What current music survive the test of time?

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

There are some pieces of music I feel are among the greatest of all time. Beethoven's Ode to Joy is near the top of the list for me. I was listening to it when my wife came out from work and she immediately switched it to some easy listening show with John Tesh. Hey, what I was listening to has been loved by countless people for centuries. In 50 years no one will remember the stuff he plays on his show. She rambled on about some current artists, and how she thinks their music might be remembered. Gershwin is getting to the century mark, some of Irving Berlin's songs are still going strong at 80 years. Radio stations still play Elvis regularly.

So, who and what music will be remembered in 100 years? Not just because you currently like it, but point out what "staying power" you think it has.

[glenn bradley]

This will be fun since some of my picks may be on someone else's most-hated list and vice versa. I was raised in a home where music was nearly always playing. My Pandora station shuffle will yield anything from Johann Albrechtsberger to White Zombie.

Can one really list pieces from so many?

• Mozart's piano Sonata 11 in Amaj
• J.S. Bach's . . . well, anything. If you think you've heard Bach piano music, check out Glenn Gould.
• Beethoven Symphony No. 6 - If the opening movement of this Pastoral doesn't move you, check your heart, you may be dead.
• Elgar's Enigma Variations
• Vivaldi - Four Seasons - Especially Winter ;-)

Too much good stuff.

• Bela Bartok, Romanian Dances
• Aaron Copland, Symphony No. 3

Oh, and Liszt, and Korsakov, and Hydan, and Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky (misuse of a bassoon ), Gregorian Chants . . . oh, and ...!

[Mike Cutler]

You may not agree with my answer, I'm going to exclude the classics because they've already proven themselves, but in 100 years The music that I think will still be played, remembered, and adapted.

Led Zeppelin
Frank Zappa
There are others for sure, like maybe Robert Fripp, but there is so much to the actual music from these three, that went way beyond the 3 string power cord and a pentatonic major/minor progression overplayed on top.
I'm sure there will be some Beatle's also, but I do not consider them to be musicians of the same caliber, nor is their music as expressive, or unique. It's at best, 3rd year studies music. Nothing technical about their stuff.
Zappa was something really special. If you actually look at, and read, some of his music, it was very complex.

[Jim Koepke]

Though Frank Zappa was a great artist and innovator he doesn't have the mass appeal or play time of many others.

Another Frank, Frank Sinatra will always have a place in the world of music as long as New York, New York is around.
Same with Tony Bennet as long as there is a San Francisco.

Benny Goodman and Sing Sing Sing as long as high schools have football teams and bands march during half time.

As Time Goes By will be around as long as people watch, what many feel is one of the top 10 movies ever, Casablanca.

Another that has been redone a few times also from a top ten movie is Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

From Glenn Miller In the Mood is one of my favorites, even the Ray Stevens version with the Hen House Five.

Other more modern pieces would be some from the Beatles, Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan and many others.

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

My son is real Zappa buff ,and I like it. Terrible shame about his death. I like the Beatles . Some of their pieces are now
standards. Melody is good. I love many of the Steven Foster melodies ...and so do millions but his stuff is now most often
used in a cornball way in comedy. Anything can be distorted. Rhapsody in Blue is a modern high-brow masterpiece...but
Gershwin tapped out the melody and paid someone for the orchestration. Love the Sibelius violin concerto , has a unique
beautiful savagry. They say it's about his native forests.

[Doug Garson]

I'd like to add Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and Don Mclean's Vincent both more for the lyrics than the music.

[Van Huskey]

INteresting question with no real answer.

I do agree Beethoven's 9th may be the greatest piece of music ever written and the impact with a full orchestra and choir may be the most impactful. Much how Glen thinks of the 6th the choral of the 9th should stir anyone with a heart beat, and possibly some without, kinda like the one lyric in the Stones' Start Me Up.

One thing to note is all the 100 yo music that has now stood the test of time is not exactly the music but the composition. Would we still be enamored of Beethoven and Bach if it were poor reproductions of the original? My point being despite how good we think of music reproduction now it will be significantly different in 100 years. I like Blues but listening to old Leadbelly, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charley Patton are more academic or novel than truly sink into the chair and enjoy, at least for me. I think despite the current music being unlikely to be lost, due to digital storage, the actual performances from today will likely be like listening to a scratchy old 78 today.

The stuff I think will endure is not from today, heck it is 40-50 years old. I can't really guess about today's current music, longevity is based too much on nostalgia and whims.

[Jerome Stanek]

I think Bob Dylan will have some of his in that group.

[Bill Jobe]

I think Bob Dylan will have some of his in that group.

I agree, Jerome.

[Stan Calow]

I dont think anyone will be listening to the pop music of today one hundred years from now with anything other than a historical interest or for amusement. How much popular music of the 1900s do we listen too now and you'd throw into that category? Tiptoe Through the Tulips? Rudee Vallee? Maybe Sousa. Taken out of context, most of the rock and roll "classics" are just important to the people who grew up with them. I don't see any Hip Hop or Tejano mentioned, which certainly is important to a lot of people.

[Ole Anderson]

I am certainly no expert in the subject, but I can't help but notice the complexity of most any genre of music, other than classical and jazz, over the last generation is head and shoulders above anything from a hundred or even fifty years ago, not to mention the fidelity and production value of the recording arts. Same can be said of movies, every time I watch an old classic, it is about all I can do to sit through it. Sure glad they don't make them like they used to. What current music will survive the test of time? Define "survive the test of time". IMO all of it to some degree. Just go to Sirius XM. So many genres it is mind boggling even more genres yet on the streaming services. Even a 1940's channel in XM. Just run through the radio dial on a big city FM dial, then multiply that by tenfold or more out there in electronic space, all preserved in a digital medium that will sound as good a thousand years from now as today. Unlike stuff from a hundred years ago.

[Kev Williams]

I have a cousin who explained to me once why, in his opinion, a lot of music- much that I really like listening to, like .38 Special, Journey, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Foreigner to name a few- likely won't stand the test of time: It's "Formula" music... The formula being, some catchy riffs, a catchy beat, a verse of catchy lyrics, a chorus, another verse or two, another chorus or two... "pick out a half dozen formula songs, the music's different and the lyrics are different, but it's all the same song."

As the years have gone by, I've come to agree. But I still love my catchy formula music!

As to current artists, Nightwish probably won't be a music force in the future, but their music is about all I listen to lately. The old saying 'if it's too loud, you're too old!' is, sadly, coming into play after 64 years. Example, I used to love Nazareth anything, now it's just noise... - But Nightwish keeps me looking for higher volume! - The combination of they-do-metal-well, the symphonic overtones, their love of performing, and the fact that Floor Jansen can sing, I'm hooked-- I and I love it loud! (good sound equipment helps)

Since I don't listen to much other music, no clue who's going to linger on after their gone...

[Lee DeRaud]

I have a cousin who explained to me once why, in his opinion, a lot of music- much that I really like listening to, like .38 Special, Journey, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Foreigner to name a few- likely won't stand the test of time: It's "Formula" music... The formula being, some catchy riffs, a catchy beat, a verse of catchy lyrics, a chorus, another verse or two, another chorus or two... "pick out a half dozen formula songs, the music's different and the lyrics are different, but it's all the same song."

My music-major college roommate, with an incredible baritone voice, used to love to confound music snobs by pointing out that "Deutschland Uber Alles"/"Ode To Joy" and "My Darling Clementine" were actually the same song by singing each with the other's lyrics.

[Edwin Santos]

INteresting question with no real answer.

Much how Glen thinks of the 6th the choral of the 9th should stir anyone with a heart beat, and possibly some without, kinda like the one lyric in the Stones' Start Me Up.

Well played, sir.

[Dave Sheldrake]

bricks.jpg

I live in a country that believes this is art worth several $100,000's, when it comes to music...we are without all hope