Underused classical music

gkelly

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When in doubt, turn to the 1990s Ukrainian guys ;)

I know this music isn't from the classical era but I've always wanted to see a well-choreographed program skated to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFPjFjUonX8

Dmitri Dmitrenko 1997 fS

Tchaikovsky: nobody ever skates to his symphonies 1, 2 or 3, all great. And the Hamlet Overture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaxxtFGY5wI

Evgeni Pliuta 1997 FS

Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky is powerful and fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Du9TXBVlM

Dmitri Dmitrenko 1998 SP
Vyacheslav Zagorodniuk 1998 FS

Dmitrenko also had a Hamlet program -- I believe it is Shostakovich's music.
 

Sylvia

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A personal favourite of mine is the cello concerto by Edward Elgar. I think Jeff Buttle skated to it once but I can't recall any other skaters using this beautiful piece of music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HqkrwgbsZ8
There was a novice (I think) skater at Golden West just last weekend that used the Elgar! I thought it was pretty ambitious for the level.
It was Max Lake, a U.S. novice man who is coached and choreographed by Jonathan Cassar. :)

Scott Dyer skated a memorable free skate to the Concerto in B minor for Cello and Orchestra by Dvorak when he was at the Novice level.
Has anyone skated to Smetana's "The Moldau?"
I've always wanted to see The Moldau used. I love the beginning of the piece especially.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G4NKzmfC-Q
This piece gets brought up quite often here ;) ... it definitely qualifies as being underused (I have a vague memory of a not well-known Czech skater using it not that long ago?). I've posted this anecdote before... One of my favorite Nationals practice memories was watching a SP run through by first-year senior Ryan Jahnke to Smetana's "Die Moldau" (Vltava) from Ma Vlast. It was at 1998 Nationals, and he skated with wonderful flowing edges, joy and musicality on tank ice at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
 
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Spun Silver

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This Scriabin etude would be fabulous. It's a little short but no worries, there is lots more Scriabin to pull from (or one could always substitute "Ghost" voiceovers):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei46PI2IpOQ&app=desktop

Rimsky Korsakov's piano concerto in C sharp mimor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Zf7DCM7BM

Brahms Intermezzo Op 118 no 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqBzK5tKFVc

Glinka Waltz-fantasy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFAodBYrjlc

Opera:

Gorgeous, famous aria about Goethe's Werther contemplating suicide (and he does it, but after this aria), Pourquoi me reveiller? (Why wake up at the breath of spring?) It could be the next Tosca. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWvbaw4IS2U

"O ma lyre immortelle" from Gounod's Sapho (another pre-suicide aria -- sorry, but it makes it very dramatic!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywwKG0a6N0o
 

Spun Silver

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^ Man, that orchestration almost defeated the purpose. I always imagine, in threads like this, that the skaters would actually skate to what the composers wrote. Silly me.
 

dewey

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Most of these suggestions are for music from the Romantic era or later. There is not a lot of Baroque or Classical music used in skating. I think those styles require a delicacy and finesse that most skaters could not manage, although I have thought that Sasha or the Shibs could pull off Bach. One of my flute teachers once told me that the expression in Mozart is in the precision.
 

Seerek

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The last two suggestions above were more in line with what I was thinking of when I saw this thread - those composers for which you never hear skating programs. Most of the other suggestions earlier were simply additional works from composers already used of reasonable frequency.

So while I agree that Baroque is largely ignored, so is early 20th century (for the most part).

The one Romantic-era composer I haven't heard much from lately is Robert Schumann.
 

Taso

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The one Romantic-era composer I haven't heard much from lately is Robert Schumann.

I don't know if Schumann's music would translate on the ice well at all, the pacing can be so erratic. I think there's a reason why it's just not used, and not from lack of awareness of his work.
 

dr.frog

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20th century classical music :scream:.

Ermmm, "20th century classical music" is a really broad brush. Includes everything from late Romantics (Rachmaninoff, Elgar, etc), impressionists like Ravel and Bax, atonalism, weird electronic sounds, jazz-influenced classical, minimalism, etc. There's a lot of good stuff there.... and some things I could just as well do without.

I do agree that Baroque and early music are almost totally unrepresented in figure skating, BTW. I'm still waiting for somebody to use the Sarabande from the Bach partita for unaccompanied flute. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRabFmjlmc4&t=356s

Here's a vid with some modern dance while a dude plays one of the Bach cello suites on a theorbo (big bass lute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyIOx-bLakU
 

Willin

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I'd really like to see a La Mer program.

I will forever want to see a Rite of Spring program, though.
 

ruffledgrouse

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Dobre

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paskatefan

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^ Didn't Scott Hamilton use it as a pro? In his case, he made it a comedic performance, so it worked for him, IMHO. But I would agree with you that it would probably be a huge challenge to most skaters in terms of keeping up with the pace of the music.
 

Meoima

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^ Man, that orchestration almost defeated the purpose. I always imagine, in threads like this, that the skaters would actually skate to what the composers wrote. Silly me.
I wonder why they do not use the original version... at least with Chopin SP, Yuzuru uses Zimmerman version.
 

Sylvia

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Reviving this 2017 thread for off-season discussion...

Canada's Bennet Toman used one of my favorites - Elgar's Enigma Variations: Opus 36 "Nimrod" - for two seasons, 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Which skaters have used your favorite "underused classical music" pieces since 2017?
 

eusebius

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Satoko Miyahara has a beautiful program to the first movement of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater in the current Canadian SOI tour. It is the only classical piece used in the whole show.
P/C's Fauré was an incredible treat for me. I know it wasn't everyone's favourite but I stan Fauré.
Shoma's Marcello oboe concerto was also a really delightful surprise this year.
I'm gonna go and watch that Turkkila/Versluis program because somehow I missed it ...
ETA: ok I may have to become a T/V uber after that. Thank you @Wyliefan!!
 
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Sylvia

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Shoma's Marcello oboe concerto was also a really delightful surprise this year.
LOVED IT :) - found a fan cam of his SP from 2022 Worlds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_FF_fsn8fg
His ISU bio lists his music as Oboe Concerto by A. Marcello / Oboe Concerto (Concerto In C Minor For Cello) by A. Vivaldi.
Kenji Miyamoto originally choreographed this for Shoma as a show program - so glad he turned it into a SP!
 
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