Monday, January 2, 2023

Another Countdown

On Sirius XM Channel 76, "Symphony Hall," they are doing a countdown of the top classical music pieces of all time.  Here are numbers 15 through 10:

15.  Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings
14.  Frederic Chopin, 24 Preludes
13.  (I missed this one)
12.  Johann Strauss II, The Blue Danube
11.  Hector Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique
10.  George Frideric Handel, Royal Fireworks Music

We are now listening to number 9:  Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor.  This piece is absolutely glorious, and I strongly recommend it.

59 comments:

  1. Number 8: Ludwig von Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight)

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  2. Dvorak's "New World" Symphony was Number 29.

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  3. Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" was Number 28.

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  4. Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major was number 26.

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  5. Number 7: Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 3 in F major. I don't listen to this one very often, so it's a nice change.

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    1. This is a fine symphony, but it shouldn't be ranked this high.

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  6. I think it's a shame that Tulane didn't get to play in the Sugar Bowl, which would have been a lot of fun for their students and fans.

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  7. Number 6: Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring. The announcer tells us that this title comes from a poem by Hart Crane called "The Dance."

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    1. There are pieces of classical music that I find superior to "Appalachian Spring," but there is none that I enjoy more and probably none that I listen to more.

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  8. Personally, I think they should still play the Cotton Bowl at the Cotton Bowl.

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  9. This is the first time Tulane has played in one of the major bowl games since January 1, 1940, when Texas A & M beat Tulane 14-13 in the Sugar Bowl.

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  10. On January 1, 1932, USC beat Tulane 21-12 to win the Rose Bowl.

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  11. Here's how teams outside the Power-5 (and Notre Dame) have done since we went to the New Years' Six Bowl system:

    2014: Boise St. 38, Arizona 30 (Fiesta Bowl)
    2015: Houston 38, Florida St. 24 (Peach Bowl)
    2016: Wisconsin 24, W. Michigan 16 (Cotton Bowl)
    2017: Central Florida 34, Auburn 27 (Peach Bowl)
    2018: Louisiana St. 40, Central Florida 32 (Fiesta Bowl)
    2019: Penn St. 53, Memphis 39 (Cotton Bowl)
    2020: Georgia 24, Cincinnati 21 (Peach Bowl)
    2021: Alabama 27, Cincinnati 6 (Cotton Bowl) (Playoff Semi-Final)

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  12. Number 5: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter). This is the last symphony Mozart wrote, completed on August 10, 1788.

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  13. I'm pretty sure that Alabama should have played Southern Cal in the Cotton Bowl, and that Tulane should have hosted Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl.

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    1. Or maybe not. Tulane and USC are tied at 14 in the second quarter. This isn't a good year for me to be commenting on the bowls.

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    2. The bowls are a lot more entertaining when I don't know what's going to happen next.

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  14. Number 4: Franz Schubert: String Quintet in C Major. This piece was composed in 1828 and completed only two months before the composer's death at the age of 31.

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    1. I am not very familiar with this work, which is a failure on my part, but I've never spent much time listening to chamber music.

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    2. This piece is fine, but I'm just not a big chamber music guy.

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  15. RG3 doing color commentary for the Cotton Bowl. They seem to like him at ESPN, and I hope he does well -- he has always seemed like a great guy.

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  16. Number 3: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor. Now this is more like it.

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  17. Number 2: Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 in D minor ("Choral"). This is, of course, the greatest piece of music ever written, and should be number one on every list.

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    1. It's also an amazing piece to watch. You see the orchestra, and then behind the orchestra there's this huge choir -- and microphones for four soloists. And then, for almost an hour, none of the singers does anything. So you wait, and you wait, and you wonder -- what is he holding those singers for? And in the end, of course, you find out.

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  18. Oh, my. Tulane was down 45-30 late in the fourth quarter. Then they got a touchdown to make it 45-37. Then they got a SAFETY to make it 45-39, and that meant that they also got the ball. Now they have a 1st and 10 at their 46 with 1:08 left.

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  19. The other day I was listening to Rick Neuheisel on the radio, and he made a comment to the effect that the rules in college football favor the offense. I don't know what he meant -- I've always assumed that the difference between college offenses and pro offenses related to the relative talent on both sides of the ball. But if the rules favor the offense, that would make sense.

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  20. Meanwhile, Tulane faces 4th and 10 from the 46 with 34 seconds left.

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  21. COMPLETE! Tulane has a first down at the USC 30. They spike the ball with 22 seconds left.

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  22. COMPLETE! Tulane has a first and goal at the USC 6. The play is under review for targeting, as the USC guy made a helmet-to-helmet tackle. 17 seconds left.

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  23. Number 1: Johann Sebastian Bach, Mass in B minor. I don't think I've ever heard this piece all the way through.

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  24. INCOMPLETE! Second and goal from the USC 6. 12 seconds left. Caleb Williams looks ill on the USC sideline.

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  25. INCOMPLETE! On TV it looked like a catch, but the official ruled otherwise! AND WE'RE GOING TO A REVIEW!! If it's a catch, then Tulane has the lead.

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  26. Caleb Williams looks as unhappy as I would look if I'd given my team a 45-30 lead with 4:30 left, and they managed to lose.

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  27. THE CALL IS REVERSED! IT'S A TOUCHDOWN!!! We're tied at 45 and Tulane is kicking the extra point with 9 seconds left.

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  28. THE KICK IS GOOD! TULANE HAS SCORED 16 POINTS IN THE LAST FOUR MINUTES AND THIRTY SECONDS. The Green Wave leads 46-45 with 9 seconds left.

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  29. USC can't do anything in the last 9 seconds, and TULANE WINS THE COTTON BOWL, 46 TO 45!

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  30. So here's where the bowls stand:

    Orange: Tennessee
    Sugar: Alabama
    Cotton: Tulane
    Fiesta: Texas Christian
    Peach: Georgia

    That just leaves the Rose Bowl, which features Utah and Penn State.

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  31. What a great Bowl Season! Hooray for Football!

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  32. The SEC finished strong. Mississippi State won the former Outback Bowl, beating Illinois 19-10. LSU hammered Purdue in the Citrus Bowl, 63-7.

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  33. So the SEC, which started off 1-4 in the Bowl Season, finished with a record of 6-5.

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  34. If we focus only on the 10 teams that belonged to the SEC when I was a kid, those teams went 5-3, and won the Sugar, Orange, Peach, Citrus, and Outback Bowls.

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  35. Meanwhile, the former Southwest Conference went 4-4, winning the Fiesta, Liberty, Texas, and Independence Bowls.

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  36. The former Big 8 went 0-5, as Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State all lost their bowl games.

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  37. The former ACC went 3-3, winning the Duke's Mayo, Military, and Gasparilla Bowls. In fact the Duke's Mayo Bowl was an all-former ACC affair, as Maryland beat N.C. State.

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  38. The former Big 10 went 3-4, winning the Music City, Pinstripe, and Guaranteed Rate Bowls.

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  39. Finally, the former Pac 10 went 3-3, winning the Alamo, Holiday, and Las Vegas Bowls.

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  40. And that's it. Now we can watch Utah (of the old Mountain West Conference) play Penn State (a former independent) play for the Rose Bowl.

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  41. If you use the old conferences, here's how the six major bowls finished:

    Rose: Utah (MWC) or Penn State (Independent)
    Sugar: Alabama (SEC)
    Orange: Tennessee (SEC)
    Cotton: Tulane (Independent)
    Fiesta: Texas Christian (SWC)
    Peach: Georgia (SEC)

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    1. Penn State wins the Rose Bowl 35-21. So using the old conferences, the six major bowls finished like this:

      Rose: Penn State (Independent)
      Sugar: Alabama (SEC)
      Orange: Tennessee (SEC)
      Cotton: Tulane (Independent)
      Fiesta: Texas Christian (SWC)
      Peach: Georgia (SEC)

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  42. Also, under the old system, as the last unbeaten team after the bowl games Georgia wins the National Championship. Congratulations to the Bulldogs.

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  43. Now I'm listening to "Requiem for the Living," a 2013 piece by Dan Forrest. I strongly recommend it.

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  44. OK, that gets my year off to a good start. Now it's back to Nirvana.

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  45. This was an interesting mix of items going on at the same time. Maybe I'll search this out and try and give some of the stuff a listen. What would be your own top 10?

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    1. 1. Beethoven 9
      2. Beethoven 7
      3. Dvorak New World
      4. Scheherazade
      5. Rhapsody in Blue
      6. Brahms 4
      7. Beethoven 5
      8. Vaughan Williams 2
      9. Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto 1
      10. Brahms Requiem

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    2. You should really try "Requiem for the Living." Also the Requiem by John Rutter. They're both great.

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    3. Anymore my go to classical music is something by Stravinsky. When my daughter was young we were watching a lot of ballets and a few of them we really liked were by Stravinsky and so I started listening to him more. Here are 10 for me in no order. Mostly what we listened to growing up and then all the ballets I really enjoyed. If I could see one thing performed I would like to see a production of The Soldier's Tale. Of course the piece I've listened to the most in my life is Peter and the Wolf.

      1. Pictures at an Exhibition (either piano or orchestra)
      2. Pines of Rome
      3. Scheherazade
      4. New World Symphony
      5. Russian Easter Overture
      6. The Firebird: Ballet
      7. The Soldier's Tale
      8. Debussy Etudes (No. 1 in particular)
      9. Swan Lake
      10. The Rite of Spring or Petrushka



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