We are celebrating your favourite classical music from 6am til 8pm on Labour Day Monday, with the Top 30 countdown running from noon til 6pm on RNZ Concert.
So, what can we tell you about what you will hear on the radio, without spoiling any surprises?
1) We have already listed the music we will broadcast during the non-countdown parts of the day on our schedules page (click here to go there) and we will update this during the countdown so the truly dedicated among you can speculate, by process of elimination, about what might be in the Top 30 before you hear it revealed on air between noon and 6pm!
2) Here is a list of the 50 most popular composers from this year's voting:
Top 100 composers in Settling The Score 2022. Some people ask why we offer a list of music to choose from. This demonstrates part of our reasoning. If it was all open choice we'd have thousands of different pieces of music with one or two votes each! This way allows us to create a great day of radio listening featuring widely loved pieces. Everyone's a winner. Photo: RNZ
| 1 | BEETHOVEN |
| 2 | BACH |
| 3 | MOZART |
| 4 | TCHAIKOVSKY |
| 5 | VAUGHAN WILLIAMS |
| 6 | JENKINS, K |
| 7 | JENKINS, K |
| 8 | BRAHMS |
| 9 | ELGAR |
| 10 | JENNINGS, J |
| 11 | DVORAK |
| 12 | SIBELIUS |
| 13 | RACHMANINOV |
| 14 | HANDEL |
| 15 | SHOSTAKOVICH |
| 16 | DEBUSSY |
| 17 | CHOPIN |
| 18 | LILBURN |
| 19 | MENDELSSOHN |
| 20 | RAVEL |
| 21 | SCHUBERT |
| 22 | FAURE |
| 23 | PART, A |
| 24 | BRUCH |
| 25 | SAINT-SAENS |
| 26 | GRIEG |
| 27 | STRAUSS, RICHARD |
| 28 | MAHLER |
| 29 | BIZET |
| 30 | PUCCINI |
| 31 | VERDI |
| 32 | ALLEGRI |
| 33 | COPLAND |
| 34 | BORODIN |
| 35 | BARBER |
| 36 | GERSHWIN |
| 37 | PROKOFIEV |
| 38 | VIVALDI |
| 39 | STRAVINSKY |
| 40 | HOLST |
| 41 | MORRICONE |
| 42 | WAGNER |
| 43 | SATIE |
| 44 | LAURIDSEN |
| 45 | MAXWELL DAVIES |
| 46 | RIMSKY-KORSAKOV |
| 47 | GORECKI |
| 48 | MUSSORGSKY |
| 49 | DELIBES |
| 50 | ALBINONI |
3) New Zealand compositions made a good showing in this year's audience choices, with Janet Jennings fans in particular getting organised to make themselves (and their composer of choice) heard!
Here are 15 of the most-voted pieces from Aotearoa, and why people chose them:
JENNINGS, J: Prelude, Fugue, Variations, and Chaconne
"All this composer's music has a special quality that makes it really interesting to listen to."
JENNINGS, J: Pictures at the Waikato Museum
"I like the variety in these pieces from light and delicate to dark and emotional."; "Clever use of music to create imagery."
LILBURN: Four Canzonas
"A recent discovery thanks to the Rita Angus exhibition. Gentle, sweet and elegiac, with a lovely story behind it (of the friendship between Lilburn and Angus)";"Lyrical melodies and spare, beautiful arrangements speaking of the 1940s Shakespeare productions in Christchurch from which they sprang. Lilburn at his most accessible."
PSATHAS: View from Olympus
"It has been inspiring me in my art studio for over a decade and I have it ready to play whenever I need a lift!!."
FISHER, S: Rainphase
"It captures sounds of nature in a fascinating way.";"This piece gives me vivid pictures of NZ landscapes and takes me to favourite bush and beach places. It is magic."
LILBURN: Aotearoa Overture
"You will not find a better musical depiction of a landscape."; "Beautifully crafted piece of NZ sound scenery."; "In the same way Copland writes "American" music, this piece epitomizes New Zealand music at its best."; Classic NZ-ness. Sounds like home."
FARQUHAR: Ring Round the Moon
""My Dad's favourite, lively cheerful NZ music.";"Iconic NZ composition, written for the Christopher Fry play - I actually saw it as a kid with the accompanying music - New Zealand Players production? Since then I have used some of the pieces for a group ballet for a semi-professional dance school in Vancouver BC Canada. They loved it."
HOLMES, L: Frond, from Three Landscapes for Orchestra
"A great NZ piece"
BLAKE: Angel at Apihara
"Mystical , lyrical and haunting"; Wonderful Music."
RITCHIE, A: Gallipoli to the Somme
"Enthralling and exciting."; "Very moving to be involved in a performance."; "Because Anthony and viola are both underrated a fact which needs correcting."
FARR, G: From the Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs
Dramatic, wonderful orchestration, imaginative, makes me imagine the depths."; "I just love the big bombastic percussion. It makes my heart beat."
DE CASTRO-ROBINSON, E: Other Echoes
"It is a plangent warning of extinction of our bird-life, with its relentless tolling and rising tension."; "Modern & lyrical."
ARTLEY: O Magnum Mysterium
"Having sung in choirs, Chris Artley's pieces are always enjoyable to learn and full of life with the slight twist of jazz."; "A beautiful NZ work by a quietly great composer who deserves more recognition."
RITCHIE, J: Papanui Road
"A very colourful portrayal of this iconic Christchurch road. Great tunes, colourful orchestration including tram bell. Especially like the musical portrayal of Shosty the family cat."; " We live in Papanui, Christchurch where Papanui Road is our road into the CBD. It is always busy with traffic and John Ritchie has captured this scene perfectly. It is nostalgic, atmospheric and not played enough!"
FARR, G: Waipoua
" I have been following Gareth Farr for many decades since his early performing days in Auckland and his evocative NZ compositions. I live just south of the Waipoua [forest].
Your radio hosts are:
Or you can just sit back and take it all in as Settling The Score 2022 plays out in real time on the radio: RNZ Concert, Monday 24 October 2022.
6-9am: Carey McDonald - We begin with a selection from the 100 most-requested pieces this year.
9-Noon: Siliga Sani Muliaumaseali’I - Our selection from the Top 100 favourite pieces voted for this year continues, including an ear-catching array of arias and popular choral pieces.
Noon - 3pm: Nick Tipping - Our Top 30 Countdown for Settling the Score 2022 starts here!
3pm - 6pm: Bryan Crump - The Top 30 Countdown for Settling the Score 2022 continues with #1 playing up to 6pm. Will the Lark land in the top spot or has another composer rattled its cage?
6 - 8pm: David Morriss - Listener favourites from beyond the Top 100 of Settling The Score 2022, including favourite New Zealand pieces and some gaming music (but not the Doobie Brothers - sorry voter).
8pm: Clarissa Dunn - The celebration continues with the NZSO's 75th birthday Jubilee Concert in Music Alive.
Happy Labour Day from the RNZ Concert team.
