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Triumph for Russian giant Rachmaninov in the Ultimate Classic FM Hall of Fame
1 January 2021, 18:44 | Updated: 1 January 2021, 18:49
The devilishly difficult but gloriously beautiful Piano Concerto No. 2 takes top spot, whilst the beloved ‘Lark’ soars to second place.
This year, it was the 25th anniversary of the Classic FM Hall of Fame. To mark the anniversary, we presented a ‘chart-of-charts’ just after Christmas, counting down the top 300 most voted-for pieces of classical music in the last quarter-of-a-century of the Classic FM Hall of Fame.
The Ultimate Classic FM Hall of Fame countdown began on Monday 28 December and, five days later, on New Year’s Day, the winner of the coveted top spot has just been revealed.
The piece of music that’s been most popular in the Classic FM Hall of Fame’s 25-year history is Sergey Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
A devilishly difficult piece of music, renowned for its hand-splitting chords and the mind-bending virtuosity it demands from the player, it was composed between 1900 and 1901, and 120 years later has lost none of its potency. It’s also an incredibly lyrical and beautiful piece of music.
The piece was No.4 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame countdown in 2020 – and it’s appeared every single year in our chart.
Not only that, but it’s never been voted into the Hall of Fame below the No.4 spot. It was last No.1 in 2011, after which The Lark Ascending knocked the beloved piano work off its perch.
But now The Lark is back down on the second branch, and we have our Ultimate No.1 – congratulations Sergey!
No.3 was Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, No.4 was Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 and at No.5 we had Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
Read more: The Ultimate Classic FM Hall of Fame full top 300 >
The Classic FM Hall of Fame – the largest survey of classical music tastes anywhere on the planet – has been a staple on Classic FM since it started in 1996. A new top 300, made up entirely from listener votes cast beforehand, is revealed every year on Easter weekend.
Classic FM is available across the UK on 100-102 FM, DAB digital radio and TV, on Global Player on your smart speaker (“play Classic FM”), iOS or Android device, and at ClassicFM.com.
