Absent from the Playlist

[CTListener]

Depends on the quality you're asking about. The cheap ones were early recordings, so the sound may not have been as good as Phillips. But they tended to be European recordings from small Soviet block countries like Hungary or Romania.

"Some of Europe's finest musicians."

Ahhh, it's a priceless introduction to the classics that will enrich every home!

 

[Kemosabe]

The Washington Post published an article last month that seems germane to this discussion: Orchestras don’t get record deals any more. The Grammys show a silver lining.

 

[Kemosabe]

César Franck's Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano remains conspicuously absent from my classical station's playlist. Not only is it one of Franck's most famous works, it has been described as one of the finest violin sonatas ever written.

 

[CTListener]

César Franck's Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano remains conspicuously absent from my classical station's playlist. Not only is it one of Franck's most famous works, it has been described as one of the finest violin sonatas ever written.

Checking the Music Search feature at xmfan.com -- which unfortunately cuts off titles after 16 characters -- I find a March 20 play on Sirius XM's Symphony Hall channel for a work by Franck identified as "Sonata for violi". This could be the piece you're referring to. Another spin, in April of last year, went to Franck's "Sonata in A Majo", which might be another recording of the same piece. Sirius XM outsources its titling and variations in spelling, phrasing and capitalization are typical of the slipshod way that job has been done over the years.

 

[TheBigA]

César Franck's Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano remains conspicuously absent from my classical station's playlist. Not only is it one of Franck's most famous works, it has been described as one of the finest violin sonatas ever written.

I was unfamiliar with it, but looked it up, and it sounds very advanced for 19th century work. Sounds more like early 20th century.

 

[Kemosabe]

Checking the Music Search feature at xmfan.com -- which unfortunately cuts off titles after 16 characters -- I find a March 20 play on Sirius XM's Symphony Hall channel for a work by Franck identified as "Sonata for violi". This could be the piece you're referring to. Another spin, in April of last year, went to Franck's "Sonata in A Majo", which might be another recording of the same piece. Sirius XM outsources its titling and variations in spelling, phrasing and capitalization are typical of the slipshod way that job has been done over the years.

Your listings undoubtedly refer to the composition of my original post. The title is often abbreviated as Violin Sonata in A, or, simply, Violin Sonata.

I was unfamiliar with it, but looked it up, and it sounds very advanced for 19th century work. Sounds more like early 20th century.

While the composition may remind many of Wagner, Franck's own sensibilities were more aligned with those of Beethoven and Liszt. The fourth movement is an inevitable earworm.

 

[Kemosabe]

I cannot recall ever hearing Joachim Raff's Cavatina on the radio. Simple and unchallenging, this lovely piece was one of 341 in the White Star Line's repertoire, and may have been played aboard the RMS Titanic.

 

[CTListener]

I cannot recall ever hearing Joachim Raff's Cavatina on the radio. Simple and unchallenging, this lovely piece was one of 341 in the White Star Line's repertoire, and may have been played aboard the RMS Titanic.

A no-show on Sirius XM, too, although a few of his symphonies show up in the search. Maybe they're just not playing music played on the Titanic. After all, "Nearer My God To Thee" doesn't come up on any channel's playlist!

 

[TheBigA]

My view on this is that playlists, whether they're classical or pop, commercial or non-commercial, are based on something. They don't just take the entire history of recorded music and play it in order. So I suspect they look at what's active in terms of streams, sales, and interest, and not everything makes the cut. I'm sure there are lots of pieces and composers in the history of music that don't get played for whatever reasons. Spend any time with composers and they'll tell you what gets a response when they do shows.

 

[b-turner]

In that regard, Classical composers are like any other style of music. There are superstars all the way down to those with little real talent. In classical there seems to be an undercurrent of finding works from anyone who composed without regard to the quality of the music. With that said, it also seems playlists vary greatly by geography and there are many superstar class composers with little, if any, exposure in the USA. In many respects, classical listeners like the same old familiar stuff just like any other format except there might be a bigger number of music explorers among their ranks who love the idea of hearing composers that were around when those 'same old' works were being performed for the first time.

 

[TheBigA]

In many respects, classical listeners like the same old familiar stuff just like any other format except there might be a bigger number of music explorers among their ranks who love the idea of hearing composers that were around when those 'same old' works were being performed for the first time.

Our local symphony tries to be trendy and current, so it works in some new works and some less commercial things. I talked to the ED of the symphony and he says those less commercial shows can be a challenge for ticket sales. He alternates them with Pops shows and other more commercial projects because while he is non-profit, he doesn't want to lose money either.

 

[gr8oldies]

Our symphony does things like the musical scores to Harry Potter movies, tributes to John Williams, backs up well-known performers, has a great Christmas show (which this year was titled "Christmas On The Radio"). Lots of non-classical stuff but it works

Our local symphony tries to be trendy and current, so it works in some new works and some less commercial things. I talked to the ED of the symphony and he says those less commercial shows can be a challenge for ticket sales. He alternates them with Pops shows and other more commercial projects because while he is non-profit, he doesn't want to lose money either.