# Greatest Work of Music You Haven't Heard



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Going off DDD's fairly unremarkable list of "great" works what's the greatest work you've never heard? Setting the bar pretty low, we'll say you've "heard" a work if you've listened to over half of it.

http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best-classic-wks.html

I don't get past #5, St. Matthew's Passion. I have a recording but haven't listened to much of it, feel like it's something you need to witness live for at least the first listen.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Crap, why is this in the Opera forum? Could a kind moderator please move this to General Classical? We'll get too many "Mass in B Minors" in the opera forum.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

The Ring Cycle...never heard it in it's entirety. Doesn't mean I don't want to though.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

violadude said:


> The Ring Cycle...never heard it in it's entirety. Doesn't mean I don't want to though.


Out of interest, which parts have you heard?


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Couchie said:


> Crap, why is this in the Opera forum? Could a kind moderator please move this to General Classical? We'll get too many "Mass in B Minors" in the opera forum.


Done. 

St. Matthew Passion for me too, Couchie. I don't know why I dare say Bach is my favorite composer without having heard this masterpiece. To make the guilt even worse, the Gardiner recording is sitting literally 2 feet away from me right now.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Couchie said:


> Out of interest, which parts have you heard?


Just the preludes to each one and of course the famous bits.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Mahler's 5th and 8th are two I can think of right off the bat. 

St. Mathew's Passion-Bach

A great number of opera and choral works.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

clavichorder said:


> Mahler's 5th and 8th are two I can think of right off the bat.
> 
> St. Mathew's Passion-Bach
> 
> A great number of opera and choral works.


I think you're supposed to look at the list and see how "far" you get down the list before you get to a piece that you havent heard and name it.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

violadude said:


> Just the preludes to each one and of course the famous bits.


That's like listening to the first 8 notes of Beethoven's 5th.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Couchie said:


> That's like listening to the first 8 notes of Beethoven's 5th.


I know I know  I'll get around to it someday!


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

violadude said:


> I think you're supposed to look at the list and see how "far" you get down the list before you get to a piece that you havent heard and name it.


I don't get past #1. I have wanted to listen to Der Ring for the longest time however, I just could not fit it in my schedule.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I had to pass at #13, Verdi's Otello. I have tried a few of his other operas, but did not like them.

Except for a few operas. I have everything on the list on CD.


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

I can't say it's great because I haven't heard it!


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## Artemis (Dec 8, 2007)

Couchie said:


> Going off DDD's fairly unremarkable list of "great" works what's the greatest work you've never heard? Setting the bar pretty low, we'll say you've "heard" a work if you've listened to over half of it.
> 
> http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best-classic-wks.html
> 
> I don't get past #5, St. Matthew's Passion. I have a recording but haven't listened to much of it, feel like it's something you need to witness live for at least the first listen.


There's nothing on the DDD list that I haven't heard.

I don't regard it as a particularly challenging or unusual list of "greatest" works in terms of providing a general introduction to classical music. It seems broadly to point in the right direction to me, although I wouldn't try to defend all the particular rankings, which to a large extent are quite arbitrary. Rather, I would have ought that any self-respecting classical music fan should aim to have heard 95% + of those works within say 5 years of serious listening. After 20-odd years it should inspire little more than a big yawn.

However I can't say that I have listened to each and every piece on the DDD list all that attentively or in their entirety, but I never would do so as there are several works on that list (or for that matter, any similar list) that do not interest me all that much. For example, I'm no great fan of Mahler or Bruckner or Wagner even though I have all of their output, often in triplicate or more. Several of Mahler's symphonies generally bore me to death, and Bruckner's I find so bumptious and over-blown. Wagner's work is 90% sheer tedium as far as I'm concerned, but the 10% which is good is extemely good. But I have "heard" them all, after a fashion at least.

I'm a little surprised that the DDD list was taken for this purpose of comparison, when there is another list of the same sort of thing currently being produced in T-C where the number of works exceeds those on the DDD list.


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

I can't say that I'm familiar with all 96 pieces in the Well-Tempered Clavier, but there's a lot of it that I do know pretty well.

Going down the list, the first piece that I've never heard, or for that matter heard of, is Josquin des Prez's Missa Pange Lingua.


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

Strauss' A Hero's Life is the first non-operatic work I haven't heard on there. There are two others further down I haven't heard either: the Bruch VC and Ravel's Rhapsodie Espagnol.


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

Curiously, the major gaps that I can think of in my case are all 18th century works.

Orchestral: Vivaldi's Four Seasons - I've never even heard just the 'main four' in their entirety, let alone the whole opus they're 
taken from. Perhaps I've been too sated by the 5-disc set of other Vivaldi concertos that I've got.

Instrumental: probably the second book of Bach's '48' - I never seem to get around to buying it, despite enjoying Book I.

Choral: Bach again - St. John Passion and some of the more famous cantatas.

Opera: I've heard no operas by either Gluck or Handel.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Artemis said:


> There's nothing on the DDD list that I haven't heard.
> 
> I don't regard it as a particularly challenging or unusual list of "greatest" works in terms of providing a general introduction to classical music. It seems broadly to point in the right direction to me, although I wouldn't try to defend all the particular rankings, which to a large extent are quite arbitrary. Rather, I would have ought that any self-respecting classical music fan should aim to have heard 95% + of those works within say 5 years of serious listening. After 20-odd years it should inspire little more than a big yawn.
> 
> ...


The point of the thread is merely to see which 5% (or another number not from your ***) people haven't listened to yet for whatever reason, presumably because they let their interests develop organically instead of trying to fulfill some sort of quota.


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## Artemis (Dec 8, 2007)

Couchie said:


> The point of the thread is merely to see which 5% (or another number not from your ***) people haven't listened to yet for whatever reason, presumably because they let their interests develop organically instead of trying to fulfill some sort of quota.


I let my interests develop organically rather than fulfil some sort of quota and have heard all the works on DDD's lists. There's nothing difficult about being familiar with the top 200 works. It's only a matter of time as I tried to make clear.

If you think this number might be too high for the average T-C member, perhaps you ought to have a word with the folk who are still busily constructing T-C's "recommended list" of top claasical works, which has now exceeded 300 items when I last bothered to check on it, since on that reckoning no-one will ever get round to listening to that many works.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Couchie said:


> The point of the thread is merely to see which 5% ... people haven't listened to yet for whatever reason, presumably because they let their interests develop organically instead of trying to fulfill some sort of quota.


I agree that would be interesting. You did, of course, ask people to name the highest (greatest) work we had not heard. Maybe people could try what elgars ghost posted - a summary showing the kind of works or specific works they have not heard.

The first work I have not heard is The Ring. I have heard most of the purely orchestral music, but have not heard the operas. Since I have heard a small number of operas, most of the ones listed on DDD I have not heard.

The first non-operatic work I haven't heard is Verdi's Requiem and the next work was 
Monteverdi vespers of 1610. The only non-vocal work I have not heard was the last - Ives' Three Places In New England.

Clearly I get a failing grade in vocal works.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Mozart's Requiem. I'm not in any particular hurry, either (and, for the record, that's not a slam against Mozart; I'm just not in a hurry).


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## Artemis (Dec 8, 2007)

jalex said:


> Strauss' A Hero's Life is the first non-operatic work I haven't heard on there. There are two others further down I haven't heard either: the Bruch VC and Ravel's Rhapsodie Espagnol.


These three works are high class material.

Strauss's _Ein Heldenleben_, Op 40, is rated as the third greatest work by this composer on the DDD site. The version by Barbirolli/New Philharmonia on EMI is a good one.

Bruch's _Violin Concerto No 1 _is a very popular classical work. It regularly features inside the top 10 of Classic FM's Hall of Fame. This year it was at No 9 spot, flanked by Beethoven's Choral Symphony at No 10 and Elgar's Cello Concerto at No 8. A good version is by Heifetz.

Ravel's _Rhapsodie Espagnol _is another very popular classic. It was rated as Ravel's second greatest work by DDD. My favourite version is by Pierre Monteux/London Symphony Orchestra (Decca).


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I fell at the first hurdle. I do not care for Bach or Wagner.


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

In the first 100, the only ones I haven't heard (or don't remember hearing!) in their entirety are (most of these I've heard part of)

Piano Concerto in A minor – Robert Schumann
Aida – Giuseppe Verdi
A Midsummer Night's Dream – Felix Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto in E minor – Felix Mendelssohn
Clarinet Quintet in B minor – Johannes Brahms
Piano Sonata in B minor – Franz Liszt
Swan Lake – Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor – Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor – Sergei Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto in A minor – Edvard Grieg
La Traviata – Giuseppe Verdi
Sleeping Beauty – Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
Romeo and Juliet – Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky

Some themes - don't like Tchaikovsky, romantic piano concertos, most operas


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Jeremy Marchant said:


> Piano Concerto in A minor - Robert Schumann


How dare you?! 



Jeremy Marchant said:


> A Midsummer Night's Dream - Felix Mendelssohn


How dare you?! 



Jeremy Marchant said:


> Violin Concerto in E minor - Felix Mendelssohn


How dare you?! 



Jeremy Marchant said:


> Clarinet Quintet in B minor - Johannes Brahms


HOW DARE YOU?!?!?! 



Jeremy Marchant said:


> Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor - Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky


How dare you?! 



Jeremy Marchant said:


> Piano Concerto in A minor - Edvard Grieg


How dare you?!


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Polednice said:


> I fell at the first hurdle. I do not care for Bach or Wagner.


Wagner's actually a 30 ft hurdle near the end, but people don't want to admit it.


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

Artemis said:


> These three works are high class material.
> 
> Strauss's _Ein Heldenleben_, Op 40, is rated as the third greatest work by this composer on the DDD site. The version by Barbirolli/New Philharmonia on EMI is a good one.


I have this on CD actually, it's the only one I haven't listened to yet.












> Bruch's _Violin Concerto No 1 _is a very popular classical work. It regularly features inside the top 10 of Classic FM's Hall of Fame. This year it was at No 9 spot, flanked by Beethoven's Choral Symphony at No 10 and Elgar's Cello Concerto at No 8. A good version is by Heifetz.


Yes, I have no good reason for not having heard this other than a mild suspicion of concertos in general and of highly melodic Romantic violin concertos in particular, Mendelssohn excepted. One day.



> Ravel's _Rhapsodie Espagnol _is another very popular classic. It was rated as Ravel's second greatest work by DDD. My favourite version is by Pierre Monteux/London Symphony Orchestra (Decca).


Thanks for recommendation; I hadn't even heard of this one before.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

@Jalex, personally I don't think you are missing out on much when it comes to the Bruch VC.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

@Jalex, personally I think you are missing out on much when it comes to the Bruch VC.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

@Jalex, personally I think you are missing out on an indeterminate amount when it comes to the Bruch VC.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Some big and beloved work of Wagner's.


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## Artemis (Dec 8, 2007)

violadude said:


> @Jalex, personally I don't think you are missing out on much when it comes to the Bruch VC.


I didn't say it was my favourite either. Far from it. I've heard it so often I'm sick of it. I don't like thick romantic slush any more but I did at one time.

In fact, the more I think about I'm going through a process which is rather opposite to member _someguy._ T'was not not always so. My tastes were once ever-expanding and embraced the new far and wide, but I'm now in regress mode with my tastes slowly imploding more and more towards the period 1800-1850, and little else.

At this rate, one day I'm afraid of waking up and finding that all I like is perhaps a single piece by Schubert and maybe _In My Life_ by the Beatles. Perhaps it might be a good idea actually for this to occur, because that way I could come back to T-C, all innocent like, and ask for advice on stuff like which Beethoven symphony set I should buy first. What joy that would be: to start all over. again.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Artemis said:


> In fact, the more I think about I'm going through a process which is rather opposite to member _someguy._ T'was not not always so. My tastes were once ever-expanding and embraced the new far and wide, but I'm now in regress mode with my tastes slowly imploding more and more towards the period 1800-1850, and little else.


I don't suppose I can squeeze you to 1853 just so we can get you some Brahms in case of emergency?


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

That list is amazing. In my opinion, SO off.

This was my attempt an unbiased list a few years back http://www.head-fi.org/t/461782/the-100-greatest-pieces-of-classical-music

I still agree with 90% of my list.


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## Artemis (Dec 8, 2007)

Polednice said:


> I don't suppose I can squeeze you to 1853 just so we can get you some Brahms in case of emergency?


You definitely could. What would I do without you to rectify my occasional slip-ups? I'm glad to see that you are paying such close attention. Besides, Schumann's VC - which I love - was produced in that year.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

DavidMahler said:


> That list is amazing. In my opinion, SO off.
> 
> This was my attempt an unbiased list a few years back http://www.head-fi.org/t/461782/the-100-greatest-pieces-of-classical-music
> 
> I still agree with 90% of my list.


So off as in the list sucks?


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Errr... No. 1; choral music is definitely my blind spot.


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## Artemis (Dec 8, 2007)

DavidMahler said:


> That list is amazing. In my opinion, SO off.
> 
> This was my attempt an unbiased list a few years back http://www.head-fi.org/t/461782/the-100-greatest-pieces-of-classical-music
> 
> I still agree with 90% of my list.


The majority of works listed in your top 100 seem to be included within DDD's top 200. I accept there are some differences.

The question raised in the OP is not whether you approve of DDD's listing, but how many of the works on the DDD list you haven't yet heard.

Your comment that you still agree with your own list iof works would therefore appear to be largely irrelevant, if not completely so.


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

Artemis said:


> The majority of works listed in your top 100 seem to be included within DDD's top 200. I accept there are some differences.
> 
> The question raised in the OP is not whether you approve of DDD's listing, but how many of the works on the DDD list you haven't yet heard.
> 
> Your comment that you still agree with your own list iof works would therefore appear to be largely irrelevant, if not completely so.


ive heard every work listed in the DDD list. I had nothing to contribute on that end, but I thought the ranking was strange so I included my old list that I had done which had a similar premise.


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

violadude said:


> So off as in the list sucks?


The Nutcracker being included in the top 200, let alone top 30 is very odd. I assume by Greatest they are not talking about popularity.

Kv466, a great work I agree, is not considered by anywhere else that I've ever seen other than DDD to be the greatest of all piano concertos. I'm not even sure it's considered Mozart's finest.

Appalachian Spring in front of every Haydn work?

Appassionata as the greatest of solo keyboard works? In front of any other Beethoven sonata AND the WTC, while the Hammerklavier (a notably greater work sits more than 125 spots back)

Mahler's greatest works not even mentioned in the top 100, in favor of the much easier to sell 2 and 5

Meistersinger at 94 seems extremely weird to me. Surely its greater than half in front of it.

Mendelssohn did not write the greatest of all violin concertos.

Brandenburgs belong in there as a unit work, because sitting 2 of them outside the top 100 as the work's sole representative makes no sense. It is the most well loved orchestral/chamber music written prior to Mozart excluding the more popular, but less remarkable Four Seasons.

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun? Really?

Too much Puccini

Sibelius's 7th Symphony missing in the top 200?

Art of the Fugue at 158 makes no sense.

And the one that bothers me most - Ballade No. 4 entirely absent, when in fact it's almost universally considered Chopin's greatest work.

I could go on and on, but I'm remembering years ago when I read their list of the top 100 greatest piano works and the Heroic Polonaise was 1 and Les Preludes by Liszt was listed in the top 50. I'm not kidding


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

I've heard about 90% of the works on the DDD list which I am quite proud of! - The first unheard on the list is Mozart's Don Giovanni, but I do have a copy of that on my iPod which I have been saving up for a listen


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I was doing real good on the DDD and DavidMahler lists until they started rattling off operas. I've heard the Mozart, La Boheme, Tristan, and even the Ring, but those late Romantic operas do me in. Halfway through Rigoletto I remember thinking I need to wash my car or something.


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## Scarpia (Jul 21, 2010)

I was doing fine until I hit Handel's Messiah


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

DavidMahler said:


> Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun? Really?


Umm...hell yeah?


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Pieces I have yet to hear:

124. Falstaff – Giuseppe Verdi
139. Violin Sonata in A major – César Franck
146. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major – Serge Prokofiev
148. Cavalleria Rusticana – Pietro Mascagni
162. Il Trovatore – Giuseppe Verdi
170. Turandot – Giacomo Puccini
173. Faust – Charles Gounod
175. Lohengrin – Richard Wagner
177. Mathis der Maler – Paul Hindemith
185. Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor – Béla Bartók
197. Pelléas et Mélisande – Claude Debussy

Not too bad. Quite a few more off and on the list that I have heard.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I fell at the first hurdle. I do not care for Bach or Wagner.

Run as fast as you can gingerbread man... it doesn't matter. You're toast!:devil:


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## Artemis (Dec 8, 2007)

DavidMahler said:


> ive heard every work listed in the DDD list. I had nothing to contribute on that end, but I thought the ranking was strange so I included my old list that I had done which had a similar premise.


 I see. Thanks for the explanation. It makes two of us so far who have "nothing to declare", but somehow I feel that I shouldn't be saying anything in this thread since they appear to want only lists of works not yet listened to.


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

Artemis said:


> I see. Thanks for the explanation. It makes two of us so far who have "nothing to declare", but somehow I feel that I shouldn't be saying anything in this thread since they appear to want only lists of works not yet listened to.


a message board is not a court. if someone veers off topic but stays with in accepted realm, then i see nothing wrong with it. you have a lot of problems with my posts and see it fit to play sheriff, but i see no reason for it.


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