As a lifelong classical music fan, I have to say, some pieces are just unfortunately named.
If you’re in my shoes, you know the feeling. Mention one of these pieces and friends who aren’t into classical music look at you like you’re out of your mind.
You cringe a little. You roll your eyes. You struggle to explain: “Well, I know the title sounds silly, but …”
Let’s list a few of these pieces. Just for fun!
If there are any I missed, let me know.
10 — Grieg: Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
Lovely piece, lovely place, but “Troldhaugen” and you just have to think of trolls, trolls being associated with Norway. Living in Buffalo, I’m allowed to say that some places just have funny-sounding names. Beethoven once said of a town called Gneixendorf, “It sounds like an axle breaking.”
9 — Mendelssohn: Fingal’s Cave
Again, lovely piece, lovely place. “Fingal” is a perfectly legitimate mythic name. It also sounds irresistibly goofy.
8 — Janáček: Taras Bulba
All I can think of is “Borat.” Once at The Buffalo News, someone was performing this piece, and Herman Trotter, who was then our classical music critic, talked about it for weeks in meetings. Impossible to keep a straight face.
7 — Stravinsky: Dumbarton Oaks
My brother Tony nominated this work, and I second the nomination. This was a piece Stravinsky was commissioned to write for a couple’s 30th wedding anniversary. It was named for the couple’s Washington estate. So the credit for this one really goes to the couple who named their estate that.
6 — Janáček: The Cunning Little Vixen. Something was lost in translation. Incredibly difficult to say to your friend, “Hey, want to go with me to ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’?” Try it and see.
5 — Mozart: Variations on ““Unser dummer Pöbel meint.” This can be more kindly called Variations on a Theme by Gluck, though no one calls it that. And yes, dumm in German means dumb. The German translates to “Our foolish common people think…” Who cares what it means. The theme is great, adding to the pity. And Mozart’s variations are magnificent, as bold as Beethoven. But darn, there’s that title. It might be the reason we hear this so rarely.
4 — Elgar: Cockaigne (In London Town). “Cockaigne” is historical and legitimate. Fine. It’s just hard to say without smirking, and it requires explanation, another hallmark of most of the music on this list.
We’re down to the last three. Cue Haydn’s “Drum Roll” Symphony …
3 — Dvořák: Dumky Trio
Let’s admit it, to English speakers, “Dumky Trio” sounds like the Three Stooges. This one gets points because the music is so glorious.
2 — Bach: Air on the G String
Sublime music. If he had just written it for a different string.
G stands for “giggity.”
1 — Elgar: “Nimrod.”
There is no serious competition for the No. 1 slot. Sublimely beautiful, this is a piece always played at times of great emotion.
Yes, we know Nimrod means hunter, and Elgar is said to have written it in honor of a dear friend.
But still.