[ClassicalPower]

Hi! I would like to take advantage of the visibility of my YT channel for education purposes and compile a list of must-know pieces of classical music that even the average person willing to have a basic general education MUST KNOW the details of, such as at least the correct name and the composer, also considering that many people can hum famous tunes but knows nothing about them...
As an example I thought you can't be ignorant about Beethoven's 5th of course, nor you can ignore Mozart's requiem; I'd like not to repeat the same composer twice so I think these two entries will remain as such, so if you have in mind any particular tune you consider that important pls let me know! I've already have a sketch of the rest of the list actually but I'd like to confront with other people ideas to see if it can get any better.
(1- The list should not exceed 10 anyway. 2 - Believe me: most people would know the fifth's main motive and perhaps that it's from Beethoven but nothing more...)

 

[John O]

Vivaldi Four Seasons
Stravinsky Rite of Spring
Berlioz Symphony Fantastique
Holst Planets
Handel Messiah
Mussoursky Pictures at an Exhibition

 

[Andrew Kenneth]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Der Hölle Rache (Die Zauberflöte)
Ludwig van Beethoven : Für Elise
Richard Wagner : Bridal March (Lohengrin)
Jacques Offenbach : Galop Infernal (Orphée aux Enfers)
Gustav Holst - Mars, Bringer of War (The Planets)
Johann Strauss : An der schonen Blauen Donau
Richard Strauss : Also sprach Zarathustra
Edvard Grieg : In the Halls of the Mountain King (Peer Gynt)
George Gershwin : Rhapsody in Blue
John Cage : 4'33

 

[SanAntone]

Some works to acquaint your audience with classical music from before and after the common practice period, and expose them to some important composers who might otherwise remain outside conventional music appreciation syllabi.

Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377)- Messe de Nostre Dame
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) - Missa Papae Marcelli
Charles Ives (1874-1954) - Central Park in the Dark
Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) - Octandre
Henry Cowell (1897-1965) - The Banshee
Harry Partch (1901-1974) - Castor & Pollux
Elliott Carter (1908-2012) - String Quartet No. 2
John Cage (1912-1992) - Sonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano
Lou Harrison (1917-2003) - The Only Jealousy of Emer
Morton Feldman (1926-1987) - Rothko Chapel
James Tenney (1934-2006) - Diaphonic Trio
John Luther Adams (1953) - Become River

 

[Mandryka]

Hi! I would like to take advantage of the visibility of my YT channel for education purposes and compile a list of must-know pieces of classical music that even the average person willing to have a basic general education MUST KNOW the details of, such as at least the correct name and the composer, also considering that many people can hum famous tunes but knows nothing about them...

The toreador song from Bizet's Carmen
Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries
Chopin's funeral march
Something from Vivaldi's four seasons
Bach's Jesu joy of man's desiring
Suza's Liberty Bell
Handel's Hallelujah Chorus
Brahms's lullaby
King Henry VIII's Greensleaves

 

[eljr]

Hi! I would like to take advantage of the visibility of my YT channel for education purposes and compile a list of must-know pieces of classical music that even the average person willing to have a basic general education MUST KNOW the details of, such as at least the correct name and the composer, also considering that many people can hum famous tunes but knows nothing about them...
As an example I thought you can't be ignorant about Beethoven's 5th of course, nor you can ignore Mozart's requiem; I'd like not to repeat the same composer twice so I think these two entries will remain as such, so if you have in mind any particular tune you consider that important pls let me know! I've already have a sketch of the rest of the list actually but I'd like to confront with other people ideas to see if it can get any better.
(1- The list should not exceed 10 anyway. 2 - Believe me: most people would know the fifth's main motive and perhaps that it's from Beethoven but nothing more...)

Here ya go. You can close the thread now.

🐊

 

[larold]

buy this book ... Amazon.com

 

[Simplicissimus]

Call me a nationalist if you like, but I consider it important in an educational context to focus on the students' (or audience's) national music heritage. For example, for American students I would propose, in addition to the obligatory Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, the national treasures of Amy Beach, Charles Ives, George Gershwin, Samuel Barber, Florence Price, and Duke Ellington -- to the exclusion (from a short list) of Falla and Albeniz (obligatory for a Spanish audience), Brahms and Hindemith (obligatory for a German audience), and so on. I think it's clear where I'm going with this.

 

[ClassicalPower]

Call me a nationalist if you like, but I consider it important in an educational context to focus on the students' (or audience's) national music heritage. For example, for American students I would propose, in addition to the obligatory Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, the national treasures of Amy Beach, Charles Ives, George Gershwin, Samuel Barber, Florence Price, and Duke Ellington -- to the exclusion (from a short list) of Falla and Albeniz (obligatory for a Spanish audience), Brahms and Hindemith (obligatory for a German audience), and so on. I think it's clear where I'm going with this.

In general I'd agree with you but now I would rather consider a "global" audience for simplicity...

 

[Simplicissimus]

In general I'd agree with you but now I would rather consider a "global" audience for simplicity...

There is no global audience. I have served my government all around the globe, and I can tell you that IMHO there is no such thing as a global audience except in the 0.0001% elite.

 

[ClassicalPower]

Vivaldi Four Seasons
Stravinsky Rite of Spring
Berlioz Symphony Fantastique
Holst Planets
Handel Messiah
Mussoursky Pictures at an Exhibition

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Der Hölle Rache (Die Zauberflöte)
Ludwig van Beethoven : Für Elise
Richard Wagner : Bridal March (Lohengrin)
Jacques Offenbach : Galop Infernal (Orphée aux Enfers)
Gustav Holst - Mars, Bringer of War (The Planets)
Johann Strauss : An der schonen Blauen Donau
Richard Strauss : Also sprach Zarathustra
Edvard Grieg : In the Halls of the Mountain King (Peer Gynt)
George Gershwin : Rhapsody in Blue
John Cage : 4'33

The toreador song from Bizet's Carmen
Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries
Chopin's funeral march
Something from Vivaldi's four seasons
Bach's Jesu joy of man's desiring
Suza's Liberty Bell
Handel's Hallelujah Chorus
Brahms's lullaby
King Henry VIII's Greensleaves

I think this should go (?)
1 Beethoven 5
2 Mozart Requiem
3 Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries
4 Jacques Offenbach : Galop Infernal (Orphée aux Enfers)
5 Vivaldi Four Seasons
6 The toreador song from Bizet's Carmen
7 Johann Strauss : An der schonen Blauen Donau
+
8 La donna è mobile (most famous opera aria)
9 Toccata and fugue (very popular)
10 Swan lake (very popular)
11 William tell ouverture (very popular)
12 Turkish rondo (since it's often mislabeled as Turkish march)

 

[ClassicalPower]

There is no global audience. I have served my government all around the globe, and I can tell you that IMHO there is no such thing as a global audience except in the 0.0001% elite.

I agree with you but I can't do hundreds of videos ahah

 

[pianozach]

I agree with you but I can't do hundreds of videos ahah

Yes you can. Plenty of folks with Youtube channels have hundreds of videos.

 

[Mandryka]

I think this should go (?)
1 Beethoven 5
2 Mozart Requiem
3 Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries
4 Jacques Offenbach : Galop Infernal (Orphée aux Enfers)
5 Vivaldi Four Seasons
6 The toreador song from Bizet's Carmen
7 Johann Strauss : An der schonen Blauen Donau
+
8 La donna è mobile (most famous opera aria)
9 Toccata and fugue (very popular)
10 Swan lake (very popular)
11 William tell ouverture (very popular)
12 Turkish rondo (since it's often mislabeled as Turkish march)

Excuse

If it were me I’d ditch the Mozart requiem - I mean, he didn’t even write half of it.

 

[Ulfilas]

Here are 10 I think show a good range of possibilities:



Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3

Mozart: Mass in C Minor

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4

Chopin: Preludes

Brahms: Symphony No. 1

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

Ravel: Mother Goose Suite

Sibelius: Symphony No. 5

Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time

Steve Reich: Different Trains

 

[SanAntone]

Some works to acquaint your audience with classical music from before and after the common practice period, and expose them to some important composers who might otherwise remain outside conventional music appreciation syllabi.

Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377)- Messe de Nostre Dame
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) - Missa Papae Marcelli
Charles Ives (1874-1954) - Central Park in the Dark
Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) - Octandre
Henry Cowell (1897-1965) - The Banshee
Harry Partch (1901-1974) - Castor & Pollux
Elliott Carter (1908-2012) - String Quartet No. 2
John Cage (1912-1992) - Sonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano
Lou Harrison (1917-2003) - The Only Jealousy of Emer
Morton Feldman (1926-1987) - Rothko Chapel
James Tenney (1934-2006) - Diaphonic Trio
John Luther Adams (1953) - Become River

I will again make my pitch for inclusion of music not already well known. Why not?

 

[Nate Miller]

to me, if you have to be told of the existence of any of this then you are a pillock

and no You Tube channel can change any of that

 

[SanAntone]

My point, is that for younger people, the "old standards" (IOW their grandfather's classical music) is most likely not the way to get them interested. These folk grew up on the Internet and a wide variety of musics, and I believe the more adventurous classical music would be a better fit for them than Swan Lake or the 1812 Overture.

@Ulfilas has the right idea, but I'd go further.

 

[Xenophiliu]

My point, is that for younger people, the "old standards" (IOW their grandfather's classical music) is most likely not the way to get them interested. These folk grew up on the Internet and a wide variety of musics, and I believe the more adventurous classical music would be a better fit for them than Swan Lake or the 1812 Overture.

@Ulfilas has the right idea, but I'd go further.

I am always sad when a music curriculum must follow chronology. I often find students teem with questions about a definition of what music actually is when we cover

Schoenberg, Pierrot Lunaire
Varèse, Poème électronique
Reich, Electric Counterpoint
Cage, Water Walk

and some others, but these end up being at the end of the semester. From the main list, Beethoven's Piano Sonata 8 seems to reach the most from the classic composers.

 

[Neo Romanza]

I think a listener should explore whatever they wish to explore. This whole notion that a listener has to know this work or that work in order to have knowledge about classical music is completely inaccurate. Classical education begins with what the listener wants to hear. To put it more bluntly, you have to put in the effort yourself in order to see the rewards. Rattling off a list of works that I consider "essential" isn't going to be meaningful or beneficial, especially if someone has an interest in earlier classical music (from the Classical Era and back) since I personally have no affinity for these eras. Anyway, the ball is the listener's court.