Snooch’s Silly Symphony

Rick Seaholm0105 views

For six years, I selected an unfamiliar classical music piece each Sunday, and tried my best to “learn” it throughout that week. The idea came during Christmas week of 2011. It’s possible it had floated around my head earlier, but I definitely remember it vividly just before New Year’s, and remember telling my wife about my idea. She affectionately gave it a name which stuck: “Snooch’s Silly Symphony”. Read more about the regimen, and see the full listing here.

2012: The Year of Symphonies

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  1. Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 73
  2. Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
  3. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in Fm, Op. 36
  4. Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in Bb, D. 485
  5. Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in Dm, Op. 70
  6. Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in Eb, “The Romantic”
  7. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 in Gm, Op. 13, “Winter Daydreams”
  8. Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in Am, Op. 56, “Scottish”
  9. Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in Eb, Op. 97, “Rhenish”
  10. Haydn: Symphony No. 104 in D, Hob. I:104, London”
  11. Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 in Em, Op. 27
  12. Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F, Op. 90
  13. Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D, “Titan”
  14. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in Cm, “Resurrection”
  15. Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A, Op. 90, “Italian”
  16. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in Em, Op. 93
  17. Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C, D. 944, “The Great”
  18. Haydn: Symphony No. 100 in G, Hob. 1/100, “Military”
  19. Dvořák: Symphony No. 2 in Bb, Op. 4
  20. Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 in C, Op. 78, “Organ”
  21. Nielsen: Symphony No.4, Op. 29, “The Inextinguishable”
  22. Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in Dm, Op. 120
  23. Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in Dm, “The Wagner”
  24. Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 in Em, Op. 39
  25. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in Bm, Op. 74, “Pathétique”
  26. Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 3 in Am, Op. 44
  27. Schubert: Symphony No. 6 in C, D. 589
  28. Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 43
  29. Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G, Op. 88, B. 163
  30. Haydn: Symphony No. 101 in D, Hob. I:101, “The Clock”
  31. Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C#m
  32. Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1 in Cm, Op. 11
  33. Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in Dm
  34. Glazunov: Symphony No. 1 in E, Op. 5, “Slavonian Symphony”
  35. Haydn: Symphony No. 59 in A, Hob. I:59, “Fire”
  36. Schubert: Symphony No. 3 in D, D. 200
  37. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in Em, Op. 64
  38. Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 in D, Op. 60
  39. Glazunov: Symphony No. 3 in D, Op. 33
  40. Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 in D, Op. 107, “Reformation”
  41. Sibelius: Symphony No. 3 in C, Op. 52
  42. Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in Em, “New World”
  43. Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21
  44. Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in Cm, Op. 68

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2013: The Year of Concerti

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  1. Elgar: Cello Concerto in Em, Op. 85
  2. Beethoven: Triple Concerto in C for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Op. 56
  3. Schumann: Piano Concerto in Am, Op. 54
  4. Bach: Violin Concerto No. 1 in Am, BWV 1041
  5. Brahms: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77
  6. Dvořák: Cello Concerto in Bm, Op. 104, B. 191
  7. Weber: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in Fm, Op. 73
  8. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G, Op. 58
  9. Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No.3 in Bm, Op. 61
  10. Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in Em, Op. 11
  11. Schumann: Cello Concerto in Am, Op. 129
  12. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35
  13. Glazunov: Violin Concerto in Am, Op. 82
  14. Bach: Triple Concerto in Am for Harpsichord, Flute, and Violin, BWV 1044
  15. Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F#m, Op. 1
  16. Spohr: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in Cm, Op. 26
  17. Haydn: Trumpet concerto in Eb, Hob. VIIe
  18. Dvořák: Piano Concerto in Gm, Op. 33
  19. Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, K. 216
  20. Bach, CPE: Cello Concerto in A, Wq. 172
  21. Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 6
  22. Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 2 in D, Hob. VIIb/2
  23. Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in Gm, Op. 26
  24. Ravel: Piano Concerto in G, M 83
  25. Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 19
  26. Bach: Oboe d’Amore Concerto in A, BWV 1055
  27. Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4 in Gm, Op. 40
  28. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1 in Db, Op. 10
  29. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in Em, Op. 64
  30. Beethoven:Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb, Op. 19
  31. Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in Eb, S. 124
  32. Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C, K. 503
  33. Bach: Concerto in Am for Four Harpsichords, BWV 1065
  34. Ravel: Piano Concerto in D for Left Hand, M. 82
  35. Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A, Op. 20
  36. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in Cm, Op. 37
  37. Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C, Hob. VIIb/1
  38. Weber: Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in Eb, Op. 74
  39. Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A, S. 125
  40. Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 in Fm, Op. 21
  41. Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61
  42. Brahms: Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in Am, Op. 102
  43. Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in Dm, Op. 15
  44. Sibelius: Violin Concerto in Dm, Op. 47
  45. Grieg: Piano Concerto in Am, Op. 16
  46. Poulenc: Piano Concerto in C#m, FP 146
  47. Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb, Op. 83
  48. Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1 in Gm, Op. 25

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 2014: The Year of Program Music, Suites, and Overtures

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  1. Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
  2. Respighi: Pines of Rome
  3. Debussy: Images for Orchestra
  4. Stravinsky: Firebird Suite
  5. Saint-Saëns: Le carnaval des animaux
  6. Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra
  7. Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
  8. Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture
  9. Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
  10. Elgar: Enigma Variations
  11. Holst: The Planets
  12. Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin
  13. Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini
  14. Respighi: Fountains of Rome
  15. Strauss: Don Juan
  16. Smetana: Má Vlast
  17. Berlioz: Romeo et Juliette
  18. Debussy: La Mer
  19. Dvořák: Othello Overture
  20. Brahms: Tragic Overture
  21. Saint-Saëns: Africa
  22. Ravel: Ma mère l’oye Suite
  23. Brahms: Academic Festival Overture
  24. Strauss: Metamorphosen
  25. Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite
  26. Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite
  27. Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
  28. Copland: Billy the Kid
  29. Sibelius: Karelia Suite
  30. Liszt: “Les Préludes,” Symphonic poem, after Lamartine
  31. Stravinsky: Rite of Spring
  32. Webern: Im Sommerwind
  33. Tchaikovsky: Marche Slave
  34. Dvořák: The Noonday Witch
  35. Debussy: Nocturnes
  36. Ravel: Pavane for a Dead Princess
  37. Strauss: Tod und Verklärung
  38. Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien
  39. Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture
  40. Respighi: Roman Festivals
  41. Rachmaninov: Isle of the Dead
  42. Grieg: From Holberg’s Time
  43. Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges
  44. Sibelius: Tapiola
  45. Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
  46. Bach: Orchestral Suites
  47. Copland: Appalachian Spring
  48. Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol
  49. Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances

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2015: The Year of Whims

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  1. Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
  2. Bach: Goldberg Variations
  3. Dvořák: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A, Op. 81
  4. Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole
  5. Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, Op.80
  6. Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder, WWV 91
  7. Schubert: Incidental Music from Rosamunde
  8. Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in Am, Op. 33
  9. Ravel: Shéhérazade
  10. Haydn: Seven Last Words of Christ (orchestral)
  11. Strauss: Vier Letzte Lieder, TrV 296
  12. Stravinsky: Concerto in Eb, “Dumbarton Oaks”
  13. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in Ab, Op. 26, “Funeral March”
  14. Mahler: Symphony No. 6 in Am, “Tragic”
  15. Poulenc: Suite from Les Biches
  16. Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in Dm, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden”
  17. Bartók: Two Portraits, Op. 5
  18. Mendelssohn: “The Hebrides” overture, Op. 26
  19. Brahms: Trio in Am for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 114
  20. Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber
  21. Strauss: Burleske for Piano and Orchestra, TrV 145
  22. Schumann: Manfred Overture, Op. 115
  23. Dvořák: Carnival Overture, Op. 92
  24. Berlioz: Béatrice et Bénédict Overture, H 138
  25. Tchaikovsky: The Tempest Symphonic Fantasy Overture, Op. 18
  26. Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
  27. Ives: Orchestral Set No. 2
  28. Schumann: Liederkreis, Op. 39
  29. Stravinsky: Petrouchka
  30. Saint-Saëns: Symphony in A
  31. Weber: Grand Potpourri in D Major for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 20, J. 64
  32. Tchaikovsky: Serenade in C for Strings, Op. 48
  33. Strauss: Don Quixote, Op. 35
  34. Bach: Two-Part Inventions
  35. Schubert: Symphony No. 4 in Cm, D. 417, “Tragic”
  36. Dvořák: Slavonic Dances, Op. 46
  37. Hindemith: Konzertmusik for Brass and Strings
  38. Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in Bb, WAB 105, “Tragic”
  39. Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia
  40. Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 3 in Eb, Op. Posth. (S. 125a)
  41. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9 in Eb, Op. 70
  42. Copland: Symphonic Ode
  43. Haydn: Symphony No. 90 in C, Hob. 1-90
  44. Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, Op. 31
  45. Liszt: Totentanz (Paraphrase on Dies Irae) for Piano and Orchestra
  46. Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta
  47. Liszt: Weihnachtsbaum, S.186

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2015: Choral Classics

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  1. Bach: Motets
  2. Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610
  3. Brahms: Schicksalslied
  4. Lauridsen: Mid-winter Songs
  5. Rachmaninov: Vespers (All-Night Vigil)
  6. Bach: St. Matthew Passion
  7. Poulenc: Stabat Mater
  8. Rutter: Mass of the Children
  9. Rachmaninov: The Bells, Op. 35
  10. Mendelssohn: Psalm 42, Op. 42
  11. Schubert: Mass No. 6 in Eb
  12. Thompson: Frostiana
  13. Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in Eb, “Symphony of a Thousand”
  14. Verdi: Te Deum
  15. Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem
  16. Poulenc: Gloria in G
  17. Ives: Psalm 90, “Lord, Thou Hast Been”
  18. Palestrina: Missa Tu Es Petrus
  19. Beethoven: Mass in C
  20. Lauridsen: Les Chansons des Roses
  21. Prokofiev: “Alexander Nevsky” Cantata, Op. 78
  22. Gounod: Messe Solenelle de Sainte Cécile
  23. Brahms: 4 Quartette, Op. 92
  24. Pinkham: Advent Cantata

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2015: Opera

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  1. Puccini: La Bohème
  2. Offenbach: Les Contes d’Hoffmann
  3. Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia
  4. Bizet: Carmen
  5. Verdi: La Traviata
  6. Borodin: Prince Igor
  7. Puccini: Tosca
  8. Beethoven: Fidelio
  9. Leoncavallo: Pagliacci
  10. Donizetti: L’Elisir D’Amore
  11. Verdi: Aida
  12. Massenet: Manon
  13. Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana
  14. Puccini: Turandot
  15. Dvořák: Rusalka
  16. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier

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2016: A Second Year of Whims

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  1. Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten
  2. Chavez: Symphony No. 2 , “Sinfonia India”
  3. Schubert: Symphony No. 2 in Bb, D. 125
  4. Debussy: The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian (Symphonic Fragments)
  5. Saint-Saens: La muse et le poete
  6. Lalo: Cello Concerto
  7. Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in Bb, Op. 38, “Spring Symphony”
  8. Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
  9. Debussy: Danse sacrée et danse profane
  10. Wagner: Parsifal (Vorspiel)
  11. Beethoven: Septet in Eb, Op. 20
  12. Handel: Water Music Suite No. 1 in F, HWV 348
  13. Shostakovich: Hamlet, Incidental Music
  14. Weber: Oberon Overture
  15. Falla: Noches en los jardines de España
  16. Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in Dm
  17. Korngold: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35
  18. Purcell: The Gordian Knot Untied, Z. 597
  19. Chopin: Preludes, Op. 28
  20. Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D
  21. Dvořák: Polonaise in A for Cello and Orchestra, B. 94
  22. Adams: Harmonielehre
  23. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in Cm, Op. 17, “Little Russian”
  24. Haydn: Symphony No. 103 in Eb, “Drumroll” (Hob. 1:103)
  25. Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 1 in F, Op. 5
  26. Ravel: Rapsodie Espagnole
  27. Mozart: String Quartet No. 14 in G, K. 387, “Haydn Quartet No. 1, “Spring”)
  28. Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite, Op. 22
  29. Schubert: Octet in F, D. 803
  30. Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C, Op. 61
  31. Field: Nocturnes No. 1-9
  32. Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations, Op. 33
  33. Mahler: Rückert-Lieder
  34. Nicolai: Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor
  35. Dvořák: Serenade in Dm for Winds, Op. 44
  36. Berlioz: Overture to Béatrice et Bénédict
  37. Franck: Symphony in Dm
  38. Wagner: Overture to Rienzi
  39. Dvořák: Violin Concerto in Am, Op. 53
  40. Copland: Quiet City
  41. Elgar: Introduction and Allegro

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2017: A Year of Deeper Dives

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  1. Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in Eb, Op. 82
  2. Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 in Am, Op. 63
  3. Sibelius: Symphony No. 6 in Dm, Op. 104
  4. Sibelius: Barden, Op. 64
  5. Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C, Op. 105
  6. Dvořák: Symphony No. 5 in F, Op. 76
  7. Dvořák: Symphony No. 1 in Cm, B. 9
  8. Dvořák: The Wild Dove, Op. 110, B. 198
  9. Dvořák: The Golden Spinning Wheel, Op. 109, B. 197
  10. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E, “The Lyric”
  11. Ibert: Escales
  12. Britten: Sinfonia di Requiem
  13. Sibelius: Symphony No. 3 in C, Op. 52
  14. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7, “Leningrad”
  15. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C, Op. 26
  16. Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane, Suite No. 2
  17. Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 in A, “The Philosophical”
  18. Shostakovich: King Lear Incidental Music Suite
  19. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6 in Bm, Op. 54
  20. Nielsen: Violin Concerto, Op. 33, FS 61
  21. Hindemith: Nobilssima Visione
  22. Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
  23. Mahler: Des Knabe Wunderhorn
  24. Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4
  25. Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast
  26. Elgar: Chanson de la Nuit, Op. 15, No. 1
  27. Berlioz: Harold in Italy, Op. 16
  28. Strauss: An Alpine Symphony
  29. Britten: Sea Interludes, Op. 33a
  30. Britten: Passacaglia, Op. 33b
  31. Ives: Orchestral Suite No. 1
  32. Rameau: Suite from Les Fêtes d’Hébé
  33. Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A, Op. 47, “Kreutzer”
  34. Mendelssohn: String Symphony No. 9 in Cm
  35. Falla: Suite No. 1 from “The Three Cornered Hat”
  36. Falla: Suite No. 2 from “The Three Cornered Hat”

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