The list that follows is not the same thing as the 50 greatest classical pieces ever, like a set of recordings available only in a TV offer, though every piece listed is indubitably great in some way.
No, “50 classical pieces to hear before you die” is more of a list of pieces that it would be useful for all of us to know as a community, as a culture, as music lovers (of all stripes).
Just as there are books that, until recently at least, we can all assume are part of our common culture (“Huckleberry Finn,” “The Catcher in the Rye”); just as there are movies we think that every movie lover should have seen (“Casablanca,” “The Matrix”); so too are there musical pieces that we all would be better off having heard and experienced at least once in our lives.
So, how was the list chosen? By instinct, mostly. But also in an attempt to span musical history from 1600 to 2000 in one fell swoop. Also with an eye on a piece’s fame and presence in pop culture. Also with an ear toward what is typical or emblematic of a particular composer’s style, to get to the nub.
Undoubtedly, it is an imperfect list, as all such lists are. But should a listener undertake to listen to it all, he or she would have a pretty good grasp of the sweep of Western music from the Renaissance on, a sense of who the important composers are and a strong sampling of the landmark works.
A note on the suggested recordings. They go in and out of print quickly these days; I have tried to choose those currently in print. Most, if not all, are also available for digital downloading.
Click on the photo above to see a slide show of the suggested recordings for “50 pieces to hear before you die.”
1 Monteverdi “Vespers of 1610”
An energetic compendium of late Renaissance and early Baroque styles, performed in stereophonic formations. Suggested recording: Gabrieli Consort and Players; McCreesh. Archiv.
2 Purcell “Dido and Aeneas”
A miniature operatic epic in song and dance, ending with the most famous lamentation in music. Recording: Gens, Les Arts Florissants; Christie. Erato.
3 Vivaldi “The Four Seasons”
The weather captured in music, with dazzling solos for the violin. Recording: The English Concert, Standage; Pinnock. Archiv.
4 Bach “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3
A tour de force for nine zigzagging soloists. Recording: English Chamber Orchestra; Britten. Decca.
5 Bach B-minor Mass
A late-life summing up of the composer’s sacred style in a single, monumental edifice. Recording: English Baroque Soloists; Gardiner. Archiv.
6 Bach “Goldberg Variations”
Another summation, this one of Baroque variation technique; it’s also a gas to listen to. Recording: Glenn Gould (1955). Sony.
7 Handel “Messiah”
The “Hallelujah” Chorus isn’t the only highlight of this rugged and vivid score. Recording: The English Concert and Choir; Pinnock. Archiv.
8 Haydn Symphony No. 94, “Surprise”
The composer’s wit comes to the fore. Recording: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Davis. Decca.
9 Haydn String Quartet in C, Op. 76, No. 3
The father of the string quartet writes a national anthem. Recording: Tokyo String Quartet. Sony.
10 Mozart “The Marriage of Figaro”
The characters come alive in this still-hilarious opera, probably the greatest ever written. Recording: Schwartzkopf, Philharmonia Orchestra; Giulini. EMI.
11 Mozart “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”
Classically proportioned, motoric, tuneful and perfect. Recording: New Philharmonia Orchestra; Klemperer. EMI.
12 Mozart Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter”
An Olympian symphony with a magnificently contrapuntal apotheosis. Recording: New Philharmonia Orchestra; Giulini. Decca.
13 Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20
A dark and moody piano concerto, opera by other means, beloved by the Romantics. Recording: Brendel, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields; Marriner. Decca.
14 Beethoven Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”
A new path for Beethoven, a revolution in music, an ode to a hero. Recording: Los Angeles Philharmonic; Giulini. Deutsche Grammophon.
15 Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 14, “Moonlight”
The piano sonata as a progression of moods. Recording. Pollini. Deutsche Grammophon.
16 Beethoven String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131
Beethoven takes us on a journey into his own inner universe. Recording: Emerson String Quartet. Deutsche Grammophon.
17 Beethoven Symphony No. 9
A deaf composer embraces the world and gives voice to the symphony. Recording: Cleveland Orchestra; Szell. Sony.
18 Schubert “Der Erlkonig”
A child’s nightmare becomes a reality in this classic song setting of a poem by Goethe. Recording: Fischer-Dieskau, Moore. EMI.
19 Schubert Symphony No. 8, “Unfinished”
The prototypical Romantic symphony, noble, serene, haunted. Recording: Berlin Philharmonic; Karajan. Deutsche Grammophon.
20 Berlioz “Symphonie fantastique”
An opium dream gone bad, the beloved a vision out of reach, the programmatic symphony par excellence. Recording: Concertgebouw Orchestra; Davis. Decca.
21 Schumann “Carnaval”
A noble and quirky cast of Romantic characters captured in an integrated suite for piano. Recording: Uchida. Decca.
22 Chopin Etudes, Op. 10 and 25
The possibilities of the piano, and the pianist, are inventively and gloriously explored. Recording: Pollini. Deutsche Grammophon.
23 Mendelssohn Overture to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
The greatest work by a teenager in the repertoire, pure gossamer. Recording: London Symphony Orchestra; Abbado. Deutsche Grammophon.
24 Rossini “The Barber of Seville”
As funny as “Figaro” and as bubbly as champagne. Recording: Bartoli, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna; Patane. Decca.
25 Wagner “The Ring of the Nibelung”
One of Western music’s grandest achievements, a critique of modern society, and miraculous music. Recording: Vienna Philharmonic; Solti. Decca.
26 Liszt Piano Sonata in B minor
The transformation of themes is explored for its dramatic possibilities at sonata length. Recording: Argerich. Deutsche Grammophon.
27 Brahms Symphony No. 4
A monument to the grandeur of Bach and Beethoven in Brahms’ passionate voice. Vienna Philharmonic; Kleiber. Deutsche Grammophon.
28 Verdi “Rigoletto”
A tragic opera that makes you feel for its flawed main character and that puts the orchestra on par with the singing. Recording: Cappuccilli, Vienna Philharmonic; Giulini. Deutsche Grammophon.
29 Bruckner Symphony No. 4, “Romantic”
A cathedral in sound, celestial, sublime and fairly concise by the composer’s standards. Recording: Berlin Philharmonic; Karajan. Deutsche Grammophon.
30 Dvorák Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
The ur-American symphony, rustic and rugged, composed in the style of our folk music. Recording: Columbia Symphony Orchestra; Walter. Sony.
31 Mahler Symphony No. 9
The death-obsessed composer faces it head-on in this frightening work that ends transcendently. Recording: Chicago Symphony; Giulini. Deutsche Grammophon.
32 Rimsky-Korsakov “Scheherazade”
A color symphony that took orchestration to a new level. Recording: Chicago Symphony; Reiner. RCA.
33 Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique”
The composer’s swan song and a tragic summing up of his tortured life. Recording: Leningrad Philharmonic; Mravinsky. Deutsche Grammophon.
34 Tchaikovsky “Nutcracker” Suite
The composer at his most charming, evocative and tuneful. Recording: Berlin Philharmonic; Rostropovich. Deutsche Grammophon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYzxlJFNxKY
35 Puccini “La Boheme”
The defining verismo opera, a tragic tale of young lovers and a model for much that followed. Recording: Freni, Berlin Philharmonic; Karajan. Decca.
36 Richard Strauss “Till Eulenspiegel”
A merry tone poem on a legendary prankster for virtuoso orchestra. Recording: Staatskapelle Dresden; Kempe. Warner Classics.
37 Schoenberg “Transfigured Night”
Luxuriant, tortured and transcendent late Romanticism. Recording: Berlin Philharmonic, Karajan. Deutsche Grammophon.
38 Debussy “La Mer”
Impressionistic sketches of the open sea, gusty, briny and bracing. Recording: Boston Symphony, Monteux. RCA.
39 Stravinsky “The Rite of Spring”
A riotous, uncanny work that turned musical hierarchies on their head. They’ve never been the same since. Recording: Philadelphia Orchestra; Muti. EMI.
40 Ravel “Bolero”
A mechanistic crescendo, minimalistic division. Recording: London Symphony; Monteux. Philips.
41 Bartok String Quartet No. 4
In palindromic form, fierce and biting on the outside, nocturnal in the middle. Recording: Emerson String Quartet. Deutsche Grammophon.
42 Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue”
Jazz and classical meld perfectly in this irresistible American classic. Recording: New York Philharmonic; Bernstein. Sony.
43 Berg “Wozzeck”
Hard-hitting opera based on a bloody play, brilliantly pulled off in an atonal idiom. Recording: Berry, Paris Opera; Boulez. Sony.
44 Shostakovich Symphony No. 5
The composer answers his Stalinist critics with ironic triumphalism. Recording: New York Philharmonic; Bernstein. Sony.
45 Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3
The piano as gritty percussionist, muscular, virtuosic, demonic. Recording: Argerich, Berlin Philharmonic; Abbado. Deutsche Grammophon.
46 Britten “Peter Grimes”
Gripping drama set in a seaside village with an outcast as central figure; potent, compressed music. Recording: Pears, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House; Britten. Decca.
47 Lutoslawski Symphony No. 3
Atonal and at times asynchronous language is used to create a clear linear architecture. Recording: Los Angeles Philharmonic; Salonen. Sony.
48 Ligeti “Atmospheres”
Music as instrumental texture made out of micropolyphony; Stanley Kubrick made it famous in “2001.” Recording: Berlin Philharmonic; Nott. Teldec.
49 Philip Glass “Koyaanisqatsi”
A high point in Glass’ minimalism and in film music in general; music and imagery have rarely been so indelibly intertwined. Recording: Philip Glass Ensemble; Riesman. Orange Mountain Music.
50 John Adams “Nixon in China”
President Richard Nixon’s visit to China treated as myth and psychodrama. Recording: Maddalena, Orchestra of St. Luke’s; de Waart. Nonesuch.
Contact the writer: 714-796-6811 or tmangan@ocregister.com
