[BachIsBest]

I just wanted to say that I think such a list is a great idea, and just such a youtube video got me into classical music a number of years ago.

 

[John O]

Here ya go. You can close the thread now.

🐊Thanks for pointing out this list. I have to say as such lists go this is the most sensible I have seen. Bit of a surpise to see Bartok's Violin Concerto is his most popular work and the fourth most popular violin concerto at 49 while Beethoven , Brahms and Sibelius concertos are languishing between 106 and 150.

 

[SanAntone]

If I were doing this I'd choose one composer/work from each period right up to the 21st century:

Medieval/Renaissance: Machaut - Messe de Nostre Dame, Kyrie
Baroque: Bach - Goldberg Variations, Aria, Variation 1
Classical: Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21, ii. Andante
Romantic: Wagner - Tristan und Isolde, Prelude
Late Romantic: Mahler - Symphony No. 5, iv. Adagietto
Modern: Stravinsky - Le sacre du printemps, opening or John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
Contemporary: Boulez - Sur incises, part 1, or Stockhausen - Mantra
Living: Missy Mazzoli - Dark with Excessive Bright

 

[MatthewWeflen]

Vivaldi Four Seasons
Bach Brandenburg No. 3
Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Beethoven Symphony 9
Strauss An Der Schonen Blauen Donau
Wagner Overture to Tannhauser
Sibelius Symphony 5
Copland Appalachian Spring
Shostakovitch Symphony 7
Philip Glass Truman Sleeps

Keeping it to ten led to some painful cuts, but I'm trying to incorporate a broad sweep of time periods and styles.

 

[AeolianStrains]

Top ten videos should die in a fire. Don't be a chicken. Go big and do a top 25.

Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor (alt. Brandenburg Concertos or perhaps Well-Tempered Clavier)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 (alt Symphony No. 5 or 9)
Brahms: Cello Sonata in E minor (alt. Hungarian Dances)
Debussy: Suite Bergamasque (esp. Clair de Lune)
Chopin: Nocturnes (but pick Funeral March if you have to do just one)
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9: Theme from the New World
Faure: Sicilienne
Grieg: Peer Gynt
Handel: Messiah (esp. Hallelujah)
Haydn: Symphony No. 26
Something by Hildegard of Bingen for Renaissance representation
Holst: Planets (esp. Mars)
Liszt: Liebestraum (esp. Mvmt. 3; alt. Hungarian Rhapsodies)
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor (alt. Hebrides Overture)
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor (alt. Requiem or Magic Flute)
Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain (alt. Pictures at an Exhibition)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
Rossini: Barber of Seville (esp. Largo al factotum)
Schubert: Ave Maria (but a proper version; alt. Death and the Maiden, maybe some others?)
Clara Schumann: Three Romances for Violin and Piano
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring
Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker
Verdi: Requiem
Vivaldi: Four Seasons (especially highlighting Winter's first movement; alt. Stabat Mater)
Wagner: Die Walküre (esp. Ride of the Valkyries)

Some alternatives: Elgar's Enigma, Farrenc's Air Russe, Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre, Chopin's Nocturnes or Funeral March, Bizet's Carmen

Add all five and you got 3 videos, 10 pieces a pop. Not too shabby.

The majority of these should be immediately recognizable by your audience, which is important as a foundation, and hopefully will help them hear it in a new light.

 

[hammeredklavier]

Gustav Holst - Mars, Bringer of War (The Planets)

The whole suite actually.

 

[Forster]

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...

So, if what you're looking for is a list of well known "hummed tunes" whose name or composer people are unaware of, there are some interesting suggestions being offered.

4'33" - really?

I think the OP has been somewhat misread. They were not asking for a list of all and any compositions that might form the basis of a good general knowledge across the entire range and history of CM...were they?

 

[AeolianStrains]

So, if what you're looking for is a list of well known "hummed tunes" whose name or composer people are unaware of, there are some interesting suggestions being offered.

4'33" - really?

I think the OP has been somewhat misread. They were not asking for a list of all and any compositions that might form the basis of a good general knowledge across the entire range and history of CM...were they?

This how I read it, too, and why I suggested well-known tunes. I taught a class once on the shaping of the western canon, and you wouldn't believe how many of these songs my students could recognize but know nothing about. You'll still see some Youtube videos titled something like, "Classical music you know but don't know the name of." I think educating people on that level of literacy is a positive thing.

 

[BachIsBest]

So, if what you're looking for is a list of well known "hummed tunes" whose name or composer people are unaware of, there are some interesting suggestions being offered.

4'33" - really?

I think the OP has been somewhat misread. They were not asking for a list of all and any compositions that might form the basis of a good general knowledge across the entire range and history of CM...were they?

I'm not much of a hummer, and yet I often find myself humming 4'33" without even being aware I'm doing anything at all.

 

[Kivimees]

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.

If the goal is simply to enjoy music, then of course a listener should explore whatever they wish. I don't think this applies if the listener wants a "basic education". If someone wants a "basic education" in chemistry, the aspirant can't simply decide to omit organic chemistry in favour of analytical chemistry because it suits them.

 

[SanAntone]

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...)

I did not fully understand the OP, i.e. the aspect of "many people can hum famous tunes but knows nothing about them..." which I don't think is something of long term importance. It might be somewhat worthwhile initially but you (or someone) could provide an invaluable service to listeners with more than a passing interest in classical music by offering more than the composer name and title of a work they may have heard used in a TV commercial or movie.

IMO, it would be far more valuable to grab a listener's interest with some music which they might never have heard but would find immediately intriguing - and offer a picture of classical music more complex than the most familiar clips of melody used as background music in a supermarket.

 

[Neo Romanza]

If the goal is simply to enjoy music, then of course a listener should explore whatever they wish. I don't think this applies if the listener wants a "basic education". If someone wants a "basic education" in chemistry, the aspirant can't simply decide to omit organic chemistry in favour of analytical chemistry because it suits them.

My point was that classical education begins and ends with the listener. No list could possibly summarize centuries of music history. Members here can try their damnedest to make a list and many have already, but if someone is truly curious about this music, then the only sensible thing to do would be to use one's own ears and do their own research --- there are books, websites, etc. A person must make the effort if they truly want educate themselves.

 

[Kivimees]

My point was that classical education begins and ends with the listener. No list could possibly summarize centuries of music history. Members here can try their damnedest to make a list and many have already, but if someone is truly curious about this music, then the only sensible thing to do would be to use one's own ears and do their own research --- there are books, websites, etc. A person must make the effort if they truly want educate themselves.

Okay, I misunderstood. In fact, I agree.

 

[Phil loves classical]

If I was to pick a list of 10 works for Classical, I wouldn't make a very individualistic sort of list. But go with what I think the general consensus is or the most popular, with a bit of spread from Baroque to more modern like:
Vivaldi 4 Seasons
Bach Brandenburg Concertos
Mozart Marriage of Figaro or Jupiter Symphony
Beethoven's 5th or 9th
Schubert's Unfinished Symphony
Chopin Nocturnes or Preludes
Brahms Symphony 1 or 4
Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite
Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto 2
Copland Appalachian Spring

 

[Becca]

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...)

"Must know", "you can't be ignorant...", "nor can you ignore" ... I would hope that you are kidding as I think that the idea is ridiculous and unfortunately typical of a lot of the stuff on YouTube.

 

[TwoFlutesOneTrumpet]

Sorry, I tried but it's impossible for me to prune my list to ten works. I can give you ten 10-works lists and they will all be equally valid.

 

[Oldhoosierdude]

I wouldn't be able to do a ten list. I agree with most of what is already listed. I will throw out two more that I haven't seen;
Rimsky-Korsakov- Scheherazade
Strauss - Blue Danube Waltz
Both are reasonably recognized.

 

[Enthusiast]

My point was that classical education begins and ends with the listener. No list could possibly summarize centuries of music history. Members here can try their damnedest to make a list and many have already, but if someone is truly curious about this music, then the only sensible thing to do would be to use one's own ears and do their own research --- there are books, websites, etc. A person must make the effort if they truly want educate themselves.

I'm not as against the idea in the OP as some here. "The list" would function and, I think be widely perceived, as a guide, and I guess someone using the list would find themselves relating to some of the recommendations and perhaps feeling that others are "not for me" (or better still "some people really rate this but it is not for me, yet"). The field of classical music is huge and even the knowledge and advice offered in various books and on various sites is too big for someone to find their way in a new field. So a simple list might take a useful place within all that advice. I do agree, though, that effort might be needed ... just so long as it doesn't feel too much like effort. I also think that humility helps: I still find, when listening to music that is new to me, that approaching it with the mindset of "what does the composer want to feel with this music". That sort of approach takes time and knowing what music has thrilled or moved others helps to choose where to focus attention.

I got into classical music as a young child. My father would recommend something and lend me the record. I would listen to it again and again, often coming to love it and incidentally getting to know it fairly intimately. Then I would ask for another. I guess my father was responding partly to what he perceived as my emerging taste and partly to what he was in the mood for. My brother - who grew up to become a professional classical musician was never that interested in this exploration - he preferred to master his instrument instead. Anyway, as I grew a little older (my teens) I started to use the public library which had a good collection of LPs and you could order others. As a result of all this I knew a lot of music from Bach to Bartok (or Handel to Hindemith) by the time I left home and not just the big famous pieces - I explored many byroads.

I know many here came to classical music later in life (many through reaching out beyond prog rock) and I have often wondered how they found their way around. Also, I guess my initial listening pattern of playing the same piece lots of times was something that an new-to-classical adult would not enjoy so much. So they might reject a lot of music based on a first impression (which itself would be conditioned by what they were expecting or searching for at the time), music that they might otherwise have come to love. That's OK but might they not miss a lot that could have enriched their lives? Recommendations - seeing what has thrilled others - along with humility can help a lot.

I know that some of what I am saying seems to draw from a belief that there are people out there who might know more about what music can do for us than we do. It is true that I do feel the true perception that taste is subjective can lead us "astray" (away from music that might reward us greatly and uniquely) and tends to reinforce our arrogance rather than our humility.

This thread is about a first introduction to classical music - something that we are all many years beyond now - and I think a simple list of ten typical but great pieces (each chosen as a door to a genre, period, composer) could seed an exploration that could take us anywhere as we live our lives. The philosophy in the OP need not be truly prescriptive but, if approached with humility (respect from the composers and performers involved), it could be helpful.