# Required Listening for Humanity



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

*You have the privilege of designating 20 works as Required Listening for Humanity. *

_You may consider as one work a collection of short pieces that are commonly grouped together such as Chopin's Nocturnes, for example._

Which works would you choose?

What are your criteria for selection?


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I tried to pick pieces that do at least one of the following:

1. Help people learn to love classical music. (edit: especially with works that are accessible and have broad appeal)
2. Promote feelings such as camaraderie and compassion that expand and elevate the human experience.
3. Represent outstanding works including undervalued works.


1. Bach: Mass in B minor
2. Mozart: Symphony no. 40
3. Beethoven: Symphony no. 9
4. Schubert: Wintereisse 
5. Schumann: Piano Concerto in A
6. Brahms: Violin Concerto
7. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
8. Fauré: Requiem
9. Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
10. Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition 
11. Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
12. Elgar: Enigma Variations
13. Sibelius: Symphony no. 5
14. Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemp
15. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto no. 2
16. Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
17. Barber: Adagio for Strings
18. Bernstein: West Side Story
19. Rzewski: El Pueblo Unido
20. Adams: Harmonielehre


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

1. Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes
2. Benjamin Britten: Billy Budd
3. Benjamin Britten: Death in Venice
4. Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
5. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sir John in Love
6. Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 9
7. Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5
8. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
9. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
10. Bohuslav Martinů: The Epic of Gilgamesh
11. Leoš Janáček: Sinfonietta
12. Carl Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto
13. Aaron Copland: Quiet City
14. Gustav Holst: Choral Symphony
15. Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto
16. Johann Sebastian Bach: St. John Passion
17. Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata BWV 147 (Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben)
18. Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantana BWV 106 (Actus Tragicus)
19. Arthur Bliss: Adam Zero
20. Michael Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage

I may have _slightly_ overdone the Britten, though I think I could produce a top 20 of just his works alone!

And the above is the order I thought of them in, not the order I'd recommend them in. I think they're all (nearly) as good as each other, really.

I tried to pick pieces that hadn't been mentioned in list above mine. And include music which speaks to me, at least, about the nature of the human condition: tragic and funny, cruel and good, sublime and ridiculous.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

01 Bach: Well Tempered Clavier (Book 2 if forced to choose)
02 Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins
03 Beethoven: String Quartet No 13 (with option of Grosse Fugue or not – 2 for the price of 1!)
04 Beethoven: Piano Sonata 32
05 Brahms: Clarinet Quintet
06 Brahms: Piano Quintet
07 Brahms: Late Piano Works (ideally Ops 116-119, but Op 119 if forced to pick)
08 Bruckner: Symphony 9
09 Elgar: Cello Concerto
10 Faure: Requiem
11 Handel: Concerti Grossi Op 6 (No 10 if forced to choose)
12 Haydn: Symphony 49 (La Passione)
13 Haydn: Symphony 99
14 Martin: Polyptyque
15 Milhaud Le Beouf sur le Toit (or Martinu: La Revue de Cuisine)
16 Ravel La Mere l’Oye
17 Schubert: String Quintet
18 Sibelius: Tapiola
19 Strauss: Metamorphosen
20 Vaughan Williams: Symphony 5
The criteria relate to an attempt to cover a wider range of human experiences. The pieces are not necessarily my favourites (although some are!), nor ones I would claim to be the best, as if I would have any right to judge that.
Some examples of what I’m trying to get at:
Ravel La Mere l’Oye: childhood
Brahms Piano Quintet: the prime of life, vigour and strength
Bach Concerto for 2 Violins: coupling, which is important for a sexually reproducing species!
Brahms Late Piano Works and Beethoven Piano Sonata No 32: later life reflections
Faure Requiem: contemplation of death, but not as something to fear too much
Other examples, more related to abstract feelings:
Elgar Cello Concerto: longing
Handel Concerti Grossi: order
Haydn 99: happiness – so under-appreciated in music
Martin Polyptyque and Bruckner 9: the divine (whether one is personally religious or not)
Milhaud Le Boeuf sur le Toit: frivolity, which is part of the human condition
Strauss Metamorphosen: regret for what has been lost
Sibelius Tapiola and Vaughan Williams 5 both relate to nature, the Sibelius as an inanimate force, and the Vaughan Williams as an environment shaped by humanity as a home.
The Bach Well Tempered Clavier just represents sheer awe at what a human being can achieve.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

The OP's values:

*1. Help people learn to love classical music.*

I agree with this so I'll do that too.

*2. Promote feelings such as camaraderie and compassion that expand and elevate the human experience.*

Sure, I'll try, although this is probably more about elements like plot and lyrics than pure music.

*3. Represent outstanding works including undervalued works.*

I don't set myself up as an independent judge of how "outstanding" a work is; and "undervalued" raises the question, "Undervalued by whom?" So I'll just kind of go with "respected by lots of classical music experts," where experts includes composers, scholars, famous performers, and even (merely) really knowledgeable listeners.

With that, a draft might be:


*Crumb: Black Angels*. I love this work as an introduction to classical music so that we can begin by sweeping away all kinds of helpful misconceptions: Classical music isn't "for relaxation," that's "new age" music. Classical music isn't all "pretty" music for "nice little old ladies." Classical music can be very modern, easily as badass as any other genre, with electronic instruments and all kinds of stuff. If you don't like it, don't listen to it, but definitely let it open your mind up. Plus, looking into its historical references could contribute to the OP's second goal.

*Górecki: Symphony #3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs," op. 36*. Another good stereotype-defying work, and something that any new listener would want to be made aware of early on their personal exploration of classical music. It also could contribute to the OP's second goal.

*Takemitsu: From Me Flows What You Call Time*. Despite the globalism of the instrumentation, I can't see that this contributes to the OP's second goal; nevertheless, it definitely presents yet a different aspect of classical music. By this point in the exploration, I hope a new listener has been thoroughly freed of the kind of misconceptions that too easily mislead our expectations for classical music, causing us not only to misunderstand contemporary music but also to misunderstand the tradition as a whole.

*Beethoven: Symphony #5 in C minor, op. 67*. Now it's time to begin to learn to be a good listener. The assignment is to listen for the "dum-dum-dum duuuuuuum" motif throughout the work. Count all the times it appears and listen for the way it's varied and transformed. Then read up on the history of what the work has meant in cultural history. This should be a nice, relatively easy exercise for novice listeners, opening them up a little more of the intellectual aspect of classical music, helping them realize that these super-famous works don't need to be intimidating, and perhaps the historical aspect of it would also contribute to the OP's 2nd goal.

*Ravel: Boléro*. Another simple listening exercise for a new listener: with each repetition of the melody, which instruments are playing? How do their different timbres contribute? Which ones do you like best? Can you figure out why you like them?

*Pérotin: Viderunt Omnes*. The second post in the linked thread explains why I think this is a valuable work for us all to know, and it's also good to realize that the tradition did not begin with the Baroque era.

*Mozart: Don Giovanni*. It's probably past time for an opera, and this is a good one to start with. Lots of famous parts, an easy-to-follow story, just good clean aristocratic fun and a reasonably good introduction to Mozart's power. It's important to see it (if possible) as well as to hear it. The assigned reading is the first part of Kierkegaard's _Either/Or_, and towards the OP's second goal the question is whether this work portrays the distinction between nobility and commoners as essentially exploitative or not. Is Don Juan just one bad man, or is he meant to represent his class?

*Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, op. 71*. Another important genre is ballet, and it's again important to see a production rather than merely listening. You'll want to follow along with the plot. It's a good time to review instrumentation as well. The extra-musical information will be about late nineteenth-century Russia, when a few wealthy noblemen even had their own ballet troops composed entirely of serfs. Ideally you'll be able to walk around St. Petersburg and see some of the palaces, maybe visit the Fabergé museum, and read a bit of Russian literature (~Crime and Punishment) to put it all in context.

*Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring)*. Maybe after all that saccharine delight you're ready to understand what a shock it was when artists declared independence. This is a good work to begin careful attention to the elements of rhythm and meter. There is a Schoenberg-centered teleological account of the history of western music as the creation of a system of tonality and the gradual expansion of chromaticism, and you'll want to be familiar with that mostly so you can understand what people are talking about when they talk about it, but it's good to realize that there were many other varieties of development as well, including rhythm and instrumentation, so this work will be good to represent all of that. The story of Coco and Igor is a nice little extra-musical exploration as well.

*Byrd: Mass for 4 Voices*. At some point, every classical music listener has to learn about the ordinary of the Catholic mass, and this is a fine introduction to the basic structure. Also, it's a great little bit of one of the great dramas in European cultural history: the Reformation. The assigned reading will introduce us all to the situation of Catholics in Elizabethan England so that we can contemplate this work as a kind of rebellion, imagining it being smuggled into England past censors, sung in small private chapels, ideally far from the watchful eyes of government spies. We can consider Shakespeare's family's situation at the same time, drawing in all kinds of good stuff.

*Bach: Musikalisches Opfer (A Musical Offering), BWV 1079*. Time to begin learning about counterpoint. We'll have to read the story about King Fred's challenge to the elder Bach, but our main activity will just be trying to follow the individual lines of music in each piece. This will be a good point ot begin trying different recordings, not so much with the goal of standing in judgment of the performers as with the question of which recordings enable us to hear the distinct lines most clearly. It will also be a good time to begin following the score, learning to read music.

*Mozart: Symphony #40 in G minor, K. 550*. More music structure! Now we're going to begin learning about sonata form. We'll also recall our lesson from Beethoven's fifth symphony to see not only how each movement tells a story but how the work as a whole does.

*Beethoven: Piano Sonata #14 in C-sharp minor, op. 27/2 "Moonlight"*. More exploration of musical structure. The extramusical content of this is going to be reading a lot of comments by "hardcore fans" of classical music about how terrible this work of music is, how sick they are of it, and so on. Then we'll listen to this work with the goal not only of following the structure of each movement but of hearing how the second movement is a development of the first, and then how the third movement is a culmination of that development, and finally we'll look back at all those comments to see how many of the snobs who made them showed any awareness of anything like this, and we'll have a heated discussion about whether they were reacting to the music itself or to something else, and about what their attitudes reveal about the community of classical music listeners. The goal of this discussion is not to set ourselves up as super-snobs judging the snobs, but to enable us to understand the classical music community's attitudes so that we can survive and thrive here as well.

*Tallis: Spem in alium*. Yet another kind of musical structure! It goes without saying that we'll get a 40-voice choir to perform this in a church for us so that we can hear the spatial transformation of the music....

*Schubert: Winterreise, D. 911*. The art-song. We'll listen to each song and try to find correspondences between the words and the music. We'll also listen to a few different performers to see how they affect our feelings about each song.

*Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated*. We haven't done anything with the OP's second goal for a while, so this will get us back on that topic. It will also be a fun introduction to the theme and variations form, and a fun exercise in reading a score.

*Reich: WTC 9/11*. Here's a viscerally powerful work -- in fact, honestly, I think it might need a trigger warning. An alternative work would be Ostertag's _All the Rage_ or Daugherty's _Sing Sing: J. Edgar Hoover_. With any of the works, we'll try to contemplate what (if anything) the music adds to the manipulation of the taped voices and how the total effect is supposed to portray the historical events.

*Shostakovich: String Quartet #8 in C minor, op. 110*. This will do to show that the old-fashioned romantic tradition has still been producing some great music in recent times. There'll be a lot to think about in terms of extra-musical associations and musical quotations.

*Pärt: Te Deum*. For prepared piano, tape, and three choirs. This will do for minimalism and "sacred minimalism." We'll have to find out about tintinnabuli, but we'll also have to find out how this is in many ways a neo-Renaissance composition.

*Rebel: Les Élémens*. By now we've dipped a little into each era and have some idea about the characteristic sounds and structures of each of them. The point of this final work is to illustrate that there are always surprises, so although I'm only allowed 20 works, once you've got a good idea what a Baroque works sounds like -- you'll want to be familiar with works like Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" (and the larger work from which they come), Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, Corelli's Concerti Grossi, and so on, and then turn to this one and let that first movement's rock and roll badassness wash over you. I really regret not putting music for organ or classical guitar on here.... 

I'd be remiss not to mention some works that you'd better know about (i.e. you've heard these works and you want to know their names) lest you get mocked, but that no one will ever "recommend" because you're not supposed to like them very much if you know very much about music (this is incomplete of course):


Pachelbel's Canon 
The Minuet in G often attributed to Bach 
The Rondeau from Mouret's Suite of Symphonies (~ "Masterpiece Theater") 
The Adagio in G minor attributed to Albinoni 
The Radetzky March by one of the Strausses 
J. Strauss II's Blue Danube 
Beethoven's Für Elise 
Mendelssohn's Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream 
The Flight of the Bumblebees from Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tale of Tsar Saltan (sure it's awful and everything but just for fun you should see Yuja Wang perform it on youtube) 
Debussy's Clair de lune from Suite Bergamasque
The famous parts of Orff's Carmina Burana 
The overture to Rossini's William Tell (~ "The Lone Ranger") 
Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries from the opera about the Valkyries 
Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik 
Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture
Vivaldi's Four Seasons 
Grieg's Peer Gynt Suites (in general you should not admit to liking the suites of anything -- you have to like the complete works!) 
Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice (which would be perfectly accepted in polite company if Disney hadn't illustrated it with Mickey Mouse) 
Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches 
Smetana's Vltava (or The Moldau) from Má Vlast (My Country) 
Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf 

In general, you'll want to get some of those "greatest hits" albums, especially for solo piano, so you hear the famous bits of Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Rachmaninoff and so on. That also goes especially for operas and ballets, which often have a few famous parts that you want to be able to recognize, even if you don't know most of the music.

Besides the above, there are a few dozen more works that are both highly respected and so famous that within a year or two of listening to classical music you'd be embarrassed not to recognize immediately and know a fair bit about (i.e. the works you'll be least likely to be forgiven for not already knowing or at least knowing about). I'll list twenty or so of the most obvious:


Bach's Goldberg Variations 
Bach's Mass in B minor 
Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier 
Beethoven's piano sonatas in general, especially #8, 13, 14, 17, 21, 23, 26-32
Beethoven's 9th symphony (also 3, 5, 6, and 7) 
Bizet's Carmen 
Debussy's La Mer, though knowing this particular work is less important than knowing generally about Debussy and Ravel 
Dvorak's 9th symphony 
Handel's Messiah 
Haydn's "London" Symphonies 
Haydn's string quartets, especially op. 76 
Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro 
Mozart's 20th and 21st piano concertos 
Mozart's Requiem 
Mahler's symphonies in general, and the Song of the Earth 
Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition 
Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra, op. 30 
Verdi's Rigoletto 
Wagner's Ring Cycle operas 
Wagner's Tristan and Isolde 

Finally, you'll want to find out a little about the conflicts over Schoenberg (and Berg and Webern), Cage, Stockhausen, and so on so that you can take some kind of position on that. This will probably never come up in real life but peer-reviewed studies have found that fights over these works occupy approximately seven billion percent of discussion about classical music on the internet.

This is enough to get you started. Good luck.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

I can’t match science’s amazing post, but I’ll take a stab at a list, sans descriptions, no particular order...

Bach - St. Matthew Passion
Bach - Goldberg Variations
Bach - Cello Suites
Tallis - Spem in alium
Machaut - Messe de Nostre Dame

Schubert - “Trout” Piano Quintet
Beethoven - Symphony No. 9
Beethoven - Late string quartets (might not count, but they need to be heard as a set)
Brahms - A German Requiem
Faure - Requiem

Mozart - Clarinet Concerto
Mozart - “Great” Mass in C Minor
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
Bruckner - Symphony No. 9
Liszt - Piano Sonata in B Minor

Mahler - Symphony No. 9
Ravel - Daphnis et Chloe
Shostakovich - String quartets (can’t decide which ones...)
Sibelius - Symphony No. 7
Messiaen - Quatuor pour la fin du temps

I probably will not be satisfied at all with this list when I look back on it later, but it will have to do.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Beethoven's Ninth, definitely.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

You really upped the importance on this thread, centrfuge. From favourite modern works to works that's "Required Listening for Humanity" :lol:

Of course, we know what every functional human needs to hear:

Scriabin Sonata 5
Shostakovich Quartet 15
Beethoven's 9th
Tchaikovsky's 5th
Varese Integrales
Prokofiev Sonata 7
Victoria Requiem
Haydn Mother Theresa Mass
R. Strauss Salome
Berlioz Symphonie F
Barber Violin Concerto
Bartok Quartet 5
Liszt Transcendental Studies
Mozart Clarinet Quintet
Ravel Mother Goose Suite
Stockhausen Kontakte
Vaughan Williams 4th
Handel Water Music
Schnittke Quartet 3
Ligeti Quartet 2


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Phil loves classical said:


> You really upped the importance on this thread, centrfuge. From favourite modern works to works that's "Required Listening for Humanity" :lol:


Yah, I'm not sure how I could make any list sound more important than that :lol:

Maybe "20 Pieces God Commands Humankind to Know" :lol:


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Answering this would of necessity involve principally works that have deep Universal meaning to me -- which would make my list as weird as or weirder than anyone else's -- so I'll pass.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

AbsolutelyBaching said:


> 1. Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes
> 2. Benjamin Britten: Billy Budd
> 3. Benjamin Britten: Death in Venice
> 4. Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
> ...




You may be the only other person I've seen on this forum who has mentioned The Midsummer Marriage -- which is on my desert island list and whose last 12 minutes or so leave me prouder to be a human being than almost anything else in the repertoire.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

MarkW, that’s what makes it fun. Please share your weird list.


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

These are the 20 works I propose. It is probably apparent that I favor 20th Century German and English music. The alphabetical order is a result of my referring to my CD collection catalogue, which contains all of my selected works. I’ve allowed myself only one work for any given composer and I’ve given a concise justification for each proposal.

Bach – Matthäus-Passion. Choral music.
Bartók – Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. Use of folk themes and instruments.
Beethoven – Symphony No. 5. Symphonic writing.
Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 2. The piano concerto.
Chopin – 12 Études, Op. 10. Solo piano writing.
Debussy – La Mer. Impressionism in music.
de Falla – El sombrero de tres picos. Influences Latin-American music.
Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue. Use of jazz.
Haydn – Symphony No. 96. The Classical symphony.
Hindemith – Symphony “Mathis der Maler.” The modernist breakthrough in symphony writing.
Holst – The Planets. Program music in the 20th Century.
Mahler – Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection.” The transition from Romanticism to the modern symphony.
Mozart – Die Zauberflöte. Mozart’s genius and playfulness.
Prokofiev – Alexander Nevsky. Russian 20th Century music.
Shotakovich – Symphony No. 5. The fully modern symphony.
Sibelius – Finlandia. Influential symphonic writing.
Strauss, R. – Sinfonia domestica. Modern German program music.
Stravinsky – Pétroushka. Modern ballet music.
Vaughan Williams – In the Fen Country. 20th Century English music.
Wagner – Der Ring des Niebelungen. Influenced subsequent tonality, operatic styling, and staging.

Most difficult to leave out given my personal tastes: Albeniz, Bach’s solo keyboard and ensemble works, Barber, Berlioz, Beethoven’s non-symphonic works, Brahms’ symphonies, Bruckner, Copland, Dvořák, Grieg, Händel, Ives, Janáček, Kodály, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mozart’s non-operatic works, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Respighi, Rimski-Korsakov, Rossini, Schubert, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Telemann, Verdi, Walton.


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## BlackAdderLXX (Apr 18, 2020)

This is a great thread. subbed.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

As someone who is sharing his love of orchestral classical music with his children, I have given this a lot of thought. I don't mind recommending "warhorses" that will get you mocked, because I don't care about derision in the slightest, and these pieces are war horses for a reason. As such, ten "beginner works":

Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Rossini William Tell Overture
Bach 3rd Brandenburg Concerto
Vivaldi Le Quattro Stagioni
Beethoven 5th Symphony
Holst The Planets
Copland Appalachian Spring
Wagner Tannhauser Overture
Strauss An Der Schonen Blauen Donau
Brahms Hungarian Dances

Then, with the ground fertilized, ten more "advanced" works.

Beethoven Symphony 3
Beethoven Symphony 6
Beethoven Symphony 9
Brahms Symphony 1
Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem
Dvorak Symphony 9
Sibelius Symphony 5
Sibelius Symphony 7
Strauss Eine Alpensinfonie
Strauss Metamorphosen

If my playlists for my kids were then the only remaining classical music left for humanity, I think we'd be OK. This is not to say that there aren't hundreds more pieces that I would miss, but these 20 are pretty good and would intrigue future generations by their sheer beauty and technical brilliance.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

My list:
1. Janacek: The Excursions of Mr Broucek
2. Howells: Requiem
3. Caldara: Trio sonatas, op.2
4. Telemann: III Trietti methodichi et III Scherzi
5. Prokofiev: Waltz Suite, op.110
6. Beethoven: Trio in C for 2 oboes and English horn, op.87
7. Lully: Te Deum
8. Sibelius: Humoresques, op.87
9. Mellits: Tight Sweater
10. Fauré: Valse-caprice no.1, op.30
11. Bryars: Three Poems of Cecco Angioleri
12. Norman: The Companion Guide to Rome
13. Dufay: Ave Regina Caelorum
14. Agricola: Je n'ay dueil
15. Korngold: Die Tote Stadt
16. Bach: Easter Oratorio
17. Czerny: Symphony no.1 in C minor
18. Stanford: String quartet no.3
19. Handel: Theodora
20. Busoni: Elegies

My criteria:
A random selection of works produced by my media player. If classical music is as wonderful as we think it is, then a random selection of it should still be impressive, no? Anyway, imposing any cultural item on the rest of humanity is quite the imperialist act - the additional imposition of arbitrary criteria of perceived value would just be adding insult to injury!


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Nereffid said:


> My list:
> 1. Janacek: The Excursions of Mr Broucek
> 2. Howells: Requiem
> 3. Caldara: Trio sonatas, op.2
> ...


I have heard exactly one work on this list - the Bach. Thanks for providing me with a listening list for the coming days!:tiphat:


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

seitzpf said:


> These are the 20 works I propose. It is probably apparent that I favor 20th Century German and English music. The alphabetical order is a result of my referring to my CD collection catalogue, which contains all of my selected works. I've allowed myself only one work for any given composer and I've given a concise justification for each proposal.
> 
> Bach - Matthäus-Passion. Choral music.
> Bartók - Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. Use of folk themes and instruments.
> ...


This is the best one :lol: "a collection of short pieces that are commonly grouped together". I totally agree though, the _Ring_ is essential!


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

1) Bach: The Well-tempered Clavier
2) Mozart: Symphony 40
3) Haydn: Symphony 104
4) Beethoven: Symphony 3
5) Beethoven: Piano Concerto 5
6) Berlioz: Symphony Fantastique
7) Schubert: Symphony 8
8) Schumann: Symphony 2
9) Brahms: Symphony 3
10) Dvorak: Symphony 8
11) Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty
12) Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
13) Kalinnikov: Symphony 1
14) Mahler: Symphony 4
15) Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto 2
16) Stravinsky: Firebird suite 1919
17) Respighi: Pines of Rome
18) Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
19) Shostakovich: Symphony 5
20) Puccini: La Boheme


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

1. Bach: Mass in B minor
2. Bach: St. Matthew Passion
3. Bach: St. John Passion
4. Bach: Cantata 80
5. Bach: Cantata 140
6. Bach: Cantata 34
7. Bach: Cantata 67
8. Bach: Cantata 21
9. Bach: Cello suites (I do believe they 
are a unified cycle)
10. Bach: Goldberg Variations
11. Bach: Art of Fugue
12. Bach: Musical Offering
13. Beethoven: Missa solemnis
14. Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro
15-20: Whatever


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

consuono said:


> 1. Bach: Mass in B minor
> 2. Bach: St. Matthew Passion
> 3. Bach: St. John Passion
> 4. Bach: Cantata 80
> ...


That's the kind of list I was tempted to make. When it comes down to it Bach is really all that matters, right?


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> That's the kind of list I was tempted to make. When it comes down to it Bach is really all that matters, right?


I wouldn't say "all that matters", but there's just so much in Bach that's staggeringly great and foundational, when you try to make a short list of "the essentials" it's going to be very Bach-heavy. I could name off 50 more cantatas, and I haven't even listened yet to every cantata. So much else just pales in comparison.
(edit)I think I would round out my list with Beethoven's last five piano sonatas and the 14th string quartet.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

I don't think I would require any listening for humanity. But if someone were to ask me a recommendation for the greatest piece, I would say, try Beethoven's 6th.


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

I would aim for 20 works that I consider highly engaging throughout and/or quite 'moving' for the most part, while collectively representing a diverse range of styles, genres, and periods, so...

(in alphabetical order)

1.	Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 "Waldstein"
2.	Brahms: Clarinet Quintet
3.	Bruckner: Symphony No. 8
4.	Fauré: Requiem
5.	Liszt: _Harmonies poétiques et religieuses_
6.	Mahler: Symphony No. 5
7.	Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto 
8.	Messiaen: _Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jésus_
9.	Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25
10.	Poulenc: Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra
11.	Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 
12.	Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances
13.	Rautavaara: _Cantus Arcticus_
14.	Schubert: String Quintet
15.	Schumann: Piano Quintet
16.	Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
17.	Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
18.	Strauss: Four Last Songs
19.	Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio
20.	Vaughan Williams: _Tallis Fantasia_

Very difficult to leave out certain works, but it's a list that can do for now.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

My list would very lopsided towards orchestral music (as opposed to chamber music and vocal music) but here goes:

Bach - Brandenburg Concerti
Haydn - Symphony 104
Mozart - Marriage of Figaro
Mozart - Symphony 41
Mozart - PC 24
Mozart Clarinet Concerto
Beethoven - Symphony 3
Beethoven - Symphony 7
Beethoven - Symphony 9
Beethoven - Violin Concerto
Beethoven - PC 4
Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto
Brahms - Symphony 4
Dvorak - Symphony 7
Dvorak - Symphony 8
Dvorak - Symphony 9
Dvorak - Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto
Debussy - La Mer
Shostakovich - Symphony 5

Not dissing other music but this would be my skewed playlist.


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