Keeping Score

According to the tenth annual report released by Broadcast Music Inc., 582 U.S. orchestras played a total of 5,877 concerts during the 1968-69 season.

What did they play? Mostly what they always have. The overture to Wagner's Die Meistersinger was done 127 times, making it the most played single item--possibly because it is in C major, the easiest key to play in. Brahms' First Symphony ranks second (114 performances). Beethoven's Fifth, whose dit-dit-dit-dah victory opening can be whistled by more nonmusical people than any other classical theme, is way down to 39th place on the list, as against tenth last year. Mozart is the most popular composer (1,627 performances overall), with Beethoven and Brahms tagging respectfully just behind.

The most played "moderns" are neither very modern nor very often played, though Charles Ives, the most prickly sounding of the 20th century composers to achieve real popularity, shows an astonishing total of 150 performances. He is now 13th on the list--just two places ahead of George Gershwin. Five years ago, Ives barely made it at all. The list of "since 1940" music is mainly notable for its featherweight: Richard Rodgers easily outpoints Francis Poulenc, and thanks to Candide and West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein takes precedence over Igor Stravinsky.

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