Interactive Sacred Choral Works Game (Voting Round)

[Marc]

Bach - Mass in B minor - 46
Bach - St. John Passion - 44
Bach - St. Matthew Passion - 52
Beethoven - Missa Solemnis - 42
Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem - 44
Bruckner - Mass no. 2 in E minor - 34

Haydn - Die Schöpfung (The Creation) - 45
Guillaume de Machaut - Messe de Nostre Dame - 44 (+3)
Monteverdi - Vespro della Beata Vergine - 53
Mozart - Great Mass in C minor - 60 (+3)
Rachmaninov - All-night Vigil - 52
Stravinsky - Threni - 44
Verdi - Requiem 46

Game over!

[San Antone]

I was surprised/disappointed by the results, too.  I would have liked to have seen the B Minor Mass and German Requiem garner more votes. 

But, hey, it's just a game and was fun.

[Florestan]

Oh, come on, guys! --- five of the greatest works ever penned are in top 5 and you are complaining... 

Otoh, poor Beethoven...

Sammy, may I suggest for the next game solo piano/keyboard works excluding sonatas (which should have their own game?)

[Karl Henning]

Oh, come on, guys! --- five of the greatest works ever penned are in top 5 and you are complaining... 

Otoh, poor Beethoven...

If he were less brutally rough on the voices in the Op.123 . . . .

[Draško]

The final standings:

1. Mozart - Great Mass in C minor - 60
2. Monteverdi - Vespro della Beata Vergine - 53
3. Bach - St. Matthew Passion - 52
3. Rachmaninov - All-night Vigil - 52
5. Bach - Mass in B minor - 46
5. Verdi - Requiem - 46
7. Haydn - Die Schöpfung (The Creation) - 45
8. Bach - St. John Passion - 44
8. Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem - 44
8. Machaut - Messe de Nostre Dame - 44
8. Stravinsky - Threni - 44
12. Beethoven - Missa Solemnis - 42
13. Bruckner - Mass no. 2 in E minor - 34

I'm pretty happy with first two, sorry that Machaut didn't make it a bit higher and that a few favorites never made it to the starting grid (Desprez, Frank Martin, French baroque in toto), but at least it's a less of an all German affair that was the Composers poll.

[Marc]

Apparently games like these are fun to play.

I love Mozart's KV 427 (and 626) since I listened to my dad's vinyl 2LP with both works conducted by Colin Davis.

The 'weakest link' of KV 427 is, IMHO, 'Et incarnatus est'. The melody is beautiful, but for the rest it's just a soprano doing vocal exercises as in any moderate opera seria aria, and it's going on far too long. It contrasts too much with the focused and concentrated composing of the rest of this great unfinished work.

(My tuppence worth of course.)

[Gurn Blanston]

Nice game, Sammy. Looks pretty well fair all around.

I agree with Florestan: a game of solo piano works -sonatas would be a fun one.

PS - I liked your old scoring system better, but this one is OK too.

[Jo498]

Apparently games like these are fun to play.

I love Mozart's KV 427 (and 626) since I listened to my dad's vinyl 2LP with both works conducted by Colin Davis.

The 'weakest link' of KV 427 is, IMHO, 'Et incarnatus est'. The melody is beautiful, but for the rest it's just a soprano doing vocal exercises as in any moderate opera seria aria, and it's going on far too long. It contrasts too much with the focused and concentrated composing of the rest of this great unfinished work.

(My tuppence worth of course.)

I love the incarnatus although I agree that it is too long. K 427 is a fascinating but by no means flawless piece because of its odd mixture of Handel/Bach pastiche, opera seria and genuine amalgamation into something Mozartean. It deserves somewhat more recognition (it seems to be overshadowed by the Requiem) but I am surprised that it won that game here because it is a fragment and not without problems.

[San Antone]

Nice game, Sammy. Looks pretty well fair all around.

I agree with Florestan: a game of solo piano works -sonatas would be a fun one.

PS - I liked your old scoring system better, but this one is OK too.

I also prefer the old scoring system - and a piano/keyboard sonata game would be great fun.

[Sammy]

I also prefer the old scoring system - and a piano/keyboard sonata game would be great fun.

It's kind of cute how a scoring system used just a week or two ago is considered the old way.  I intend to go back to the old way for the next game, and a keyboard works game sounds mighty good to me at this moment. 

[mc ukrneal]

I don;t care what scoring system you use. I don't care what pieces or composers or whatever we are offered. Try something new if you like! I appreciate your effort to put these together. I find them more fun than most other top xx threads because they are not meant to be anything but a happy little thread (Bob Ross anyone?).

Speaking of which, I am happy that that the Mozart Mass won. Whatever it's flaws, it is a remarkable work and one of the few works of this type that I return to over and over.

[Baron Scarpia]

Excellent. My only regret is that Brahms did not break the top 5.

[ritter]

One man's satisfaction is another man's regret... Vive la différence! 

Cheers,

[Marc]

[...]
Speaking of which, I am happy that that the Mozart Mass won. Whatever it's flaws, it is a remarkable work and one of the few works of this type that I return to over and over.

Don't get me wrong: I'm happy, too. (Feelgood feelgood.)
If I skip the 'Et incarnatus est', I have the time of my listening life with this oddly mixed work.

[Baron Scarpia]

Speaking of which, I am happy that that the Mozart Mass won. Whatever it's flaws, it is a remarkable work and one of the few works of this type that I return to over and over.

I put Mozart's c-minor mass on top (along with Bach's b-minor) just for the Kyrie. The chorus, followed by soprano solo, and the return of the chorus is the most sublime thing I can think of for voice and orchestra. I heard Karajan's recording with Barbara Hendricks first, but Harnoncourt's CMW recording was a revelation because you can really hear the trombones growl in that one.