My initial impulse in the Repertoire Report project came from frustration observing the difficult of getting a clear or even honest answer from teachers, famous conductors , artist managers or orchestra administrators when many of my fellow students at workshops and festivals would ask things like “how many pieces does a working professional conductor need to be able to learn and perform in a year?” The numbers, when offered, were often comically inflated- “Oh, I suppose I generally conduct 300-400 works a year, but don’t be intimidated- I only do about 250 of those from memory.” Over the last few years, we’ve seen that for most big time conductors we’ve looked at, the norm is 75-125 works per year, with some who do a great deal of opera much lower and probably a few crazies much higher.

now that we’ve got a few years of data to work with, we can go farther, and see where repertoire overlaps from season to season and get a much better sense of how often the old favourites turn up and how often one is preparing pieces that are either completely new or haven’t been done in a long time. One would expect almost no overlap, especially in consecutive years, from a single orchestra- you can’t expect audiences to come to the same programs year after year. On the other hand, a freelance conductor like me, who works with  many orchestras every year, might have some rep overlap, and a soloist, probably has mostly overlap. It would be very rare for a concerto soloist to add more than a couple of major solo works with orchestra per year.

An analysis of 2007-2009 is here.

This table compares repertoire from 2010 to 2009. Pieces from 2009 that were repeated in 2010 are highlighted in yellow. Only five works from 2009 re-appeared in 2010. That makes for 162 separate works between 2009 and 2010. In other words, 94%  of the pieces played in 2010 were not played in 2009.

However, there are some similarities between the two seasons- the Schumann content is almost exactly complimentary for example- Symphonies 2 and 4 in ’09, 1 and 3 in ’10; Konzerstucke, Overture, Scherzo and Finale and Bride of Messina (GREAT piece) in ‘09 Violin, Cello and Piano Concertos and Manfred Overture in ’10. Two Shostakovich works in each year, one Rossini Overture, five Beethoven Symponies in 09, six in’10. There’s Mahler in both years, more in ’10, but an even split of vocal works and symphonies in both. One Wagner Overture per year seems to be a comfortable number right now. It starts to look like I have a balanced yearly repertoire diet-if only it were so elegantly planned.

This table compares repertoire from 2010 to the three previous years. Pieces that appeared in any of the previous seasons are highlighted in red. 19 pieces in 2010 had appeared sometime in 2007-9, although two of those (the Schumann and Elgar Cello Concertos) had me working one time as cellist and another time as conductor. Add it all up, we have a four year sampling with 279 works. That means  79% of 2010 repertoire had not been done in the previous 3 years. This makes sense, as one would expect standard and favourite works to loop back into repertoire over a 3-4 year time period.

Over four years, we’re up to 279 pieces, compared to 206 last year. Out of 317 slots, that means onl7 38 pieces have been done more than once. In other words, a piece is likely to be unique in the 4 year window 88% of the time.

To my surprise, I’ve also found this analysis helpful in seeing where reality and perception align and diverge in terms of how I see my own artistic life. It may surprise readers to know that for most conductors, programming is a painful and frustrating process, filled with sacrifice and compromise. As I cellist, I can pick up the Bach Suites any day and play them, but if I long to conduct the complete Brucker symphonies (which I do), that means convincing boards and players to let me. Every time one announces a season, more dreams are delayed or destroyed than fulfilled. On the other hand, looking at this list, I can see that somehow, I’m making good progress with some composers, even where others are suffering. The last four years have been good for Beethoven and Mozart (no surprise there, although I think Marin Alsop did no Beethoven symphonies in 2009) with 21 works each. Haydn is doing well at 16- hopefully he can pass Mozart soon. Elgar was far less prolific than any of those three Classical masters, so 8 works represents a pretty healthy chunk of his output, not bad! I’m also pretty pleased with Schumann and Mahler’s representation.

Other composers dear to me, however, have not been lucky. Bartók has been completely absent. This makes me crazy, but I get tremendous (and completely incomprehensible) resistance when trying to program his music. Bruckner? One symphony is not enough! Tchaikovsky- only one symphony once in 4 years? That seems very odd? And why so much Malcom Arnold? It’s not that I dislike his music, but I hardly got into music to do 5 times as much Arnold as Bach or Bruckner!

What trends do fellow conductors see in their own work? What trends do you see in mine? Should I be doing more opera or more new music (I’d say yes to both)? Please take a moment to leave your thoughts and insights in the comments!

KW- Repertoire Report 2007-2010

1-       Arnold- Guitar Concerto

2-       Arnold- Scottish Dances

3-       Arnold- Piano Trio #  *

4-       Arnold- The Inn of Sixth Happiness

5-       Arnold- Serenade for Guitar and Strings

6-       Bach- Goldberg Variations (arr. Sitkovetsky for string trio) (5)

7-       Barber- Adagio for Strings

8-       Beethoven- Egmont Overture

9-       Beethoven- Leonore Overture No. 2

10-   Beethoven- Coriolan Overture

11-   Beethoven- Fidelio Overture

12-   Beethoven- Leonore Overture no. 3

13-    Beethoven-  Romance no. 1 for Violin and Orchestra

14-   Beethoven arr. Mahler- String Quartet in F Minor Op. 95 “Serioso”

15-   Beethoven- String Quartet in F major, op 18 no. 1 *.

16-   Beethoven- Piano Trio in D Major, op. 70 no. 1 “Ghost”  *

17-   Beethoven- Piano Concerto no. 4

18-   Beethoven- String Trio in C minor, op 9 no 3.

19-   Beethoven- String Trio in G major, op 9 no. 1 VC

20-   Beethoven- String Trio in D Major, op 9 no. 2 (5)

21-   Beethoven- Symphony no. 1 (2)

22-   Beethoven- Symphony no. 2 in D major

23-   Beethoven- Symphony no. 3 “Eroica” (more here and  here)

24-   Beethoven- Symphony no. 4

25-   Beethoven- Symphony No. 5 in C minor

26-   Beethoven- Symphony no. 6 in F Major “Pastoral”

27-   Beethoven Symphony no. 7

28-   Beethoven- Symphony no. 8 in F major

29-   Berlioz- Carnival Romaine Overture

30-   Berlioz- Overture “Le Corsaire”

31-   Bloch- Concerto Grosso no 2.

32-   Bloch- Schelomo: Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra

33-   Bloch- Suite for Cello and Orchestra

34-   Brahms- Clarinet Quintet *

35-   Brahms- Academic Festival Overture

36-   Brahms- Piano Concerto no. 1 in D minor

37-   Brahms- Double Concerto in A Minor for Violin and Cello *

38-   Brahms- Hungarian Dances no.’s 1,3,5

39-   Brahms- Serenade in D Major, op 11

40-   Brahms- Symphony No. 1 in C minor

41-   Brahms- Symphony no. 2 in D major

42-   Brahms- Symphony no. 4 in E minor

43-   Brahms- Variations on a Theme of Haydn

44-   Britten- Simple Symphony

45-   Brown– Novara (Welsh Premiere)

46-   Bruch- Violin Concerto

47-   Bruckner- Symphony no. 4 in E Flat Major “Romantic”

48-   Chambers, Evan- String Quartet “Three Memories”

49-   Chambers- The Tall-Eared Fox and the Wild-Eyed Man (UK Premiere)

50-   Chopin-  Piano Concerto no. 1 in E minor

51-   Copland- Appalachian Spring (13 Instrument Version) m #

52-   Copland- Suite from “Rodeo”

53-   Copland- Quiet City

54-   Debussy- Cello Sonata VC

55-   Debussy- Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

56-   Debussy- Nuages and Fetes from Three Nocturnes

57-   Andrew Devine- Faith

58-   Dohnanyi- Serenade for String Trio VC

59-   Downie– forms 7 (World Premiere Commission)

60-   Dvorak- Cello Concerto (soloist)

61-   Dvorak- Romance for Violin

62-   Dvorak- Husitska Overture

63-   Dvorak- Serenade for Winds

64-   Dvorak Slavonic Dances op 46 and 72

65-   Dvorak- Symphony no. 7 in D minor (review)

66-   Dvorak- Symphony no. 9 “From the New World”

67-   Elgar- Cello Concerto in E Minor VC

68-   Elgar- Cockaigne Overture

69-   Elgar- Serendade for Strings

70-   Elgar- Introduction and Allegro

71-   Elgar- Sea Pictures

72-   Elgar- Symphony no. 1 in A flat Major

73-   Elgar- Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma), Op. 36

74-    Elgar- Violin Concerto

75-   Espinosa- Movement for Strings (World Premiere)

76-   Fauré- Suite from “Pelleas and Melisande”

77-   Franck- Symphony in D minor

78-   Gal- Concertino for Violin and Strings

79-   Gal- Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra

80-   Gal- Serenade for String Trio op 41 (9)

81-   Gal- Symphony no. 3

82-   Gal- Triptych

83-   Gershwin- An American in Paris

84-   Ginasterra- Harp Concerto

85-   Glinka- Kamarinskaya

86-   Glinka Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla

87-   Gregson- Trombone Concerto

88-   Grieg- Piano Concerto in A Minor

89-   Handel- Messiah (complete)

90-   Haydn- Cello Concerto no. 1 in C major

91-   Haydn- Cello Concerto no. 2 in D major

92-   Haydn- Trumpet Concerto

93-   Haydn- Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Bassoon, Violin and Cello

94-   Haydn- Symphony no. 45 “Farewell”

95-    Haydn- Symphony no. 49 “La Passione”

96-   Haydn- Symphony no. 59 in A Major, “Fire Symphony”

97-   Haydn- Symphony no. 60 “Il Distratto”

98-   Haydn- Symphony no. 72

99-   Haydn- Symphony no. 82 (“Bear”)

100-                        Haydn- Symphony no. 86 in D Major

101-                        Haydn- Symphony no. 92 “Oxford

102-                        Haydn- Symphony no. 94 “Surprise”.

103-                        Haydn- Symphony no. 100 in G Major “Military”

104-                        Haydn- Symphony no. 101 “The Clock

105-                        Haydn- Symphony no. 104

106-                        Higdon- Soprano Saxophone Concerto

107-                        Hoddinott- Investature Dances

108-                        Honegger- Symphony no. 4

109-                        Hovaness- String Trio

110-                        Humperdinck- Hansel and Gretel Overture

111-                        Ives- Symphony no. 3

112-                        Janacek- Quartet no 2 “Intimate Letters” *

113-                        Janacek- Pohadka for Cello and Piano VC

114-                        Janacek- Taras Bulba

115-                        Khatchaturian- Violin Concerto

116-                        Khatchaturian- Sabre Dance

117-                        Klein- String Trio

118-                        Kodaly- Summer Evening

119-                        Kodaly- Dances of Galanta

120-                        Kodaly- Intermezzo for String Trio

121-                        Krasa- “Tanec” for String Trio

122-                        Krasa- Passacaglia and Fugue for String Trio (2)

123-                        Martin Kutnowski- Clarinet Quintet (Canadian premiere)

124-                        Martin Kutnowski- How Toad Got his Spots

125-                        Joanna Lee- The Chronicles of Archy (world premiere) (interview here,  news item here)

126-                        Linkola- Two Miniatures for Piano Trio # *

127-                        Mahler- Ruckert Lieder

128-                        Mahler (arr. Schoenberg)- Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen

129-                        Mahler- Symphony No. 1 in D Major

130-                        Mahler- Symphony no. 3 in D minor

131-                        Mahler- Symphony no. 4 in G major

132-                        Mahler- Symphony no. 5

133-                        Mahler/ arr. Schoenberg- Das Lied von der Erde (Chamber orchestra version)

134-                        Mefano- Interferences (Mendelssohn-

135-                        Piano Trio in D minor UK Premiere)

136-                        Mendelssohn- Songs Without Words

137-                        Mendelssohn- Hebrides Overture

138-                        Mendelssohn- Violin Concerto in D minor

139-                        Mendelssohn- Violin Concerto in E minor

140-                        Messiaen- Louange a l’eternite de Jesus from“Quartet from the End of Time” *

141-                        Mozart/Bach- Adagio and Fugue in D minor for String Trio

142-                        Mozart- Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

143-                        Mozart- Clarinet Quintet

144-                        Mozart- Gran Partita for Winds

145-                        Mozart/Wendt- Harmonie from Figaro

146-                        Mozart- Overture to La Clemenza di Tito (2)

147-                        Mozart- Impresario Overture

148-                        Mozart- Overture to “Die Zauberflote” #

149-                        Mozart- Overture to Marriage of Figaro

150-                        Mozart- Piano Quartet in E-flatr Major #  *

151-                        Mozart- Requiem

152-                        Mozart- Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major

153-                        Mozart- Piano Concerto in A major K 488

154-                        Mozart- Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola (2)

155-                        Mozart- Symphony no. 13

156-                        Mozart- Symphony no. 31 “Paris” (2)

157-                        Mozart- Symphony no. 34 in C major

158-                        Mozart- Symphony no. 38 in D Major “Prague”

159-                        Mozart- Symphony no. 39 in E-flat

160-                        Mozart Symphony no. 40 in G minor

161-                        Mozart- Symphony no. 41 in C Major

162-                        Mussorgsky- A Night on Bald Mountain

163-                        Mussorgsky (arr. Ravel)- Pictures at an Exhibition

164-                        Niccolai- Overture to the Merry Wives of Windsor (2)

165-                        Nielsen- Helios Overture

166-                        Piston- Sinfonietta

167-                        Prokofiev- Concerto No. 5 for Piano and Orchestra .   .

168-                        Prokofiev- Violin Concerto no. 2 in G minor

169-                        Prokofiev- Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major VC

170-                        Prokofiev- Violin Concerto no2 in G minor

171-                        Prokofiev- Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major VC

172-                        Prokofiev- Selections from Romeo and Juliet, Suites 1 and 2

173-                        Prokofiev- Romeo and Juliet Suite No.  2

174-                        Prokofiev- Lt Kije Suite

175-                        Poulenc- Sinfonietta

176-                        Puccini- Madama Butterfly +.

177-                        Rachmaninov – Isle of the Dead

178-                        Rachmaninoff- Sonata for Cello and Piano

179-                        Rachmaninoff- Symphony no. 1 in D minor

180-                        Ravel – La valse

181-                        Ravel- Mother Goose Suite

182-                        Ravel- Tombeau de Couperin

183-                        Rossini- Cenerentola Overture

184-                        Rossini Overture Il Signor Bruschino

185-                        Rossini- Overture “Tancredi”

186-                         Rossini- Overture to Barber of Seville.

187-                        Rozsa- Ben Hur

188-                        Saint-Saens- Cello Concerto in A minor

189-                        Saint-Saens- Cello Concerto no. 2 in D minor

190-                        Saint-Saens- Violin Concerto no. 3 in  B minor

191-                        Sarasate- Ziguenerweisen

192-                        Sawyers- Gale of Life (UK Premiere)

193-                        Philip Sawyers- Symphony no. 2

194-                        James Schlefer- Concerto for Shakuhachi and Chamber Orchestra

195-                        Schinittke- String Trio

196-                        Schubert- Quintet in C major for Two Violins, Viola and Two Cellos

197-                        Schubert- Overture in D Major in the Italian Style

198-                        Schubert- Trio Satz in B-flat

199-                        Schubert (arr Mahler/Woods)- Quartet in D minor “Death and the Maiden”

200-                        Schubert- Symphony no. 4 in C minor “Tragic”

201-                        Schumann- Genoveva Overture

202-                        Schumann- Piano Concerto in A minor

203-                        Schumann- Violin Concerto

204-                        Schumann- Cello Concerto in A minor

205-                        Schumann- Konzertsucke for Four Horns

206-                        Schumann- Overture, Scherzo and Finale

207-                        Schumann- Overture to “Bride of Messina”

208-                        Schumann- Manfred Overture

209-                        Schumann- Symphony no. 1 “Spring”

210-                        Schumann- Symphony no. 2 in C (2)

211-                        Schumann- Symphony no. 3 in E-flat, “Rhenish”

212-                        Schumann- Symphony no. 4 in D minor

213-                        Shostakovich- Chamber Symphony op. 73a

214-                        Shostakovich- Chamber Symphony op 83a

215-                        Shostakovich- Festive Overture

216-                        Shostakovich- Concerto no. 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings

217-                        Shostakovich- Piano Concerto no. 2

218-                        Shostakovich- Sonata for Cello and Piano

219-                        Shostakovich – Symphony No 6

220-                        Shostakovich- Symphony no. 7 “Lenningrad” (posts herehere and here)

221-                        Sibelius- Finlandia

222-                        Sibelius- Valse Triste

223-                        Sibelius- Violin Concerto

224-                        Sibelius- Symphony no. 2 in D major

225-                        Sibelius- Symphony no. 5 in E Flat

226-                        Kile Smith- Thrice Blest (6)

227-                        Kile Smith- The Bremmen Town Musicians

228-                        Sousa- The Liberty Bell

229-                        Strauss- “Artist’s Life” Waltz

230-                         Strauss: “Blue Danube” Waltzes,

231-                        Radetzky March

232-                        J Strauss Jr- Overture to “The Gypsy Baron”

233-                        J Strauss Jr- “Long Live the Magyar” Polka Schnell

234-                        Strauss- Tritsch Tratsch Polka’

235-                        Strauss- Emperor Waltzes

236-                        Strauss- “Thunder and Lightning” Polka

237-                        Johann Strauss Jr (arr Schoenberg)- Emperor Waltzes

238-                        Strauss- Death and Transfiguration

239-                        Strauss, R- Oboe Concerto

240-                        Strauss, R- Romanze for Cello and Orchestra

241-                        Strauss, R- Serenade for Winds, op 7

242-                        Strauss, R- Cello Sonata VC

243-                        Strauss- Concerto No. 1 for Horn

244-                        Strauss- Horn Concerto no. 2

245-                        Ri chard Strauss- Metamorphosen

246-                        Richard Strauss- Variations uber “‘s Deandl is harb auf mi”

247-                        Stravinsky- Octet for Winds +

248-                        Stravinsky- L’histoire du soldat

249-                        Stravinsky- Symphonies of Wind Instruments (original version)

250-                        Stravinsky- Suite from “The Firebird” (1919 Version)

251-                        Suppé- Overture to “Poet and Peasant”

252-                        Telemann- Don Quioxte

253-                        Tchaikovsky- Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture

254-                        Tchaikovsky- Andante Cantabile for Cello and Strings*

255-                        Tchaikovsky- Souvenir de Florence *

256-                        Tchaikovsky- Rococo Variations for Cello and Orchestra

257-                        Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35

258-                        Tchaikovsky- Quartet no. 3 in E flat minor

259-                        Tchaikovsky- Symphony no. 4 in F minor

260-                        Thomas- “Primordial Monkey Soup” for Cello Quartet and Solo Viola (World Premiere) *

261-                        Christopher Thomas- Snapshots (world premiere)

262-                        Vaughan Williams- Overture to “The Wasps”

263-                        Vaughan Williams- The Lark Ascending

264-                        Vaughan Willilams- Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

265-                        Vaughan-Williams- Symphony no. 5

266-                        Varese- Octandre

267-                        Verdi- Aida

268-                        Verdi- Il Trovatore

269-                        Verdi- Otello

270-                        Vivaldi- Four Seasons

271-                        Wagner- Die Meistersinger Overture (2)

272-                        Wagner- Rienzi Overture.

273-                        Wagner- Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde

274-                        Walton- Facade (2)

275-                        Walton- Variations on a Theme of Paul Hindemith

276-                        Williams- Suite from Star Wars

277-                        Xenakis– Akrata (Welsh Premiere

278-                        David Yang- Lubin from Chelm

279-                        David Yang- Two Brothers from Chelm