My Classic FM 'Hall of Fame' Dilemma - What would your Top 3 choices be?

Anyone who dips in and out of this blog from time to time will I'm sure have picked up on my love of classical music. It's a childhood thing that has stayed with me and indeed grown, throughout my 29 years.

But it's only in the last few years that I have become an avid listener of Classic FM (it is now my bed-side radio station of choice). In particular, it is only over the past 2 years that I have become ingratiated into the Classic FM Hall of Fame Top 300 Countdown.

Classic FM have been counting down the great British public's favourite classical compositions through its Hall of Fame since 1996. But only over the past two Easter weekends have I taken particular notice of recent trends.

2012 Hall of Fame
Well this year, I'm actually going to make my mark by voting for the first time in this annual classical feast.

To be precise, I have 3 votes available to me in all which you'd think would give me plenty of scope in deciding my personal Top 3 classical compositions of all-time. But it's not that straightforward! The more that I have listened to Classic FM over the years, the wider my knowledge and appreciation of a wide range of classical pieces has developed.

Narrowing that wealth of music down to just 3 submissions has therefore become a near impossible task!

I am still mulling over those choices which must be submitted online before Wednesday 29th February. So I have barely a week to make that decision!

Here are just a sample of the kinds of classical pieces that I adore (with their 2011 Top 300 Hall of Fame position in brackets)...

Copland - Rodeo (No. 274)


Gershwin - Walking the Dog (No. 268)


Wagner - Lohengrin (No. 248)


Rossini - The Thieving Magpie (No. 212)


Walton - Crown Imperial (No. 208)


Schubert - Ave Maria (No. 186)


Rossini - The Barber of Seville (No. 180)


Strauss (Snr) - Radetzky March (No. 162)


Williams - Star Wars (No. 151)


Rossini - William Tell Overture (No. 116)


Faure - Pavane (No. 115)


Beethoven - Fur Elise (No. 114)


Verdi - La Traviata (No. 109)


Ravel - Bolero (No. 101)


Bizet - Carmen (No. 87)


Verdi - Narbucco (No. 69)


Puccini - Madam Butterfly (No. 68)


Wagner - Tannhauser (No. 67)


Tchaikovsky - Nutcracker Suite (No. 63)


Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (No. 59)

 
Strauss (Jnr)- Blue Danube (No. 57)

 
Mozart - Marriage of Figaro (No. 51)

 
Mozart - Concerto No.21 (No. 48)

 
Beethoven - 5th Symphony (No. 39)

 
Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana (No. 32)

 
Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata (No. 28)

 
Sibelius - Finlandia (No. 25)


Dvorak - Symphony No.9 (New World) (No. 24)


Beethoven - 7th Symphony (No. 23)


Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue (No. 22)


Saint-Säens - Symphony No.3 (No. 21)


Grieg - Piano Concerto (No. 20)


Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture (No. 17)


Pachelbel - Canon (No. 13)


Holst - The Planets (No. 12)


Vivaldi - Four Seasons (No. 11)


Beethoven - 9th Symphony (No. 10)


Mozart - Clarinet Concerto (No. 5)


That is a mere selection of almost 40 of my favourite classical compositions from a wide range of composers.

But how do I whittle them down to just 3 choices?! Well, I'll have to and I will report back within a week or so with the results.

In the meantime, what about you dear reader? What would your 'Top 3' classical choices be? Anything from the list above or something completely different? Please do comment with your personal choices, I'd be interested to find out.