
Not that it actually gets programmed at concerts or anything, but it's the only thing he's known for.

Katchaturian can't count because of Spartacus as well - the adagio even made it onto a TV show!
Holst also has The Perfect Fool ballet music, and the Military Band suites - about the finest things ever written for the genre.
Delibes must be close with Coppelia? but there's Sylvia...
Mascagni - Cavalleria?
cheers,
GG


----------



## woodwind_fan

Two genuine one-hit wonders I can think of are:
Orff - Carmina Burana
Pachelbel - Canon in D

Offenbach comes close with 'Orpheus in the Underworld', but there is also the 'Tales of Hoffman'

By the same token, I don't think Dukas quite makes it with 'The Sorceror's Apprentice' as there's also 'La Peri'


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde

woodwind_fan said:


> Two genuine one-hit wonders I can think of are:
> Orff - Carmina Burana
> *Pachelbel - Canon in D*
> 
> Offenbach comes close with 'Orpheus in the Underworld', but there is also the 'Tales of Hoffman'
> 
> By the same token, I don't think Dukas quite makes it with 'The Sorceror's Apprentice' as there's also 'La Peri'


Pachelbel's canon and gigue in D is actually a chamber work for three violins and continuo.


----------



## moody

Carmina Burana is hardly an orchestral work. Are you referring to Offenbach's overture or the operetta? But then you mention the Tales of Hoffman which is an opera.


----------



## moody

GraemeG said:


> Maybe that Scherzo of Litolff from the Piano-something No 4?
> Not that it actually gets programmed at concerts or anything, but it's the only thing he's known for.
> 
> Katchaturian can't count because of Spartacus as well - the adagio even made it onto a TV show!
> Holst also has The Perfect Fool ballet music, and the Military Band suites - about the finest things ever written for the genre.
> Delibes must be close with Coppelia? but there's Sylvia...
> Mascagni - Cavalleria?
> cheers,
> GG


The question referred to orchestral works. We could get into one hit operas ,piano pieces and all sorts.


----------



## bigshot

Does Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice qualify?


----------



## Truckload

bigshot said:


> Does Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice qualify?


Yes, I think it does.


----------



## waldvogel

A lot of this will be regionally biased. The only piece by Glinka that gets played and recorded in North America is the overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla. I'm sure that our Russian readers will be outraged by this, but that's the truth of the matter here.

Others in a similar category would be Otto Nicolai's overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor and Karl Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony.


----------



## Xaltotun

Yesterday I was listening to _Symphony in E major_ by *Hans Rott,* a rather obscure Austrian late romantic composer. Seems that he never composed much else, since his mental stability collapsed and he died very young. But this piece is really something! I would describe it as a "must hear" to anyone who even remotely likes large, late romantic, orchestral Austrian/German music. A magnificient symphony!!


----------



## DeepR

Smetena - Die Moldau?
I have no idea actually. It seems everyone knows this and nothing else from this composer, me included.


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Xaltotun said:


> Yesterday I was listening to _Symphony in E major_ by *Hans Rott,* a rather obscure Austrian late romantic composer. Seems that he never composed much else, since his mental stability collapsed and he died very young. But this piece is really something! I would describe it as a "must hear" to anyone who even remotely likes large, late romantic, orchestral Austrian/German music. A magnificient symphony!!


How young was he?


----------



## Xaltotun

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> How young was he?


26, I think, when he died in a mental institution. And he composed his symphony at the age of 20!


----------



## elgar's ghost

Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man.
Mendelssohn - Wedding March from Midsummer Night's Dream.


----------



## drpraetorus

I gotta say that many of the listed onbe hit wonders are more the result of lack of musical education than actually being one hit womders in the common parlance. I find ti hard it hard to include names like Copeland and Mendelssohn. If you look at it like they do in the pop world, A one hit wonder is a group or singer who is famous for only one hit that came and went and is heard no more. There are tons of them in the pop world. Most of these groups continue to turn out work but it never reaches the success of the first hit. 

If we apply that to the classical world there are many that also apply and yes it is often a regional thing. On the top of my list would be Jaromir Weinberger. His opera Schwanda is a delightful piece and he does have a mastery of couterpointe. He should have been more famous. But he is now mostly known for the Polka and Fugue from Schwanda. 

Hans Pfitzner has a very nice symphony but is not known for much more.

Emil von Reznicek is know almost entirely for the overture to his opera Donna Diana.

Dimitri Kabalevsky is known in most places primarily for his Comedians suite. 

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari is know for the Jewels of the Madonna 

The list goes on.


----------



## elgar's ghost

drpraetorus said:


> I gotta say that many of the listed onbe hit wonders are more the result of lack of musical education than actually being one hit womders in the common parlance. I find ti hard it hard to include names like Copeland and Mendelssohn. If you look at it like they do in the pop world, A one hit wonder is a group or singer who is famous for only one hit that came and went and is heard no more. There are tons of them in the pop world. Most of these groups continue to turn out work but it never reaches the success of the first hit.
> 
> If we apply that to the classical world there are many that also apply and yes it is often a regional thing. On the top of my list would be Jaromir Weinberger. His opera Schwanda is a delightful piece and he does have a mastery of couterpointe. He should have been more famous. But he is now mostly known for the Polka and Fugue from Schwanda.
> 
> Hans Pfitzner has a very nice symphony but is not known for much more.
> 
> Emil von Reznicek is know almost entirely for the overture to his opera Donna Diana.
> 
> Dimitri Kabalevsky is known in most places primarily for his Comedians suite.
> 
> Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari is know for the Jewels of the Madonna
> 
> The list goes on.


Yep - you're spot on and in my case my choices were injudicious. Not for the first time I sidetracked from the actual thread idea and instead was thinking of composers who are known outside the classical domain for only the occasional orchestral piece despite the quality (and volume) of their output overall. Perhaps I'm tempted to include Faure for his Pavane, but even this was originally a piano piece and I really wouldn't know for sure how well any of his other orchestral works like Masques et bergamasques are recognised in the great scheme of things.


----------



## Ramako

drpraetorus said:


> I gotta say that many of the listed onbe hit wonders are more the result of lack of musical education than actually being one hit womders in the common parlance. I find ti hard it hard to include names like Copeland and Mendelssohn. If you look at it like they do in the pop world, A one hit wonder is a group or singer who is famous for only one hit that came and went and is heard no more. There are tons of them in the pop world. Most of these groups continue to turn out work but it never reaches the success of the first hit.
> 
> If we apply that to the classical world there are many that also apply and yes it is often a regional thing. On the top of my list would be Jaromir Weinberger. His opera Schwanda is a delightful piece and he does have a mastery of couterpointe. He should have been more famous. But he is now mostly known for the Polka and Fugue from Schwanda.
> 
> Hans Pfitzner has a very nice symphony but is not known for much more.
> 
> Emil von Reznicek is know almost entirely for the overture to his opera Donna Diana.
> 
> Dimitri Kabalevsky is known in most places primarily for his Comedians suite.
> 
> Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari is know for the Jewels of the Madonna
> 
> The list goes on.


As ignorant as I am, I would argue that, while 'one hits' these may not be 'wonders', as most classical listeners of the interested, but not very enthusiastic, school won't have heard of them. I certainly haven't. Perhaps I am wrong. Anyway, I agree that Mendelssohn and Copeland are certainly no one hit wonders.

Pachalbel's Canon and Allegri's miserere would be excellent examples, but unfortunately they are not orchestral.

Barber's adagio is also good.
The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss.
La Vlast by Smetena
Albinoni's Adagio - or whoever wrote it

dubious:
William Tell overture
Jerusalem by Hubert Parry. Ok its got voices in, never mind.


----------



## moody

Ramako said:


> As ignorant as I am, I would argue that, while 'one hits' these may not be 'wonders', as most classical listeners of the interested, but not very enthusiastic, school won't have heard of them. I certainly haven't. Perhaps I am wrong. Anyway, I agree that Mendelssohn and Copeland are certainly no one hit wonders.
> 
> Pachalbel's Canon and Allegri's miserere would be excellent examples, but unfortunately they are not orchestral.
> 
> Barber's adagio is also good.
> The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss.
> La Vlast by Smetena
> Albinoni's Adagio - or whoever wrote it
> 
> dubious:
> William Tell overture
> Jerusalem by Hubert Parry. Ok its got voices in, never mind.


Strauss had hundreds of hits with Viennese music and Rossini had many hits with his overtures but also his operas.
Ma Vlast in not the only popular orchestral piece by Smetana he also wrote good chamber music.


----------



## Ramako

moody said:


> Strauss had hundreds of hits with Viennese music and Rossini had many hits with his overtures but also his operas.
> Ma Vlast in not the only popular orchestral piece by Smetana he also wrote good chamber music.


had hits does not mean they remain hits. These pieces seem to me to be vastly more famous now than anything else they wrote.
And as for Smetena, I'm not entirely sure about the restrictions to orchestra imposed on this thread.


----------



## BurningDesire

But why would you wanna arrange "Kung-Fu Fighting" for orchestra?


----------



## moody

No you're wrong Strauss' hits are still as strong as ever. Have you not seen the sold-out concerts for Andre Rieu , have you seen the following throughout the world for the New Year Concert in Vienna ?
I did stick some pieces in that do not qualiy. But nothing could be much more popular than Smetana's Bartered Bride Overture..
I think a one-hit wonder is one where nothing else is known.


----------



## Ramako

moody said:


> No you're wrong Strauss' hits are still as strong as ever. Have you not seen the sold-out concerts for Andre Rieu , have you seen the following throughout the world for the New Year Concert in Vienna ?
> I did stick some pieces in that do not qualiy. But nothing could be much more popular than Smetana's Bartered Bride Overture..
> I think a one-hit wonder is one where nothing else is known.


I'll concede Smetana, having gone out on a limb somewhat out of my comfort zone in mentioning him.

I would say however that your definition of one-hit wonder, while more valid, is too exclusive. I was working on a "much better known than anything else" sort of presumption. Also working on a level of knowledge below most people here. For example, Rossini is known to most people via the William Tell overture. Strauss wrote other quite well known things, but the Blue Danube is much better known than anything else. It's really a matter of measures.


----------



## Wandering

Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody

Arnaud's Bugler's Dream


----------



## drpraetorus

Go to the Classical section of your local CD store, if you can find one, and see what is offered for each composer. For Orff, it would be Carmina Buranna (sorry about the spelling), for Smentana, it would be a compilation CD with The Moldau and the Bartered Bride overture and dances. For Rimsky-Korsakov, it would be Sheherazade. For Bruch, it would be the violin concerto. For Ferde Groffe it would be the Grand Canyon Suite. You can add to the list on your own. The problem is not that these composers only had one good piece, except for Groffe maybe, and calling the Grand Canyon suite "good" is a streatch, but the economics of the music business almost require the sales of the "hits". Record companies do not generaly want to risk money on something that won't sell and they are not really interested in the4 classical side of the business anyway. So, we get the old dependables in the stores and have to search HARD for some of the less known music from even famous composers.


----------



## quack

A few One Hit Wonders that you don't know that you know you knew:

Rosas: Sobre las Olas
Fučík: Entrance of the Gladiators
Waldteufel: Les Patineurs


----------



## tankership

Suk - Fantastic Scherzo

He wrote so much more, and that's what I'm exploring now.


----------



## Ramako

drpraetorus said:


> So, we get the old dependables in the stores and have to search HARD for some of the less known music from even famous composers.


Yes, although downloading things online must have made things much easier in this regard (I'm a whippersnapper - I don't know ).

However, it must be said less known works from famous composers are much easier to get than works of comparable quality from less known composers. There must be a fair number of accessible recordings of, for example, Mozart's early symphonies (like the very early ones), and yet there are a lot better (subjective, of course) things by the Bach children, Stamitz, Salieri, Dittersdorf, Vanhal and even less well-known composers that you can barely find, and if you do only a couple of recordings at max, even with downloads.


----------



## Crudblud

tankership said:


> Suk - Fantastic Scherzo
> 
> He wrote so much more, and that's what I'm exploring now.


I thought Suk's big orchestra piece was Asrael?


----------



## techniquest

> Go to the Classical section of your local CD store, if you can find one, and see what is offered for each composer. For Orff, it would be Carmina Buranna (sorry about the spelling), for Smentana, it would be a compilation CD with The Moldau and the Bartered Bride overture and dances. For Rimsky-Korsakov, it would be Scheherazade.....etc


That's because these are the pieces that will sell. I blame Classic FM for the dumbing down of 'classical' music to a very limited alternative popular music industry. You'll hear 'O Fortuna' from Carmina Burana all day but rarely, if ever, will you hear a single note from any of the remaining 60-odd minutes of that piece. Ditto 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' by Strauss.
Meanwhile, back on -topic, I'd like to nominate 'Zampa' overture by Herold.


----------



## StlukesguildOhio

Strauss wrote other quite well known things, but the Blue Danube is much better known than anything else. It's really a matter of measures.

One could say that a great many composers have a single most famous work. Vivaldi will always be known for the Four Seasons and Handel for the Messiah... or rather the Hallelujah chorus from the Messiah. This is far from making them a "one hit wonder." Johann Strauss is far from being a "one hit wonder". I'd say you'd have a better argument for Richard Strauss and his _Also Sprach Zarathustra_. But even to a public less than well-versed in classical music, Johann Strauss is known for more than the Blue Danube:


----------



## techniquest

Aww, you didn't include 'Tales from Vienna Woods' 



> I'd say you'd have a better argument for Richard Strauss and his Also Sprach Zarathustra.


No argument there whatsoever; Richard Strauss has a varied and considerable repertoire which is often played just as much as ASZ e.g the Alpine Symphony, Four Last Songs, Salome (especially the 'Dance of the Seven Veils'), Der Rosenkavalier, etc. However, as I mentioned above, the opening 'Sunrise' section from ASZ (the '2001 A Space Odyssey' bit) is played far, far more than anything else which is probably why you mention him.


----------



## moody

techniquest said:


> That's because these are the pieces that will sell. I blame Classic FM for the dumbing down of 'classical' music to a very limited alternative popular music industry. You'll hear 'O Fortuna' from Carmina Burana all day but rarely, if ever, will you hear a single note from any of the remaining 60-odd minutes of that piece. Ditto 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' by Strauss.
> Meanwhile, back on -topic, I'd like to nominate 'Zampa' overture by Herold.


You shouldn't be listening to Classic FM you'll never grow big and tall if you do.


----------



## techniquest

> You shouldn't be listening to Classic FM you'll never grow big and tall if you do.


I don't make a habit of it, but if I'm driving and fancy a blast of 'The Lark Ascending' or 'The Thieving Magpie Overture' (especially if R3 is playing 'jazz') then I only have to switch over 
By the way, at my age I really don't need to get any bigger and taller :lol:


----------



## moody

techniquest said:


> I don't make a habit of it, but if I'm driving and fancy a blast of 'The Lark Ascending' or 'The Thieving Magpie Overture' (especially if R3 is playing 'jazz') then I only have to switch over
> By the way, at my age I really don't need to get any bigger and taller :lol:


Well in that case you may well start shrinking--have you thought of that?


----------

