What is the most beautiful single piece of music ever produced in each country in the world? This is the starting point of this new blog, where I will share my own opinions, and invite all of you to nominate pieces of music, debate the candidates, and vote on them. I will create a single page for each country, suggest a single piece of music for each one, and then see what the rest of you suggest and think. There are no right and wrong answers, of course, and the definitions of "country," "piece of music," and "beautiful" are all open to discussion and debate. I would start out by defining "country" as the composer's place of birth or residence. For the kind of music, I would suggest a single composition, and my initial inclination is to focus on "classical" or symphonic compositions that last more than about 10 minutes (thus excluding most contemporary rock music and folk songs, etc.). "Beautiful" is entirely subjective, but for me it is music that moves me emotionally.
I am not at all an expert or specialist in classical music, though I have loved it for as long as I can remember. I played trumpet in high school and college orchestras, and have fiddled with the guitar, the recorder, the piano and the harmonica. But in real life, I am simply a retired professor of political science!
I will begin developing this blog as we go along, but in the meantime I welcome any suggestions, nominations, and comments, which you are free to post here.
As a starting point, allow me to choose my own country as the first one to consider. (For one thing, as far as music goes, it is a whole lot easier than, for example, Germany, Austria, Italy or Russia!)
My choice for the most beautiful piece of music ever produced by an American composer is "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin. A close runner-up would be Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings."
Your thoughts? Try "voting" in the little poll widget on the right hand side of this page.
