Call me a snob, I really dislike popularity contests around art. Art is self-expression. There are countless great pieces in addition to the excellent ones that

Call me a snob, I really dislike popularity contests around art. Art is self-expression. There are countless great pieces in addition to the excellent ones that make the top 100 or so. I narrow things down to pieces that I can play or at least try to play. Almost all of classical music scores are off-copyright, and available at imslp.org, and there are browser extensions to cut the 15 second nag delay down to a second or less. Many pieces have been transcribed for small group or even piano solo. In the days before recordings or radio, I gather that it was a big deal to be able to play the pieces at home, and reductions were the way. When you love music a ton, it's like choosing between kids. Love them all. And it is kind of funny to see a short piece like Clair de Lune ranked with entire operas and symphonies, nay the Ring Cycle, 4 operas, which takes 15 hours back to back to back to back. FWIW, I listen to WQXR's Opera Channel a lot. It's the only programming that omits the "Christmas Muzak"