Friday, November 23, 2012

Some pieces you must hear before you die

First, this list is incomplete. I understand there are a lot of pieces I am leaving out, but these are some of my favorites. Take the names of the composers and explore, I haven't heard everything they wrote but these pieces stick out to my ear. I am a trumpet player so I picked a few trumpet solos out too. If you can't tell by my list, I play piano.

Baroque Era (how does one say which of Bach's pieces you should start with? I would say take the names on this list and try to hear everything they wrote.)

  • Bach's Tocatta and Fugues, all of them.
  • Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier
  • Bach's English Suites
  • Bach's French Suites
  • Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
  • Bach's Air on the G String
  • Bach's Double Violin Concerto in D minor
  • The Four Seasons by Vivaldi
  • Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks
  • Handel's Water Music
  • Pachelbel's Canon
Classical Era
  • Haydn Trumpet Concerto in E minor
  • Hamburg Simfonias by CPE Bach
  • Mozart's Requim
  • Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart
  • Everything by Mozart!!!!
Beethoven (possibly the most prolific composer and spans two eras so he deserves his own category like no one else)
  • All of his symphonies
  • Fur Elise
  • Leonore Overtures
  • 1st Sonata
  • Moonlight Sonata
  • Hammerkleiver Sonata
  • All of his other sonatas.
Romantic Era (if you can't tell this is has more of my favorite music than any other era)
  • The Barber of Sevile by Rossini
  • William Tell by Rossini
  • Isle of the Dead by Rachmaninoff
  • Dvorak's symphonies. All of them.
  • All of Sibelius' Symphonies. Especially his 4th.
  • Karelia Suite by Sibelius
  • Finlandia by Sibelius
  • Radetzky March by Johann Strauss
  • Die Fledermaus by Johann Struass
  • 25 Études faciles et progressives, Op.100 by Burgmuller
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream by Mendelssohn
  • Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in E Minor.
  • The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky
  • Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky
  • Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky
  • March Slav by Tchaikovsky
  • Peer Gynt Suite by Grieg
  • Sigurd Jorsalfar Suite by Grieg
  • Holberg Suite by Grieg
  • Lyric Pieces by Grieg. All of them.
  • Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saens
  • Nessun Dorma by Puccini
  • Hungarian Rhapsodies by Franz Liszt
  • Arrangements of Beethoven's symphonies for Piano Solo by Franz Liszt
  • Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussourgsky
  • Hopak of the Merry Young Ukranians by Mussourgsky
  • Night on the Bald Mountain by Mussourgsky
  • Der Ring des Nibelungen by Wagner
  • Tannhauser by Wagner
  • Lohengrin by Wagner
  • Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach
  • Prince Igor by Borodin
  • Asturias by Albeniz
  • Carmen by Bizet
  • L'Arsienne by Bizet
  • Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov
  • Enigma Variations by Elgar
  • Pomp and Circumstance Marches by Elgar (there are more than the one that is the most overplayed piece on Earth)
  • Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss
  • Don Quixote by Richard Strauss
  • Tod und Verklarung by Richard Strauss
  • Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss
  • Cello Concerto by Elgar
  • Bolero by Ravel
  • La Valse by Ravel
  • Arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition by Ravel
  • The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky
  • Firebird Suite by Stravinsky
  • Petrouchka by Stravinsky
  • The Isle of the Dead by Rachmaninoff
Modern Era
  • An American in Paris by George Gershwin
  • Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin
  • Finlandia by Jean Sibelius
  • Pohjola's Daughter by Jean Sibelius
  • Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius
  • In a Persian Market
  • All of Mahler's Symphonies
  • Arutunian Trumpet Concerto (still living)
  • Carmina Burana by Carl Orff
  • Suite Burgamesque by Claude Debussy
  • Children's Corner by Claude Debussy
  • Variations on America by Charles Ives
  • The Wasps by Ralph Vaughan Williams
  • Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev
  • Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland
  • The Red Pony by Aaron Copland
  • Symphony No. 3 by Aaron Copland
  • Trumpet solo by Aram Khatchaturian (still living
  • Gadfly Suite by Shostakovich
  • The Entertainer by Scott Joplin
  • The Chrysanthemum by Scott Joplin
  • The Planets by Holst
  • The Mystic Trumpeter by Holst
  • Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev
  • Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber
  • Westside Story
  • Fiddler on the Roof
  • Les Miserables
  • The Phantom of the Opera
  • Caravan by Duke Ellington
  • What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
  • Heebie Jeebies by Louis Armstrong
  • I am the Walrus by the Beatles
  • Yellow Submarine by the Beatles
  • Back in the USSR by the Beatles
  • Come Together by the Beatles
  • Countless Love songs by the Beatles that are amazing
  • Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
  • We Are the Champions by Queen
  • Bicycle Race by Queen
  • Radio Ga Ga by Queen
  • Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen
  • Countless love songs by Queen that are amazing
  • The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel
  • Scarborough Fair as played by Simon & Garfunkel
  • Homeward Bound by Simon & Garfunkel
  • Turn! Turn! Turn! by The Byrds
  • Indiana Jones by John Williams
  • Star Wars by John Williams
  • Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore

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