Haydn In Plain Sight: The Classical Music Thread

[Ojai Sam]

OK, Classical isn't the biggest draw here at MG. But a little highbrow music never hurt anyone, right Franz?

 

[Ojai Sam]

With that out of the way, here's the real reason I decided to start this thread. You may recall I posted this link to KUSC's "Classical California Ultimate Playlist":

Thru NYE - An Encore of the Classical California Ultimate Playlist | See What Made The List - Classical KUSC

The 2023 Classical California Ultimate Playlist is coming! This is where the spirit of…

www.kusc.org

Links being the transitory phenomena they are, here's the actual list for posterity:

1. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #9
2. George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
3. Antonin Dvorak: Symphony No. 9
4. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
5. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #6
6. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #7
7. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5
8. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #5
9. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem
10. Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending

11. Bedrich Smetana: Ma Vlast: The Moldau
12. Peter Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
13. Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings
14. John Williams: Star Wars
15. Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring: Simple Gifts
16. Claude Debussy: Clair de lune
17. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
18. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini
19. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 41
20. Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2

21. Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ”
22. Johann Pachelbel: Canon in D
23. Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
24. Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
25. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Clarinet Concerto
26. Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
27. Yann Tiersen: Amelie
28. Gustav Holst: The Planets: Jupiter
29. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #3 “Eroica”
30. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

31. George Frideric Handel: Messiah
32. Maurice Ravel: Bolero
33. Carl Orff: Carmina Burana
34. Jerry Goldsmith: Star Trek
35. Arturo Marquez: Danzón No. 2
36. Florence Price: Symphony No. 3
37. Scott Joplin: Pineapple Rag
38. Ennio Morricone: The Mission: Gabriel’s Oboe
39. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata #14 “Moonlight”
40. Franz Schubert: Piano Quintet “Trout”

41. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik
42. Astor Piazzolla: Libertango
43. Howard Shore: Lord of the Rings
44. Peter Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1
45. George Frideric Handel: Water Music
46. Aaron Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
47. Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata & Fugue in d minor
48. Koji Kondo: Legend of Zelda
49. Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhbition
50. Heitor Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras #5

51. Peter Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture
52. Clara Schumann: Piano Concerto
53. Alexander Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia
54. Caroline Shaw: To the Hands: Her Beacon Hand
55. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
56. Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5: Adagietto
57. Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Concerto
58. Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto
59. William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony
60. Antonin Dvorak: Rusalka: Song to the Moon

61. Johannes Brahms: German Requiem
62. Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations
63. Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Hear us in the Heavens
64. Johann Strauss II: Blue Danube Waltz
65. Igor Stravinsky: Firebird
66. Aram Khachaturian: Masquerade Waltz
67. Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
68. Leo Delibes: Lakme: Flower Duet
69. Jean Sibelius: Finlandia
70. Ferde Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite

71. Alberto Ginastera: Dance of the Graceful Maiden
72. Igor Stravinsky: Rite of Spring
73. Nobuo Uematsu: Final Fantasy Theme
74. Johann Sebastian Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
75. Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
76. Manuel Ponce: Estrellita
77. Johann Sebastian Bach: Cello Suite #1
78. John Williams: Schindler’s List
79. Aram Khachaturian: Spartacus: Adagio
80. Jules Massenet: Thais: Meditation

81. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Magic Flute
82. Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco: Va Pensiero (Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves)
83. Jeremy Soule: Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
84. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
85. Terence Blanchard: Da 5 Bloods – MLK Assassinated
86. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21
87. Charles Gounod: Faust: “Ah! je ris de me voir si belle”
88. Carlos Chavez: Symphony 2
89. Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in b minor
90. Rachel Portman: Chocolat – Vianne Sets up Shop

91. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 40
92. Eric Whitacre: Sing Gently
93. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons: Spring
94. Margaret Bonds: Troubled Water
95. Giacomo Puccini: Turandot: Nessun Dorma
96. Morten Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium
97. Peter Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
98. Jessica Curry: All the Earth – Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
99. Amy Beach: Gaelic Symphony
100. Claudio Monteverdi : Pur Ti Miro – Coronation of Poppea

101. John Williams: Jaws
102. Yuzo Koshiro: ActRaiser
103. Georges Bizet: Carmen
104. Edvard Grieg: Peer Gynt
105. Richard Wagner: Die Valkure: Ride of the Valkyries
106. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons: Summer
107. Peter Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
108. Morten Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna
109. Aaron Copland: Rodeo
110. Gustav Mahler: Symphony #1

111. Frederic Chopin: Piano Concerto #1
112. John Williams: Harry Potter
113. Gabriel Fauré: Requiem
114. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons: Winter
115. Florence Price: Fantasie Negre No 2
116. César Franck: Symphony in d Minor
117. George Gershwin: An American in Paris
118. Greg Edmonson: Uncharted – Drake’s Fortune: Nate’s Theme
119. Felix Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture
120. Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4

121. Gioachino Rossini: William Tell Overture
122. Max Bruch: Violin Concerto #1
123. Claude Debussy: La Mer
124. Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto #2
125. Johann Sebastian Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze

 

[Ojai Sam]

126. Bernard Hermann: Psycho
127. Igor Stravinsky: Petrouchka
128. Johann Sebastian Bach: Air on the G String
129. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons: Autumn
130. Tomaso Albinoni: Adagio in g minor

131. Antonin Dvorak: Cello Concerto
132. Ennio Morricone: Cinema Paradiso
133. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro
134. Claude Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
135. Ludwig van Beethoven: Choral Fantasy
136. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2
137. Frederic Chopin: Piano Concerto #2
138. Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint Georges: Symphony in G
139. Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto in D
140. John Barry: Out of Africa

141. Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony #6
142. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
143. Antonin Dvorak: String Quartet No. 12 “The American”
144. Ludwig van Beethoven: Für Elise
145. Felix Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
146. Inon Zur: Fallout 4
147. Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins
148. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music
149. Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished”
150. Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome

151. Edward Elgar: Cello Concerto
152. Igor Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat
153. Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Matthew Passion
154. Maurice Ravel: Pavane for a Dead Princess
155. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #4
156. Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo
157. Giacomo Puccini: La Boheme
158. George Gershwin: Concerto in F
159. Camille Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals: The Swan
160. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2

161. Luigi Boccherini: Night Music of the Streets of Madrid
162. Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
163. Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3
164. Peter Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien
165. Gabriel Fauré: Pavane
166. Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
167. Erik Satie: Gymnopedie No. 1
168. Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto
169. Richard Wagner: Tannhäuser: Overture
170. Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1

171. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 39
172. Gustav Holst: The Planets: Mars
173. Giacomo Puccini: Gianni Schicchi: O mio babbino caro
174. Leonard Bernstein: Candide: Overture
175. Max Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
176. Gioachino Rossini: Barber of Seville Overture
177. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Rondo alla Turca
178. Alexander Borodin: Polovtsian Dances
179. George Frideric Handel: Music for Royal Fireworks
180. Bela Bartok: Concerto For Orchestra

181. Alexander Borodin: Nocturne
182. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto for Flute and Harp
183. Domenico Zipoli: Elevazione
184. Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story: Symphonic Dances
185. Frederick Delius: Florida Suite: By the River
186. George Frideric Handel: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
187. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata #8 “Pathetique”
188. Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
189. Frederic Chopin: Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2
190. John Williams: Jurassic Park

191. Howard Hanson: Symphony #2 “Romantic”
192. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni
193. Dmitri Shostakovich: Jazz Suite: Waltz #2
194. Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
195. Franz Schubert: String Quintet in C
196. Giuseppe Verdi: Requiem
197. Gustav Holst: The Planets: Venus
198. John Williams: Raiders of the Lost Ark
199. Fanny Mendelssohn: May: Spring Song
200. Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 “Italian”

201. Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 9 “Great”
202. Frederic Chopin: Raindrop Prelude
203. Gioachino Rossini: Thieving Magpie Overture
204. Henryk Gorecki: Symphony #3
205. Jacques Offenbach: Tales of Hoffman: Barcarolle
206. Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont Overture
207. Peter Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings
208. Frederic Chopin: Heroic Polonaise
209. Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto
210. George Frideric Handel: Xerxes: Largo

211. Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 5
212. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20
213. Frederic Chopin: Fantaisie Impromptu in c # minor
214. Ottorino Respighi: Ancient Airs & Dances
215. Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
216. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus
217. Ludovico Einaudi: Primavera
218. Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony #4
219. Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
220. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 25

221. Johannes Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn
222. Richard Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
223. Antonin Dvorak: Serenade for Strings
224. Brahms: Academic Festival Overture
225. Erik Satie: Gymnopedie No. 2
226. Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto
227. Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5
228. George Frideric Handel: Messiah: Hallelujah Chorus
229. Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1
230. Erik Satie: Gymnopedie #3

231. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4
232. Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs
233. Ludovico Einaudi: Two Sunsets
234. Modest Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain
235. Luigi Boccherini: Guitar Quintet #4 “Fandango Quintet”
236. Johann Sebastian Bach: Sleepers Awake
237. Camille Saint-Saëns: Dance Macabre
238. Giuseppe Verdi: La traviata
239. Isaac Albeniz: Asturias
240. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1

241. Jean Sibelius: Karelia Suite
242. Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
243. Edvard Grieg: Holberg Suite
244. Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 “Egyptian”
245. Francisco Tárrega: Memories of Alhambra
246. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante
247. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #8
248. Chevalier de Saints Georges: Symphonie concertante for 2 Violins in G
249. José Pablo Moncayo: Huapango
250. Paul Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

As time permits, I'll offer a few comments on these choices, but feel free to chime in any time.

 

[axolotl]

I'm still scandalized that Gershwin is rated higher than Dvorak, but at least my frenetic pearl-clutching has abated.

Other than that this list is a-ok

 

[Nickyboy]

Some fantastic, well loved favorites on those lists. While my parents did get me started with Beatles and Stones albums, 90% of the time it was classical music being played on the stereo, from morning to night. I was glad to get my parents' records when we emptied my mother's house.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Great thread, Sam. I don’t post much from it, but it should surprise absolutely no one that I’ve been slowly going through 1001 Classical Music Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die starting a few months ago (primarily my weekend listening), in fact I came on this morning to post I was listening to this:

Sergei Rachmaninov - All Night Vigil (1915) - Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Chorus/Paul Hillier



Along with The Bells, this a capella choral work for the Russian Orthodox service was Rachmaninov’s favorite of his works. He asked for the fifth section “Lord, Now lettest thou” to be sung at his funeral

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

I'm still scandalized that Gershwin is rated higher than Dvorak, but at least my frenetic pearl-clutching has abated.

Other than that this list is a-ok

Another agape mouth here for New World Symphony, one of my top three symphonies being lower that Rhapsody in Blue, granted a wonderful piece. I do appreciate that there included Star Wars theme up there. Although classical purists will grumble, the reality of supporters of any orchestra that’s not among the top draws is that music directors/conductors are forced to include John Williams night or Music of Disney night amidst their usual programming to stay afloat. Our orchestra’s John Williams night was the most crowded I’ve ever seen the symphony and indeed expose a lot of new/younger folk to the orchestra.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Cheers also to putting “The Lark Ascending” into the top 10. Not sure it would be quite that high for me but what a piece.
Also delighted at one of my favorites, the infectious “Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini” up high. Like the list makers, obviously I’m a big fan of Rachmaninov

Love this highly ranked listing combo too:
23. Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
24. Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations

Seeing Rodrigo’s guitar concerto live was a personal highlight in my orchestral viewing history

A lot to unpack with this list

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

And speaking of Liszt (since the list is full of well known popular pieces) where’s Woody Woodpecker’s (and Tom and Jerry and Bugs) favorite “Hungarian Rhapsody No.2” (or at least “Les preludes”)

 

[Nickyboy]

Speaking of classical music mysteries, one has finally been solved: https://www.screen-idle.com/wagner-...-of-the-valkyries-lyrics-are-kill-the-wabbit/

 

[axolotl]

Cheers also to putting “The Lark Ascending” into the top 10. Not sure it would be quite that high for me but what a piece.
Also delighted at one of my favorites, the infectious “Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini” up high. Like the list makers, obviously I’m a big fan of Rachmaninov

Love this highly ranked listing combo too:
23. Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
24. Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations

Seeing Rodrigo’s guitar concerto live was a personal highlight in my orchestral viewing history

A lot to unpack with this list

A lot to unpack with this list

Yea, verily. I'm still wrapping my head around J. S. Bach peaking at #74, with a follow-up at 77. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring aced out the Cello Suite by a hair (or three).

Both are outstanding works, but somehow I thought Brandenburg Concerto #3 would be "Papa" Bach's top bid. It arrives at #84.

So as not mush my musings, I will avoid adding any other composers, thoughts, insights, or outsights here.

 

[axolotl]

TIL about Fanny Mendelsohn.

To paraphrase a recent President, "Who knew that health care [the Romantic period] would be so complicated?"

 

[Ojai Sam]

I'm still scandalized that Gershwin is rated higher than Dvorak, but at least my frenetic pearl-clutching has abated.

Other than that this list is a-ok

A lot to unpack here, indeed.

I have always been ambivalent about Gershwin in general and Rhapsody in Blue in particular.



It began life as a commission from Paul Whiteman, the “King of Jazz”, for his large orchestra. For a number of complex reasons, both musical and societal (read racial), Whiteman has been consigned to the dustbin of history but Rhapsody in Blue has somehow managed to survive like a zombie, totally detached from its original context.

While I can certainly appreciate his brilliance, I have trouble watching Gershwin rub shoulders with Beethoven and Mozart without wondering “why not Victor Herbert, Duke Ellington, or for that matter, Oliver Nelson?” Ultimately, I see the incorporation of the accessible Rhapsody in Blue into the classical repertoire as a reasonable way of gaining some main stream acceptance for a challenging genre. So bring it on!

 

[axolotl]

Another consideration after partially digesting this list:

There is at least one composer that I thought would break the top 250, and in fact did do so, but with a more serene and song-laden piece than I expected.

His more (I thought) well-known bombastic piece does not even graze this list.

I've already given you enough hints. Who am I describing?

By the way, I have looked through the whole list perhaps five times. If I missed it, shoot me! I heartily apologize.

Spoiler

Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra

 

[Ojai Sam]

There are lots of recordings of Rhapsody In Blue by modern symphony orchestras. However, for those who would like to experience it exactly as it was originally unveiled, here's your chance.

New Palais Royal Orchestra - The Birth of Rhapsody In Blue: Paul Whiteman's Historic Aeolian Hall Concert of 1924 (1986)

Music Web International offers this in depth review:

Music historians frequently mention the famous concert put on by Paul Whiteman on 12th February 1924 at New York’s Aeolian Hall entitled “An Experiment in Modern Music”. Its importance in musical history lies in the fact that it was the first presentation of a work which has gone on to be a 20th century classic and the one of the first true “crossover” works, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. But few music historians have gone in deeper and looked at precisely how the Gershwin work fitted into the context of that concert. Here we have the full concert recreated by Maurice Peress and his team of multi-talented musicians, and hearing the music, along with reading Peress’s own thoroughly researched and deeply illuminating booklet, offers a fabulous insight into one of the significant events in the history of 20th century music. This recording first appeared on the Musicmasters label in 1986, but Nimbus has brought it back into circulation with this two-disc reissue both of the music from the concert itself and a selection of Gershwin “classics and hard-to-find rarities”.

The concert, as presented on this disc, ran as several themed sections culminating with Rhapsody in Blue. The first section was entitled the “True Form of Jazz” and on this recording these modern-era players exude the true Dixieland spirit in their exuberant, slightly shambolic account of LaRocca’s 1917 Livery Stable Blues with its musical imitations of horses braying and roosters shrieking, while they then bring tight discipline to Abel Baer’s 1924 Mama Loves Papa with Dave Bargeron easily stepping into the shoes of the original trombone soloist, Roy Maxon.

Next came two “Comedy Selections”, Yes, We Have No Bananas which segues effortlessly here into So This Is Venice, which was a showcase for the extraordinary talents of the Paul Whiteman band saxophonist, Ross Gorman, who, we read, “set up his rack of instruments (there were ten listed in the programme) in front of the band and switched from one to another”. Here Gorman is replaced by the almost equally multi-faceted Andrew Shreeves (seven instruments) and Jack Kripl (six instruments) plus the violin of Andy Stein. It’s all an exuberant riot of instrumental virtuosity, even if the famous theme soon outlives its attraction.

“Contrast, Legitimate Scorings vs. Jazzing” came next and featured the Whiteman band’s own big hit of the year, Whispering by John Schoenberger, which was put through a series of orchestrations, including one featuring here the extraordinary slide whistle of Dave Bargeron.

Heading into what was then more adventurous territory, the next section was headed “Recent Compositions with Modern Score” and opens with two arrangements by Ferde Grofé – Limehouse Blues and Linger Awhile - designed to showcase the banjo talents of the Whiteman band’s star banjoist, Mike Pingatore, ably recreated for this recording by the considerable banjo virtuosity of Eddy Davis.

Zez Confrey got a section of all his own in the concert as composer and pianist, and here his place is taken by Dick Hyman who gives an outrageously exuberant version of Kitten on the Keys. Some doubt exists over what precisely came next in the 1924 concert, but for this recording Hyman gives a beautifully tranquil, flowing performance of three Little Oddities before rounding this section off with the flamboyant Nickel in the Slot, which marvellously imitates the sound of a coin-operated player-piano. Hyman ends his slot with a medley of pieces by Irving Berlin.

What came next was simply extraordinary; jazz band arrangements of Classics intended by Whiteman to pave the way for the concert’s climax. Has Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 ever sounded quite like it does here? Grofé’s medley of various popular bits of Russiana was possibly prepared in honour of the presence at the 1924 concert of Sergei Rachmaninov (represented in this piece by a snippet of his C minor Prelude). Continuing the theme of standard classics given the jazz band treatment, we begin to dig even deeper into the world of crossover, with, among others, Edward MacDowell’s To A Wild Rose given the “dance rhythm” makeover.

The final two works in the concert were both original commissions, and included what was to be Victor Herbert’s very final composition. A Suite of Serenades is described as “the most challenging work on the entire programme” and comprises four movements which adopt various national styles and intermingles typical musical and dance gestures from Spain, China, Cuba and Arabia and a wonderful bit of orchestral pastiche. After hearing the Gershwin work which followed his own piece, Herbert apparently said “I wish I had written that, I would have done more with it” and, perhaps hearing Rhapsody in Blue here in its original version for jazz orchestra with prominent parts for banjo and saxophones, one might see his point. As it is, though, as Peress writes, “in the light of current interest in urtext editions of classical music”, this recording gives real historical authority to a work which has long since broken away from its original style and scope. Nobody with an interest in Gershwin should be without this version, presented with both authority and aplomb – and with Walt Levinsky doing things with that notorious clarinet solo few others have dared.

Paul Whiteman was (no pun intended) a larger than life figure from the 20's to the 50's, and this reconstructed concert presents him exactly as he appeared to contemporary audiences. If the preceding material and arrangements seem very dated, it gives us an even greater appreciation for the groundbreaking nature of Rhapsody in Blue.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Some fantastic, well loved favorites on those lists. While my parents did get me started with Beatles and Stones albums, 90% of the time it was classical music being played on the stereo, from morning to night. I was glad to get my parents' records when we emptied my mother's house.

I had the same experience, Nick. My mom introduced me to Bing and the big bands, but she also added a lot of classical to the mix. We got a Magnavox stereo-TV combo just like this when I was about ten:

Nothing sounded better than those RCA Victor Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence classical recordings!

 

[axolotl]

I had the same experience, Nick. My mom introduced me to Bing and the big bands, but she also added a lot of classical to the mix. We got a Magnavox stereo-TV combo just like this when I was about ten:
View attachment 4908
Nothing sounded better than those RCA Victor Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence classical recordings!

I swear, ours looked very similar. We just closed the door on the TV when it died.

We heard Brahms and The Smothers Brothers and the Kingston Trio.

My brothers subverted it on Xmas vacation. I remember hearing SPLHCB, MMT, Led Zeppelin I, and even whole sides of Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway on it before it suddenly went bad and joined a street gang.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

I had the same experience, Nick. My mom introduced me to Bing and the big bands, but she also added a lot of classical to the mix. We got a Magnavox stereo-TV combo just like this when I was about ten:
View attachment 4908
Nothing sounded better than those RCA Victor Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence classical recordings!

Did that have the tone arm that weighed half a pound that would cut new grooves into the records?

 

[axolotl]

Did that have the tone arm that weighed half a pound that would cut new grooves into the records?

Absolutely, and it would still bounce.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Absolutely, and it would still bounce.

Those lucky lp’s that survived the tone arm also suffered the indignity of being dropped on each other by the changer.