Here's something you might be interested in.
Besides Pachelbel and his canon, Vivaldi might be the most obvious classical one-hit-wonder. Even people who don't know The Four Seasons, know The Four Seasons — they just don't realize it.
Look at almost anyone's music collection, regardless of their musical tastes, and you're bound to find a recording of The Four Seasons. What can I say? It's great music and has a broad appeal.
I had a friend who wasn't much into classical music in other regards but spent months trying to find the perfect Four Seasons. He was adamant about the right tempos and the right acoustic and was obsessed about it. If there was a conductor, it was a deal killer. He knew enough to know that this music didn't need a conductor. I think he ended up with the London Chamber Orchestra recording. At least that's the one I ended up with.
So, what would be an "and one" for Vivaldi. The problem with Vivaldi is that he wrote over 500 concertos. Although if we want to get snarky about it, we could say he wrote one concerto 500 times.
With that in mind I thought perhaps his Christmas Gloria would work. It's an accessible piece and every Christmas you can find a church choir putting it on without much trouble. The problem is, I don't really like the Gloria as a piece to listen to. It's fun to sing but not as much fun to listen to.
I'm going to go with Vivaldi's Concerto for guitar in D major as his "and one".
The opening and closing movements are okay but the middle movement is a breath of warm summer air. I always think of a lazy summer day when I hear this 2nd movement. It is elegant, beautiful, music.
London Chamber Orchestra: Winter from The Four Seasons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYmHaAQ64Wg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjR3mTbwPCo&feature=related
Besides Pachelbel and his canon, Vivaldi might be the most obvious classical one-hit-wonder. Even people who don't know The Four Seasons, know The Four Seasons — they just don't realize it.
Look at almost anyone's music collection, regardless of their musical tastes, and you're bound to find a recording of The Four Seasons. What can I say? It's great music and has a broad appeal.
I had a friend who wasn't much into classical music in other regards but spent months trying to find the perfect Four Seasons. He was adamant about the right tempos and the right acoustic and was obsessed about it. If there was a conductor, it was a deal killer. He knew enough to know that this music didn't need a conductor. I think he ended up with the London Chamber Orchestra recording. At least that's the one I ended up with.
So, what would be an "and one" for Vivaldi. The problem with Vivaldi is that he wrote over 500 concertos. Although if we want to get snarky about it, we could say he wrote one concerto 500 times.
With that in mind I thought perhaps his Christmas Gloria would work. It's an accessible piece and every Christmas you can find a church choir putting it on without much trouble. The problem is, I don't really like the Gloria as a piece to listen to. It's fun to sing but not as much fun to listen to.
I'm going to go with Vivaldi's Concerto for guitar in D major as his "and one".
The opening and closing movements are okay but the middle movement is a breath of warm summer air. I always think of a lazy summer day when I hear this 2nd movement. It is elegant, beautiful, music.
London Chamber Orchestra: Winter from The Four Seasons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYmHaAQ64Wg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjR3mTbwPCo&feature=related