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Classical Music A
Operas, Ballets, suites, oratorios, and more
| Piece | Composer, Nationality | Description | Type/other contributers |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ring Cycle | Richard Wagner, German, | A 14-hour cycle of 4 operas, including The Rhinegold, Siegfried, The Valkerie, and Twilight of the Gods. | Opera cycle |
| The Flying Dutchman | Richard Wagner, German | Follows Daland, a captain who is approached by a captain of a ghostly ship. He offers him gold in exchange for her daughter Senta, and he accepts. His daughter eventually jumps in the sea, relieving the title ship from its curse. | Opera |
| Ride of the Valkyries | Richard Wagner, German | A section from "Die Valkerie", the third opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle. Follows Brunnhilde and her titular companions. | Section from Opera (Die Valkerie) |
| Peer Gynt | Edvard Grieg, Norwegian | A set of incidental music about the title character that includes "morning mood" and "In The Hall of the Mountain King" | Orchestral suite, based on play by Henrik Ibsen (Peer Gynt) |
| Messiah | George Friedrich Handel, German-British | Includes the Hallelujah chorus, often performed on Christmas. | Oratorio |
| Arrival of the Queen of Shiba(Sheba) | George Friedrich Handel, German-British | The last section of Handel's Oratorio King Solomon | section from an oratorio |
| Carmen | Georges Bizet, French | Includes famous songs such as "Toreador song" and "Habanera". Follows José and his rivalry with Escamillo over the love of the title character. He should have married Micaëla! How tragic. | Opera, Based on a novel by Prosper Mérimée |
| Ode to Joy | Ludwig van Beethoven, German | Part of his 9th symphony, often called the "chorale" symphony. | movement from Symphony |
| Ave Maria (aria) | Franz Schubert, Austrian | Not to be confused with the many pieces by many different composers under the same name. This one is an Aria (solo singer and accompaniment) | Aria |
| St Matthew Passion and St John Passion | Johann Sebastian Bach, German | Long religious works that were among the most emotional works of the era. | Passion (oratorio) |
| Mass in B Minor | Johann Sebastian Bach, German | An oratorio meant to be sung for church services to replace standard chanting. | Mass |
| Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring | Johann Sebastian Bach, German | From the cantata, "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" | section from cantata |
| Swan Lake | Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian | Princess Odette is turned into a Swan by the wicked Von Rothbart. Siegfried, looking for a wife, finds Odette and is smitten. | Ballet, Choreographed by Julius Reisinger |
| Rodeo | Aaron Copland, American | subtitled "the Courting at Burnt Ranch". In movements "Buckaroo Holiday", "Corral Nocturne", "Ranch House Party", "Saturday Night Waltz", and "Hoe-Down" | Ballet, Choreographed by Agnes de Mille |
| Appalachian Spring | Aaron Copland, American | About a Pennsylvania family in spring. | Ballet, Choreographed by Martha Graham |
| The Nutcracker | Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian | Drosselmeyer gives Clara and Fritz a wooden nutcracker. Clara goes on adventures defeating the mouse king and entering the realm of sweets and seeing the Sugar Plum Fairy. | Ballet, based on E.T.A Hoffmann's short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", and choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov |
| Carmina Burana | Carl Orff, German | Based on 24 poems from a medieval collection. Begins and ends with "Fortune, Empress of the World" (O Fortuna!) | Cantata, later staged as Ballet |
| Lohengrin | Richard Wagner, German | Elsa is accused by Telramund of murdering her brother Gottfried when a knight in a boat drawn by swans arrives and saves her. Contains a famous Bridal Chorus. | opera |
| Orpheus in the Underworld | Jacques Offenbach, German-French | A comedy of the title character glad to be rid of his wife Eurydice, who was abducted by Pluto. He is peer-pressured into saving her from hell. Contains the Can-Can and the infernal Galop. | Opera |
| Rigoletto | Giuseppi Verdi, Italian | The title character is cursed by Monterone, and warns his daughter, Gilda, to be careful. His daughter dies giving her life for the Duke of Mantua. | Opera, based on play "Le Roi S'amuse" by Victor Hugo |
| The Magic Flute | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian | Papageno and Tamino are instructed to rescue the daughter of the Queen of the Night, Pamina. They are given the title instrument. Tamino undergoes a trial of silence and fast and is eventually successful. | Opera |
| Don Giovanni | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian | The title character is a scandalous womanizer who rapes Anna and kills her father. The opera ends with him burning in hell. | Opera, based on famous European legend of Don Juan |
| Marriage of Figaro | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian | A comedy where the title character feuds with the Count Almaviva for seducing his wife. | Opera, based on play by Pierre Beaumarchais. |
| Rite of Spring | Igor Stravinsky, Russian | Revolves around a virgin chosen to dance herself to death in order to renew the Earth. | Ballet |
| Firebird | Igor Stravinsky, Russian | Follows Prince Ivan and the evil Koschei the Immortal. Ivan spares the title animal, falls in love with Tsarevna, and defeats Koschei with the title animal. | Ballet |
| Flight of the Bumblebee | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian | A scene from Tsar Saltan, describes Gvidon as he is transformed into the title insect to explore his father's palace unnoticed | piece from opera |
| Scheherazade | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian | Follows the title character, a middle-eastern legend. Includes movements like "The Sea and Sinbad's Ship", and "The Kalandar Prince" | Symphonic Suite, based on story from One Thousand And One Nights |
| Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnaval Des Animaux) | Camile Saint-Saens, French | A comedic piece in movements such as "Royal March of the Lion", "Hens and Roosters", "Wild Asses", "Tortoises", "The Elephant", and many more. The composer never intended to publish the piece. | Chamber suite |
| 4'33 | John Cage, American | There are no notes, it is 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence. Love it? Hate it? I hate it. | symphony (yep it's scored for symphony) |
| Peter and the Wolf | Sergei Prokofiev, Russian | A bird argues with a duck and the title child traps the title animal. Different instruments represent different animals. | Symphonic (misc.) |
| West Side Story | Leonard Bernstein, American | Follows Tony and Maria, members of the respective Jets and Sharks, rivalling NY gangs. Based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet | musical, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents |
| William Tell | Gioachino Rossini, Italian | A Swiss mountain climber and crossbowman kills Albrecht Gessler, an Austrian tyrant. He famously shoots an apple off his son's head. | Opera |
| Midsummer Night's Dream | Felix Mendelssohn, German | Contains a famous bridal march and overture. | Overture and incidental music for play by William Shakespeare |
| Tale of Tsar Saltan(Sultan) | Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian | The title character's son, Gvidon, rescues a swan who grants him a kingdom. The Swan turns him into different insects so he can see his father's court. Contains "flight of the bumblebee" | Opera, based on tale by Alexander Pushkin |
| Barber of Seville (The Useless Precaution) | Gioachino Rossini, Italian | Lindoro attempts to serenade Rosina outside of Bartolo's house, but fails. Almaviva disguises as Don Alonso to talk to Rosina | Opera, based on play by Pierre Beaumarchais. |
| The Thieving Magpie | Gioachino Rossini, Italian | Begins with a famous overture. it is about Ninetta, who wants to marry Gianetto, being arrested, suspected for stealing a silver spoon that was actually stolen by the title bird. | Opera |
| Petrushka | Igor Stravinsky, Russian | Follows the titular Russian doll as he attempts to woo a ballerina, but is thwarted when the ballerina falls madly for a Moor. | Ballet, based on Russian Folklore |
| La Boheme | Giacomo Puccini, Italian | Marcello and Rodolfo burn their writings to stay warm on Christmas eve. Rodolfo falls in love with Mimì and Marcello feuds with his former lover, Musetta. Both lose their loves and contemplate their lives. | Opera, based on novel by Henri Murger |
| A German Requiem | Johannes Brahms, German | Notably written in the title language rather than in Latin. Begins with "Selig sind, die la tragen" | Requiem |
| War Requiem | Benjamin Britten, English | Composed for the reconstruction of the Coventry cathedral, which was destroyed by German Air Raids in WWII. | Requiem |
| Unfinished Requiem | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian | Not to be confused with Mozart's completed Requiem in C minor. His unfinished requiem is in D minor. Completed by his student, Süssmayr | Requiem |
| Madame Butterfly | Giacomo Puccini, Italian | The title character, Cio-Cio San, is engaged to Pinkerton. He leaves and Sharpless and Suzuki console Cio-Cio, who commits suicide when he returns with a new wife, Kate. | Opera, based on short story by John Luther Long |
| Boris Godunov | Modest Mussorgsky, Russian | His only full-length opera, and considered his magnum opus | Opera |
| La Traviata | Giuseppe Verdi, Italian | Alfredo Germont falls in love with Violetta, but his dad convinces her to leave him. She courts Baron Douphol, who injures Alfredo in a duel. | Opera, based on La Dame aux camélias, by Alexander Dumas |
| The Creation | Joseph Haydn, Austrian | Relates the creation of the world according to the book of Genesis from the bible. One of his two oratorios | Oratorio |
| Turandot | Giacomo Puccini, Italian | Prince Calaf must answer three riddles from the title character in order to marry her. He succeeds, but she refuses. Contains the Aria, "Nessun Dorma" | Opera |
| Aida | Giuseppe Verdi, Italian | Ramades, an Egyptian commander, is in love with Aida, the captured Ethiopian princess. | Opera |
| Dido and Aeneas | Henry Purcell, English | The title characters are in love, but Aeneas is convinced by a sorceress to leave, and is hated by Dido on his return. | Opera |
| Billy Budd | Benjamin Britten, English | The title character accidently kills Claggart after being accused of mutiny, and is sentenced to death by captain Vere. | Opera, based on novel by Herman Melville |
| Peter Grimes | Benjamin Britten, English | A fisherman is blamed for the accidental death of his apprentice, and his new apprentice, John, slips and dies. Ellen and Captain Ballstrode convince him to commit suicide before the townsmen kill him. | Opera, based on narrative poem by George Crabbe |
| Treemonisha | Scott Joplin, American | Not premiered until 1972, and won a Pulitzer in 1976. The title character is kindapped by Zodzetrick and is rescued by Remus. | Opera. The libretto is by E.M. Forster of all people! |
| The Threepenny Opera | Kurt Weill, German and Bertolt Brecht, German. | Macheath attempts to marry Polly Peachum, but her father convinces the constable to arrest Macheath by threatening him with the beggars he controls. | Opera, play and words by Bertold Brecht, based on John Gay's opera, The Beggar's Opera. |
| Wozzeck | Alban Berg, Austrian | The title character murders his wife for her infidelity and drowns attempting to hide his crimes. One of the first operas to have arias in the 12-tone scale. | Opera, based on Georg Büchner's Woyzeck |
| Lulu | Alban Berg, German | The title character is married to Dr Goll, but marries Schwarz after Goll dies. Schön reveals Lulu's past to Schwarz, who kills himself. Lulu marries Schön, kills him, and is killed by Jack the Ripper (it's super weird and complicated). 12-tone. | Opera, based on Frank Wedenkind's Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora. |
| Lucia di Lammermoor | Gaetano Donizetti, Italian | Takes place in Scotland. Lucia loves Edgardo, a knight of the rival Ravenswood family. She is forced into marrying Enrico. Lucia goes mad an kills herself, and Edgardo does the same. They just couldn't help it. | Opera |
| Elixer of Love | Gaetano Donizetti, Italian | too lazy for now | Opera |
| Tosca | Giacomo Puccini | The Jealous policeman Scarpia promises Tosca that he will fake the execution of her guilty lover, Cavaradossi, but he betrays her and the execution is done real, and Tosca jumps off the parapets and dies. Woo! | opera |
| Norma | Vincenzo Bellini | something about Rome and the title druid protecting the gauls. Probably a suicide somewhere. | opera |
| The Pearl Fishers | Georges Bizet | Zurga and Nadir sing the "Friendship duet" but later compete for the love of Leila. | Opera |
| Harold in Italy | Hector Berlioz (Not Richard Strauss!) | Movements "Harold in the mountains", "March of the Pilgrims" and etc. Based on a Lord Byron poem. | Symphony but also viola concerto? |
| Ave Maria | Charles Gounod (French) | Plays the Ave Maria over Bach's first Prelude from the Well Tempered Klavier. Ugh. | Song |
| Orfeo Ed Euridice | Christoph Willibald Gluck (German) | you get the point | Opera |
| L'Orfeo | Claudio Monteverdi (Italian) | The first known opera in the standard repertoire! | Opera |
| Prince Igor | Alexander Borodin (Russian) | Contains the famous Polovtsian Dances | Opera |
Created by:
Peter Z
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