Advance information: It's time to start thinking about this year's MCML end-of-year vote (with Dave's indulgence, of course!) As previously announced, I propose that this time we vote for the most definitively twentieth-century pieces of classical music. Not necessarily the best pieces written during the century, but the one or ones that future generations may look back on as best summing up the particular musical nature of this departing century. Rules: 1. You may nominate up to five pieces. Each piece nominated will score one point - you do not have to rank them. I would find it very hard, so I don't see why I should ask others to do it. 2. You may nominate more than one piece by the same composer. 3. Qualification - the first public performance must have taken place between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 1999 inclusive. For anyone who feels like pointing out that 1900 was actually the dying gasp of the 19th century not the start of the 20th, and that the 21st century and the next millenium don't strictly begin until 1 January 2001: You're absolutely right, but for practical purposes 99.9% of the human race will think of the new century / millenium beginning on 1 Jan 2000, and I'm not going to try to stand against a flow that size! For the purposes of this poll (and most other practical ones), "twentieth century" = any year that starts with a 19. Anyone who still wants to argue that point should pay close attention to rule 5! 4. Definition of "classical music" - I'm not going to be too prescriptive about this. If it's reasonably likely to have been programmed in a CM context rather than a rock or pop or jazz one, that's good enough. By that definition, things like "Standing Stone" would just creep in, but the Beatles' music in its original form wouldn't. For the purposes of this poll, I will regard Cage's 4'33" as qualifying. 5. As usual, my decision is final and will not necessarily be defended. That's my price for doing the work of collecting and processing the contributions. 6. Contributions (with Dave's agreement) either direct to me at icrisp.ndirect.co.uk with the subject line "Twentieth Century Poll", or to the list if you feel like defending your choices with arguments that may be interesting or stimulating for list discussion. 7. Deadline - the very last second of 1999. I will be off-line in an ancient thatched farmhouse in Suffolk with some old friends, drinking some remarkable bottles that we've been collecting for the last twenty-five years with an eye to that night. So I don't expect I'll be processing the results for a day or three after that, and slightly late contributions will doubtless be accepted. My first thoughts on my own nominations: Stravinsky - Rite of Spring Messiaen - Quartet for the End of Time Stockhausen - probably Kontakte, possibly Gruppen Schoenberg - something, but I'm not sure what yet. Mahler - Symphony 9, but I might decide to go for the Cooke II version of 10. and I'm not happy that these are all from the first half of the century. Ian Crisp [log in to unmask]