Bit of holiday lightness!(not that we can't be light at other times!)
ONE nomination per person of current or all-time "can't-get-it-out-of-my-head JAUNTY, catchy melody :
Mine is Rubinstein Piano Concerto 3, first movement; its the second of the second subject theme group; a jaunty waltz, which, like the melodies in PC 5, also has that slight edge of sadness underlying the glee-the Moszkowski effect, of which i talked earlier.It return oftentimes accompanied by various orchestral hues.
Steve.
Btw. Peter1953 and everyone, whats ur opinion on "The Demon" and which are the best bits as i have the Lp box. ?Thx
Gosh! So many...
OK, to choose one I would nominate the main theme from the First Symphony of Vassily Kalinnikov. The opening bars beautifully build up to the entrance of the melody which, in its second iteration, blossoms fuilly across the orchestra. And it is so soulful, so melancholy, so...so Russian!
Like febnyc says, there are so many, many examples...
But I like to vote for a recent acquisition. It's Gänsbacher's Symphony in D major, the main theme of the Allegro con spirito, which is the first movement. The opening begins with an Adagio, almost in a Romantic style, but after 2:30 it happens. A most remarkable and joyous theme which is IMO so utterly catching that it is not possible to get it out of your head. No problem, because it makes you feel more than happy and good-humoured. Just wonderful!
Steve, I have a confession to make. I don't like opera... not even from my hero.
Peter: Thanks for the comment on the Gänsbacher theme. Now, if my order from the Landesmuseen ever arrives (almost three weeks and no receipt) I will have the opportunity to enjoy it as you have.
The second theme from the first movement of Joseph White's Violin Concerto in F-sharp minor. I can't believe this work isn't more famous; it's perhaps my favourite violin concerto of all time. When the full orchestra gives it full blast at the end of the movement, it's just one of the most sublime things I've ever heard. I can't recommend it enough.
As a huge fan of The Big Tune, I know this discussion will probably end up costing me some money. Actually, I think I already see some of it heading toward the Tiroler Landesmuseen once again (and it's always money well-spent, no doubt about it).
Quote from: Josh on Sunday 26 December 2010, 17:34
The second theme from the first movement of Joseph White's Violin Concerto in F-sharp minor. I can't believe this work isn't more famous;
I second , third, etc etc this. Its unbelievably beautiful.
My nom
Ronald Binge - The Watermill
. ............. :'( I ts NOT fair. Atleast allow a min of 10 nominations.
I prefer giving the nod to his Cuban nationality and calling him José White. And I can't dislodge the first subject of the Allegro con fuoco from Rufinatscha's 6th (I) from my noggin. Of course, you DID put a "jaunty" qualification on the category, Steve!
Beecham's memorable recording of Balakirev 1 brings out the jauntiness of several tunes that were sticking in my mind rather persistently a few weeks back.
....when the cellos take up the second subject in the first movement of Raff 4. It stays with you forever. Extraordinary - and genius!
I was whistling and humming the march tune from Raff's 5th symphony after just one hearing on the BBC back in 1949 for around 30 years before I managed to pick up a secondhand LP of that work. In more recent times probably the one melody I come back to again and again, apart from my own compositions, is that canonic minuet tune from Franz Lachner's prize winning 5th symphony.
I always keep coming back to the first movements of Franz Lachners' 5th and 8th symphonies. They should record the rest of his symphonies. This guy wrote some fine music.
Since the Kalinnikov is already spoken for, I must chose the scherzo from Amy Beach's symphony. But if all genres are eligible, Albert Ketelby's 'Appy Hamstead gets the nod.
How about that catchy tune from Litolff's Concerto Symphonique #4 in d?
The snorting main theme of the finale of Bronsart's Piano Concerto.
The opening bars of Tchaikovsky's piano concerto No.1 and the opera Hansel and Gretal by Humperdinck, the latter I listened to just before Christmas and annoyingly it is still in my head.
Widor - Sanctus from his Requiem - didn't even know till the other day he wrote choral music, now I can't stop whistling it !
One of the Herz Nocturnes titled La Dolcezza has been in my brain for months.
Beautiful melody.
Thal
Bobotox, welcome to our friendly forum. I'm certainly fully in agreement with you on the need for a complete recorded cycle of Franz Lachner's symphonies. I requested more Lachner symphonies from Marco Polo Records around 1995 after they had issued Nos 1, 5 & 8 on CD, but they insisted there were no plans to issue any more recordings of his symphonies. To add insult to injury, when his bicentenary year came along in 2003, they deleted all 3 of them from their catalogue and weren't even decent enough to re-issue them on their Naxos bargain label!
At the same time, all my efforts to get the BBC to do something about Lachner's bi-centenary came to naught. It seems, the BBC's attitude is, "we know what's good for you, and we aren't going to be influenced by any old crackpot out there advocating some obscure composer that we haven't heard of."
I still believe Lachner's day will come; but probably not in my lifetime.
Thank you for all the reminders of tunes that, just by reading their names, start themselves up in my head! (Those I've heard, anyway. I shall certainly try to locate the Gänsbacher, and see if somewhere I already own the Widor...)
It's almost become a famous piece at this point, but I'm going to put in a plug for the third movement of Wilhelm Stenhammar's 2nd Symphony, a dance that seems to return unbidden to my brain several times every week.
-J
--
Jim Moskowitz
The Unknown Composers Page: http://kith.org/jimmosk/TOC.html
My latest list of unusual classical CDs for auction: http://tinyurl.com/jimsCDs
Yes...I have exactly the same problem with that movement from that Stenhammar symphony!