TRIVIA: Classical composers only known for one piece of music

[AY1975]

Following on from the thread on pop and rock artists only known for one song at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/trivia-artists-only-known-for-one-song.242987/ I thought how about a similar thread on classical music by composers who are only known for one particular piece, whether it's their only composition or the only one of theirs that is particularly well known.

Here are four to start with:

Emmanuel Chabrier - España

Paul Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Carl Orff - Carmina Burana (parts of which have featured in various TV adverts over the years)

Joaquín Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez (when I first heard a recording of it, it was played by the Australian guitarist John Williams who I thought was the same person as the composer John Williams and that it was by him!)

 

[S&CLER]

Litolff's Scherzo is the only work I've ever heard by him, and I've never heard anything by Allegri except the Miserere.

 

[pdq]

Max Bruch is mainly known for his 1st violin concerto.
Samuel Barber likewise for his Adagio for Strings
Both wrote many more pieces than these of course.

 

[OhNoAPacer]

Puccini and Nessun Dorma must surely be a contender.

 

[Gloster]

There are plenty who only know Elgar through Land of Hope and Glory and often think it is whole of his Pomp and Circumstance. In fact it is only the Trio theme from March No. 1. These are often the same people who think that The Proms is one evening of flag-waving and patriotic songs, not a lengthy and varied season.

I would also mention Bolero by Bo Derek, sorry, Ravel.
And Hamish MacCunn’s The Land of the Mountain and the Flood and George Butterworth’s The Banks of Green Willow.

(Butterworth did not leave much work behind: the CD of his total oeuvre is 75’32 long and the last piece was completed by another.)

 

[OhNoAPacer]

The Ride of the Valkeries is probably all that most people are aware of by Wagner, to be fair it us probably the only bit of Wagner that is actually listenable to.

Yes, I subscribe to the Wagner has some wonderful moments but some absolutely awful half hours school.

 

[dgl]

Henry VIII - Greensleeves

 

[Ashley Hill]

Gustav Holst - The Planets.
Sergei Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.
Both composed other work but are generally only known for these examples.

 

[Magdalia]

Sergei Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.

Rachmaninov wrote 3 symphonies and the symphonic dances, and 4 piano concertos, all of which are staples in the orchestral repertoire.

His most famous work is the Piano Concerto No 2 which is the soundtrack in the film Brief Encounter.

But in my view his best work is the Symphony No 2 which has the best ending of any orchestral music ever written.

Puccini and Nessun Dorma must surely be a contender.

I know very little about opera but I do know that Puccini, along with Verdi and Rossini, are the greatest Italian opera composers. Puccini wrote La Boheme, Tosca, Madam Butterfly and Turandot some of the most frequently performed works in the operatic repertoire. Nessun Dorma is one of the arias in Turandot.

Nessun Dorma became very widely known in the UK after the BBC used it as the theme tune for their 1990 World Cup TV coverage.

The Ride of the Valkeries is probably all that most people are aware of by Wagner, to be fair it us probably the only bit of Wagner that is actually listenable to.

It can't be said that Wagner is only known for one piece of music. He is known for a large but "marmite" operatic repertoire, but it is nevertheless, widely performed.

There are plenty who only know Elgar through Land of Hope and Glory and often think it is whole of his Pomp and Circumstance.

Nimrod from the Enigma Variations and the Cello Concerto are also well known.

Paul Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Carl Orff - Carmina Burana (parts of which have featured in various TV adverts over the years)

Max Bruch is mainly known for his 1st violin concerto.
Samuel Barber likewise for his Adagio for Strings

On the other hand, I'd agree on these.

And I'd add Mussorsgy for Pictures at an Exhibition and Rimsky Korsakov for Scheherezade.

 

[MikeWM]

The Ride of the Valkeries is probably all that most people are aware of by Wagner,

I think most people are very aware of the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin - though perhaps many/most don't know it is by Wagner!

But also the overtures to Hollander, Tannhauser, and even Meistersinger and Tristan are very well known and frequently performed.

Yes, I subscribe to the Wagner has some wonderful moments but some absolutely awful half hours school.

I don't. I adore almost all Wagner's music.

For someone who was largely influenced by Wagner and possibly satisfies the original criteria, I'd suggest Humperdinck is only known for Hansel and Gretel (if at all!)

 

[pdq]

Rimsky Korsakov for Scheherezade

And Flight of the bumble bee.
My dad used to refer to RK as rips ya corsets off.

 

[Magdalia]

My dad used to refer to RK as rips ya corsets off.

He is probably better known for that than any of his music!

 

[pdq]

Thinking about symphonists, Dvorak is only really known for his 9th. I know his chamber music gets played and recorded, but what about his other 13 symphonies?
(Had to Google that to see if he was yet another composer who stopped at Symphony 9. It appears not.)

Staying English, Hubert Parry wrote some great orchestral works and a lot of choral pieces, like Blest pair of Sirens, and Songs of Farewell. But he is best known for Jerusalem, which would be, I think, the only piece most people would recognise.

 

[Ediswan]

Charles-Marie Widor - Toccata from Symphony for Organ No. 5
Thomas Tallis - Spem in Alium

My dad used to refer to RK as rips ya corsets off.

Also appeared in a very weird advert for Cresta (a frothy soft drink):

 

[pdq]

Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Prelude from Te Deum. Known as the theme to Eurovision.

 

[yorksrob]

Pachelbel is probably best known for his Canon.

 

[GusB]

Gustav Holst - The Planets.

As with the similar pop music thread, this is entirely subjective; Holst's suites for band in E flat and F are far more memorable to me.

Sergei Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.
Both composed other work but are generally only known for these examples.

Rachmaninoff is definitely known for his other works.

 

[Gloster]

Dvorak’s New World Symphony, the Ninth, is (as mentioned above) known to many people who have no interest in classical and know nothing about his other works from the Hovis advert. “Grandad always used to say that it were a bl**dy long way to go for a loaf of bread.”

 

[GusB]

Dvorak’s New World Symphony, the Ninth, is (as mentioned above) known to many people who have no interest in classical and know nothing about his other works from the Hovis advert. “Grandad always used to say that it were a bl**dy long way to go for a loaf of bread.”

Again, this is an entirely subjective view; I know Dvorak's Cello Concerto because I was involved with an orchestra that performed it in a concert, and a year or so later we played Symphony 8. In the meantime I became familiar with some of his other works.

 

[Cdd89]

I was going to nominate Karl Jenkins — Palladio, but on researching him on Spotify I see it’s not even his top track. I do think it’s the only truly classical track of note though, and is incredibly heavily used in television and film.

Pachelbel is probably best known for his Canon.

Presumably this was after he got frustrated with his Lexmark.

 

[yorksrob]

Presumably this was after he got frustrated with his Lexmark.

I'm glad someone made that joke

Additionally, I suspect Ronald Binge is best known for "Sailing By" - particularly amongst Radio 4 listeners.

 

[pdq]

I'm glad someone made that joke

Additionally, I suspect Ronald Binge is best known for "Sailing By" - particularly amongst Radio 4 listeners.

And maybe Elizabethan Serenade.

I think it's difficult for those of us who are involved or have an interest in classical music to know who the 'one hit' composers are, since we're more likely to be aware of their other compositions. Conversely, those who maybe know the pieces by ear (eg Nessun Dorma) may not know who the composer is, let alone what else was composed by them.

Just like I often have very little idea which pop songs are by which band, and what else they recorded.

 

[deltic]

Khachaturian is possibly only known for his Sabre Dance but for those of a certain age his most memorable piece would have been the theme music for the TV series The Onedin Line (1971-1980) which was taken from the Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia from the ballet Spartacus.

 

[Gloster]

And of course there is Arthur Wood, although many don’t know his name, who wrote Barwick Green, which most know as The Archer’s theme tune. Eric Coates wrote a lot more stuff than The Dambusters March and By the Sleepy Lagoon (*). Frederick Ricketts, professionally known as Kenneth Alford, wrote other pieces than Colonel Bogey.

* - Supposedly, even though the piece starts with a passage resembling an aircraft taking off, The Dambusters March had already been written when Coates was asked to do something for the film and he just handed over the completed piece. If By the Sleepy Lagoon was to be given a name appropriate to what started off his idea for the tune, it would be called Looking at Bognor Gasworks: he was near Selsey one evening and looked across to see the glow from the gasworks.

 

[SJL2020]

​

I'm somewhat surprised to see the likes of Dvorak, Rachmaninov, and Puccini being nominated here.

My nomination would be Ruggero Leoncavallo, who is really only known for Pagliacci.

 

[Western Lord]

Those of us brought up on The Lone Ranger might nominate Rossini.

 

[30907]

Coleridge Taylor - Hiawatha's Wedding Feast (he got a mention on TV yesterday so I remembered!) - not that I have sung or even heard it.

 

[S&CLER]

​

I'm somewhat surprised to see the likes of Dvorak, Rachmaninov, and Puccini being nominated here.

My nomination would be Ruggero Leoncavallo, who is really only known for Pagliacci.

And who knows anything by Mascagni except Cavalleria Rusticana, or by Wolf-Ferrari except Susanna's Secret? (the secret was that she smoked).

 

[OhNoAPacer]

​

I'm somewhat surprised to see the likes of Dvorak, Rachmaninov, and Puccini being nominated here.

Maybe like me people have interpreted the question, possibly incorrectly, as being known by the general public for only one piece.

 

[Cdd89]

I'm glad someone made that joke

I did think you’d set it up, but it was irresistible!