Your Hundred Best Tunes - The Hundred Best Tunes

The Hundred Best Tunes

Polls were taken to confirm the choice of the hundred best tunes. The results of the last poll in 2003 are below. The previous poll was in 1997 and the position of each work in that earlier poll is shown in parentheses.

"Au fond du temple saint" from The Pearl Fishers by Georges Bizet (1)
"Nimrod" from Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar (16)
"Va, pensiero" from Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi (22)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor by Max Bruch (12)
Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel (52)
Clarinet Concerto in A by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (33)
Symphony No. 6 in F (Pastoral) by Ludwig van Beethoven (27)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff (8)
"Intermezzo" from Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni (23)
The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams (–)
Finlandia by Jean Sibelius (2)
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor 'Choral' by Ludwig van Beethoven (5)
The Planets by Gustav Holst (9)
"Ombra mai fu" from Serse by George Frideric Handel (17)
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (25)
Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber (14)
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E Flat 'Emperor' by Ludwig van Beethoven (24)
"Méditation" from Thaïs by Jules Massenet (39)
Symphony No. 9 in E Minor From the New World by Antonín Dvořák (36)
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams (–)
Ave Verum Corpus by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (28)
Miserere mei, Deus – Psalm 51 by Gregorio Allegri (–)
"Hallelujah!" from Messiah by George Frideric Handel (32)
"Laudate Dominum" from Solemn Vespers by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (–)
"Romance" from The Gadfly Suite by Dmitri Shostakovich (29)
Zadok the Priest, one of the Coronation Anthems by George Frideric Handel (68)
"Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" from Solomon by George Frideric Handel (38)
Piano Concerto in A minor by Edvard Grieg (–)
"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Johann Sebastian Bach (85)
Cello Concerto in E Minor by Edward Elgar (6)
"What is Life?" from Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck performed by Kathleen Ferrier(30)
"Baïlèro" from Songs of the Auvergne by Joseph Canteloube (18)
The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II (–)
"Listen to the Mocking Bird" by Septimus Winner (as Alice Hawthorne) (42)
"Song to the Moon" from Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák (4)
"Bells Across The Meadows" by Albert Ketèlbey (–)
Symphony No. 3 (Organ) by Camille Saint-Saëns (–)
Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 by Edward Elgar (31)
Violin Concerto in E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn (40)
"Che gelida manina" from La bohème by Giacomo Puccini (89)
The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi (–)
Symphony No. 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven (–)
"Panis Angelicus" by César Franck (13)
"I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls" from The Bohemian Girl by Michael William Balfe (–)
Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (–)
"Grand March" from Aida by Giuseppe Verdi (26)
"A Londonderry Air" – traditional, arranged by Percy Grainger (59) – this was the theme tune
The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár (67)
"Nessun dorma" from Turandot by Giacomo Puccini (51)
Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Fauré (–)
"In Paradisum" from Requiem by Gabriel Fauré (–)
Symphony No. 7 by Ludwig van Beethoven (–)
Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach (–)
Adagio in G minor by Tomaso Albinoni (–)
"Judex" from Mors et vita by Charles Gounod (–)
Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff (–)
Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell (–)
"Adagio" from Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian (–)
Romeo and Juliet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (–)
"Don't Be Cross" from The Master Miner (Der Obersteiger) by Carl Zeller (79)
"Sanctus" from German Mass (Deutsche Messe) by Franz Schubert (20)
"I know that my Redeemer liveth" from Messiah by George Frideric Handel (10)
"Love Duet" from Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini (15)
Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Greaves (from Sir John in Love by Ralph Vaughan Williams) (–)
Symphony No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff (–)
Fingal's Cave by Felix Mendelssohn (–)
"Polovetsian Dances" from Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin (–)
The Yeomen of the Guard by Gilbert and Sullivan (–)
Schindler's List Theme by John Williams (–)
Symphony No. 5 (Adagietto) by Gustav Mahler (–)
"Sanctus" from St. Cecilia Mass by Charles Gounod (–)
Scheherezade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (–)
"Old Comrades" ("Alte Kameraden") by Carl Teike (11)
The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (–)
"Nuns' Chorus" from Casanova by Ralph Benatzky (based on Johann Strauss II) (7)
1812 Overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (–)
"Jerusalem" by Hubert Parry (58)
"Morning Mood" from Peer Gynt Suites by Edvard Grieg (47)
Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo (–)
"Dance of the Blessed Spirits" from Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck (–)
"Casta diva" from Norma by Vincenzo Bellini (–)
The Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (–)
"Softly Awakes My Heart" from Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saëns (49)
Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (–)
"Ave Maria" by Franz Schubert (43)
"O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini (–)
Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven (–)
"Sheep May Safely Graze" by Johann Sebastian Bach (–)
"Where Corals Lie" from Sea Pictures by Edward Elgar (–)
Concerto for Two Violins in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach (–)
Clair de lune by Claude Debussy (–)
The Creation by Joseph Haydn (77)
Crown Imperial by William Walton (–)
"On the Road to Mandalay" by Oley Speaks (–)
Romance No. 2 in F major by Ludwig van Beethoven (–)
The Watermill by Ronald Binge (35)
The Holy City by Frederic Weatherly and Stephen Adams (–)
"Bredon Hill" from A Shropshire Lad by Graham Peel (–)
William Tell Overture from William Tell by Gioachino Rossini (–)
Hear My Prayer by Felix Mendelssohn (–)