Like audience members insisting on standing for the ‘Hallelujah’ Chorus, the ABC Classic 100 is a harmless annual tradition. Everyone knows what’s going to come in at the top and ABC gets heaps of public engagement, while, online at least, a little community springs up to argue it out. Usually, this is a community divided over just how much they don’t want the Lark to ascend and whether Boléro should be higher or shot into the sun. In a year of anxiety, however, it was delightful that the ABC managed to unite an ornery group of people into celebrating high art.

ABC Classic

AdobeStock: Manyhappyseniorcouplesinlovedancingonwoodendancefloor. Photo © Pavel Losevsky.

I am, of course, referring to the stock image selection on the ABC Classic website to accompany each piece of music for this year’s Classic 100, which celebrated The Music You Can’t Live Without.

If you are not terminally online, you may have missed the incredulous guffaws that greeted each image as it was loaded onto the ABC website. Dr Tim Senior (@timsenior) meticulously tweeted all 100 images, while many of us found them hugely enlivening for a predictable list of tracks. While...