The Five O’Clock Favorite is driven by listener suggestions! We’d love your participation.
Suggestions are easiest to honor if they’re 20 minutes or less.
Suggested by Robert in Portland, Oregon
Suggested by Dave in Federal Way, Washington
Most people, if they've ever even heard of Jean Sibelius, associate him with Finlandia, or perhaps the Karelia Suite or The Swan of Tuonela. He wrote a lot of music depicting the struggles of the Finnish people, but the 2nd Symphony may tell the story even better than those other pieces, whether or not that was the intention. The final movement I think sums that up very nicely. I encourage the listeners -- as long as they're not driving! -- to close their eyes and think about the tumultuous history of Finland and how this music brings it to life. I'd never made the connection before but, as the saying goes, "the scales fell from before my eyes." It's a great piece of music in its own right, but this perspective just adds to its poignancy.
Suggested by Emmanuel in Salem, Oregon
I first heard the soundtrack before watching the film. When I first heard the song, it became one of my favorite pieces of film score. The lush and gentle melodies puts a warm emotion to my heart and mentality. I love the piece and soundtrack so much, it became more of a theme for myself.
Suggested by Pie in Portland, Oregon
I heard this recently on Andrea Murray's overnight show and thought it was absolutely exquisite. I'd love to hear it again!
Suggested by Alana in Battle Ground, Washington
When I heard this for the first time I thought it was so beautiful I wanted everyone to hear it.
Suggested by John in Gresham, Oregon
This is an Edmund Stone inspired request. During a pledge drive he played "The Parting Glass" from the film Waking Ned Devine, and being of Scottish stock I looked up this song and learned that the text could be from Bobby Burns and is now quite popular in Ireland. I won't be at my own funeral but it will be played there.
Suggested by Charles in Portland, Oregon
It really is a beautiful waltz, written by one of the greatest actors of our day. The only performance of it I have heard is by Andre Reiu.
Suggested by Nancy in Vancouver, Washington
My daughter's birthday is April 23rd, and I would like to have this played in honor of her birthday. She is 23 now, but she was still an infant when she first heard this song. My husband was driving with her in the car and had the radio tuned to the local classical station for where we lived at that time. This song came on the radio, and my husband said that the bassoon solo in this piece tickled her funny bone and she laughed and laughed each time she heard it. When he told me about it, I had to look it up and listen to it myself. It is a very amusing, unique piece. Whenever I hear it, I imagine my daughter laughing with the uninhibited joy that babies have and I pray that it will bring joy to everyone who hears it now. Happy birthday to my precious Dana.
Suggested by Kasey in Portland, Oregon
My husband and I have always loved this piece of music and played it (on an old CD player! ) the moment our daughter, Eleanor, was born. We included the music when we created her Bat Mitzvah slide show, and I hope, that when she marries, the music will be part of that celebration as well. Despite the longing and poignancy of the lyrics, I associate the song with joyful moments spent with our wonderful and beautiful daughter. Eleanor's birthday is this month and it would be amazing to share this with her.
Suggested by Keith in Hermosa, South Dakota
My Dad built a stereo amplifier from a kit when I was 9. This album was a new RCA Victor Red Seal recording and it was one of his first purchases for his new music system. The liner notes were by Deems Taylor, the well-known composer and critic of that time. The notes explained what I was hearing on the recording, in literal terms that a 9 year-old could understand. I listened to that record over and over, and pored over the liner notes. It was my introduction to classical music. And the album art (a young woman in a leotard, holding a clarinet, perched on E-flat of a very large piano keyboard) certainly caught my eye, too! I became a Gershwin fan, and my love of classical music was born right there.
Suggested by Sam in Portland, Oregon
I am 12 years old, and listen to All Classical every day on the way to music lessons. This year I started playing classical guitar, and this is my favorite piece to play.
Suggested by Matthew in Vancouver, Washington
One of my favorites from the baroque era. Rameau is great for staying focused when studying for my college exams.
Suggested by Carolyn in Salem, Oregon
This piece makes me feel like I can fly over the clouds. It gives me chills. It always has and always will.
Suggested by Chris in Aloha, Oregon
I’d like to thank you and All Classical’s listeners for requesting and playing a few choice pieces of music from video game soundtracks. I have one from an incredibly unique and engrossing game I played last year. I don’t want to go on too much about it, and I certainly don’t intend to spoil the story, but some context would be helpful. Pentiment is a murder mystery set in a Bavarian alpine village and its abbey. The story begins in the year 1518, on the cusp of the Reformation, and takes place over several decades. Visually, the entire game looks like an illuminated manuscript in motion and all the dialogue is written (or printed, in some cases) across the screen as the characters speak. Every screen, every area the player explores is deliberately framed as an illustration. It is clearly a painstaking labor of love, executed with the budget and skill that this sort of project rarely receives.
The particular song I requested plays later in the game, as the player explores the abandoned ruins of a once prosperous dwelling, and more clues to the nature of the murders are revealed. I was immediately stuck by the delicate, but lush and mournful vocals. I stopped “playing” the game few a few minutes, and took a moment take in the scene, the art, the atmosphere.
I’ve done some research on the song itself. All the music in the game was composed or arranged and performed by Alkemie, a medieval music ensemble. It is an adaptation of the anonymous 16th cen. song “Ellend, Du hast umfangen mich (Sorrow, you have enclosed me)". The world of videogame music is vast and diverse, but Pentiment’s approach to incorporating early music into such a lovingly crafted historical setting is unique. I hope you enjoy it, thank you.
Suggested by Diane in Portland, Oregon
I heard this piece awhile ago on All Classical and was kept spellbound by it and then I enjoyed it on You Tube where I could see the interplay of strings and ACCOORDIAN!!! I mean, who does that? It's a lively tune, just right for 5 pm commute or dinner hour.
Suggested by Larry in Portland, Oregon
This aria has just four lines of lyrics, yet Handel's inventive composition is 4 1/2 minutes long, with a wild interplay between the soloist and the orchestral accompaniment. The passionate rhythm is mesmerizing. It is sung by Achilla, general to Pompeo, professing his love for Cornelia, the wife of Pompeo.
Suggested by Gregory in Portland, Oregon
Calm, reflective... that says it all for me. Old times, friends, family, pets... life.
Suggested by Rosemary in Lake Oswego, Oregon
It was a grey, cold February day, wet snow falling. I was feeling sorry for myself because my Covid symptoms were still lingering. I stumbled upon this recording of Glass' Cocteau Triology by the Labeque sisters, and it was an immediate antidote to my gloomy mood. What a delightful discovery!
Suggested by Kathleen in Oregon
I discovered the book when I was in the 7th grade and read it with such distinct delight. Many hours were spent devouring this literary gem -- reading in the springtime beauty outside, or curled up at night with my reading lamp turned low and my window open and the cool breeze drifting in. When I discovered the score to the film adaptation of the novel, I fell in love with it and immediately found piano sheet music for the Main Theme. To this day, I still have retained muscle-memory for the majority of this piece. Hearing this music makes me want to go and read this masterpiece again -- I hope that it fills everyone else with the same desire :)
Suggested by Jim in Camas, Washington
This piece of choral music is achingly-beautiful, and it often moves me to tears.
What better piece for National Space Day than this theme used to such great effect in 2001: A Space Odyssey??