Bachtrack has released its annual list of popular pieces, in demand directors and overworked orchestras. Founded in 2008, Bachtrack is a classical music events listing website and keeps tabs on who is playing what, where and when.
Its analysis takes in 28,000 performances across the world in 2015, with 16,500 works recorded. Unsurprisingly the most played composers are Mozart, Beethoven and J S Bach in a slight change from 2014 where the top two traded places.
For all his collective popularity only one of Mozart’s works makes it into the top 10 most performed pieces, with Serenade no 13 for strings in G Major finishing ninth. Beethoven meanwhile has three pieces with Symphony no 5 in G minor, Symphony no 7 in A Major and Symphony no 6 in F Major in first, sixth and eight places respectively.
Of living composers Arvo Pärt was most performed, followed by John Adams and John Williams in a distant second and third. Sadly the list reinforces the lack of exposure for female contemporary composers, with Jennifer Higdon the highest placed at 167.
The list of top 10 busiest conductors is also full of familiar names and again does not feature any females. Jonathan McPhee, music director at Boston Ballet, heads it, with Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev, Gustavo Dudamel and Kent Nagano rounding out the first five.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra were 2015’s busiest group, a year that marked its 125th anniversary. In fact, US groups filled the top three with New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony finishing above Berlin Philharmonic in fourth. Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie is a surprise inclusion, with the German group based in Herford coming fifth in Bachtrack’s list.
