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Classical Music B
Sonatas, Symphonies, Concertos, and more
| Piece | Composer, Nationality | Description | Era |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Well-Tempered Klavier (Keyboard set) | Johann Sebastian Bach, German | 24 works of "prelude and fugue" in every key. | Baroque |
| Brandenburg Concertos (Concerto set) | Johann Sebastian Bach, German | A set of concertos, each for a different set of solo instruments. | Baroque |
| The Planets (Orchestral suite) | Gustav Holst, English | Each movement is named after one of the planets: Mercury, bringer of war. Venus, bringer of peace, Mercury, the winged messenger, Jupiter, bringer of jollity, Saturn, bringer of old age, Uranus, the magician, and Neptune, the mystic. | Romantic |
| Saint Paul Suite (Orchestral suite) | Gustav Holst, English | A suite for string orchestra in four movements: Jig, Ostinato, Intermezzo, and Finale. Named after the school he taught at and was played for his students. | Romantic |
| Moonlight Sonata (no.14)(Piano) | Ludwig van Beethoven, German | also called second fantasy-sonata (Sonata Quasi Una fantasia) | Late Classical |
| Eroica Symphony (no.3) | Ludwig van Beethoven, German | Initially dedicated to Napoleon, but his name later scratched out after he crowned himself emperor. | Late Classical |
| Italian symphony and Scottish symphony (no.4, no.3) | Felix Mendelssohn, German | inspired by the composer's travels to these countries. | Romantic |
| "Surprise" Symphony (no.96) | Joseph Haydn, Austrian | The second movement famously contains the melody for "twinkle twinkle little star" | Classical |
| Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (String Orchestra) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian | Meaning "A little Night Music". In four movements for a string orchestra. | Classical |
| Finlandia (Orchestral) | Jean Sibelius, Finnish | Inspired by the composer's titular homeland. | Romantic |
| An American in Paris (Orchestral) | George Gershwin, American | inspired by the composer's experiences in the title city. | Jazz (classical fusion) |
| Rhapsody in Blue (Piano Concerto) | George Gershwin, American | For solo piano and jazz band, it is famous for combining classical music with jazz elements. Starts with a famous clarinet solo. | Jazz (classical fusion) |
| 1812 Overture (Orchestral) | Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian | Famously included church bells and field cannons as part of the "orchestra". Based on Napoleon's invasion of Russia. | Romantic |
| Symfonie Fantastique | Hector Berlioz, French | Set in four movements, "Daydreams-passions", "a ball", "March to the Scaffold", "Dreams of a witches' Sabbath". Follows a man who witnesses his own death and funeral while high on opium. | Romantic |
| Four Seasons (Violin Concertos) | Antonio Vivaldi, Italian | In four movements, each based on a season. He actually wrote sonnets to with them apparently! | Baroque |
| New World Symphony (no.9) | Antonin Dvorak, Czech | Contains melodies inspired by "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", an African American folk song. Relates the composer's experiences in America. | Romantic |
| Pathetique Symphony (no.6) | Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian | Breaks standard convention by ending with a slow movement that "dies out" rather than with a standard coda. | Romantic |
| Tragic Overture (Orchestral) | Johannes Brahms, German | Romantic | |
| Academic Festival Overture (Orchestral) | Johannes Brahms, German | Romantic | |
| Hungarian Dances (orchestral but also 4-hand versions out there) | Johannes Brahms, German | 21 dances composed for multiple mediums. No.5 in G minor is particularly famous. | Romantic |
| Hungarian Rhapsodies (Solo Piano) | Franz Liszt, Hungarian | Written for either orchestra or piano, similar to Brahms' Hungarian Dances. No.2 is particularly famous for appearing in a Tom and Jerry cartoon. | Romantic |
| 24 Caprices (Solo Violin) | Niccolo Paganini, Italian | A theme and variations for solo violin. Transcribed to piano by both Brahms and Liszt, and for piano and orchestra by Rachmaninov. | Classical |
| Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini (Piano Concerto) | Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian | For solo piano and orchestra. | Post-Romantic |
| Clair de Lune (Solo Piano) | Claude Debussy, French | part of suite Bergamasque, a set of short pieces for solo piano. | Impressionist |
| La Mer (Orchestral) | Claude Debussy, French | Set in 3 movements: "From dawn to noon on the sea", "play of the waves", "dialogue of the wind and sea". | Impressionist |
| The Blue Danube (Orchestral) | Johann Strauss II, Austrian | Romantic | |
| Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Orchestral) | Richard Strauss, German | Based on a novel by Nietsche | modern |
| Gymnopedies (Solo Piano) | Eric Satie, French | lame pieces | Minimalist(?) |
| Pomp and Circumstance (Orchestral set) | Edward Elgar, English | Often played at graduation ceremonies. | Romantic |
| Enigma Variations (Orchestral) | Edward Elgar, English | Each variation is dedicated to a friend, family, or the composer himself, indicated through enigmatic titles such as the famous "Nimrod" | Romantic |
| Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Orchestral) | Benjamin Britten, English | Subtitled "Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Henry Purcell". Designed as an introduction for young students, based on Purcell's Abdelazer. | Modern |
| Capriccio Espagnol (Orchestral) | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian | Based on Spanish folk melodies. Saint-saens also wrote one with the same name. Don't mix it up with Ravel's Spanish Rhapsody or Lalo's Symphonie Espagnol. Yeah, sorry. | Romantic |
| La Campanella (Solo piano) | Paganini-Liszt, Italian, Hungarian | Written for piano and Violin by Paganini, but transcribed to solo piano by Franz Liszt. Famous for being hard but for Liszt it's pretty chill actually. | Romantic |
| Liebestraume (Solo piano) | Franz Liszt, Hungarian | means "Love Dreams" | Romantic |
| Wiegenlied (lullaby) (song) | Johannes Brahms, German | a single piece from the composer's op.49 song cycle. Its theme would be reused as the second subject of his Second Symphony. | Romantic |
| Transcendental Etudes | Franz Liszt, Hungarian | Famously difficult. Sergei Lyapunov also wrote Transcendental etudes but his are... less famous. | Romantic |
| Danse Macabre (Orchestral) | Camile Saint Saens, French | transcribed to piano by Liszt, it is about skeletons dancing at night. It begins with 12 notes from the harp indicating midnight. | Romantic |
| Kaddish Symphony (Symphony/Requiem) | Leonard Bernstein, American | The Kaddish is a Jewish prayer. Checks out, as Bernstein was indeed Jewish. | Modern |
| Turkish March (no.11 mvt. 3)(Solo Piano) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian | A rondo from the third movement of one of his sonatas. | Classical |
| Adagio for Strings (Chamber music) | Samuel Barber, American | Played at the funeral of JFK. Taken from the slow movement of his abandoned string quartet. | Modern |
| Fanfare for the Common Man (Orchestral) | Aaron Copland, American | Modern | |
| Washington Post (Marching Band) | John Philip Sousa, American | I think he won some sort of competition for it which is where its name comes from | Modern |
| Radetzky March (Orchestral) | Johann Strauss I, Austrian | Dedicated to its title military commander, it is a popular marching tune. But who cares about strauss i? | Romantic |
| Goldberg Variations (Solo Piano) | Johann Sebastian Bach, German | Every third variation is a canon. Written for the insomniac Count Kaiserling of Saxony | Baroque |
| Unfinished Symphony (no.8) | Franz Schubert, Austrian | Only two movements were composed and published. His writing for the fourth movement is theorized to have been used for his incidental music for Rosamunde instead. Often called the first romantic symphony (or half of) | Romantic (Late Classical) |
| Concerto for Orchestra (Orchestral) | Béla Bartók, Hungarian | Titled because each instrument section would have their own virtuosic solo section. | Post-Romantic |
| Concord Sonata (no.2)(Solo Piano) | Charles Ives, American | Movements named "Emerson, Hawthorne, Alcotts, Thoreau". Includes short sections for flute, violin, and a block of wood to hold down chords. | Modern |
| "London" Symphony (or London symphonies) (104th) | Joseph Haydn, Austrian | His 104th and final symphony is called the "London" symphony, but the term also refers to the collection of all of his last 12 symphonies. Same with his Paris symphonies! | Classical |
| Jupiter symphony (no.41) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian | not published during his lifetime | Classical |
| "Titan" Symphony (no.1) | Gustave Mahler, Austrian-Bohemian | Uses the Frere Jacques theme as a funeral march in the third movement | post romantic |
| Symphony of a thousand (no.8) | Gustave Mahler, Austrian-Bohemian | The title is based on the number of performers intended for its premiere. | post romantic |
| Kreisleriana (Solo Piano) | Robert Schumann, German | A set of 8 pieces full of contrast and texture. Inspired by Florestan and Eusubius, the characters the composer used to represent his own compulsive and dreamy sides. Banger! | Romantic |
| Kinderszenen (Solo Piano) | Robert Schumann, German | A set of 13 pieces that are reminiscent of the composer's own childhood. Means "Scenes from Childhood". Includes movements such as "Träumerei" and "Of Foreign Lands and Peoples" | Romantic |
| Rhenish Symphony (no.3) | Robert Schumann, German | Contains a famous "Freierlich" movement based on the coronation of a bishop at the Cologne Cathedral near the title river. | Romantic |
| Spring Symphony (no.1) | Robert Schumann, German | The first movement starts with a horn call based on a line from a Böttger poem. | Romantic |
| Death and the Maiden (String Quartet) | Franz Schubert, Austrian | A Quartet that was later orchestrated into a string orchestra by Mahler. | Romantic (late classical) |
| The "Great" Symphony (no.9) | Franz Schubert, Austrian | The composer's 9th and last symphony. It was not performed until years after his death, when Schumann found it and Mendelssohn premiered it. The inspiration for Schumann's Spring symphony. | Romantic (late classical) |
| Pathétique sonata (no.8) (Solo Piano) | Ludwig Van Beethoven, German | Named after its tragic and expressive nature. | Classical |
| Hammerklavier sonata (no.29)(Solo Piano) | Ludwig Van Beethoven, German | The composer's 29th sonata, being notoriously difficult, long, and difficult to interpret. | Classical (Early Romantic) |
| Fingal's Cave/Hebrides overture (Orchestral) | Felix Mendelssohn, German | Inspired by the composer's time in Scotland | Romantic |
| Reformation Symphony (no.5) | Felix Mendelssohn, German | The last movement is based on Martin Luther's chorale, "A mighty fortress is our God" | Romantic |
| 4 Ballades (Solo Piano) | Frederic Chopin, Polish | The most emotionally powerful and physically demanding works of their time, they are considered some of the most important works of the romantic era. It never comes up but it's legit one of the most important works ever made. Makes no sense! | Romantic |
| Sonata in B minor (Solo Piano) | Franz Liszt, Hungarian | This never comes up but I love it so it stays | Romantic |
| The Sunken Cathedral (La Cathédrale Engloutie) (Solo Piano) | Claude Debussy, French | A piece from his preludes. | Impressionist |
| Children's Corner (Solo Piano) | Claude Debussy, French | A suite reflecting idyllic scenes from childhood. Includes Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum , Jimbo's lullaby, and Golliwog's Cakewalk. | Impressionist |
| Le Tombeau de Couperin (The Couperin's Tomb) (Solo piano) | Maurice Ravel, French | Distantly reminiscent of the titular Baroque composer. In memory of the composer's friends lost in WWI. | Impressionist |
| The Art of Fugue (Solo Piano) | Johann Sebastian Bach, German | A long and thorough set of works composed equally for study and performance. Studied by many later composers. | Baroque |
| Emperor Concerto (no.5) (Piano concerto) | Ludwig Van Beethoven, German | His last concerto, dedicated to the arrival of his friend, the Archduke Rudolf | Classical |
| Pastorale Symphony (no.6) | Ludwig Van Beethoven, German | Each movement reflects the title atmosphere. Movements include "Scene by the Brook", "Merry gathering of Country folk", "Thunder, Storm", and two others. | Classical |
| Lieder Ohne Worte (Songs without Words) (Piano set) | Felix Mendelssohn, German | Short works designed to imitate the style of arias on a solo instrument. | Romantic |
| resurrection symphony (no.2) | Gustave Mahler, Austrian-Bohemian | An episodic piece going from a dark, brooding start to a massive choral close | post romantic |
| Die Forelle (The Trout) (Lieder) | Franz Schubert, Austrian | A short song about a fisherman catching the title fish. Its theme is reused in a quintet of the same name. | Classical (early romantic) |
| Stars and Stripes Forever (Marching Band) | John Philip Sousa, American | A patriotic piece often played at military ceremonies. | Romantic |
| Maple Leaf Rag (Piano) | Scott Joplin, American | Among the most influential pieces of the genre. | Ragtime |
| The Entertainer (Piano) | Scott Joplin, American | The first widely-known ragtime piece. | Ragtime |
| In the Steppes of Central Asia (Orchestral) | Alexander Borodin, Russian | A tone poem relating the title location. | Romantic |
| Études-Tableaux (Study-pictures) (Piano set) | Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian | An early piece from this set was inspired by the composer's dream of opening a coffin and finding himself inside of it. | post romantic |
| Má Vlast (My Fatherland) (Orchestral) | Bedřich Smetana, Czech | Describes the nationalist composer's homeland in movements such as Vyšehrad, based on the castle in Prague, and Die Moldau, based on the Moldau (Vltava) river in Czechia. | Romantic |
| Kindertotenlieder (songs on the death of children) | Gustave Mahler, Austrian-Bohemian | yikes | post romantic |
| Nights in the Gardens of Spain (Piano concerto) | Manuel De Falla, Spanish | Movements titled "En el Generalife", "Danza Lejana (distant dance)", and "En Los jardines de la Sierra de Cordoba". Certified Banger! | impressionist |
| Das Lied von der Erde (Song of The Earth) | Gustave Mahler, Austrian-Bohemian | It would have been his 9th symphony, but fearing the "curse of the ninth", he published it as a symphonic song cycle. Worked? I guess. | post romantic |
Created by:
Peter Z
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