CLASSICAL COMPOSERS AND THEIR GREATEST WORKS

When I was younger I didn't listen to classical music much. But I rediscovered it recently, partly because a lot of it is still new to me, unlike most rock, and also because there's not much going on musically in new rock or pop music these days – most of it seems tired and derivative. Classical music is not popular, but popular music these days means Kenny Chesney or Jay-Z -– and classical music has a lot more to offer. Like anything, you have to educate yourself to appreciate it, but on the other hand, music is a universal form of human expression, so it isn't something that people should find hard to get. Some classical music is overrated, but so is a lot of jazz, and even rock these days (Radiohead…) The best music in every genre is always worth listening to, but classical music is also important historically – it's the source of many musical ideas used today, and for more than 200 years it was an arena in which the world’s most gifted people applied their aspiration and talent.

The following is a list of the greatest classical composers and some of their important works:

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (Bonn/Electorate of Cologne, 1770-1827)

Beethoven founded musical Romanticism but avoided its excesses. The dramatic turbulence of Beethoven’s symphonies inspired many later composers, but was never equaled; the melodic expressiveness of his piano sonatas inspired Schubert, Chopin and others. Along with other Romantics (Wordsworth, Goethe, Byron etc.) Beethoven helped to inspire the cult of the artist, which is now out of hand (college rock bands are treated like poets and intellectuals). But Beethoven earned his genius reputation, writing some of the most famous music in history while defying deafness. His 5th symphony is one of the greatest musical portrayals of emotion ever written and one of the most recognized musical themes in the world. The 9th symphony is as amazing or even more so, considering that Beethoven had been deaf for about a decade and was writing from memory. Beethoven's most expressive works are also his best, and go beyond the realm of mere entertainment and into the world of ideas -- they are among the foremost creative works of all times and places.

Most Famous Works:

Symphony No. 5, Op. 67 (1808)†

Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 (Choral) (1822-24)†

Piano Sonata No. 8, Op. 13 (Pathétique) (c. 1799)†

Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27/2 (Moonlight) (1801)†

Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61 (1806)†

Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) (1809)†

Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) (1803)†

Mass in D (Missa solemnis), Op. 123 (1819-23)

String Quartet Nos. 13-14, Op. 130/131 (1825-26)

Violin and Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 24 (Spring) (1800-01)

Piano Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 (Hammerklavier) (1818)

Piano Concerto No. 1 (1798)

Piano Sonata No. 21, Op. 53 (Waldstein) (1804)

Piano Sonatas 30-32, Ops. 109-111 (1820-22)

Piano Concerto Nos. 2-4 (various dates)

Symphony Nos. 2, 6, 7 (various dates)

Piano Sonata No. 23, Op. 57 (Appassionata) (1805)

Andante in F Major (1803)

Violin and Piano Sonatas Nos. 6-8, Op. 30 (1801-02)

Trio No. 6 (Archduke)

Symphony Nos. 4, 8

Three Quartets (Razumovsky), Op. 59

Egmont Overture

String Quartets, Op. 18

Piano Sonata No. 28, Op. 101

Violin and Piano Sonata No. 9, Op. 47 (Kreutzer)

Piano Sonata Nos. 1, 7, others

Coriolan Overture, Leonore Overtures

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, 1685-1750)

Profound and prolific (so much so that sci-fi writer Douglas Adams wrote a book using time travel to explain how Bach's output could have been produced in one lifetime), J.S. Bach helped to develop the vocabulary of keyboard playing and pioneered modern melody. Like Beethoven and Mozart, it is hard to name the one work by Bach which is most essential. While much of Bach’s music is typical of the Baroque, many of his works look forward to the future Classical style he helped to invent. Bach’s religious works have matchless beauty and gravitas, and are among the best arguments for Christianity ever written.

Most Famous Works:

Brandenburg Concertos (1721)†

The Well-Tempered Clavier (1722, 1738-42)†

Mass in B Minor (c. 1747-49)†

Violin Concertos (1717-23)†

Cantatas (various dates) - especially 4 (Easter Cantata), 21, 34, 50, 51, 56, 60, 78,

80 (“A Mighty Fortress is Our God”), 82, 104, 105, 140 ("Sleepers Wake"), 147

(incl. "Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring"), 161, 208 (incl. "Sheep May Safely Graze"),

211, 212, 248†

Orchestral Suites (various dates)†

St. Matthew Passion (1727)†

Violin Sonatas and Partitas (c. 1720)

Six Suites for Solo Violincello (c. 1720)

The Little Organ Book (Das Orgelbuchlein); Organ music (various dates)

Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins (1717-23)

Goldberg Variations (1741)

Christmas Oratorio (1734-35)

Keyboard Concertos

Concertos (e.g. Harpsichord Concerto No. 1, Concerto for Violin, Oboe and Strings, Concerto in A for Oboe d’amore, Concerto in F for Oboe)

Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach (e.g. Musette #22 in D, Minuet in G Minor)

French Suites

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (Salzburg, 1756-1791)

Beethoven, Bach and Mozart rank far above all other classical composers in influence, originality and artistic achievement. Of the Big Three, Mozart was the most important in defining what we think of as classical music – he developed the potential of several musical forms (piano sonata, piano concerto, symphony, opera) and inspired Beethoven, who in turn influenced subsequent composers. Mozart was a master of melody, and expressed his individuality in his works to an unprecedented degree; they combine playful and serious emotions seamlessly. He was still getting better when he died at age 35; his last symphonies are his best, and the greatest written up to that time.

Most Famous Works:

Symphony No. 40 (1788)†

Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter) (1788)†

Piano Concerto No. 20 (1785)†

Clarinet Concerto in A (1791)†

Piano Sonata in A Minor (No. 8) (1778)†

Piano Concerto No. 25 (1786)†

String Quintet in G Minor (1787)†

Eine kleine Nachtmusik (1787)

Piano Concerto No. 9 (1777)

Piano Concerto Nos. 22-24 (1786)

Clarinet Quintet in A (1789)

Symphony Nos. 38-39 (1786, 1788)

The Marriage of Figaro (1786)

Sinfonia Concertante in E-Flat (1779)

Piano Sonata No. 16 (1788)

Piano Concerto Nos. 17, 19, 21, 26-27 (various dates)

Requiem (1791)

Violin Concerto Nos. 4-5

Symphony Nos. 25, 35-37

Fantasia in C Minor

String Quartets e.g. Nos. 18-19, 21, 23

Piano Sonata Nos. 4, 11, 12, 14, 16

Mass in C Minor

The Magic Flute

Horn Concerto Nos. 3-4

Don Giovanni

Symphonies e.g. Nos. 29, 34

Flute Concerto No. 1

Violin Sonatas

Horn Quintet

GEORG FRIEDRICH HANDEL (Saxony, 1685-1759)

Handel is chronologically one of the earlier composers on this list, and therefore influenced many others. A lot of his music is very good, and the “Hallelujah” from “Messiah” is the musical equivalent of a household word; everyone’s heard it, and it still has power.

Most Famous Works:

Messiah (1742)†

Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 (1739)

The Water Music (1717)

Flute Sonatas Op. 1

The Harmonious Blacksmith

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN (Austria/Holy Roman Empire, 1732-1809)

The quantity of Haydn’s output (104 symphonies, etc.) means the quality is sometimes underrated. Most of Haydn’s works are not as expressive or innovative as the best by his friend Mozart, but Haydn developed some of the forms that Mozart improved on, and he is a founder of the Classical style and its first star (which was why Mozart and others called him “papa”). And Haydn’s trumpet concerto and string quartets are among the best.

Most Famous Works:

Trumpet Concerto in E Flat (1796)†

String Quartets, Op. 64 (Tost) and 76 (Erdody) (1790, 1797)

Symphony Nos. 49, 96, 103-104 (London)

String Quartets, Op. 3 (authorship uncertain)

The Creation (1798)

String Quartets, Op. 53

Symphony Nos. 6, 20, 27, 39, 46, 47, 63 (La Roxelane), 88, 92 (Oxford), 99-100, other symphonies

Piano Sonatas

FRANZ SCHUBERT (Holy Roman Empire, 1797-1828)

Schubert died youngest of the famous composers, at age 31. He wrote music very prolifically but wasn’t widely influential in his lifetime. Some works were discovered only after his death and popularized by Schumann, Mendelssohn and Liszt. Schubert lived a very unfinished life (like his most famous symphony, which is only half a symphony) and his influence is hard to evaluate, especially since he worked at a time of transition between the Classical and Romantic periods. But he anticipated musical Romanticism and had he lived longer, Schubert would probably have been the dominant composer of the 19th century and might rank with the “Big Three”.

Most Famous Works:

Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished) (1822)†

"Ave Maria" (adapted from Ellens dritter Gesang) (1825)

Symphony No. 9 (1826)

Piano Sonatas (various dates)

String Quintet in C (1828)

Piano Quintet in A (Trout) (1819)

Death and the Maiden

Impromptus

Symphony Nos. 4-5

String Quartets No. 13-15

Fantasy in F Minor

Die Winterreise

Lieder (e.g. "Gretchen am Spinnrade")

Piano Trios

Military March

Octet in F

FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (Duchy of Warsaw, 1810-1849)

Beethoven and Schubert anticipated Chopin’s depressive, contemplative moods and piano technics, but Chopin perfected both. The influence of musical Romanticism outlasted Chopin by decades but he took it as far as anyone, and further than Schumann or any of his contemporaries. Chopin’s best pieces are among the best piano works, period; they are diverse and difficult enough to stretch any player’s abilities.

Most Famous Works:

Etudes, Opp. 10, 25 (1829-36)†

Nocturnes (various dates)

Preludes (1836-39)

Ballades (1831-42)

Fantaisie in F Minor (1841)

Piano Concerto No. 2

Grande Polonaise Brillante

Mazurkas

Waltzes

Piano Sonata No. 3

Polonaises

PETR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (Russian Empire, 1840-1893)

Tchaikovsky’s works are occasionally facile but also often beautiful, and he had a huge gift for melody. Perhaps no other composer (even the Big 3) wrote more recognizable tunes than Tchaikovsky -- “The Nutcracker,” “Swan Lake,” “1812 Overture,” the First Piano Concerto, etc. He helped to define Russian music and his followers helped to prolong classical music into the 20th century (Russian composers, just like Russian writers, came late to the world stage but dominated it during the late 19th century.)

Most Famous Works:

The Nutcracker (1892)†

Romeo and Juliet Overture (1869/1880)

Swan Lake (1876)

Violin Concerto in D (1878)

Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) (1893)

String Quartet No. 1 in D (1871)

The Sleeping Beauty (1889)

Serenade in C for Strings (1880)

Piano Concerto No. 1

Symphony No. 4

12 Romances

Nocturne

Piano Trio in A Minor

Hamlet Overture

CLAUDE DEBUSSY (France, 1862-1918)

Though he didn’t change much in his later career, Debussy is still one of the most original composers. Debussy belongs to 19th-century late Romanticism but can also be considered a modernist because he wrote in unusual modes (especially Eastern scales) and introduced new instrumental effects. His originality and vision sets Debussy above his contemporaries.

Most Famous Works:

Suite bergamesque (1890)†

Pelléas et Mélisande (1902)

Prelude al'apres-midi d'un faune (1894)

Preludes

Reverie

Petite suite

Nocturnes

Sonatas

Fêtes

ANTONIO VIVALDI (Venice, 1678-1741)

Underrated by critics and classical music snobs but ironically popular with today’s public, Vivaldi was a Baroque composer but many of his works sound surprisingly modern. His best work, “The Four Seasons,” was very original for its time and one of the greatest (and first) attempts to write programmatic or thematic music that embodies ideas and feelings. Some of his pieces are (and were) just background music, but Vivaldi’s best concertos are as good as any Baroque music except Bach -- serious but entertaining, complex and creative but not fussy.

Most Famous Works:

The Four Seasons, Op. 8 Nos. 1-4 (c. 1725)†

Concerto in C (F XII Nos. 14 and 37); Concerto in D (RV 93); Violin Concerto in B Flat (RV 362); Concerto for 2 Mandolins in G, Op. 8 (RV 532); Concerto in G (F V No. 2); Concerto in C for 2 recorders, oboe etc. (RV 555); Cello Concerto in G (RV 414); Concerto in A for 2 Oboes; Violin Concerto in D Op. 7, No. 11; Concerto in A Minor (F VII, No. 8); other concertos (various dates)

String Symphonies

JOHANNES BRAHMS (Hamburg, 1833-1897)

Brahms’ best works have a mellow melodicism and beauty which make them personal favorites for me; I like to listen to them and keep going back to them. Brahms was somewhat out of his time – he spent his career trying to defy Wagnerian hype and remain a traditionalist while (like Wagner) exploring the melodic side of Beethoven's legacy, making him a latter-day Schubert or Schumann. But Brahms' best works are more enjoyable and less flashy or pretentious than the music of Wagner and his sycophants.

Most Famous Works:

Symphony No. 4 (1885)

Piano Concerto No. 1 (1858)

Symphony No. 3 (1883)

Piano Sonata No. 1 (1853)

Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77 (1878)

Piano Concerto No. 2 (1881)

Ballades, Op. 10

String Quintet in F Minor

Symphony Nos. 1-2

Pieces for Piano, Ops. 76, 118-119

Clarinet Quintet in B Minor

Violin Sonata Nos. 1-3

Piano Sonata Nos. 2-3

Piano Quartet No. 2

Horn Trio in E Flat Major

Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53

Variations on a Theme by Haydn

Four Serious Songs

Choral Pieces

RICHARD WAGNER (Saxony, 1813-1883)

A formidable composer but a despicable human being, Wagner wrote music that is even better than it sounds (paraphrasing Mark Twain) – but also steeped in an ideological tradition of German Romanticism including elements of anti-Semitism and militarism (which Wagner’s prominence helped to popularize). Wagner achieved tonal effects and defined musical concepts more innovatively than anyone since Beethoven, and all modern film music is greatly influenced by him. Sitting through hours of opera to hear Wagner’s instrumental themes may seem like too high a price, however. Wagner’s revolutionary approach freed music from slavish tonality, but I’m not sure how much great classical music resulted.

Most Famous Works:

Tristan und Isolde (1857-59)

Lohengrin (1848)

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868)

The Ring Cycle

Parsifal

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (Hamburg/Confederation of the Rhine, 1809-1847)

Like Mozart, Mendelssohn started composing very early and died very young. He was not a great innovator but his music is pleasant and thoughtful, and transitional between the Classical and Romantic styles.

Most Famous Works:

Hebrides Overture (1832)

Octet in E-Flat (1825)

Violin Concerto in E Minor (1844)

Songs without Words (var. dates)

Piano Concerto No. 1 (1831)

String Sinfonias

Symphony Nos. 3-4

Cello Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major

Piano Quartets

String Quartet No. 6

GEORGE GERSHWIN (USA, 1898-1937)

Like some others on this list, Gershwin was a virtuoso pianist and suffered a tragic untimely death, but in other ways he is very different and original – a prolific writer of clever popular songs and innovator who incorporated the musical vocabularies of jazz and ragtime into a few quasi-classical pieces, especially “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Rhapsody in Blue (1924)

Songs

Preludes for Piano

GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA (Papal States, c. 1525-1594)

One of the most prolific composers of the Renaissance, with great and lasting influence on religious music. One of the first composers whose works are still often performed.

Missa Papae Marcelli (1567)

Masses

Motets

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (Duchy of Milan, 1567-1643)

An early innovator of opera and religious music, and one of the creators of the Baroque style.

L’Orfeo (1607)

Vespers of the Blessed Virgin

L’Arianna

L’Incoronazione di Poppea

ROBERT SCHUMANN (Saxony, 1810-1856)

Underappreciated during his life, but occasionally overrated since, Schumann’s music is a major component of the Romantic period, but not quite as formative as earlier works by Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin.

Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 (1841-45)

Piano Quintet in E Flat, Op. 44 (1842)

Fantasy in C, Op. 17 (1836-38)

Carnaval, Op. 9

Symphony No. 3

Romances

Symphony Nos. 1, 2, 4

Kinderszenen, Op. 15

Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Sharp Minor, Op. 11

Kreisleriana, Op. 16

Scherzos

Songs, Dichterliebe

Manfred

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (Russian Empire, 1873-1943)

Über-Romantic to the nth degree, Rachmaninoff was sort of a late, long-winded Chopin whose music has a Russian chill – but his greatest works, especially the second Piano Concerto, are impressively emotive, complete works.

Piano Concerto No. 2 (1901)

Prelude No. 2

Piano Concerto No. 3

17 Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 33 and 39

Elegiac Trio No. 2

Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini

Symphony Nos. 1-2

FRANZ LISZT (LISZT FERENC) (Hungary/Holy Roman Empire, 1811-1886)

The most gifted piano stylist of all time; one of the most important aspects of his work is simply what Liszt could do on the keyboard. In fact, some of his greatest achievements are his transcriptions (reinventions, really) of other composers’ works for piano. His own work is varied and impressive but sometimes too flashy.

Piano Sonata in B Minor (1852-53)

Consolations (1849-50)

Transcendental Etudes (1851)

Orpheus (1853)
Preludes (1848)

Nocturnes

Hungarian Rhapsodies

Night Harmonies

Faust Symphony

SCOTT JOPLIN (USA, 1867-1917)

Not a classical composer, but a revolutionary who helped elevate a form of vernacular music, ragtime composition, into an art form. Following his example, writers of jazz, blues, tango, and other forms would compete with, and eventually displace, classical music as the most important and popular medium of artistic expression.

Rags (e.g. The Maple Leaf Rag, Elite Syncopations, The Entertainer, Gladiolus Rag) (various dates)†

ANTONIN DVOŘÁK (Austrian Empire, 1841-1904)

Best known for his “New World” symphony, which sounds crude to me (maybe because I’m American); however, many of Dvorak’s other works have greater subtlety and an evocative character.

Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 (1895)

Slavonic Dances (1878)

Symphony No. 7

Carnival Overture

Symphony No. 6

String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96 (American)

Stabat Mater

Symphonic Variations

GIACOMO PUCCINI (Tuscany, 1858-1924)

Madame Butterfly (1904)

Turandot (1926)

Tosca

Manon Lescaut

GIUSEPPE VERDI (First French Empire, 1813-1901)

A great and prolific composer of operas. Opera is an art form which you either like or you don’t, and I don’t, which explains why Verdi isn’t higher up this list. Still, he was a serious artist as well as a great and influential entertainer.

Aϊda

Requiem

La Traviata

Otello

Falstaff

EDVARD GRIEG (Norway/Sweden and Norway, 1843-1907)

A minor but good regional composer, Grieg is best known for “Peer Gynt” which has clever and effective moments.

Peer Gynt, Op. 23 (1874-75)

Lyric Pieces

Three Pieces

Piano Concerto in A Minor

GABRIEL FAURÉ (France, 1845-1924)

Fauré’s “Requiem” might be the greatest religious work not written by Bach, Beethoven or Handel, and more modern and melodic than any of the above; it’s haunting music.

Requiem, Op. 48 (1877)

Nocturnes

Etudes

Peleas et Melisande

SERGEI PROKOFIEV (Ukraine/Russian Empire, 1891-1953)

Among the most recent great classical composers, Prokofiev influenced 20^th-century film music (and also wrote it). He was a versatile and popular composer whose career was stifled by the Soviet government.

Piano Concerto No. 3 (1921)

Symphony Nos. 5-7

Violin Concerto Nos. 1-2

Romeo and Juliet, Op. 46

Alexander Nevsky

Peter and the Wolf

Dreams

MAURICE RAVEL (France, 1875-1937)

Similar to Debussy’s music, Ravel’s works were the other half of the French movement of musical Impressionism. “Bolero” is underrated because it’s popular; some of Ravel’s other works also influenced subsequent music.

Daphnis et Chloe (1909-12)

Piano Concerto in G Major (1931)

Bolero (1928)

Miroirs

HECTOR BERLIOZ (France, 1803-1869)

A fatuous individual who provided Wagner, etc. with a model for their fatuosity, but also a very significant innovator in composition.

Symphonie fantastique (1830)

JEAN SIBELIUS (Grand Duchy of Finland/Russian Empire, 1865-1957)

Symphony Nos. 2, 4, 6

The Swan of Tuonela, Op. 22 No. 3 (1900)

Symphony Nos. 1, 7

Tapiola, Opus 112

Violin Concerto in D Minor

Finlandia

A Saga

The Oceanides

NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (Russian Empire, 1844-1908)

With Glinka, the originating figure of Russian music.

Sheherazade, Op. 35 (1888)

Piano Concerto

GEORGES BIZET (France, 1838-1875)

Carmen (1875)

Symphony in C Major

CARL MARIA VON WEBER (Duchy of Holstein, 1786-1826)

An influential minor composer who anticipated Romanticism.

Clarinet Concerto Nos. 1-2, Op. 73-74 (1811)

Der Freischutz (1817-21)

Invitation to the Dance (Aufforderung zum Tanz) (1819)

Piano Concerto Nos. 1-2

Konzertstuck in F Minor

RICHARD STRAUSS (Bavaria, 1864-1949)

A brilliant and eclectic composer who perhaps never lived up to his first promise, Strauss was a major influence on 20th-century music.

Symphony in F

Also Sprach Zarathustra

Lieder

Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24

Don Juan

Der Rosenkavalier

Domestic Symphony

Festive Prelude, Op. 61

MODEST MUSSORGSKY (Russian Empire, 1839-1881)
Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)

Boris Godunov

Salammbô

ARAM KHACHATURIAN (Georgia/Russian Empire, 1903-1978)

Gayane (1942)

Piano Concerto in D-flat Major (1936)

Spartacus

DOMENICO SCARLATTI (Sicily, 1685-1757)
Sonatas, Exercises

JOHN PHILIP SOUSA (USA, 1854-1932)

Marches

CHRISTOPH GLUCK (Bavaria, 1714-1787)

Orfeo ed Euridice (1762)

Operas

CAMILLE ST.-SAËNS (France, 1835-1921)

A composer of minor works which are very listenable and entertaining.

Symphony No. 3 (Organ)

Danse macabre

Carnival of the Animals

Cello Concerto Nos. 1, 2

Samson and Delilah

TOMASO ALBINONI (Venice, 1671-1750)

Concertos (various dates)

JOSEF ANTON BRUCKNER (Austrian Empire, 1824-1896)

A superstitious, anti-Semitic Austrian peasant, Bruckner nevertheless achieved subtlety and beauty with his later symphonies.
Symphony Nos. 3, 4, 8, 9

JOHANN STRAUSS II (Austrian Empire, 1825-1899)

Waltzes -- Blue Danube, Tales of the Vienna Woods, Artists Life (various dates)

Die Fledermaus

GULLAUME DUFAY (Cambrai, 1397?-1474)

Masses

Motets

Chansons

GIOACCHINO ROSSINI (Papal States, 1792-1868)
William Tell
The Barber of Seville
Stabat Mater

ARCANGELO CORELLI (Papal States, 1653-1713)

Concerti Grossi (incl. Christmas Concerto)

GEORG TELEMANN (Brandenburg, 1681-1767)
Oratorios

Concerti

GUSTAV HOLST (UK, 1874-1934)

The astrological subtext of “The Planets” is silly, but the music was an influence on subsequent works such as today’s movie music.

The Planets

ALEKSANDR BORODIN (Russian Empire, 1833-1887)

Symphony No. 2

Polovtsian Dances

String Quartet No. 2

FRANÇOIS COUPERIN (France, 1668-1733)
Ordres

SEBASTIÁN DE IRADIER Y SALAVIERRI (SEBASTIÁN YRADIER) (Spain, 1809-1865)

Habaneras

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (UK, 1872-1958)

Fantasia on a Theme By Thomas Tallis

Symphony No. 6

Lark Ascending

JEAN-BAPTISTE LULLY (Florence, 1632-1687)

Divertissement

FRANCIS POULENC (France, 1899-1963)

The best French composer of the modern period (post-Debussy), Poulenc made satisfying music by echoing elements of early classical music.
Quatre Motets Pour Le Temps De Noel

Songs

Piano Concerto

Suite Francaise

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (Russian Empire, 1906-1975)

Symphony Nos. 6, 5, 8, 10

Piano Concerto No. 1

LUIGI BOCCHERINI (Lucca, 1743-1805)

String Quintets

Cello Concerto

Concerti

String Quartets

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG (Austria-Hungary, 1874-1951)

Schoenberg's early music established him as an important post-Wagnerian Romantic composer, and his atonal and twelve-tone experiments expanded musical composition. Unfortunately, Schoenberg's exaggerated sense of his importance and nihilistic hostility toward the tastes of his audiences negatively influenced the development of classical music.

Transfigured Night

Gurre-Lieder

String Quartet No. 2

BEDŘICH SMETANA (Bohemia/Austrian Empire, 1824-1884)

Ma Vlast: Vltava (The Moldau) (1874)

Polkas de Salon

Festive Overture

ALEXANDER SCRIABIN (Russian Empire, 1871-1915)

Scriabin was one of the significant modernists and one of the great piano composers. He may have been insane, too, adding interest to his music.

Preludes

Piano Sonatas

Etudes
Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor, Op. 20

CÉSAR FRANCK (Belgium, 1822-1890)

Symphony in D Minor

Violin and Piano Sonata in A Major

SAMUEL BARBER (USA, 1910-1981)
Violin Concerto, Op. 14

Adagio for Strings (String Quartet, Op. 11)

GUSTAV MAHLER (Bohemia/Austrian Empire, 1860-1911)

Mahler was prone to grandiosity and too proud of his bombastic, meandering symphonies; his egoism makes Beethoven, Wagner, and Berlioz (his chief influences) seem humble.

Symphony Nos. 3, 5, 6, 8, 9

ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI (Sicily, 1660-1725)
Cantatas

LEOŠ JANÁČEK (Moravia/Austrian Empire, 1854-1928)

Slavonic Mass (Msa Glagolskaja)

HUGO WOLF (Slovene Lands/Austrian Empire, 1860-1903)
Lieder

OTHER COMPOSERS:

Jean d'Ockeghem (Burgundy, c. 1430-1495)

Jacob Obrecht (Burgundy, c. 1450-1505)

Josquin Des Prez (France, c. 1440-1521)

Adriaan Willaert (Flanders, Holy Roman Empire, c. 1490-1562)

Thomas Tallis (England, c. 1510-1585)

Luis de Narváez (Spain, c. 16^th century)

Orlande de Lassus (Southern Netherlands, Holy Roman Empire, c. 1530-1594)

Andrea Gabrieli (Venice, c. 1532-1585)

Giovanni Gabrieli (Venice, c. 1552-1612)

Jan Sweelinck (United Provinces, c. 1562-1621)

Johann Pachelbel (Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire, c. 1563-1706)

Dietrich Buxtehude (Denmark, c. 1637-1707)

Jean-Philippe Rameau (France, 1683-1764)

Giovanni Pergolesi (Papal States, 1710-1736)

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (Saxe-Weimar, 1714-1788)

Johann Christian Bach (Saxe-Weimar, 1735-1782)

Johann Hummel (Hungary, 1778-1837)

Niccolò Paganini (Genoa, 1782-1840)

Gaetano Donizetti (Lombardy, Holy Roman Empire, 1797-1848)

Vincenzo Bellini (Sicily, 1801-1835)

Mikhail Glinka (Russia, 1805-1857)

Charles-Valentin Alkan (France, 1813-1888)

Franz von Suppé (Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary, 1819-1895)

Léo Delibes (France, 1836-1891)

Jules Massenet (France, 1842-1912)

Arthur Sullivan (UK, 1842-1900)

Francisco de Asis Tárrega y Eixea (Spain, 1852-1909)

Engelbert Humperdinck (Hanover, 1854-1921)

Edward Elgar (Denmark, 1857-1934)

Isaac Manuel Albéniz y Pascual (Spain, 1860-1909)

Edward McDowell (USA, 1860-1908)

Carl Nielsen (Denmark, 1865-1931)

Paul Dukas (France, 1865-1935)

Aleksandr Glazunov (Russian Empire, 1865-1936)

Erik Satie (France, 1866-1925)

Ottorino Respighi (Italy, 1879-1936)

Béla Bartók (Austria-Hungary, 1881-1945)

Igor Stravinsky (Russian Empire, 1882-1971)

Joaquín Turina (Spain, 1882-1949)

Anton Webern (Austria-Hungary, 1883-1945)

Charles Griffes (USA, 1884-1920)

Paul Hindemith (Germany, 1895-1963)

Joaquin Rodrigo Vidre (Spain, 1901-1999)

Lars-Erik Larsson (Sweden, 1908-1986)

Olivier Messiaen (France, 1908-1992)

Samuel Barber (USA, 1910-1981)

Alan Hovhaness (USA, 1911-2000)

Rudolf Escher (Netherlands, 1912-1980)
Benjamin Britten (UK, 1913-1976)
Leonard Bernstein (USA, 1918-1990)