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Endlessly Performed: 5 of the Most Recorded Composers in Music History
Anyone who searches the internet with the question, 'Is classical music dying?,' will encounter hundreds of articles and blogs that take a position on this question.
What most of these people really mean is that classical music isn't popular, relatively speaking. For example, while the cellist Yo-Yo Ma has
However, one can measure popularity in different ways. In absolute terms, more people are performing and listening to the great composers than they ever have. There are so many recordings of great classical works that even the most die-hard connoisseur finds it impossible to keep track of them all. The following brief list summarizes a few of the most recorded pieces in music history.
Learning the sounds of different instruments is the first step to truly appreciating classical music.
Ferenc Szelepcsenyi/Shutterstock
Pachelbel's 'Canon in D Major,' P 37
Poor Johann Pachelbel. He composed more than 500 works in his lifetime, and now people only listen to one. It has been suggested that he wrote his famous Canon in D Major to celebrate the wedding of Johann Christoph Bach, Johann Sebastian's older cousin. No one knows for sure, but since Pachelbel was friends with the Bach family, this theory is plausible. If it's true, Pachelbel might be reassured if he knew that his piece is now used to celebrate weddings all over the world.
The Canon, in which one melody is imitated by two other voices in overlapping layers, is certainly memorable. Just as good, if less famous, is the Gigue for three violins, a lively dance movement that Pachelbel wrote to accompany the Canon.
According to Presto Music, a website that maintains an exhaustive discography of classical works, the Canon has been recorded more than 200 times. In the words of the producers of a 1983 recording
by the Academy of Ancient Music, it's usually heard 'with the gratuitous addition of viola parts.'
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Those who wish to listen to it in its original purity should seek out arrangements for three violins and basso continuo.
Mozart's 'Requiem in D Minor,' K 626
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has sold over 500 million records worldwide. This is roughly comparable with the Beatles, when considering their sales across all formats. If the website 'chartmasters' included dead classical composers in its ranking of the most successful artists, the best ones would, no doubt, knock many modern musicians off the list. In 2016, a complete box set of Mozart's works released by Decca and Deutsche Grammophon topped the Billboard charts for the year, even beating out Beyonce.
Posthumous painting of Mozart by Barbara Krafft in 1819.
Public Domain
Of all Mozart's works, his most adapted is probably his great, unfinished 'Requiem.' Presto Music lists 281 recordings.
When Mozart died in 1791, only two of the work's sections were complete, though he left sketches for others. Its unfinished status has prompted different composers to orchestrate the movements, relying on their own interpretations of how Mozart himself might have done it.
The most widely performed version today was written by Mozart's pupil, Franz Süssmayr, though there are approximately 15 different versions in all.
Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Op. 49
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is arguably Russia's greatest composer. He wrote the world's most celebrated and frequently performed ballets, and his wonderful melodies have been immortalized in countless films.
His most popular work of all, though, is the 1812 overture, which celebrates Russia's victory over Napoleon. With nearly 300 recordings, it's one of the most performed pieces in the classical repertoire.
"Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries," 1812, by Jacques-Louis David.
Public Domain
The
Tchaikovsky's original score calls for
Beethoven's 'Moonlight' Sonata, Op. 27
Ludwig van Beethoven has
Of all his works, the most popular is his Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2, more commonly known as the
Most of these are for piano, but every performer seems to have their own interpretation of its emotional expression, tempo, and technical focus. Glenn Gould, for example, has been criticized for playing the piece too fast and not using the pedal enough, resulting in a
"Beethoven Sonatas," played by Alfred Brendel.
Bach's 'Toccata & Fugue in D minor,' BWV 565
Searching Johann Sebastian Bach's name on the Presto Music database returns
Of all these works, the 'Toccata & Fugue in D minor' is the most performed. It slightly edges out Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' as the most arranged piece in music history, with
While recordings for organ predominate, the diversity of arrangements is dizzying. The Toccata and Fugue has been transcribed for orchestra, guitar, violin, saxophone,
Bach is also the most streamed classical composer on Spotify, with
Popularity and greatness are more closely connected than is generally recognized, when considered over the ages. As this list shows, there is a strong correlation between the 'greatest' composers and their level of public esteem, measured by both the number of recordings and listeners on audio streaming services. By almost any metric, classical music is thriving.
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