- J .S. Bach, Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor : Bach wrote much of the greatest religious music ever composed as well as organ music without equal. This is his longest and most complex work for the "king of instruments."
- Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 and No. 9 : All nine Beethoven symphonies are masterworks. The fifth made rhythm and motive (not melody) legitimate themes for a symphony. The ninth, with its Ode to Joy choral finale, is a powerful expression of enlightenment and the innate goodness of humanity. Leonard Bernstein conducted the work at the fall of the Berlin Wall.
- Bizet, Carmen : You've heard them even if you can't name the Torreador Song and the Habanera. The score of the world's most popular opera contains one hit tune after another.
- Brahms, Symphony No. 1 : Brahms' first symphony picks up where Beethoven left off. The steady beating of the timpani and the uneasy harmonies of the introduction announce a new master of the genre as compelling and individual as his idol, Beethoven.
- Chopin, Preludes: Chopin liberated the piano from its often-subsidiary role and created a repertoire of music that championed and could be performed only on the piano. The 24 preludes explore every major and minor key in brief, unforgettable sketches.
- Copland, Appalachian Spring : Copland's music from the late 1930s and '40s still defines America in sound. The finale of this ballet score contains the tune Simple Gifts.
- Debussy, Prelude a L'Apres Midi d'une Faune : This ballet music about erotic fantasies and an encounter between mythological nymphs and a faun is quietly, subtly revolutionary.
- Dvorak, New World Symphony : When Dvorak came to America in the 1890s, he jump-started American classical music. The symphony uses American folk tunes and themes in a style that proved a model for Aaron Copland, Roy Harris and Virgil Thomson.
- Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue :Gershwin was an early "crossover" composer, mingling jazz and Broadway styles with classical forms and genres. This is his finest example of this sort of work.
- Handel, Messiah : The first great religious work in the English language contains the iconic Hallelujah Chorus.
- Mahler, Symphony No. 4 : Complex but accessible, the symphony for a large orchestra is also intimate, brimming with evocations of nature -- sophisticated, earthy yet ethereal.
- Mozart, Clarinet Concerto : Mozart's last concerto remains one of the supreme contributions to the genre and the finest work ever composed for clarinet.
- Mozart, The Magic Flute : The opera broke from the dominant Italian style and helped create true German opera. Sarastro's arias are, as George Bernard Shaw said, "the only music that would sound right in God's voice."
- Puccini, Tosca : Don't neglect La Boheme, Turandot or Madama Butterfly, but Tosca is the most scintillating theater in all opera. It's a taut, white-knuckle ride with a shocking tragedy and great arias and duets.
- Ravel, Bolero : Ravel regarded the work, originally a ballet based on Spanish dances, as trivial, but the world thought otherwise. The exotic and unforgettable theme became the skeleton on which the composer created a masterpiece of orchestration.
- Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring : The premiere of this ballet score by the Ballets Russes at the Paris Opera in 1913 caused riots for its violent story, churning tribal rhythms and shocking harmonies. It remains one of the most strikingly original works of all time.
- Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake :The greatest composer for the ballet created The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, which evokes the deep, tragic soul of Russia.
- Verdi, Aida : The ultimate grand opera is chock-full of big arias for big voices, big choruses, a triumphal march with spectacle and pageantry, and a gorgeous duet for the lovers being sealed alive in an Egyptian tomb.
- Vivaldi, The Four Seasons :The brilliant, tuneful and memorable works for violin soloist and string orchestra are colorful musical illustrations of poems also written by the composer.
- Wagner, Tristan und Isolde : The opera's first chord changed music history, throwing open the doors to new harmonic possibilities and uncertainties. The rest of the opera was groundbreaking as well. Wagner depicted the physical act of love so convincingly that European audiences of the 1860s were scandalized.
apr 22 2015 ∞
mar 23 2016 +
mar 23 2016 +