One-hit wonder

In the music industry, a one-hit wonder is an artist who is generally known for only one hit single.

"One hit wonders" in classical music

While the term "one hit wonder" generally refers to sales in popular music, the term has sometimes been used to describe various composers of classical music. Extending the term to classical composers is more subjective since there are no comparable sales rankings for classical music. The primary problem is determining what constitutes a "hit" in classical music. Without ready access to recording sales records and classical concert programs this must be determined by a subjective guess. This guess can only be based on a collective idea of what is frequently performed in concerts, played by classical radio stations and recorded by a variety of orchestras. What is popular is also highly subject to change over the years, particularly considering the sheer amount of time in which classical music has existed (taking the more liberal use of "classical" to cover music of the Renaissance through contemporary classical). What was popular during a composer's lifetime may not be popular today, an issue compounded by many works achieving popularity through appearances in film and other mass media.

Related Topics:
Classical music - Composer - Radio station - Orchestra - Renaissance - Contemporary classical

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The sheer volume of music composed by any serious classical composer is not overall comparable to what is produced by many popular music artists. Some pop one hit wonders produce only a single album (generally slightly more than half an hour of music) while any classical composer will have produced hours upon hours. While only a single short piece might be a "hit", in most cases other works will have been recorded by multiple performers, and occasionally find their way into the repertoire of others, skewing the comparison with popular musicians.

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Furthermore, what is considered a "hit" will vary greatly when one considers the disparity between the general public and devoted fans of classical music. Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, for example, is known widely in the United States as the music associated with graduation, and many U.S. lay people would not recognize a single other work by him (or, indeed, much that that piece itself, except for the commonly quoted part); and in the UK the same music is widely known as "Land of Hope and Glory", a song of Empire. However, any person reasonably well versed in classical music knows of Elgar as a respected composer of a variety of works. Likewise the final section of the overture to Rossini's William Tell is known to millions of people through its association with The Lone Ranger, but most opera-lovers are probably more familiar with some of his other overtures. Conversely, there are various composers by whom even classical music buffs would be hard pressed to identify more than one work, and with whom laymen and casual listeners would be utterly unfamiliar, making their claim of even a single "hit" problematic.

Related Topics:
Edward Elgar - Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 - Graduation - Rossini's - William Tell - The Lone Ranger

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