ARTS / MUSIC

List: Top 10 Favourite Classical Music Pieces in the UK

Date: April 2007

Source: Classic FM radio station (based in London, UK).

Base: The poll was based on the votes of 67,328 listeners.

Notes: The evocative tribute to the English countryside, "The Lark Ascending", by Ralph Vaughan Williams was voted Britain's favourite piece of classical music in what is an annual poll by Classic FM. Second was Elgar's Cello Concerto and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2 came in third. Naturally, as it was the votes from listeners to a British radio station British composers featured strongly in the top 30 (one doubts that, say, a German would even know who Vaughan Williams was) and Darren Henley, the station's managing director, said: "We're seeing a big surge in support for British composers with two Brits taking the top spots for the first time". The station presents a Top 300 list and a comparison with previous results on its website plus lots of background info on the composers and the pieces themselves, which is well worth a look.