Classical Music “Greatest Hits” – for music-listening goals
Alphabetical by composer
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, Movement 1
(ca. 1721, Baroque Period)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 5, First Movement
(ca. 1807, Classical/Romantic Period)
Ludwig van Beethoven
*Symphony No. 8, Movement 2
(ca. 1812, Classical/Romantic Period)
Georges Bizet
*Farandole from L’Arlésienne Suite
(ca. 1885, Romantic Period)
Alternate: music from “Carmen”
Johannes Brahms
*Hungarian Dance No. 5
(ca. 1869, Romantic Period)
Benjamin Britten
*Playful Pizzicato from Simple Symphony
(ca. 1934, Modern Period)
Frédéric Chopin
*“Military” Polonaise in A Major
(ca. 1838, Romantic Period)
Aaron Copland
*Appalachian Spring
Variations on a Shaker Tune
(ca. 1944, Modern Period)
Aaron Copland
Hoe-Down from Rodeo
(ca. 1942, Modern Period)
Claude Debussy
*Children’s Corner Suite
Golliwog’s Cakewalk
(ca. 1908, Impressionist Period)
Antonin Dvorak
*Slavonic Dance No. 7
(ca. 1878, Romantic Period)
George Gershwin
*Andante from Rhapsody in Blue
(ca. 1924, Modern Period)
Edvard Grieg
In the Hall of the Mountain King from The Peer Gynt Suite
(ca. 1875, Romantic Period)
George Frideric Handel
*Water Music
Hornpipe
(ca. 1717, Baroque Period)
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 94, “Surprise”: Second Movement
(ca. 1791, Classical Period)
Gustav Holst
Jupiter from The Planets
(ca. 1914, Modern Period)
Dmitri Kabalevsky
*Galop from The Comedians
(ca. 1940, Modern Period)
Zoltán Kodály
Háry János Suite
Viennese Musical Clock
(ca. 1926, Modern Period)
Felix Mendelssohn
*Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(ca. 1843, Romantic Period)
Alternate: Violin Concerto in E minor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
*Turkish Rondo from Piano Sonata No. 11 in A
(ca. 1783, Classical Period)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, maman”
(ca. 1781, Classical Period)
Alternate: “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” or Symphony #40 in G minor
Modest Mussorgsky
Gnomes from Pictures at an Exhibition
Gnomes
(ca. 1874, Romantic Period)
Modest Mussorgsky
Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition
(ca. 1874, Romantic Period)
Jacques Offenbach
*Orpheus in the Underworld
Can-Can
(ca. 1858, Romantic Period)
Sergei Prokofiev
Troika from Lt. Kijé Suite
(ca. 1933, Modern Period)
Alternatives: “Peter and the Wolf” or music from “Romeo and Juliet”
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Flight of the Bumblebee
(ca. 1899, Romantic Period)
Gioachino Rossini
William Tell Overture
(ca. 1829, Romantic Period)
Franz Schubert
*Marche Militaire
(ca. 1822, Romantic Period)
Robert Schumann
The Happy Farmer from Album for the Young
(ca. 1848, Romantic Period)
John Philip Sousa
*The Stars and Stripes Forever
(ca. 1896, Romantic Period)
Johann Strauss Jr.
*Tritsch-Tratsch Polka
(ca. 1858, Romantic Period)
Igor Stravinksy
Infernal Dance from The Firebird
(ca. 1910, Modern Period)
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
*Waltz of the Reed Pipes from The Nutcracker
(ca. 1891, Romantic Period)
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
*Russian Dance from The Nutcracker
(ca. 1891, Romantic Period)
Giuseppe Verdi
*Triumphal March from Aida
(ca. 1871, Romantic Period)
Antonio Vivaldi
Spring from The Four Seasons
(ca. 1723, Baroque Period)
Other pieces to look for:
Elgar, “Enigma Variations,” Romantic Period
Saint-Saens, “Carnival of the Animals,” Romantic Period
- Strauss, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” [“Also Sprach Zarathustra”], Late Romantic Period
Ferde Grofé, “Grand Canyon Suite,” Modern Period