Classical Notes: January 29, 2010 Archive

Most Performed Composers

Posted at 5:11 PM on January 29, 2010 by Rex Levang (1 Comments)
Filed under: Fun finds, In the media

Here's a list for your Friday. Like a lot of lists, it's interesting, puzzling, objection-provoking .... So with that caveat:

A media company called Instant Encore has surveyed classical performances during the past year and calculated composers who were played most often. You can find a few details, and the list itself here.

No surprise that Beethoven and Mozart rank high. I'm a little surprised to see a composer like Bohuslav Martinu come in fairly high. He never composed a "bestseller," though he does have a long list of pieces to his credit. Leonard Bernstein, who does not have a huge list of sonatas, symphonies, chamber works, etc., also shows up fairly high--maybe all those Broadway performances of "West Side Story"? Anyhow. I'm quibbling, so maybe the list is doing its job.

(Disclosure: We sometimes partner with Instant Encore in offering downloads to you, such as this recent recital by Susan Graham.)

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