Favorite Warhorses

- Turandot
- Bells of Moscow (Even tho not enough ppl are using it)
- Meditiation
- (Some) POTO
- (Some) R&J
- Romeo & Juliet
- Black Swan
- Les Mis
- Anything Piazzolla (Although I wish skaters didn't always use Libertango, use Adios Nonino instead!)
- Samson & Delilah
- Assassin's Tango
- Rhapsody in Blue
- Chicago
- Clair De Lune
There are tons more tho!

Four Seasons (I think it helps that there are so many movements to choose from)
Les Mis (but please someone use Stars or Empty Chairs at Empty Tables soon, just for variety's sake!)
Scheherazade
Carmen (the underused bits, eg Pres des ramparts de Seville and most of Micaela's music)
Swan Lake (von Rothbart's music)

my favorite horse is War Admiral

I'm one of those people who like warhorses- Especially as I like to see how different skaters interpret and put their own spin to the pieces! I also love it when skaters skate to less common cuts
Personally my favourites have to be Swan Lake (I never get tired of it), Romeo and Juliet and Rachmaninoff's PC 2. I have to admit, though, that I'm not fond of Bolero- I'm not a big fan of the piece itself, and though I like Carmen (and the energy you could create with it!), I think I'm a bit tired after this season and may have to take a break from hearing it ;-;

senchasushi said:

I'm one of those people who like warhorses- Especially as I like to see how different skaters interpret and put their own spin to the pieces! I also love it when skaters skate to less common cuts
Personally my favourites have to be Swan Lake (I never get tired of it), Romeo and Juliet and Rachmaninoff's PC 2. I have to admit, though, that I'm not fond of Bolero- I'm not a big fan of the piece itself, and though I like Carmen (and the energy you could create with it!), I think I'm a bit tired after this season and may have to take a break from hearing it ;-;

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Great first post! I agree about Bolero.
Post often.

I like Malagueña as a warhorse. It is usually musical and tasteful and almost never boring no matter who does it.

While I'm just as much allergic to warhorses as the next person, I actually like quite a few of them in reasonable doses, including:

- Romeo and Juliet by Rota
- Carmen Suite by Shchedrin
- Tosca by Puccini
- Piano Concerto No. 2 by Rachmaninoff
- W.E. by Korzeniowski
- Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven
- Schindler's List by Williams
- Four Seasons by Vivaldi
- Dark Eyes
- Nocturne/Ballade No. 1 by Chopin
- Serenade by Schubert
- Totentanz by Liszt
- Moulin Rouge's version of Roxanne by The Police

enzet said:

I actually like most of the warhorses, especially when it comes to classical music, I love them all and I'm not tired of listening to them.

I am however tired of the general lack of originality and creativity in the figure skating world, where people keep skating to a few popular pieces over and over without any apparent point.

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Great point. Often the music itself is not the problem. It's that the programs are so generic (and rarely use the music to full advantage).

rain said:

Great point. Often the music itself is not the problem. It's that the programs are so generic (and rarely use the music to full advantage).

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Absolutely. If someone chooses a piece that had been done zillion times before, I'd expect they do it because they feel a special connection with that music or want to convey a particular message, which should be very apparent in their interpretation and the way the program is constructed. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case.

More often than not, it seems they choose these popular pieces simply because they believe this is what the judges want and that they'll give them higher PCS just because the music is beautiful.

I hate that people often blame their laziness and lack of originality on the assumed conservatism of the judges. I'm 100% sure that if someone showed up with a highly unconventional or downright weird music, but one that would perfectly fit their skating style, highlighted their strengths, the program had smart choreography and the skater put their heart and soul into the interpretation, the judges would LOVE it and shower them with high PCS (if they actually knew how to use them or didn't have other agendas...oh well...different story).

Simply using obscure and weird music is not the point, however. It must be, at least to some degree, a piece of art as a whole, otherwise it's useless, be it Swan Lake or some unknown underground music.

People often say that figure skating is a combination of athleticism and art, as it should be, but as someone who spends quite a lot of time at the theater, I'm always surprised how little art there actually is in figure skating and how freely people use this term, when it's hardly justified. Like, "OMG she hit a few beats, she is SO musical! There where like 3 moves in total in the 4-minute program that seemed to reflect the theme of the music, what a choreographic masterpiece! The skater made an O face or some generic pantomime, what a story teller!"

If you are going to skate to Carmen, at least try to make it the ultimate Carmen that makes people go "...the best Carmen evah!"
Then I'll be the first one to applaud their brilliant music choice.
Otherwise that's the point?

I always kind of shake my head and wonder - when asked to list your FAVORITE anything and someone lists 10+ whatevers.

I don't know if it's a warhorse or not but I always loved Legends of the Fall. It's beautiful music and should be skated to by someone who is a strong performer. I think that's maybe why I don't like most of the warhorses listed because sometimes the skaters are not up to delivering a performance that matches the music. (which I believe Enzet was saying with the Carmen comments) Seeing a Novice or Intermediate skater using Carmen or POTO is just silly IMO and not age appropriate. I always feel like when a top skater skates to a warhorse their coach and choreographer are just being lazy or cheap because they already have the music cut to the appropriate time length, etc. If I were a coach or choreographer (which is a real stretch of the imagination folks) I would want my skater to be fresh and distinctive and skate to something they could be identified with. Michelle Kwan and some of her programs for example - The Red Violin, Dante's Prayer, Eva Cassidy's Fields of Gold. I can't hear that music without thinking of her.

noskates said:

I always kind of shake my head and wonder - when asked to list your FAVORITE anything and someone lists 10+ whatevers.

I don't know if it's a warhorse or not but I always loved Legends of the Fall. It's beautiful music and should be skated to by someone who is a strong performer. I think that's maybe why I don't like most of the warhorses listed because sometimes the skaters are not up to delivering a performance that matches the music. (which I believe Enzet was saying with the Carmen comments) Seeing a Novice or Intermediate skater using Carmen or POTO is just silly IMO and not age appropriate. I always feel like when a top skater skates to a warhorse their coach and choreographer are just being lazy or cheap because they already have the music cut to the appropriate time length, etc. If I were a coach or choreographer (which is a real stretch of the imagination folks) I would want my skater to be fresh and distinctive and skate to something they could be identified with. Michelle Kwan and some of her programs for example - The Red Violin, Dante's Prayer, Eva Cassidy's Fields of Gold. I can't hear that music without thinking of her.

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Just for you
Dan Hollander 1996 US Nationals (Legends) https://youtu.be/PDpa_iwVvSE

noskates said:

I always kind of shake my head and wonder - when asked to list your FAVORITE anything and someone lists 10+ whatevers.

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Some of us are just really indecisive, be kind to us!

I actually can pick one favorite warhorse, and that's Romeo & Juliet in any form whether it's Rota, the Baz Luhrman R + J soundtrack by Craig Armstrong.. even the newest version from 2013 had beautiful music composed by Abel Korzeniowski (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDmSuX_btyI&list=PLIVs6sKfvkuR3KjREHj5V2p5giGQ30nec&index=7). Not sure if anyone's skated to the 2013 one yet.

Most warhorses I'm neutral on, but I haaaate Carmen. HATE.

Beckaboomer said:

Some of us are just really indecisive, be kind to us!

I actually can pick one favorite warhorse, and that's Romeo & Juliet in any form whether it's Rota, the Baz Luhrman R + J soundtrack by Craig Armstrong.. even the newest version from 2013 had beautiful music composed by Abel Korzeniowski (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDmSuX_btyI&list=PLIVs6sKfvkuR3KjREHj5V2p5giGQ30nec&index=7). Not sure if anyone's skated to the 2013 one yet.

Most warhorses I'm neutral on, but I haaaate Carmen. HATE.

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Ha! If I had to pick one warhorse I hate the most, it would be Romeo & Juliet in any form and especially Rota.
I love the classical versions musically and I don't mind Rota's music either, it's just that there seems to be about 10 R&J in every competition I attend and the programs are the most boring to me.

No offence intended though, we all have our preferences!
Out of all these warhorses I like Rach 2 the best and I have a surpisingly high level of tolerance for POTO, which seems to be one of the less popular warhorses on this forum.
Not encouraging anyone to skate to it though, we've had enough.

Beckaboomer said:

Most warhorses I'm neutral on, but I haaaate Carmen. HATE.

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Way overdone I agree but—I actually like Carmen for men’s singles. Kolyada’s LP last year, for example.

I really like Masquerade Waltz too, though that’s not used nearly as frequently.

Seven Sisters said:

Way overdone I agree but—I actually like Carmen for men’s singles. Kolyada’s LP last year, for example.

I really like Masquerade Waltz too, though that’s not used nearly as frequently.

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I really like Mikhail and watching him skate the free almost-clean at World's, even with a Carmen program, was pretty nice. So I agree some of the programs can be fine, I just dislike the music and the ubiquity of it in figure skating. But warhorses are warhorses for a reason - they usually have clear themes and characters and well-known musical beats that please the audience. It's easy to understand why people skate to them so often.

senchasushi said:

I'm one of those people who like warhorses- Especially as I like to see how different skaters interpret and put their own spin to the pieces! I also love it when skaters skate to less common cuts
Personally my favourites have to be Swan Lake (I never get tired of it), Romeo and Juliet and Rachmaninoff's PC 2. I have to admit, though, that I'm not fond of Bolero- I'm not a big fan of the piece itself, and though I like Carmen (and the energy you could create with it!), I think I'm a bit tired after this season and may have to take a break from hearing it ;-;

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Wow we must be twins or something Agree with every point maybe except that I am getting tired of R&J (never will stop watching Sasha's one in Torino though)
Tristan & Isolde would make a lovely alternative but for some reason Wagner's music is largely ignored by skaters - I can't figure out why - it is dramatic, theatrical, visual even (if it makes sense to you) - in short a godsend to figure skating but :confused2:

Tutto said:

Wow we must be twins or something Agree with every point maybe except that I am getting tired of R&J (never will stop watching Sasha's one in Torino though)
Tristan & Isolde would make a lovely alternative but for some reason Wagner's music is largely ignored by skaters - I can't figure out why - it is dramatic, theatrical, visual even (if it makes sense to you) - in short a godsend to figure skating but :confused2:

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Sasha's R&J is actually one of the few ones I really enjoy watching.

Oh and a million times YESSS to Wagner's music and Tristan & Isolde in particular!!!!!

I loved Carmen the first eleven times I heard it....but now it makes my teeth itch no matter WHO skates to it. That and most tangoes.

I like Rach 2, Swan Lake (including Black Swan) and am. OK with Four Seasons and Tosca. The rest, no.

Love this thread and delighted that we have so many beloved warhorses in common! Classical music is close to my heart, so...

The Swan (Saint-Saëns)
Rondo Capriccioso (Saint-Saëns)
Afternoon of a Faun (Debussy)
Warsaw Concerto
Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1
Samson and Delilah (but ONLY if it includes the "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" section)
Méditation de Thaïs
Turandot
Rach 2
Clair de Lune (after seeing Carolina Kostner's ravishing exhibition at 2017 Worlds)