What skater has the all-time impressive music list?

[Mathman]

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

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[Ic3Rabbit]

Jeremy Abbott, Patrick Chan, Nathan Chen, Kurt Browning, Brian Boitano, Paul Wylie

 

[el henry]

I went looking for Fumie skating Blue Rondo a la Turk and couldn't find it.

Has anyone else skated to that? I want

 

[cheerknithanson]

Kevin Reynolds.

 

[Mathematician]

Honestly I've always been unimpressed with skating music in general. Its really telling how ubiquitous the music on your best list is (not criticizing your taste but the state of the sport).

Being said, can anyone guess who this is? Its the best I've got:

Rachmaninoff - Trio Elegiaque no. 2

Tchaikovsky - Lullaby 16/1

Marcello - Obo Concerto

Bach - Fugue in G minor, Piano Concerto A minor

Chopin - Nocturne in F Minor 55/1

 

[Mathematician]

By the way is Vavilov being from St Petersberg not extremely Euro-centric?

 

[Mathman]

I went looking for Fumie skating Blue Rondo a la Turk and couldn't find it.

Has anyone else skated to that? I want

I don't know of any other skater who used this music, although it has a suitably frantic opening movement followed by a lyrical section when the sax comes in -- I think it could work.

This was Suguri's short program in the 1999-2000 season. She competed in Eric Bompard Trophee and NHK on the Grand Prix and in Four Continents (4th place). There are several videos on You Tube of her long program, but none of her short tht I could find.

I was once in a boy band and we had a gig at an Armenian wedding. We stared to play Rondo-ala-Turk, but they made us stop because they didn't allow any Turkish-inspired music.

Some time around 2019 Fumie got involved with a U.S. independent film production company. She is listed as the CEO/producer at the Los Vegas Branch of Monkey Teer Entertainment.

About Us | Monkey Teer Entertia

www.monkeyteer.co

By the way, I was once challenged on Golden Slate to come up with a rhyme for "Fumie." The best I could do was. Ta-ra-ra rah-BOOM-de-ay, Sweet Sugar FU-mi-e."

 

[Mathman]

By the way is Vavilov being from St Petersberg not extremely Euro-centric?

I knew someone was going to mention that. As to your challenge in post #5, wait, wait, don't tell me. I'm on it!

 

[Mathman]

Thanks to everyone who nominated someone. I hope I made it clear that the question was about the music only. Two of Kurt Browning iconic masterpeiecs were Brick House and Play That Funky Music White Boy. But future civilizations would not be culturally impoverished if these tunes disappeared in the sands of time.

 

[Rebecca Moose]

Suguri also did Otonal (which seems to be a rite of passage for female skaters of "a certain age"). I don't care what anyone says--I still think it's a beautiful piece of music.

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

Kamila Valieva and Mao Asada for me. They always skated music that I loved.

 

[noskates]

Oh wow - how many to name. Kurt Browning for sure. The first time I noticed him he skated to Bring Him Home. Other favorites are: Brickhouse, Casablanca (for sure) Singing in the Rain, Nyah, That's Entertainment....etc. etc. etc. Too many to mention. Kurt always had a way to bring the stories of his music to life.

And then Jason Brown's Schindler's List.

 

[4everchan]

I have to put Virtue and Moir in there. Such fabulous choices
Valse triste
Mahler's adagietto from symphony no 5
Parapluies de Cherbourg
Piazzola
Though I hated the program, the music in The Seasons was awesome
Some Pink Floyd, Prince, Gerswhin, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Rolling Stones etc.

My favourite of them all : the Mahler which earned them Olympic gold... my least favourite choices their Moulin Rouge which also earned them Olympic Gold... (well, 2 of them)

In any case, epic music list containing some of the obligatory choices but a bunch of special selections ! Thank you !

Also, I second Patrick Chan, great selection from the kid doing the fancy versions of warhorses to the more grown up skater, selecting his own music. Patrick also rarely pissed me off with music cuts unlike some others.

Carolina Kostner. Fabulous list too and she also had great programs. Mao Asada as well, most of the time.

Nathan Chen and Shoma Uno have good selections too, many hits, a few misses but they are responsible world champions when it comes to music selection

Jeffrey Buttle : very good choices, including in his pro life (I am assuming some of these were LPs for Japan Open)

Good list building right now : I'd say Adam Siao Him Fa. We will have to wait and see

Finally, Piper and Paul have made some amazing choices like Vincent, Joni Mitchell, Hitchcock, Wuthering Heights... but they are guilty of some misses too the one thing I would give them is that they stayed far away in the FD from the most obvious choices everyone else and their little cousin have made.

 

[4everchan]

Honestly I've always been unimpressed with skating music in general. Its really telling how ubiquitous the music on your best list is (not criticizing your taste but the state of the sport).

Being said, can anyone guess who this is? Its the best I've got:

Rachmaninoff - Trio Elegiaque no. 2

Tchaikovsky - Lullaby 16/1

Marcello - Obo Concerto

Bach - Fugue in G minor, Piano Concerto A minor

Chopin - Nocturne in F Minor 55/1

Your list also contains very common classical music (since you were blaming the OP's list, to me, this is just the next step... for example, the Marcello's Oboe concerto or Chopin's Nocturne opus 55 are both super well-known... as to your list, it's Kseniia's : it's a good list, let's see how it evolves with time.

 

[icewhite]

Kevin Aymoz
Horns, Question of U, Still Don't Know My Name, Outro, Flares (ex)...
Not all his choices are great but some are seriously rare songs (in skating) that are very much my taste (and I don't remember bad edits he had.)

There are many skaters who have chosen great music. The problem is often not the music itself but the lack of diversity and originality in my eyes.
I could make a long list of skaters whose music I love.

I also love a lot of the music Kostornaia skated to. Because yes, I like Billie Eilish and Max Richter and Muse.

Michelle Kwan had some great music.

 

[Mathematician]

Your list also contains very common classical music (since you were blaming the OP's list, to me, this is just the next step... for example, the Marcello's Oboe concerto or Chopin's Nocturne opus 55 are both super well-known... as to your list, it's Kseniia's : it's a good list, let's see how it evolves with time.

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. 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).

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.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Thanks to everyone who nominated someone. I hope I made it clear that the question was about the music only. Two of Kurt Browning iconic masterpeiecs were Brick House and Play That Funky Music White Boy. But future civilizations would not be culturally impoverished if these tunes disappeared in the sands of time.

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

 

[iluvtodd]

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 movies they're from). Paul Wylie - The Mission, JFK, Apollo 13, 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.

 

[gkelly]

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 which case, longer careers including pro careers/exhibitions would best showcase their versatility of musical choices.

How well they interpreted that music would be a different issue.

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

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.