Latest Articles by Sarah Canice Funke
You were expecting a definitive list? As if one could ever come to such preposterous conclusions. But Evan and I came up with a pretty durn good one, if I do say so myself...
1. Thomas Tallis, Spem in Alium
2. J.S. Bach, Goldberg Variations
3. A Ludwig Beethoven piano sonata (We didn't decide, but I am going to take the liberty of choosing No. 17 in dm, op. 31, No. 2 "The Tempest." I had to ask Anna's advice on this one, since it was pretty much a toss-up between that and the Appassionata.)
4. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue
5. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper
6. George Handel, Messiah
7. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme
8. Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisted
9. Bela Bartok, Concerto for Orchestra
10. Igor Stravinksy, The Firebird, George Gerswhin, Rhapsody in Blue, and The Clash, London Calling all tied for 10th place...
And then what about musicians like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, who didn't write the songs they sang but are so distinctive for their voices?
Posted by funke at 19.12.06 10:46 | TrackBack | Posted to Music | Music HistoryGood list. I might replace A Love Supreme with Giant Steps, not necessarily because it is greater but just because I personally like it better (which certainly should not be a criterium for the top ten, but anyway...).
Posted by: heidi at 19.12.06 13:01Ah, for sure. We debated putting Giant Steps in for that reason...
Posted by: funke at 19.12.06 13:59I don't know all of Beethoven's sonatas, but of the ones I know, I would've gone with the Apassionata.
Thanks for putting up the list! :)
Posted by: Evan Donovan at 19.12.06 19:16Hmm. I would put up a Beethoven symphony instead of a piano sonata.
And can you really call a jazz piece..."a piece"? For the sake of diversity, can you have Miles Davis AND John Coltrane on the list.
I would definitely NOT put Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue on the top ten. It's fun, but only goes so far.
No Brahms? He's so complex.
And Firebird doesn't seem representative of Stravinsky at his best. Keeping in the same Strav era, I would definitely choose the Rite of Spring over Firebird.
For a piece of imitative polyphony, I would choose something like Josquin's Missa L'homme arme super voces musicales over Tallis, which is nice, but not as...complicated/deep?
But then. The nice thing about these lists is that they're arbitrary.
Posted by: Jeannette at 19.12.06 22:40Yeah, definitely a reflection of personal preference going on here (at least for the Stravinsky pick)...and yes maybe I'd swap out Coltrane for Brahms 4th Symphony.
And choosing ten is just really a matter of sheer dictatorship, I think.
Posted by: funke at 19.12.06 23:07Ah, okay, I thought maybe I would give a rationale for why we chose some of the things we did...
1) Including Miles AND 'Trane: this really is more diverse than it looks at first glance. I mean, everyone else on this list is a dead white guy (or else a really old white guy like Paul)...
2) Gershwin: we had to get some representation of the whole Tin Pan Alley...even if it isn't as "rigorous" or "deep," it is still extraordinarily pervasive, and probably ought to be recognized somehow...
3) Firebird over Rite of Spring: heck, I just like the Firebird better. But I agree that Rite of Spring is Stravinsky's monumental work. I admit to personal prejudice clouding my judgment on this one.
4) A Beethoven sonata instead of symphony: well, this was Evan's pick. Ask him. :)
Posted by: funke at 20.12.06 11:17I'm not a big fan of symphonies in general - I think piano sonatas reflect personality better, are more passionate.
Coltrane's A Love Supreme is worlds apart from Kind of Blue. And it's not just about racial diversity - it's about covering jazz.
And I just happen to think Tallis' Spem in Alium, with all its complexity, is one of the best pieces of music ever composed, just like the Bach. Those two are my non-negotiables.
But like you said, the best thing about this lists is the arbitrariness.
Posted by: Evan Donovan at 21.12.06 22:14