Classic FM Hall of Fame reveals the world’s favourite classical music

For the first time in the Hall of Fame’s 18-year history, Beethoven has beaten Mozart as the most popular composer, with twenty entries in the top 300, including two entries in the top ten alone. However, while Beethoven fans celebrate, it has not been a good year for Mozart. Not only has he lost his crown as most popular composer, many of his works have dropped to their lowest ever position.

This year’s countdown shows a surge in popularity in orchestral music used in video games with two entries in the top ten. The soundtrack to Final Fantasy, written by Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu, moves up to third place, while The Elder Scrolls Series, composed by the BAFTA-Award winning Jeremy Soule, reaches number five. Many respected British orchestras, such as the London Philharmonic and the Philharmonia, are now regularly recording soundtracks for video games and this is the second year-in-a-row that this genre has been represented in the Classic FM Hall of Fame.

The phenomenal popularity of EL James’ 50 Shades of Grey appears to have had an effect on this year’s Hall of Fame results. Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis, featured in the multi-million selling erotic novel, has risen 34 places to number 78, echoing its success in the official UK Classical Singles Chart last year.

It has also been another great twelve months for Hollywood film composer John Williams, who was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 Classic BRITs, during his 80th birthday year. Many of his film soundtracks have climbed higher in the Hall of Fame, including Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter and Schlinder’s List, which jumped an incredible 41 places.

Classic FM’s Managing Editor Sam Jackson commented: “The Classic FM Hall of Fame has once again proved the relevance of classical music today. From the emergence of video game soundtracks to the ’50 Shades Effect’ on a piece of Renaissance choral music, the world’s biggest annual survey of classical music tastes is a fascinating Top 300 of the nation’s favourites.”

You can see the full top 300 list online at Classic FM.