Whatever else the merits of the ABC Classic FM top 100 of the 20th century, it certainly generated a lot of chatter, both online and on the radio waves. Bearing in mind that this was at its heart a popularity contest, it was always going to generate plenty of sniffing material for the music snobs, while the time period guaranteed there’d be some nice modern atonal stuff to outrage the crusty old traditionalists. There was also a distinct danger that some computer nerd/sci-fi/hacker types would hijack the whole thing, writing scripts to generate fake MAC addresses and then automatically posting thousands of votes in favour of the Imperial March or whatever takes their fancy. It would appear that this didn’t happen, unless of course the hackers were pushing the Elgar Cello Concerto, the eventual #1 pick.
At any rate, vigorous discussion started early, with the inclusion at #91 of a piece by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and then some theme music from Lord of the Rings (#90), and whether this should be considered to be classical music at all. A similar debate arose around the question of Messiaen’s Turangalila, which had a bunch of people whinging about how such a god-awful piece (and it truly is god-awful) could get voted in to the top 100, with others jumping to Mess’s defence, claiming that it was our loss that we couldn’t hear what he was saying.
As the week wore on it naturally became easier to predict what pieces were yet to be played, and therefore what pieces weren’t going to be played. This led to a fairly predictable chorus of “I just can’t believe that X’s piece Y hasn’t been played”. Generally speaking I had a limited understanding of who X was, and no idea at all about his or her* piece Y, so the only surprise to me was that people genuinely thought these pieces would be selected in a public poll.
* Elena Kats-Chernin ensured the gender balance in the top 100 wasn’t a complete whitewash.
The final 5 pieces were played live by the ASO with Ben Northey conducting. Given that we were told that four of the five pieces needed a soloist, the identity of the five pieces was pretty much a given, although the order was not. The standout turn of the evening for my money was Simon Tedeschi’s effort with Rhapsody in Blue, which was both energetic and inventive.
There’s been a fair bit said about the preponderance of pieces from the first half of the century (80% were written prior to 1950), and the lack of pieces written by contemporary composers. For comparative purposes I’ve compared the list with the 2012 programs of the major Australian orchestras, to test for local content, live music factor , and of course the repertoire safety index.
| ABC C20 Top 100 | ACO 2012 | Orchestra Avg 2012 | |
| Repertoire Safety Index | 7.6 | 8.8 | 6.5 |
| Live Music Factor | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| Australian Music Content | 9% | 10% | 12% |
And the top 100 was:
100 ADAMS Nixon in China
99 RAMIREZ Misa Criolla
98 PROKOFIEV Lieutenant Kije Suite
97 ADDINSELL Warsaw Concerto
96 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.10 in E minor Op.93
95 TAVENER Song for Athene
94 SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op105
93 ELGAR Violin Concerto in B minor, Op 61
92 BRITTEN Serenade for Tenor Horn & Strings
91 LLOYD WEBBER A Requiem: Pie Jesu
90 SHORE Lord of the Rings
89 LEHAR The Merry Widow
88 ELGAR Dream of Gerontius
87 O'BOYLE Concerto for Didgeridoo
86 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on Greensleeves
85 WEILL The Threepenny Opera: Prologue, Act 1
84 VILLA-LOBOS Bachianas Brazileiras No.5
83 RAVEL Daphnis and Chloe
82 GLASS Akhnaten
81 MESSIAEN Turangalila Symphonie
80 GRAINGER Irish Tune from County Derry
79 BARBER Violin Concerto Op.14
78 ELGAR Symphony No.1 in A flat Op.55
77 GERSHWIN Piano Concerto in F
76 BERNSTEIN Candide
75 STRAUSS, R An Alpine Symphony Op 64
74 KORNGOLD Violin Concerto in D, Op 35
73 MAHLER Symphony No 6 in A Minor
72 GERSHWIN An American in Paris
71 BRITTEN A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
70 BRITTEN A Ceremony of Carols
69 RACHMANINOV Vespers Op. 37 (All Night Vigil)
68 JENKINS, K The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
67 DEBUSSY Preludes
66 MAHLER Symphony No.9 in D
65 PARRY Jerusalem
64 RESPIGHI Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome)
63 SCHOENBERG Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) Op.4
62 RAVEL Piano Concerto in G
61 MAHLER Symphony No.4 in G
60 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.7 in C Op.60, 'Leningrad'
59 BRITTEN War Requiem
58 MAHLER Symphony No.8 in E flat
57 PROKOFIEV Symphony No.1 in D Op.25, 'Classical'
56 PART Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
55 CANTELOUBE Chants d'Auvergne (Songs of the Auvergne)
54 RAVEL Pavane pour une infante defunte
53 RESPIGHI Ancient Airs and Dances
52 PUCCINI Turandot
51 SCULTHORPE Kakadu
50 BRITTEN Peter Grimes
49 EDWARDS, R Dawn Mantras
48 SHOSTAKOVICH Gadfly Suite
47 STRAVINSKY Petrushka
46 SCULTHORPE Small Town
45 EDWARDS, R Violin Concerto 'Maninyas'
44 RACHMANINOV Symphony No.2 in e minor Op.27
43 GLASS Violin Concerto No.1
42 BARTOK Concerto for Orchestra
41 MESSIAEN Quatuor Pour Le Fin Du Temps
40 STRAUSS, R Der Rosenkavalier, Op 59
39 KATS-CHERNIN Wild Swans
38 PROKOFIEV Peter and the Wolf, Op 67
37 RAVEL String Quartet in F
36 MORRICONE The Mission
35 STRAVINSKY L'Oiseau de feu (The Firebird)
34 DEBUSSY La Mer
33 MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth)
32 COPLAND Fanfare for the Common Man
31 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.5 in d minor Op.47
30 SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5
29 WESTLAKE Antarctica Suite
28 PUCCINI Tosca
27 SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2 in D Major Op. 43
26 KHACHATURIAN Spartacus
25 MAHLER Symphony No.5 in c-sharp minor
24 GERSHWIN Porgy and Bess
23 SIBELIUS Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
22 RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op.43
21 ELGAR Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 in D
20 RAVEL Bolero
19 RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor Op.30
18 COPLAND Appalachian Spring
17 PUCCINI Madama Butterfly
16 PART Spiegel Im Spiegel
15 SIBELIUS Finlandia
14 GORECKI Symphony No.3 Op.36, 'Sorrowful Songs'
13 BERNSTEIN West Side Story
12 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
11 STRAUSS, R Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs)
10 PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet Op.64
9 STRAVINSKY Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring)
8 ORFF Carmina Burana
7 BARBER Adagio For Strings
6 RODRIGO Concierto de Aranjuez
5 RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2
4 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending
3 GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue
2 HOLST The Planets
1 ELGAR Cello Concerto in E minor Op.85
