What skater has the all-time impressive music list?

[Mathematician]

I love that Fumie Suguri skated to "Jupiter" from Holst's "The Planets." I fell head over heels for Satoko Miahara when she skated to the overture of "The Magic Flute" as a short program.

I've bought a number of soundtracks thanks to skaters who have skated to them (even if we haven't necessarily seen the movie they're from). Paul Wylie - The Mission, JFK, Elvis Stojko - Dragon, 1492 Todd Eldredge - First Knight, Gettysburg, Independence Day, Lord of the Rings, 1492, Swing Kids, Tara Lipinski - Little Women, Sense & Sensibility, Kurt Browning - Casablanca ... you get the idea.

I love so much classical music, and I bought the Philadelphia Orchestra's (my hometown orchestra) recording of Carmina Burana, thanks to Paul Wylie.

Since you bring it up, now I do realize its true also for myself that skating has introduced me to some of my favourite music. I've definitely been myopic in my supposedly comprehensive profile of the sport's total unoriginality.

Rose Theroux (is she known amongst the Canadian fans?) and Kseniia Gushchina introduced me to the world of Vicente Amigo who has become one of my favourite artists period. Oh and how could I forget Levashkevich's February - utter masterpiece and he turns out to be a great composer generally. There have been a few such instances for sure where skating has given me a lot musically (I learned of Yasmin Levy, one of the most beautiful voices by my ear, thanks to Zagitova too). And a lot of my piano repertoire has thanks to give for skating.

Musical taste and preferences is SO subjective and personal, in my humble opinion so is there really "most impressive" or even "best" music that will work for everyone or this will change depending who you ask?
I absolutely love it when skaters skate lyrical programs/classical music, some film soundtracks (if they fall into the more lyrical/dramatic genre). So these are the most impressive/best for me personally
But ask someone else who prefers pop/disco, rock & roll programs and music (which I mostly dislike), those will the most impressive/best for him/her.

Well, artistic tastes in themselves can be difficult to objectively discuss, but there are surely levels to the sophistication required specifically to the dance of varying styles. Kinaesthetically portraying Rachmaninoff must be a very different endeavour than dancing to MJ or some thing akin for example. So in this case we can probably find at least a relatively agreeable consensus on which skaters tend to impress the most with their music on the ice.

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

@Mathematician I don't know MJ, but love Rachmaninoff, so Rachmaninoff music wins for me

 

[4everchan]

Yes, the music I listed isnt esoteric by any means though the Lullaby is quite sophisticated I feel. Again I wasnt blaming OP himself but the state of the sport so I dont really have much of a problem with your criticism of my list either, I wasnt trying to present it as anything far superior or revolutionary

Fair enough

. I do think its a step up though since most pieces used in skating would be recognized by almost anyone on the street but from Kseniia's likely thats only true for the Bach (is the Nocturne that well known?

I think the other nocturnes are far moreso. But I am sort of disconnected from society in terms of music, I thought the 55/1 would lean specifically towards classical listeners at least).

The nocturne is SUPER well-known... most kids play opus 9 or the posthumous in C sharp minor, or the F minor. Marcello's Oboe Concerto is also very well-known... It's like he's written only that one piece ever Trio élégiaque is also not uncommon and has been used in figure skating before.

And good job on getting the skater. She does have great musicality, I agree in the hopes that she continues with that style and doesnt veer much. Shes awesome as seemingly one of the few Russian girls that everyone likes domestically and internationally.

agreed.

 

[Mathman]

According to you, but that style of music [rock and roll] was very popular and has an important history of it's own.

I think I am changing my mind about this topic. In 1977 the U.S. space agency took on a similar project of selecting the best of the best earth music, or at least the most representative and that of which we are most proud, to load onto the Voyager space probe and shoot it off to the stars, there to impress whatever alien civilizations s it might encounter. Science poplularizer Carl Sagan was the director of the project.

The first two songs on the playlist were Brandenburg Concerto #2 (Bach) and a piece titled (in English) Many Flowers, composed by Mangkunegara IV, king of the island nation of Java in the 1800s. This king was also an accomplished poet and composer in the “gamelan” musical tradition, which features mostly metal drums and other percussion instruments. Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxeJc857Qwo

Sagan also included “Johnny Be Good” by Chuck Berry. Musicologists criticized Sagan for selecting unsophisticated “teenage” music. Sagan’s response was,well, there are a lot of teenagers on this planet.

(The next year Saturday Night Live ran a skit in which the advanced aliens found Voyager and beamed off to Earth the message: “Send more Chuck Berry!”)

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I think I am changing my mind about this topic. In 1977 the U.S. space agency took on a similar project of selecting the best of the best earth music, or at least the most representative and that of which we are most proud, to load onto the Voyager space probe and shoot it off to the stars, there to impress whatever alien civilizations s it might encounter. Science poplularizer Carl Sagan was the director of the project.

The first two songs on the playlist were Brandenburg Concerto #2 (Bach) and a piece titled (in English) Many Flowers, composed by Mangkunegara IV, king of the island nation of Java in the 1800s. This king was also an accomplished poet and composer in the “gamelan” musical tradition, which features mostly metal drums and other percussion instruments. Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxeJc857Qwo

Sagan also included “Johnny Be Good” by Chuck Berry. Musicologists criticized Sagan for selecting unsophisticated “teenage” music. Sagan’s response was,well, there are a lot of teenagers on this planet.

(The next year Saturday Night Live ran a skit in which the advanced aliens found Voyager and beamed off to Earth the message: “Send more Chuck Berry!”)

Make fun of it all you want, but it still doesn't make it all correct. Also, you misquoted me and added in the rock n roll part. The music you had originally mentioned was not "rock n roll" and that is not what I was referring to. It's actually funk/soul, which has a long history all the way back through other forms of African-American music. I'm not joking at all in this thread, I'm being serious about musical origins.

 

[Mathman]

Make fun of it all you want,...

? I was agreeing with you, and pointing out that NASA agrees with you, too.

 

[Mathman]

Does "most impressive" mean the "best" music (i.e., music that the poster likes/admires/thinks would be worth preserving)?

Or are we looking for skaters with the most impressively wide range of musical styles?

In mt original post I had in mind the first. Thinking about it more, I changed my mind. There are a multitude of musical styles and traditions that are worth preserving, and hooray for figure skaters who do their part in sampling them.

 

[TallyT]

In mt original post I had in mind the first. Thinking about it more, I changed my mind. There are a multitude of musical styles and traditions that are worth preserving, and hooray for figure skaters who do their part in sampling them.

I think you are right here, I love it when a skater introduces me to a new (to me) or rare piece of beautiful music, and therefore the skaters who explore other genres (especially non-Western, thank you, because the choices are still so narrowly parochial for the most part) and experiment would count as impressive to me

 

[withwings]

Tatsuki Machida interpretation of Beethoven Symphony No. 9 is unforgettable ( this is a reason why he is on my avatar). And, in general, Tatsuki music choices especially when he retired and skated pro.

 

[Echodog]

Suppose the world came to an end and you could preserve the musical canon of one figure skater for the next civilization. Who would you choose?

Fumie Suguri skated to Mozart symphony #40 and piano concerto #23

Beethoven (Moonlight Sonata)

Bach (Air on the G string and Tocatta and Fugue)

Not to mention Chpin (Piano Concerto #2), Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake), Rachmaniov (Piano Concerto #2), Debussey (Clair de Lune), Bizet (Carmen), and Ravel (Bolero).

Too Eurocentric and Dead-Composers-Society? She also skated to Ave Maria – not Schubert or Bach/Genoud but the aria by the twentieth century Soviet guitarist abd lute player Vladimir Vavilov. Vavilov did not want to get in trouble with the authorities by composing music with a religious theme, so he attributed his work to the 16th century Italian composer Giulio Caccini.

Suguri wasn’t afraid to try jazz. As far as I know she is the only skater ever to skate to both Take Five (the best-selling jazz single of all time) and to Blue Rondo ala Turk (in 9/8 time, from the same 1959 Dave Brubeck-Paul Desmond album.)

As of a 2016 /2017 Suguri (age 36 then) was still competing – in “elite masters” competitions.

Int. Adult Figure Skating Championship '16

2016 International Adult Figure Skating Championships Oberstdorf, Germany , 13-18.06.2016 Livestream: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4fngeg_2016-international-adult-figure-skating-championships-oberstdorf-germany_sport Entries/Results: http://www.deu-event.de/results/adult2016/index.html...

www.goldenskate.com

It's remarkable so many figure skaters are using the music of Jennifer Thomas in major events and the Olympic Games as she is an independent pianist/composer. Probably the most high profile would be Rika Kihira with 'A Beautiful Storm'. She has a new epic album out in June and I'm sure many more skaters will be checking it out for inspiration. More about Jennifer can be found on her website, YouTube, Facebook and Wikipedia pages.
Rika Kihira skating to 'A Beautiful Storm' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4pQ0EXg7Ck
Website: https://jenniferthomasmusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferthomaspiano/?locale=en_GB
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCLJvCZ94E8B-7uxh34muQw
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Thomas_(pianist)

 

[DancingCactus]

I dislike a lot of classical music or at least am apathetic about it, so I can't say a lot of classical makes a compelling list for me.
Overall I mostly like Shoma's choices, also Piper and Paul.
I desperately need wird Rock music and video game music.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

It's remarkable so many figure skaters are using the music of Jennifer Thomas in major events and the Olympic Games as she is an independent pianist/composer. Probably the most high profile would be Rika Kihira with 'A Beautiful Storm'. She has a new epic album out in June and I'm sure many more skaters will be checking it out for inspiration. More about Jennifer can be found on her website, YouTube, Facebook and Wikipedia pages.
Rika Kihira skating to 'A Beautiful Storm' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4pQ0EXg7Ck
Website: https://jenniferthomasmusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferthomaspiano/?locale=en_GB
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCLJvCZ94E8B-7uxh34muQw
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Thomas_(pianist)

Actually Karen Chen skated to her song "Fire Dance" as a SP and later exhibition in the 2018-19 season.

 

[withwings]

I dislike a lot of classical music or at least am apathetic about it, so I can't say a lot of classical makes a compelling list for me.
Overall I mostly like Shoma's choices, also Piper and Paul.
I desperately need wird Rock music and video game music.

it is what makes our life so colourful- our differences!

 

[TallyT]

I dislike a lot of classical music or at least am apathetic about it, so I can't say a lot of classical makes a compelling list for me.
Overall I mostly like Shoma's choices, also Piper and Paul.
I desperately need wird Rock music and video game music.

I love classical, but I think it over-dominates, yes.

And I am so with you on the video game music but then I would be, wouldn't I?

 

[4everchan]

I love classical, but I think it over-dominates, yes.

And I am so with you on the video game music but then I would be, wouldn't I?

see how nice i am... i found you 10 hours worth of video game music.
Enjoy

 

[rabidline]

Just from the strength and variety of the music selection portfolio, I quite liked Stéphane Lambiel's, both during his competitive years and after. He's got a good mix of classical pieces (warhorses and more rarely used pieces) and pop songs. The choreography for his programs is more of a hit and miss for me.

I also liked Keiji Tanaka's music selection if not the programs themselves, especially after his Olympic season- he had a season where his SP was the soundtrack of the newest Evangelion movie, his FS was soundtrack from Whiplash, and his EX was soundtrack from Godzilla. The contrast of his more upbeat EX (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Black Eyed Peas) with his foray to classical with Tatsuki Machida choreography (Je te veux, Chopin Prelude No. 4 and No. 24) was also fun to watch.

Also Satoko and Shoma impressed me when they had programs set to countertenor arias, which I was waiting for anyone in figure skating to use- Mea Tormenta Properate (Hasse) for Shoma, Stabat Mater (Pergolesi) for Satoko.

 

[TallyT]

see how nice i am... i found you 10 hours worth of video game music.
Enjoy

Retro! I haven't played Tetris for ages (I'm actually not good at playing games, just listening to them). I'll raise you with this tongue in cheek history of the genre to 2020...

And, though I don't agree with all the choices, a compilation that would surely give ideas. Given that video games are making ginormous amounts of money now, like film and TV before them, they now do and will continue to attract seriously good composers. And games fans notice when other people use their beloved music.

 

[icewhite]

Retro! I haven't played Tetris for ages (I'm actually not good at playing games, just listening to them). I'll raise you with this tongue in cheek history of the genre to 2020...

And, though I don't agree with all the choices, a compilation that would surely give ideas. Given that video games are making ginormous amounts of money now, like film and TV before them, they now do and will continue to attract seriously good composers. And games fans notice when other people use their beloved music.

My son often complains that video games are not taken seriously as forms of art and honestly I can understand. The level of storytelling and artwork is sometimes so extremely high, way higher than in a lot of works we consider "art".
But in my eyes the musical score is often not as strong as graphics and narrative work (yet), at least from what I gather.

I'm always smitten by how good some people choosing music for tv/netflix series are, though. They are just picking, but they have such vast knowledge and abilities. It's always frustrating to me that most figure skating choreographers and teams seem to have such a very limited knowledge. I know a lot of great music doesn't offer itself to skating, but I'm sure people with better knowledge could do better work here, choose more interesting and still broadly appealing music, could do better edits than we often get.

Cedric Tours seems to be a guy with a good archive. Who else?

 

[icewhite]

I think there are great pieces of music that are not classical, but of course classical works have sometimes proven themselves over centuries, and they are usually much longer and already for that reason much more complex than a 3 minute song. On the other hand we usually only get the most catchy part of 6 minutes, cut down to 2.50 to 4 and edited and mixed wildly anyway.
There are many pop albums that would have to be considered in full length and a whole to be appreciated for what they are...

I am dreading the awful covers and that so often when we get pop music we definitely do not get the best, while with classical music we at least often get actually the best of the best.

 

[TallyT]

But in my eyes the musical score is often not as strong as graphics and narrative work (yet), at least from what I gather.

Agreed it's not there yet, but the best of the recent ones are I think well suited to skating, it's aimed straight at the emotions, it's very varied due to the nature of games and levels, and it's highly accessible. And skaters, being teenagers and young adults, tend to like games so there's a link there.

I think there are great pieces of music that are not classical, but of course classical works have sometimes proven themselves over centuries, and they are usually much longer and already for that reason much more complex than a 3 minute song.

Oh I agree, the thing with classical music, great classic literature, art etc is that, well there was probably just as much chaff produced then as now but the chaff has disappeared into the void, which modern music hasn't had time to (and modern tech means that in fact we may be stuck with it for decade and centuries...) Mind you, my second favourite composer of all time is Hildegard von Bingen and I am NOT holding my breath for her to pop up on skaters' program lists any time soon...

I guess a way of looking at the original question of which skater has the most impressive list is... which skater's music (no matter what genre) most added to and enhanced as many of their performances as possible?