I would like to learn more about classical music and think it would be nice to have some kind of poll in the forum. I don't have time to run it myself... but I thought I should ask around if anyone else would participate in a classical music poll.

I even have an idea of how the poll could be done:
1. We somehow nominate 64(?) classical pieces, maybe simply by suggestions in a special thread for this.
2. Elimination rounds like the moderately acclaimed poll.

It's an excellent idear.
Maybe one suggestion. You can separate the classical poll music into 3 or 4 undersections : orchestral music, chamber music and instrumental section (maybe one more for the lyric section). With honesty, how compare for example, the full 9th symphony of Beethoven with one little peace of piano music exerpt from a complete cycle (étude n°2 of Chopin for example)?

great ideas... both of them!

Verry interesting, Henrik.

I think careful planning will be required, for a number of reasons. Classical music doesn’t really lend itself to listomania the way pop does; as Romain notes, we’re talking about comparing pieces that might be the length of a pop song to some that are hours—sometimes many, many hours—long.

Also, as with pop music, I think it’s important to correct for era bias. Acclaimed Music does a pretty good job of making sure music from 1965-72 doesn’t swamp everything else; I hope a classical poll wouldn’t focus exclusively on music from 1750-1910 (although I’m sure music from that timeframe would take up the lion’s share).

I also like Romain’s idea of splitting the poll into “undersections”…however, um, shouldn’t there be one for opera? I figure 16 (32?) symphonies, 16 chamber pieces, 16 operas and 16 miscellaneous pieces is a nice balance…

Oh, what the hell…I’m at work, and my job is writing about opera, so I can take a few minutes to do this with a clear conscience. Here’s a first crack at schleuse’s list of:

THE TOP 16 OPERAS

Monteverdi, The Coronation of Poppea (1642)
Mozart, Don Giovanni (1787)
Mozart, The Magic Flute (1791)
Rossini, The Barber of Seville (1816)
Verdi, Rigoletto (1851)
Wagner, Tristan and Isolde (1865)
Mussorgsky, Boris Godunov (1874)
Bizet, Carmen (1876)
Wagner, Parsifal (1882)
Verdi, Otello (1887)
Puccini, La bohème (1896)
Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier (1911)
Berg, Wozzeck (1925)
Gershwin, Porgy & Bess (1935)
Britten, Peter Grimes (1945)
Adams, Nixon in China (1987)

I limited myself to one per composer, with special dispensations for one extra opera for each of the three greatest opera composers of all time: Mozart, Verdi and Wagner.

I also arbitrarily decided to disqualify Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung, because: a) it’s 15 hours long, which hardly seems fair to the rest, and b) I don’t think it makes sense to pull out one opera and ignore the other three. But the Ring—yes, the whole enchilada—is my favorite operatic work of all time (although I’ve only experienced it on DVD and CD). In fact, I think it’s neck-and-neck between the Ring and the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays for the finest artistic production in European history.

(Yes, yes, I realize Wagner was a shit.)

Another possible breakdown is by era:

Baroque
Classical
Romantic
Modern

Maybe apply this breakdown into the other categories (4 from each era for symphonies, for example).

Regardless if this makes sense, how do we ever come to consensus on the 64? I'd love to see some peoples' personal lists, even if it's not part of the final process.

That's an interesting idea, sonofsamiam. What about this:

1740 and earlier
1741-1820
1821-1900
1901-present

Can't leave out all those Renaissance symphonies, y'know...

Wow, schleuse! Is this the first list posted in the forum by a professional critic?

As already said, I want to learn more and I leave the planning with a warm hand to you experts. I'm happy as long as Satie's Gymnopedie No. 1 and Barber's Adagio for Strings can be part of the game!

I totally agree with this cutting. Maybe a top 20 in each categories in each era ?!

Thanks, Henrik, but no, it isn't. First, I'm pretty sure that other posters have had some paying gigs as critics. Second, and more crucially, I'm not actually a critic...I write grant proposals and magazine articles (not reviews) for an opera company.

I've educated myself pretty thoroughly about opera over the last ten years or so, and I love it, but I don't pretend to be any more than a dilettante, and I certainly have blind spots and biases, which are reflected in my list.

About classical music other than opera, I know much, much less...the lack of the theatrical element is an obstacle for me. But I'd like to learn.