Rachmaninov best for British ear
Nothing sounds better than Sergey Rachmaninov to the British people. A poll with over 180,000 respondents has revealed that Rachmaninov`s Concerto No 2 for piano with orchestra is Britain`s favorite work of classical music, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The Russian composer`s Piano Concerto No 2 has been voted the nation`s favorite in the annual poll held by Classic FM radio station. This work of the Russian genius became the soundtrack to the 1945 romance drama Brief Encounter by the then leading British filmmaker David Lean.
Rachmaninov`s piano concerto, composed between the fall of 1900 and April 1901, significantly contributed to securing the reputation of the Russian composer in the UK and the rest of the West. This work became a symbol of Rachmaninov`s comeback after a long depression he dove into after the failure of his First Symphony. Along with Concerto No 3, Piano Concerto No 2 is considered one of Rachmaninov`s greatest works and also one of the most significant works of late romanticism in music as a whole.
For the first time over the past three years, Rachmaninov`s composition has finally beat Ralph-Vaughan Williams` The Lark Ascending.
The top ten classical works among the British listeners also feature Beethoven`s Symphonies No 9 and No 6 and his Piano Concerto No 5; Elgar`s Cello Concerto and his Enigma Variations; Bruch`s Violin Concerto No 1; Mozart`s Clarinet Concerto; Vaughan Williams` The Lark Ascending and Thomas Tallis? Fantasia on a Theme.
A total of 300 classical works made it to the chart. Russian composers are represented by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergey Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich, Modest Mussorgsky, Igor Stravinsky and Aleksandr Borodin.
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