Mozart loved the game of billiards, and he famously even composed a clarinet trio while simultaneously playing a bowling game (called skittles). Beethoven and Chopin are rumored to have been avid chess players. Haydn of course continues to play tricks on us to this day with his ‘Joke’ Quartet and ‘Surprise’ Symphony, among many witticisms and games in his music that don’t have their own nicknames. This week, we can all participate in another tradition of musical games by playing Classical Countdown Bingo.
As an on-air host, I have worked one of the Thanksgiving Day shifts for several years now, and although I miss being with my family on this festive day, they have found a way to include me in the festivities nevertheless: they invented Classical Countdown Bingo. At the start of Thanksgiving Day, the final day of the Classical Countdown (with the nonstop countdown of listeners’ favorite pieces playing all day long until the #1 piece airs at 8:00pm on WETA Classical), my family members fill out their bingo cards with the names of pieces that they think will be featured among the Countdown pieces played on WETA Classical throughout the day. As they listen in (on the radio or online) while enjoying all the traditional Thanksgiving activities and meal preparations, everyone eagerly awaits the announcement of the next piece on the countdown so they can hopefully cross it off on their cards, and (per the standard rules of Bingo) the first person’s card to get 5 boxes in a line on the bingo grid (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) shall win eternal fame and glory!
My family and I would like to invite you and yours to participate in this fun tradition. Here is a bingo card that you can fill out with your best guesses at the musical selections. We are also including a list of pieces that my family uses as suggestions for filling out your card; they’re pieces that often end up around the top half of the Classical Countdown, but your guesses are as good as ours, so use your own judgement. Who will be the Maestro of your Thanksgiving festivities this year?!
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