Let's Screw Up KUSC's Top 100 Countdown!

[Modernistfan]

KUSC-FM, the Los Angeles classical radio station that I love to hate, is having a Top 100 Countdown. I would love to get back at them for their programming, and you can vote for three selections once a day. There is a list of the usual suspects (for their programming), including Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the Pachelbel Canon, the Four Seasons, and so forth, but it is possible to write in selections. I have picked, more or less at random, three modern works, and shall vote for them every day until April 24 (I think) on two different computers. The works are Pierre Boulez's "Le Marteau Sans Maitre," Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Gruppen," and the Hans Werner Henze Symphony No. 7. I would like those of us on CMG who appreciate modern music and can't stand their wimpy programming to go to their website and write in these three selections. (There are multiple recordings readily available of each of these works.) They would bust a gut if those works finished in the Top 100 and they actually had to play them (I suspect, however, that those works would not be played no matter how many votes were written in for them; as I have commented previously, their record for transparency is not, shall we say, outstanding).

[Beckmesser]

VOTE EARLY; VOTE OFTEN.

[Modernistfan]

As they used to say in Boston: "Vote often and early for James Michael Curley!" Many years ago, in the fan voting for the National League in the baseball All-Star Game, the Cincinnati fans managed to stack the voting so that, for the eight position players (the pitchers were chosen by the manager), there were seven Reds players and Stan Musial. Go to it!

[Modernistfan]

Well, all the votes are in and (supposedly) counted and the Top 100 have been posted. Here they are:

​100. Williams: Theme from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”

99. Beethoven: Piano Sonata #8 “Pathetique”

98. Rossini: William Tell: Overture

97. Ravel: Pavane for a Dead Princess

96. Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez

95. Lauridsen: O magnum mysterium

94. Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5

93. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto

92. Borodin: Polovetsian Dances

91. Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze

90. Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

89. Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man

88. Chopin: Piano Concerto #1

87. Morricone: The Mission: Gabriel’s Oboe

86. Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

85. Tchaikovsky: Symphony #4

84. Copland: Hoe Down

83. Tchaikovsky: Symphony #6

82. Stravinsky: The Firebird

81. Khachaturian: Spartacus: Adagio

80. Sibelius: Symphony #2

79. Mozart: Symphony #25

78. Dvorak: Cello Concerto

77. Bernstein: West Side Story Symphonic Dances

76. Brahms: Piano Concerto #1

75. Bach: Goldberg Variations

74. Satie: Gymnopedies

73. Anonymous: Romance for Guitar

72. Barry: Theme from “Out of Africa”

71. Wagner: Die Valkure: Ride of the Valkyries

70. Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night’s Dream

69. Bach: Air on the G String

68. Mozart: Clarinet Concerto

67. Brahms: Symphony #4

66. Borodin: String Quartet #2: Nocturne

65. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker

64. Mozart: Magic Flute

63. Brahms: Symphony #3

62. Rachmaninoff: Symphony #2

61. Bach: Mass in b minor

60. Boccherini: Night Music on the Streets of Madrid

59. Elgar: Enigma Variations

58. Faure: Requiem

57. Handel: Water Music

56. Grieg: Peer Gynt

55. Beethoven: Violin Concerto

54. Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

53. Gershwin: An American in Paris

52. Beethoven: Fur Elise

51. Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins

50. Mozart: Marriage of Figaro

49. Bizet: Carmen

48. Dvorak: String Quartet #12 “American”

47. Beethoven: Symphony #3 “Eroica”

46. Strauss, R: Der Rosenkavalier

45. Williams: Theme from “Star Wars”

44. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3

43. Schubert: Symphony #8 “Unfinished”

42. Grieg: Piano Concerto

41. Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia

40. Bach: Cello Suite #1

39. Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

38. Ravel: Bolero

37. Mozart: Piano Concerto #21

36. Beethoven: Piano Sonata #14 “Moonlight”

35. Orff: Carmina Burana

34. Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

33. Bach: Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring

32. Smetana: The Moldau

31. Mozart: Symphony #41 “Jupiter”

30. Massenet: Thais: Meditation

29. Copland: Appalachian Spring

28. Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture

27. Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

26. Mozart: Requiem

25. Barber: Adagio for Strings

24. Handel: Messiah

23. Saint-Saens: Symphony #3 “Organ”

22. Mozart: Symphony #40

21. Sibelius: Finlandia

20. Berlioz: Requiem

19. Debussy: Clair de Lune

18. Bach: Toccata & Fugue in d minor

17. Holst: The Planets

16. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos

15. Pachelbel: Canon

14. Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1

13. Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending

12. Vivaldi: Four Seasons

11. Rachmaninoff: Paganini Rhapsody

10. Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 “Emperor”

9. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto

8. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #2

7. Beethoven: Symphony #7

6. Dvorak: Symphony #9 “From the New World”

5. Vaughan Williams: Tallis Fantasy

4. Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

3. Beethoven: Symphony #6 “Pastoral”

2. Beethoven: Symphony #5

1. Beethoven: Symphony #9

Well, as you can see, the Boulez, Stockhausen, and Henze didn't make it. If this is accurate, it is surprising as to how conservative their audience really is, and this in a town that has a long history, going back to the 1940's, of contemporary music. The only Stravinsky was "Firebird"; no "Rite of Spring" in a town where the Los Angeles Philharmonic has played the work very frequently. No Prokofiev, not even "Romeo and Juliet." No Shostakovich, Bartok, or Hindemith. No John Adams, a Los Angeles favorite and a Dudamel favorite.
Well, it's not as bad as trying to write in Trotsky in a Stalinist Russian election circa 1938. That would definitely have been: "See you in Siberia!"

[maestrob]

Wow! No Mahler or Bruckner either, in this age of short attention spans. Yikes! I also would have thought John Adams's "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" would have made the list as well, given how often it's played. I've seen it twice on TV, once with Masur/NY Philh. and once with Zinman/Baltimore in the 1987 New Year's concert in Baltimore.

[jbuck919]

O magnum mysterium indeed. Obviously Rosenkavalier made the list before it became known that it put Al Roker to sleep.

[Modernistfan]

They are doing the Top 100 again. If you are disgusted with KUSC's wimpy, boring, anodyne programming, please write in the following works for the Top 100: Henze: Symphony #6; Stockhausen: Gruppen; and Boulez: Le Marteau Sans Maitre. Let's try to get at least one of those works in the Top 100 and see if they will actually play it (of course, they will probably stuff the ballot box with enough votes for the Pachelbel Canon, the Albinoni Adagio (which he didn't write), Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," and Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" to keep the scary modernist interlopers out). You can vote once a day (but if you vote from separate computers or tablets, you can vote once a day from each of those devices). As they used to say in Boston, "Vote Often and Early for James Michael Curley!"

[jbuck919]

the Albinoni Adagio (which he didn't write)

Well, what did he do to it? (Currently working on my Ode to the Passive Voice, you see.)

[Modernistfan]

​Well, here is the result from the Top 100 Countdown this year:

​1. Beethoven: Symphony #9
2. Beethoven: Symphony #5
3. Beethoven: Symphony #7
4. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
5. Beethoven: Symphony #6 “Pastoral”
6. Dvorak: Symphony #9 “From the New World”
7. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #2
8. Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
9. Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 “Emperor”
10. Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
11. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos
12. Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
13. Ravel: Bolero
14. Vaughan Williams: Tallis Fantasy
15. Vivaldi: Four Seasons
16. Bach: Toccata & Fugue in d minor
17. Holst: The Planets
18. Barber: Adagio for Strings
19. Mozart: Symphony #40
20. Copland: Appalachian Spring
21. Smetana: The Moldau
22. Pachelbel: Canon
23. Beethoven: Piano Sonata #14 “Moonlight”
24. Debussy: Clair de Lune
25. Handel: Messiah
26. Rachmaninoff: Paganini Rhapsody
27. Bach: Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring
28. Saint-Saens: Symphony #3 “Organ”
29. Mozart: Requiem
30. Williams: Theme from “Star Wars”
31. Beethoven: Violin Concerto
32. Orff: Carmina Burana
33. Grieg: Piano Concerto
34. Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia
35. Sibelius: Finlandia
36. Mozart: Marriage of Figaro
37. Mozart: Clarinet Concerto
38. Beethoven: Symphony #3 “Eroica”
39. Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1
40. Elgar: Enigma Variations
41. Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
42. Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture
43. Dvorak: Cello Concerto
44. Mozart: Magic Flute
45. Bernstein: West Side Story Symphonic Dances
46. Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
47. Grieg: Peer Gynt
48. Satie: Gymnopedies
49. Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
50. Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
51. Bach: Goldberg Variations
52. Handel: Water Music
53. Albinoni: Adagio in g minor
54. Bach: Mass in b minor
55. Mozart: Piano Concerto #21
56. Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins
57. Mahler: Symphony #5: Adagietto
58. Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
59. Anonymous: Romance for Guitar
60. Massenet: Thais: Meditation
61. Strauss, Richard: Der Rosenkavalier
62. Wagner: Die Valkure: Ride of the Valkyries
63. Bach: Cello Suite #1
64. Bernstein: Candide Overture
65. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3
66. Williams: Theme from “Jurassic Park”
67. Mozart: Symphony #41 “Jupiter”
68. Bach: Air on the G String
69. Chopin: Piano Concerto #1
70. Shostakovich: Jazz Suite: Waltz
71. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
72. Khachaturian: Spartacus: Adagio
73. Brahms: German Requiem
74. Rossini: William Tell: Overture
75. Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze
76. Schubert: “Trout” Quintet
77. Faure: Requiem
78. Bizet: Carmen
79. Brahms: Symphony #3
80. Boccherini: Night Music on the Streets of Madrid
81. Brahms: Symphony #4
82. Stravinsky: The Firebird
83. Lauridsen: O magnum mysterium
84. Tchaikovsky: Symphony #4
85. Rachmaninoff: Symphony #2
86. Wagner: Tannhauser: Festmarsch
87. Sibelius: Symphony #2
88. Chopin: Piano Concerto #2
89. Delibes: Lakme: Flower Duet
90. Mendelssohn, Felix: Violin Concerto
91. Beethoven: Fur Elise
92. Puccini: Turandot: Nessun Dorma
93. Mozart: Piano Concerto #20
94. Mendelssohn, Felix: Midsummer Night’s Dream
95. Morricone: Cinema Paradiso: The Love Theme
96. Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
97. Brahms: Violin Concerto
98. Mozart: Don Giovanni
99. Williams: Theme from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
100. Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

For someone who likes contemporary music, it is pretty depressing. The only Mahler is the "Adagietto"" from the Fifth Symphony (they never play the work in its entirety). The only Shostakovich is the waltz from the Second Jazz Suite (apparently it was used in Kubrick's film "Eyes Wide Shut," and they never bother to play the entire suite. No Prokofiev, even the Classical Symphony or "Romeo and Juliet." No Bartok, Hindemith, Britten, or Walton. No works by women composers or composers of color. No John Adams, who is a big favorite in Los Angeles, not even "The Chairman Dances" or "Short Ride in a Fast Machine." The only Stravinsky is "The Firebird," which is only played in short excerpts. Of course, we know what happened to my votes for Boulez, Stockhausen, and Henze; they went into the same wastebasket where Stalin tossed any write-in votes for Trotsky for the Supreme Soviet (the only difference is that I am not headed for Siberia). (I have to be grateful for small favors, i.e., that Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" barely managed to make the list, even though they generally only play the "Un Bal" movement and almost never the "radical" last two movements ("March to the Scaffold" and "Dream of the Witches' Sabbath").

[Rach3]

IF you are a Henze fan, have a listen to his Piano Concerto # 2 on YT. I purchased the cd ; it grows on you.

I recall years ago a local , and very good , all - Classical local FM used to have a listener call-inon Friday afternoons Noon - 6pm when they would play listener requests, full-length. I requested the Prokofieff 6th Piano Sonata. They played the first mov. and then stopped, with the presenter making no mention of the fact the remaining movs. had not been played.