Have we heard about 41 symphonies written by Mozart but we only really know the 29th, 35th, 40th, and 41st?

It is impossible to comprehend the number of classical music compositions that exist. Do we even know ten percent of them? Here’s a fair question. Of Mozart’s 626 compositions do we know 62 of them?

We might reply that we know his 41 symphonies but do we? Or have we heard about 41 symphonies written by Mozart but we only really know the 29th, 35th, 40th, and 41st? By the way, that’s about ten percent.

Mozart wrote 22 operas. How many do we know? About four. Maybe eight if you’re really into Mozart operas. Giuseppe Verdi wrote 28 operas. How many can we name? Joseph Haydn wrote seven operas. Can we name even one? Beethoven wrote 32 piano sonatas. Let’s see, there’s “Moonlight”, “Pathetique”, “Waldstein”, “Hammerklavier” and–that’s it. Beethoven wrote over 90 songs. Well, there’s “Adelaide” and–that’s it.

The point of all this is that we can benefit from getting into the classical weeds a little bit because there’s great music just lying there if we’re able to do a little gardening. Sometimes, the gardening is done for us.

For instance, I recently came across an RCA Living Stereo album, on YouTube, that presents three peripheral yet excellent pieces of music. The performances are by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The three pieces of music are Alan Hovhaness’ Symphony No. 2: Mysterious Mountain, Sergei Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije Suite and Igor Stravinsky’s The Fairy’s Kiss.

Hovhaness composed his second symphony on a commission from Leopold Stokowski and the Houston Symphony. As the piece starts you might want to pronounce Hovhaness as derivative since it sounds very much like Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. However, Hovhaness moves the music along and it finds its own footing. I must say that I’m surprised to have never heard this in a live performance. Of course, if it were performed more, it wouldn’t be in the weeds.

Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije Suite is the best-known of the three pieces here. This suite, based on a Lieutenant who doesn’t exist in the Soviet Army is one the most fun pieces of music ever written. The troika music is especially whimsical. Ugh, I hate that word. Once upon a time, I whizzed around San Diego County playing Lieutenant Kije on repeat in my self-styled troika–a 1981 Honda Civic with a four-speed manual transmission. A three-speed would have been more appropriate.

The Fairy’s Kiss by Stravinsky surprised me because it doesn’t have that Stravinsky edge but is, instead, quite lyrical and at times gorgeous. I’m not a Stravinsky expert. I know the big pieces, and therefore this music surprised me with its beauty. Perhaps I should get the weed whacker out more often.