# the great pops works / your favorite pops works



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

As far as I can tell - maybe I'm not using the search function correctly - this topic has never been done on this board! 

(Please don't take "great" too seriously - I know a lot of you won't admit the possibility of "great pops" works if you do, and anyway, I only mean something like "famous" or, if it's not unforgivably redundant, "popular.") 

This isn't a ranking (as far as I'm concerned; you do whatever you want and I won't object), just recommendations. 

This is important to me, because I don't want to miss these works, and they're actually rather hard for me to find out about, and I want to know all of them if I can. Discussion usually centers on the more, perhaps, "serious" or "major" works. All of these scare quotes are necessary because, to me at least, "pops" are not inherently less worthy than any other kind of music - being mentioned as a pops work does not, to my mind, imply a criticism. 

I'll start, just to save some work for the more knowledgeable here (I know that some of these are just crossover songs or very famous arias, but I don't mind if that's included - to me, inclusivity is more helpful than exclusivity): 

Albinoni/Giazotto: Adagio 
Bach: "Air on the G-string" (adopted from Orchestral Suite #3) 
Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 532 
Bach (attrib.): Minuet in G, from Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Bach/Gounod: Ave Maria 
Bach/Wilhelmj: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (from Cantata #147) 
Barber: Adagio for Strings 
Beethoven: Fur Elise 
Bizet: Carmen Suite 
Boccherini: Minuet from String Quintet op. 11.5
Borodin: Prince Igor
Brahms: Hungarian Dances 
Brahms: Cradle Song ("Lullaby") 
Chabrier: Espana 
Debussy: Clair de lune, from Suite bergamasque 
Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice 
Dvorak: Slavonic Dances
Elgar: Pomp & Circumstance Marches (#1 especially) 
Faure: Pie Jesu, from Requiem 
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite, especially "Morning" from #1 
Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite
Handel: Hallejujah Chorus, from Messiah
Handel: The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, from Solomon 
Kabalevsky: The Comedians 
Khachaturian: Gayane Suite
Khachaturian: Masquerade Suite
Massenet: Meditation, from Thais
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies (at least #2) 
Mendelssohn: Wedding March, from Midsummer Night's Dream
Mouret: Rondo (ie "Masterpiece Theater") 
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik 
Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain 
Offenbach: Gaite parisiene 
Offenbach: Overture, and Cancan, from Orpheus in the Underworld 
Orff: O Fortuna, from Carmina Burana
Pachelbel: Canon 
Puccini: Nessun Dorma, from Turandot
Rachmaninoff: Vocalise 
Ravel: Bolero
Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee 
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade 
Rossini: Overture to William Tell 
Rossini/Respighi: La boutique fantastique 
Sibelius: Tapiola 
Smetana: Ma Vlast, especially "Vltava" ("The Moldau") 
Strauss, Johann Sr.: The Radetzky March 
Strauss, Johann Jr.: Waltzes, especially The Blue Danube, Kaiser-Waltzer, Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, and Morning Papers 
Strauss, R.: Also Sprach Zarathustra 
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture 
Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Suite 
Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty Suite
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Suite 
Weber: Invitation to the Dance
Wagner: Bridal Chorus, from Lohengrin 
Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries, from The Valkyrie 
Williams: Suite from Star Wars 

So, that kind of thing....


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Ok,...so I can't list any by name but I always enjoy it when it night at the pops or something like that and you've got the season tickets anyway so, yeah...fun to watch and enjoyable to listen to but me no very familiar.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I really like Briitsh Light Classical works. I got a CD of it that said Volume One, but I never found a Volume 2. Leroy Anderson is great too.


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

Warsaw Concerto - Addinsell
Spellbound Concerto - Rosza
Mississippi Suite - Grofe
Cowboys Overture - Williams
The Rievers - Williams


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

Saint-Saens. Bacchanale from Samson et Delilah
Prokofiev. Knights Dance
? March of the Little Lead Soldiers
Waldteufel. Skaters waltz
Overtures to: Merry Widow, Bartered Bride, Midsummer Nights Dream, Figaro, William Tell, Candide, 
March Slav
Chabrier Espana
Wei Berger. Polka and Fugue from Schwanda
Gounaud. Waltz from Faust
Academic festival overture
Egmont overture
Leroy Anderson anything
almost any Broadway medley
Suppe. Light cavalry overture etc.
Schoenberg. String Quartet No. 4
Til Eulenspiegel, Don Juan, Waltz sequence from Der Rosenkavalier
Kodaly. Galanta Dances, Hary Janos suite
Rodrigo. Concierto de aranjuaz
Britten Young Persons Guide
Berlioz overtures to Corsair, Beatrice et Benedic, Benvenuro Cellini, Royal Hunt and Storm, queen mab scherzo
Mendelssohn. Hebrides Overture, "Italian" Symphony
Maxwell Davies. Orkney Weddiing with Sunrise
Adams. Short ride in a fast machine
Wagner. Meistersinger Overture, Dance of the Apprentices
Rozsa Entrance of the Charioteers
. . .


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

There was a long-running show on BBC radio called "Your Hundred Best Tunes".
Wikipedia lists the 100 chosen by poll in 2003: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Hundred_Best_Tunes


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Alexander Borodin - In the Steppes of Central Asia
Johan Halvorsen - Entry of the Boyars
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Mlada: Cortage (Procession of the Nobles)
Julius Fučík - Entrance of the Gladiators
Sergei Prokofiev - Love for Three Oranges: March
Jeremiah Clarke - Trumpet Voluntary
Amilcare Ponchielli - La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours
Manuel de Falla - El Amor Brujo: Danza ritual del fuego
Ethelbert Nevin - Water Scenes (Op. 13) No. 4 Narcissus
Juventino Rosas - Sobre las Olas (Over the Waves)
Arturo Márquez - Danzón No. 2


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

Also Prokofiev. Classical Symphony, Lt. Kije, march from Love for Three Oranges, Peter and the Wolf


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

What exactly is the definition of a pops work?


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

brianvds said:


> What exactly is the definition of a pops work?


I'd define it one way as a piece of classical music that someone who might claim to know nothing about classical music would recognise, often because it's been used in an advert, TV or movie. This doesn't cover all such works, and I suppose in recent years classical music doesn't get used that way so much and the pieces might not be so recognisable.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

brianvds said:


> What exactly is the definition of a pops work?


Also used to be called "light classics." Works that in the U.S. would be played at concerts by the Boston Pops etc. for audiences wanting entertainment more than serious fare (often with refreshments) to bridge between the serious winter concert season and summer festivals. Kind of an institutionalized Vienna New Years concert but with a wider variety of music. Music that was often liked / recognized / or could be counted upon to be minimally disliked by people who weren't necessarily hard core classical audiences.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

GGluek said:


> could be counted upon to be minimally disliked


Oh, I like that one!


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Let's revive this old thread. It's inspiring


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

classical poptimism!

I am totally not too up my rear end to resist Rossini overtures and orchestral excerpts.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

The 4-th movement from Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor - Ode to Joy.

Just heard it as a children's performance on our school meeting :-D


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

(number of views: 243,558,424 / 30 Jan 2011)




(number of views: 103,996,777 / date of upload: 5 Mar 2009)




(number of views: 112,823,031 / date of upload: 22 Dec 2010)




(number of views: 199,575,210 / date of upload: 19 Jun 2013)


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)




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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

science said:


> Faure: Pie Jesu, from Requiem


I almost got offended by the inclusion of this. This is certainly not "pops" material for me. If I`ll have to name a Fauré piece it would be _Pavane_. Things like BWV 565 and the excerpts from the Orchestral Suites are probably my favourite pops works. Also, I generally enjoy "cowpat" works.


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

When I saw the topic title I thought about some fun commisions by the Boston Pops

Peter Schickele as PDQ Bach.






Henry Mancini






Peter Maxwell Davies






Walter Piston


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

geralmar said:


>


I remember this for two thing, one a new member want to know what it was. 
Two it was broadcast on the radio not so long on Belgium radio and they has complains that it 's not `Classical` so it should not be played at the classical channel.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Nobuo Uematsu


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

brianvds said:


> What exactly is the definition of a pops work?


Really - mostly what I'm seeing posted are mainline concert works....
A "Pops" piece that I always enjoyed was "Pops Hoedown" by Newt Wayland....originally written for Fiedler/Boston Pops...funny, and clever...
It had a whole section for percussion - everything plus the kitchen sink...great to watch the percussionists racing around to different stations to play the right instruments....it also had a challenging mallet solo (based on Turkey in the Straw) which was pretty tough...i heard some pretty hotshot percussionists fall on their faces sight-reading @ rehearsal....

I also enjoy Leroy Anderson "Irish Suite" or "Irish Medley"...well-written, well-orchestrated...always an audience favorite...


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Highwayman said:


> I almost got offended by the inclusion of this. This is certainly not "pops" material for me. If I`ll have to name a Fauré piece it would be _Pavane_. Things like BWV 565 and the excerpts from the Orchestral Suites are probably my favourite pops works. Also, I generally enjoy "cowpat" works.


I don't disrespect any of these works. I created this thread to try to get around people's hesitancy to discuss them, because I wanted to learn about more of them.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Me too.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Are we discussing what were referred to as "Light Classics" [Dvorak Slavonic Dances, Brahms Hungarian Dances, Strauss waltzes, etc?? or "Pops" pieces, which usually means a more "popular" or commercial vein, like Broadway show tunes, medleys, jazz, even rock or gospel pieces, which are featured on orchestra "pops" programs??
just curious, because many of the works I see listed are hardly "Pops" pieces, in my long experience.


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## Xenophiliu (Jan 2, 2022)

Symphony 5 1/2: A Symphony for Fun by Don Gillis came immediately to mind. Any of his orchestral music is quite populous pleasing, including his 10 symphonies.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Heck148 said:


> Are we discussing what were referred to as "Light Classics" [Dvorak Slavonic Dances, Brahms Hungarian Dances, Strauss waltzes, etc?? or "Pops" pieces, which usually means a more "popular" or commercial vein, like Broadway show tunes, medleys, jazz, even rock or gospel pieces, which are featured on orchestra "pops" programs??
> just curious, because many of the works I see listed are hardly "Pops" pieces, in my long experience.


I, who exhumed this thread, am interested in light classic.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

BBSVK said:


> I, who exhumed this thread, am interested in light classic.


Try to find these Hyperion gems:










That's the box, they had been issued as four separate CD's before that. Also:


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

The Readers Digest, really RCA, "A Celebration of Light Classical Music" (still in print, remarkably) are really good too, though some of the choices are questionably "light" (La Valse?) 


You even get the entire Eine Kleine Nachtmusick too, and not just the first movement!


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

fbjim said:


> Eine Kleine Nachtmusick


Ironically that one is nowhere near as popular as the most popular (Vivaldi 4S, Mozart Req, Beethoven 9th, Chopin Op.9/2) on youtube (the video with the highest number of views for that work has only 8.4 million views). It's important to point out, there was no distinction between "popular music" and "music for intellectuals" in Mozart's time, at least that's how he understood music; he wouldn't have had any problem calling his string quartets/quintets, for example, "divertimenti for string quartet/quintet". There may have been greater maturity in the late works, but he would still have wanted them to be appreciated by as many people as possible.


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## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

hammeredklavier said:


> It's important to point out, there was no distinction between "popular music" and "music for intellectuals" in Mozart's time, at least that's how he understood music; he wouldn't have had any problem calling his string quartets/quintets, for example, "divertimenti for string quartet/quintet". There may have been greater maturity in the late works, but he would still have wanted them to be appreciated by as many people as possible.


Thanks.

In few words, "pops" dont' exist. There is however a style of music called "pop", whose quality goes from trash to very good.

This for example is pop.


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

"Pops" is a repertoire. It does exist but in the modern context of concert performance, which can include certain classical/romantic period works like EKM or a Rossini overture.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

science said:


> I don't disrespect any of these works. I created this thread to try to get around people's hesitancy to discuss them, because I wanted to learn about more of them.


It seems, a lot of the energy in this thread goes into discussing what "pops" means and if it is a justified cathegory. Would you maybe consider changing the name of the thread to "light classic" or "classical music easy to like" or something like that ? No pressure, it's your thread...

I can make my own, even though it will be a little redundant.

I am looking for an inspiration here, what to entice my children with, they are 4 and 7.
I certainly do not look down on this music (I know you don't as well). On the contrary, I regret not knowing enough of it.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Pops concerts certainly exist. Maybe go back and see what was programmed.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

BBSVK said:


> It seems, a lot of the energy in this thread goes into discussing what "pops" means and if it is a justified cathegory. Would you maybe consider changing the name of the thread to "light classic" or "classical music easy to like" or something like that ? No pressure, it's your thread...
> 
> I can make my own, even though it will be a little redundant.
> 
> ...


The difference between pops and light classical doesn't matter very much to me, but I hope you will feel free to do whatever you want. Your thread might get different responses than mine did.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

science said:


> The difference between pops and light classical doesn't matter very much to me, but I hope you will feel free to do whatever you want. Your thread might get different responses than mine did.


On the second thought, maybe this "controversy" is keeping the thread alive.

For other examples, I have remembered:

Georges Bizet: L' Arlesienne suite
Verdi: ballet music from Aida
Saint Saens: Carnival of Animals
Saint Saens: Dance macabre

Btw, it is interesting, that Saint Saens was hiding some of his easily likable pieces from the world and waited for a long time for releasing them. The Carnival of animals was released after his death only. He was concearned, that people would not take him seriously and/or he could not handle the fame.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

quack said:


> Amilcare Ponchielli - La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours


I was about to add this but this fine person has beaten me to it.


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## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

BBSVK said:


> It seems, a lot of the energy in this thread goes into discussing what "pops" means and if it is a justified cathegory. Would you maybe consider changing the name of the thread to "light classic" or "classical music easy to like" or something like that ? No pressure, it's your thread...


What about "good classical music"?


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

HansZimmer said:


> What about "good classical music"?


Yes, but some good classical music I would not choose for kids or for somebody who is not used to classics. 

For instance, as a first opera for somebody, I would not choose Peleas et Melisande, even if I myself went to it 3 times in a row in my own town. I do not know, what would be a good example in instrumental... Maybe D minor symphony by Caesar Franck ? I was addicted to it, by my friend said she does not hear the melody there on the first listening.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

"Brahms even struggled to get to the Theater an der Wien in Vienna for the premiere of Strauss’s operetta Die Göttin der Vernunft in March 1897 before his death. Perhaps the greatest tribute that Brahms paid to Strauss was his remark that he would have given anything to have written The Blue Danube waltz. An old anecdote recounts that when Strauss’s wife Adele asked Brahms to autograph her fan, he wrote the first few notes of the “Blue Danube” waltz, and then wrote the words “Unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms!” underneath."


hammeredklavier said:


> Too "popular" to be considered objectively "great" or "profound", apparently, according to our "objectivist free-thinkers".


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

I'll go with the predictable:

*1812
Bolero
4 Seasons
The Planets
Brandenburgs
Rhapsody in Blue*


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