Top Twenty Five on July 4'th

[ai4i]

XM Classics on XM Satellite Radio ran these twenty five "greatest works" (in their oppinion) on July 4'th. I agree with many of the selections chosen, was unfamiliar with some, and could not find some of my favorites listed. What do you think of the general philosophy of the programmers who assembled the list?

XM Classics Classical Countdown – Top 25 Classical Works of All Time

#25 - Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks (Aradia Ensemble/Kevin Mallon) Naxos
#24 - Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C (Helen Huang, piano; New York Philharmonic/Kurt Masur) Warner Classics
#23 – Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story” (New York Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein) Sony Classical
#22 – Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D (Concertgebouw Orchestra/Leonard Bernstein) Deutsche Gramophone
#21 – Mendelssohn: Octet in E-Flat (Emerson Quartet) Deutsche Gramophone
#20 – Palestrina: Pope Marcellus Mass (Westminster Abbey Choir/Simon Preston) Archiv
#19 – Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G (St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble) St. Luke’s
#18 – Schubert: Piano Quintet in A, “Trout” (Frank Braley, Renaud Capucon Ensemble) Virgin Classics
#17 – Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, “Pathetique” (Vienna Philharmonic/Valery Gergiev) Philips
#16 – Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A (Benny Goodman, cl; Boston Symphony Quartet) RCA
#15 – Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade (Kirov Orchestra/Valery Gergiev) Philips
#14 – Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Christopher O’Riley, piano; Royal Philharmonic/Barry Wordsworth) Royal Phil Collection
#13 – Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Vienna Philharmonic/Zubin Mehta) Orfeo
#12 – Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, “Unfinished” (Cleveland Orchestra/George Szell) Sony Classical
#11 – Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor (Arthur Rubinstein, piano; Chicago Symphony/Fritz Reiner) RCA
#10 – Sibelius: Finlandia (Philharmonia Orchestra/Vladimir Ashkenazy) Decca
#9 – Copland: Appalachian Spring (Boston Symphony/Aaron Copland) RCA
#8 – Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F Major (Vienna Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein) Deutsche Gramophone
#7 – Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor (Lang Lang, piano; Chicago Symphony/Daniel Barenboim) DG
#6 – Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor (Minnesota Orchestra/Osmo Vanska) Bis
#5 – Vivaldi: Four Seasons (Concerto Italiano) Naïve
#4 – Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, “From the New World” (London Symphony/Istvan Kertesz) Decca
#3 – Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major, “Jupiter” (Prague Chamber Orchestra/Charles Mackerras) Teldec
#2 – Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor (Pilar Lorengar, s; Yvonne Minton, a; Stuart Burrows, t; Marti Talvela, b; Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Georg Solti) Decca
#1 – Bach: Mass in B Minor (Margaret Marshall, s; Janet Baker, a; Robert Tear, t; Samuel Ramey, b; Academy & Chorus of St. Martin-in-the-Fields/Neville Marriner) Philips

[shostakovich]

A "Top 25" (or any number) list differs by person, by day, by circumstance. I wouldnt be swayed by any --- not even my own from yesterday.

Since you asked about the people who generated the list, I would rate them VERY untrustworthy.
Shos

[bignaf]

very good list. I agree that there can be about 8.8817841970012523233890533447266e+34 different top 25 lists, but you can't complain too much about this list. it seems their philosophy was to include the most popular works, but at the same time having a variety of media (I think they tried too hard in this regard), and a variety of eras (I think they seriously underrepresented the last 60 years. they seemed to feel they had to exculpate their stress on popular pieces (nothing wrong with that, the public is the ultimate judge) by having a serious "great" (yet popular) piece as the first place piece.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

It's an OK list, though I have no opinion on the list compilers. That list contains several of my favorite works, as well as a couple that I'm too tired of hearing to appreciate.

[quibble]the plural of "medium" is "media". "Mediums" would be a selection of garments in neither large nor small sizes.[/quibble]

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Or possibly several people who can communicate with spirits.

[bignaf]

yeah, bash the foreigner. that's my excuse whenever I mess some language thing up. this is really inexcusable.

[ai4i]

:oops: yeah, bash the foreigner.

But, it says you are "near the computer".
That does not sound as such.