David Hurwitz

[71 dB]

The only work I'd take issue with so far is Finlandia.  Wonderful opening, full of portent, but it then becomes just a tub-thumping potboiler.

I am not a fan of Sibelius even if I am a Finn (I have my own problems with Sibelius), but one needs to consider the circumstances in which Finlandia was written. It is very important piece of music for us Finns. What I learned from Hurwitz is that the composition was used as the national anthem of Biafra during its attempted secession from Nigeria in the late 1960s.

And so easily remedied: Night-Ride and Sunrise, instead.

That is a fine Sibelius work indeed, but I am sure only a small fraction of us Finns have even heard it or knows it exists.

[Roasted Swan]

This kind of list is always impossible to create.  My only thought is if it is going to be a kind of "History of Western Music" thing then perhaps the sequence should be a key work from each era from Renaissance (or Medieval) right up to contemporary.  The list as currently offered seems pretty narrow in terms of historical periods/styles.  This feels more like a "Classical Pops" list (nothing wrong with that per se) rather than really building an overview of CM through the ages....

[71 dB]

This kind of list is always impossible to create.  My only thought is if it is going to be a kind of "History of Western Music" thing then perhaps the sequence should be a key work from each era from Renaissance (or Medieval) right up to contemporary.  The list as currently offered seems pretty narrow in terms of historical periods/styles.  This feels more like a "Classical Pops" list (nothing wrong with that per se) rather than really building an overview of CM through the ages....

It is a "How to build a basic classical music collection" list. It is far from done. I don't know how many works Hurwitz is planning to include on it, but I believe it is several dozens if not 100 works. If a newbie starts to build a basic collection of classical music from scratch, it makes much more sense to start with works such as Beethoven's 5th Symphony rather than say Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli or Pärt's Fratres.

When this list has 20 entries, it makes more sense to evaluate how well it tries to covers the cornucopia named classical music.

[71 dB]

After symphonies, concertos and smaller scale orchestral works, Hurwitz moves to vocal music:

10. Handel - Messiah

[Daverz]

I am not a fan of Sibelius even if I am a Finn (I have my own problems with Sibelius), but one needs to consider the circumstances in which Finlandia was written. It is very important piece of music for us Finns. What I learned from Hurwitz is that the composition was used as the national anthem of Biafra during its attempted secession from Nigeria in the late 1960s.

That is a fine Sibelius work indeed, but I am sure only a small fraction of us Finns have even heard it or knows it exists.

Oh, I don't doubt the cultural significance, just how it holds up (for me at least) as a home listening experience. 

How about Tapiola?

[Karl Henning]

Oh, I don't doubt the cultural significance, just how it holds up (for me at least) as a home listening experience. 

How about Tapiola?

Even better.