Official Classical Singles Chart

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Pianist Ludovico Einaudi spent 54 weeks at number one on the Official Classical Singles Chart, longer than any other artist. Ludovico Einaudi3.jpg
Pianist Ludovico Einaudi spent 54 weeks at number one on the Official Classical Singles Chart, longer than any other artist.

The Official Classical Singles Chart was a record chart based on downloads and streaming of classical music in the United Kingdom. [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] Each week's chart was compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) and was first published on Monday afternoon on their official website. The chart ran for 140 weeks from 2012 to 2015, during which time a total of 23 singles by 22 artists reached number one. The most successful artist was the Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi, who topped the chart with three singles for a total of 54 weeks, while the most successful record label was Decca Records, which spent 89 weeks at number one with six singles. Einaudi's track "I Giorni" from his album of the same name spent 51 weeks at number one, longer than any other single. In January 2013, following the release of Einaudi's album In a Time Lapse , singles by the pianist accounted for 13 of the Top 20 on the Official Classical Singles Chart. [3] Martin Talbot, managing director of the OCC, described him as one of the chart's "biggest and most consistent stars". [4]

Contents

Singles would often top the chart as a result of exposure in popular media, including films such as Fifty Shades of Grey , The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel . [5] [6] [7] In July 2012, a rendition of Spem in alium by the Tallis Scholars topped the chart following its usage in Fifty Shades of Grey. [8] E. L. James, author of the original novel on which the film was based, said that she was delighted that her readers had been introduced to the piece of music, and that it was a "deserved number one". [5] Three weeks later, the London Symphony Orchestra reached number one after their version of "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis was used in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. [9] Three of the top five singles on that week's chart were related to the 2012 Summer Olympics. [10]

Reaction to the Official Classical Singles Chart was generally positive. Tenor Russell Watson described it as "absolutely amazing", while the New Zealand soprano Hayley Westenra said that she was "really excited" about the chart's launch. [11] Composer Paul Mealor described the chart as "absolutely fantastic". [12] Conversely, Mike Spring, sales manager at Hyperion Records, was more skeptical, as he had observed that downloads of classical music had mainly comprised whole albums or works, rather than individual singles. Similarly, Anthony Anderson, managing director of classical music record label Naxos UK, stated: "By its nature, this chart will be more relevant to other companies." [13]

Chart history

"The new Official Classical Singles Chart is designed to reflect the changing ways in which classical fans are buying their music – track by track, as well as album by album. Coming just five months after the Military Wives became the first classical choir to top the Official Singles Chart, this launch further underlines how classical music is reaching into the mainstream."

Official Charts Company managing director Martin Talbot [14]

The Official Classical Singles Chart was launched in 2012. According to Umusic, the official website for Universal Music in the UK, it reflected a shift in the British public's consumption of classical music from albums to tracks. [15] At the time of the launch, classical music was becoming more popular in the UK; the previous year, download sales of individual classical tracks had increased by 46% (from 834,000 to 1.2 million), [16] while the single "Wherever You Are" by Military Wives had been the 2011 UK Singles Chart Christmas number one. [12] During 2012's first quarter, approximately 284,000 classical music downloads were purchased in the UK, an increase of 34% compared to the same period the previous year. [17] Alongside the new singles chart, the Classic Brit Awards announced at the same time that it would launch a Top Single Award at the 2012 ceremony to commemorate the most popular classical single that year. [14]

The first chart was published on 28 May 2012, and was based solely on downloads of classical singles in the UK. At number one was a version of the UK's national anthem, "God Save the Queen", by the BBC Concert Orchestra and the British conductor Barry Wordsworth, which reached the top during the week of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. [18] From 27 June 2014, streaming counted towards the UK's music charts, including the Official Classical Singles Chart, with 100 streams equating to one download. [19] The first number one under this new methodology was "Nessun dorma" by Luciano Pavarotti. [20] After nearly three years of publication, the chart was retired in February 2015, with its final number one being "I Giorni" – lack of media interest was cited as the reason for its dissolution. Reflecting on the chart later that year, Phillip Sommerich of Rhinegold Publishing felt that its retirement spoke to the difficulty in generating excitement in the UK's classical music sector. [21]

Number ones

Key
No.nth song to top the Official Classical Singles Chart
reReturn of a single to number one
Contents
2012   2013   2014   2015
No.Artist [lower-alpha 3] Single [lower-alpha 3] Record label [lower-alpha 3] Reached number one
(for the week ending) [lower-alpha 3]
Weeks at
number one [lower-alpha 3]
1 BBC Concert Orchestra/Barry Wordsworth "God Save the Queen" Philips 2 June 20123
2 Miloš Karadaglić "Libertango" Deutsche Grammophon 23 June 20121
3 Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 30 June 20123
4 The Tallis Scholars /Peter Phillips "Spem in alium" Gimell 21 July 20122
5 Hans Zimmer "Rise" Sony Classical 4 August 20121
6 London Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle "Chariots of Fire" UMC 11 August 20125
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 15 September 20122
7 Academy of St Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner "Canon in D Major" EMI 29 September 20121
8 Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 6 October 20123
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 27 October 20127
9 Only Boys Aloud "Calon Lân" Relentless 15 December 20121
10 John Williams "O Holy Night" Sony 22 December 20122
11 Military Wives/Gareth Malone "Wherever You Are" Decca 5 January 20132
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 19 January 20132
12 Ludovico Einaudi "Time Lapse" Decca 2 February 20131
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 9 February 20138
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 6 April 20131
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 13 April 20139
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 15 June 20131
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 22 June 20131
13 Hans Zimmer "What Are You Going to Do When
You Are Not Saving the World?
"
Sony Classical 29 June 20133
14 Hans Zimmer "Time" Reprise 20 July 20132
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 3 August 20131
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 10 August 20132
15 Hans Zimmer "Finale" Walt Disney 24 August 20131
re Hans Zimmer "Time" Reprise 31 August 20131
16 Craig Armstrong "Glasgow Love Theme" Sanctuary 7 September 20132
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 21 September 20131
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 28 September 20133
17 Ludovico Einaudi "Experience" Decca 19 October 20131
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 26 October 20135
re Hans Zimmer "Time" Reprise 30 November 20131
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 7 December 20132
18 Jonathan Goldstein /Victoria Beaumont "Magical Moments (Waiting for You)" Eagle-i 21 December 20133
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 11 January 20141
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 18 January 20141
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 25 January 20141
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 1 February 20143
19 Paul Englishby "Carnage" Silva Screen 22 February 20141
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 29 February 20141
re Ludovico Einaudi "Experience" Decca 8 March 20141
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 15 March 20141
20 The Piano Guys "Beethoven's 5 Secrets" Sony Classical 22 March 20142
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 5 April 20141
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 12 April 20142
re The Piano Guys "Beethoven's 5 Secrets" Sony Classical 26 April 20141
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 3 May 20145
re Hans Zimmer "Time" Reprise 7 June 20141
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 14 June 20144
re Hans Zimmer "Time" Reprise 12 July 20144
re Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun dorma" Decca 9 August 20142
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 23 August 20147
21Various artists"Steadfast" Decca 18 October 20142
22 Richard Rock "Harmonium" Motif 1 November 20141
re Hans Zimmer "Time" Reprise 8 November 20143
23 Hans Zimmer "Stay" Sony Classical 29 November 20142
re John Williams "O Holy Night" Sony 20 December 20143
re Hans Zimmer "Time" Reprise 10 January 20154
re Ludovico Einaudi "I Giorni" Decca 7 February 20152

By artist

Opera singer Luciano Pavarotti spent 31 weeks at the top of the chart with his version of "Nessun dorma". Luciano Pavarotti in Saint Petersburg.jpg
Opera singer Luciano Pavarotti spent 31 weeks at the top of the chart with his version of "Nessun dorma".
Composer Hans Zimmer achieved the most number-one classical singles, with five. Hans Zimmer crop.jpg
Composer Hans Zimmer achieved the most number-one classical singles, with five.

Six artists spent five or more weeks at the top of the Official Classical Singles Chart.

ArtistNumber onesWeeks at number one
Ludovico Einaudi 354
Luciano Pavarotti 131
Hans Zimmer 523
London Symphony Orchestra 15
Simon Rattle 15
John Williams 15

By record label

Five record labels spent five or more weeks at the top of the Official Classical Singles Chart.

Record labelNumber onesWeeks at number one
Decca Records 689
Reprise Records 116
Sony Classical Records 49
Sony Music 15
UMC 15

Data sources

The Official Classical Singles Chart was compiled by the OCC using download and (from June 2014) streaming data from the following music sources: [14] [19]

Websites

Streaming services

Notes

  1. At the time of the chart's launch, a digital audio track was eligible to count as a single only if it was sold for at least £0.40 and was no longer than 15 minutes. [1]
  2. The OCC used the term classical in a broad sense to represent a wide genre of music. Singles generally qualified for the chart if they were "composed by recognised classical composers and/or in a publicly recognised classical idiom or form", and were "capable of live performance in a concert setting". For singles of ambiguous genre, the OCC referred to the Classical Advisory Panel. [2]
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 The artist, album, record label, date of reaching number one and number of weeks at number one are those given by the OCC. [22]

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