If You Could Only Listen To Sixteen Pieces

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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D minor
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F Major
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
- a TV crime drama
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E♭ Major
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor
Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major
- listen to the last movement, gosh, and talk about the GRAND FINALE
Mozart: Symphony No. 25 in G minor
Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C♯ minor
- just epic
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C Major
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor
Cherubini: Symphony in D Major
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
- if you are new to classical music, this would be the perfect place to start.
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor
- after listening to No. 2, the first few bars alone of No. 3 could excite me.
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E♭ Major
Felix Mendelssohn: Concerto in E minor for Violin and Orchestra
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B♭ minor
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major
Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Haydn: Concerto in C Major for Cello and Orchestra
- if there isn’t a Haydn piece, then Haydn is hidden!
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor
Brahms: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor

Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
Schubert: Quintet in A Major for Piano and Strings, “the Trout Quintet”
- this quintet along with its inspiration (Schubert’s Lied “Die Forelle”) earn him the title (in my heart) “the Prince of Trout”. He died at the age of 31, and his music, as Robert Schumann put it, “bears within it the seeds of everlasting youth”.
Clara Schumann: Piano Trio In G minor, Op. 17
Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E-Flat Major
Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time
Beethoven: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 9 in A Major, “Kreutzer”
Beethoven: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5 in F Major, “Spring”
Dvořák: Piano Quintet in A Major
Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen
Monti: Csárdás
Barber: Adagio for Strings
- it is hard to get any sadder than this
Elgar: Salut d’Amour
Schubert: Piano Trio No. 2 in E♭ Major

Program Music includes program symphonies, concert overtures, symphonic/tone poems, and incidental musics

Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture
Bernstein: Overture, West Side Story
- another piece inspired by the “Romeo and Juliet” style love (sweet love + fierce hate)
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64, Act I
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Suite
Smetana: The Moldau from Má Vlast
Rachmaninoff: The Isle of the Dead
Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Felix Mendelssohn: Overture “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: The Great Gate of Kiev
Kodály: Háry János Suite
Tchaikovsky: Marche slave
Holst: the Planets
Ravel: Boléro
Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Overture
Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals, the Swan
Massenet: Méditation de Thaïs
- a symphonic intermezzo from the opera Thaïs
Purcell: Abdelazer Suite, II Rondeau
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
Ravel: La Valse
Ravel: Daphnis Et Chloé
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

The Suites here are more “absolute” than, for example, the suites extracted from an opera or ballet.

Bach: Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068
Brahms: Serenade No. 1 in D Major for Orchestra
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
Brahms: Hungarian Dances
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 18
- used by I don’t know how many films
Janácek: Suite for String Orchestra
Shostakovich: The Second Waltz, Op .99a
- Shostakovich showed (maybe show is a strong word) himself that he, besides the satirical, solemn, and serious pieces, can also do this.
Dvořák: Humoresque No. 7 In G-flat Major (originally a piece for piano solo)
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
- piano with a jazz band
Fauré: Pavane
Saint-Saëns: Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso
Beethoven: Romance No. 2 In F Major for Violin and Orchestra

Organ:
- Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Piano:
- Chopin: 24 Préludes, Op. 28, No. 4 in E minor: Largo
- Robert Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op. 12: Aufschwung
- Chopin: Nocturnes, Op. 9
- Chopin: Polonaise in A-Flat Major
- Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor
  - AKA the Cat Concerto (based on its orchestral arrangement)
- Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor
- Debussy: Reverie
- Robert Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15: VII. Träumerei
- Erik Satie: Gymnopédie No. 1
- Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23, “Appassionata” in F minor
- Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L. 75: III. Clair de lune
Violin:
- Vitali: Chaconne in G minor
- Bach: Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004