# Your Favourite Opus 1's



## Swosh (Feb 25, 2018)

Do you guys have any favourite or notable Op. 1's?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Well, Beethven's Op. 1 piano trios are still central to the repertoire for that ensemble.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Niccolò Paganini's Op. 1, the 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, is quite a work. Quite influential towards other works, too -- especially various Variations.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I don't know about favourite but this is a fine work ...


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## Schoenberg (Oct 15, 2018)

Bach's Opus 1 (BWV 825-830)


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

Dohnanyi's Piano Quintet no. 1!






Faure's op. 1 no. 1 is very cute:


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Besides the already mentioned Beethoven and Webern, Nielsen did a good opus 1, the _Little Suite for Strings_:


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

Other than some of the aforementioned works with very singular Opus numbers, I like Berg and Brahms` op. 1 Piano Sonatas, Mendelssohn`s Piano Quartet and Rimsky-Korsakov`s stupendous 1st Symphony.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I'll also vote for the Brahms piano sonata #1, Op. 1


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Dvorak - String Quintet No. 1 in A minor.


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

Alban Berg piano Sonata!


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## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

How about Prokofiev's Piano Sonata no.1 in F minor op.1 . A truly seminal work in his oeuvre.


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## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

Rachmaninoff ‒ Piano Concerto No.1, Op.1


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Webern's Passacaglia and Berg's Piano Sonata are both amazing. Beethoven's op.1 Piano Trios of course, though I haven't heard all of them. Outside of that, none really come to mind.


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## zelenka (Feb 8, 2018)

Greatest Op. 1 of all time: Franck - Piano Trio No. 1


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Nice:

Kurt Atterberg (Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra)
Beethoven (Piano Trio Nos. 1 and 3, not as fond of 2 yet)
Chopin (Rondo in C minor)
Rachmaninoff (Piano Concerto No. 1)

Amazing:

Robert Schumann (Abegg Variations)
Brahms (Piano Sonata No. 1)


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Forgot about Rachmaninov. That's a ballsy place to begin your composing career.


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

Taneyev`s Cantata _John of Damascus_ and Glazunov`s String Quartet are notable candidates as well.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

I just love the Prokofiev.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

My vote for the greatest Op.1 (effectively)


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2019)

I'm surprised no one mentioned Schubert's Erlkönig


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Q: When is an Op. 1 not a first opus?
A: When the composer has suppressed earlier works and declared that THIS is his opus 1. And that even assumes that the designations were done by the composer - in many cases they were cataloged after the fact and not always with full knowledge of the compositional history.

I haven't taken the time to investigate the pieces listed so far but would be very surprised if they were all the first published works by that composer. Ergo - opus 1 is often a meaningless designation.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I can appreciate Becca's point about the designation factor but if I am to stick rigidly to the original question then my list would be:

Berg - Piano Sonata
Webern - Passacaglia for orchestra
Korngold - Piano Trio
Britten - Sinfonietta for five winds and five strings
Adès - _Five Eliot Landscapes_ for soprano and piano

It might be cheating a bit but I would also include Mahler's cantata _Das klagende Lied_, even though he, like many others, disdained actual opus numbers. At least on this occasion it was his first completed work to survive, wasn't it?


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Mozart... age 5. He was already Mozart even then. Remarkable.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

elgars ghost said:


> It might be cheating a bit but I would also include Mahler's cantata _Das klagende Lied_, even though he, like many others, disdained actual opus numbers. At least on this occasion it was his first completed work to survive, wasn't it?


OK, if you are doing that I will propose the Sibelius Kullervo Symphony. The composer disdained to give it an opus number but it is a powerful and widely enjoyed work and recognisable as Sibelius.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Another one worth mentioning is Crusell's Clarinet Concerto in E-flat major, Op. 1.


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## ddavewes (Dec 7, 2014)

Adapted from Trio Sonata XII from Vivaldi Opus 1 - La Folia


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

Haydn op 1 string quartets. Might not be the greatest string quartets but show a glimpse of future quartets by Haydn.


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

Almost forgot about Gade's Echoes of Ossian:


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

Stravinsky's Symphony in Eb. Opus 1 .....


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