Pieces that always put a smile on your face

[kyjo]

As many of you probably know, I like a lot of my music dark and grim ( ), but there are a lot of pieces I return to due to the simple fact that they put a smile on my face every time I listen to them. Such pieces include:

Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien
Shostakovich: The Age of Gold and the PCs
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet and On the Dnieper
Chavez: Sinfonia India
Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite
Gershwin: PC, Catfish Row and Rhapsody in Blue
Copland: Rodeo and Billy the Kid
Beethoven: Symphony no. 7
Mendelssohn: Symphony no. 4 and Octet
Elgar: Wand of Youth Suites
Grainger: The Warriors and some other short pieces
Saint-Saens: PCs
Falla: El amor brujo
Bizet: Carmen and L'arlesienne Suites and Symphony in C
Grieg: a lot of his music
Poulenc: all the concertante works
Stravinsky: Dumbarton Oaks
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2 and Tasso
Ginastera: Estancia
Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront, Chichester Psalms, Candide Overture
Chabrier: Espana
Dvorak: Slavonic Dances

Oh dear......I've been bitten hard by the list-making bug!

[Sergeant Rock]

P.D.Q. Bach The Seasonings S. 1 1/2 Tsp.


Sarge

[kyjo]

P.D.Q. Bach The Seasonings S. 1 1/2 Tsp.


Sarge

Ah yes, good old PDQ! I still laugh out loud while listening to his albums.

[kyjo]

Also, Debussy's Children's Corner and Suite Bergamasque.

[jochanaan]

Varese: Ionisation, Poeme Electronique
Shostakovich: Festive Overture
Prokofieff: Classical Symphony
Smetana: Bartered Bride Overture
Schumann: Symphony #1 "Spring"
Mozart: Overtures to The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #2
And anything by Haydn. 

[xochitl]

bach: cello suites #3 and 6 preludes, ehrfullet ihr himmlische from the 1st cantata
handel: and he shall purify from messiah
vivaldi: cello concerto rv531
beethoven: diabelli variations variation 9 [among others], string quartet #9, piano sonata #3, bagatelles op33
brahms: double concerto
sibelius: symphony #3
bruckner: symphony #7 scherzo
stravinsky: histoire du soldat, ebony concerto
nancarrow: study #40
piazzolla: concierto para quinteto
almost anything frank zappa

and many more

[mc ukrneal]

Varese: Ionisation, Poeme Electronique
Shostakovich: Festive Overture
Prokofieff: Classical Symphony
Smetana: Bartered Bride Overture
Schumann: Symphony #1 "Spring"
Mozart: Overtures to The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #2
And anything by Haydn. 

This is the closest list for me so far.

I would say
Mozart: Much of the Marriage of Figaro (and outright laughter when you get to the second act)
Offenbach: The music never fails to brighten my day (pretty much anything - Kleinzach from Tales of Hoffman, Ballade, 'Castilbêta', Final de la neige  (Le Voyage dans la lune), etc.)
Grainger: A number of short and happy pieces (like Mock Morris or Shephard's Hey)
Light Music: Coates (like Dambusters or Calling all Workers), Wood (the Horse Guards), Williams (Devil's Galop), Anderson (Plink, Plank Plunk - a piece I always hated because school bands try to play it and generally kill it - but hearing a professional orchestra playing it made me see why all those bands try to play it), etc. There is a lot of music in this category.
Waltzers: Strauss(es) (so much - Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, Jokey-Polka, Aquarellen Walzer, Sperl-Galopp, etc.), Lumbye (Railway Galop, Sandman Galop, etc), etc.
Strauss II: Die Fledermaus (so many fun/funny bits)
Lehar: Opening to the Merry Widow (heck, the whole thing), Gypsy Feast
Operetta: Endless choices (and I've already given a bunch of them)
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (could be Woody Woodpeckers' fault )
Suppe: Overtures (Pique Dame, Light Cavalry, etc.)
Humperdinck: much of Hansel and Gretel
Khachaturian: Sabre Dance, Waltz and Mazurka from Masquerede
Rossini: Overtures (Barber of Seville, Italian in Algiers, etc.)
Shostakovich: Cheryomushki - Dances
A number of symphonies from various composers of the classical period (like Gyrowetz, Vanhal, etc.) - such joyful music.

[DavidW]

Mendelssohn's Octet
Mozart's 25th Symphony
Beethoven's Archduke Trio
Beethoven's Op 59 #1 String Quartet

[jochanaan]

...Shostakovich: Cheryomushki - Dances

Ooooh, I had forgotten Cheryomushki!  For those unfamiliar with this gem, it's actually a musical comedy about an apartment building and its residents, and it's hilarious.  There is a BBC recording in English; I've never heard the original Russian.

[Mirror Image]

Schnittke's Faust Cantata always puts a demented smile on my face.

[TheGSMoeller]

Nyman: M.G.V.

[kyjo]

Webern, Op. 1-31
Boulez: his complete oeuvre
Carter: his string quartets, for sure, and the rest of his chamber music as well
Ferneyhough: string quartets, and chamber music
Stockhausen: almost everything I've heard from the 50s-70s; much of the rest as well.

Much of the music by much lesser well-known composers from the 21st century.

If I were to start a thread on "Pieces that always make you cringe", I would include those that you listed!

[jochanaan]

Webern, Op. 1-31
Boulez: his complete oeuvre
Carter: his string quartets, for sure, and the rest of his chamber music as well
Ferneyhough: string quartets, and chamber music
Stockhausen: almost everything I've heard from the 50s-70s; much of the rest as well.

Much of the music by much lesser well-known composers from the 21st century.

I like the way you think!  I confess, most of that stuff puts a smile on my face too, although my knowledge isn't nearly as deep as yours.  But "smile on my face" isn't the best description: more like a quickening of my heart and a thrill in my spirit...

[springrite]

Beethoven 8

Mozart Divertimenti K136, 137, 138

Janacek Lachian Dances

Mahler 1 Second Movement

The Big Sneeze etc. from Hary Janos

And don't call me sick: Final Scene from Salome!

[Mirror Image]

The 'war trilogy' (War Requiem, Sinfonia da Requiem, Ballad of Heroes) from Britten always puts a smile on my face but the smile is from pure wonderment.

[Brahmsian]

Mahler - Symphony No. 6 - The coda to the Andante Moderato (uplifting section!)

Rimsky-Korsakov - Russian Easter Overture  (just so much fun!)

My monthly ritual of listening to Bach's cello suites.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks guys for the feedback - nice to see that 50% of GMG shares my smiles.

Believe it, san anton': 50% is a triumph!

[jochanaan]

Believe it, san anton': 50% is a triumph!

Of course, given your predilections (similar to mine, I know), it's now up to 67% based on actual responses! 

[dyn]

beethoven: [...] string quartet #9, 1, 12 and 16
nancarrow: anything especially the pieces for instrumentalists

Webern, Op. 1-31 5-10, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27
Carter: his string quartets nos 1, 4 & 5 and the rest some of his chamber music as well and Dialogues
Stockhausen: almost everything I've heard from the 50s-70s; much of the rest as well.

These +
almost anything by Couperin, Haydn, Prokofiev, Thelonious Monk, Frank Zappa or Wolfgang Mitterer
Lachenmann's Tanzsuite mit Deutschlandlied and string quartets
Debussy's Etudes
Vaughan Williams's Symphony no. 5
the first movement of Rubbra's Symphony no. 4
Rautavaara's Symphony no. 3
Radulescu's Frenetico il longing di amare, Clepsydra, Astray and other works
Alkan's Concerto for Solo Piano and some other works
Bernard Parmigiani's De natura sonoris and Sonare among others
Penderecki's Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, and similarly Nono's Ricorda cosa ti hanno fatto in Auschwitz, for some reason
Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 6 and Serenade for Strings
Medtner's Piano Quintet and 2nd and 3rd violin sonatas

and many more besides, but (it seems) almost always for different reasons