My Favorite Classical Music Pieces of All Time (Continuously Updated)
Enough programming… now it’s music time !
Welcome to my first music review. I am a passionate classical music listener and I decided to share my favorite classical music works of all time in each genre. This article will be constantly updated with new pieces and extended reviews.
Last updated: 9 May 2024
Most classical reviews are too academical. Instead of talking about keys, notes, fugues, counterpoints etc. I just want to focus on the listener side. We will discover the most epic classical works similar to reviewing rock or metal albums.
My music taste differs from a typical classical music listener. While classical music is often associated with “boring” tracks that are being listened to sleep; I tend to like epic, intense, dark, complex and mysterious works. As such, I prefer “epic” composers like Beethoven, Mahler and Tchaikovsky compared to older ones like Bach, Vivaldi and Mozart (don’t get me wrong, they have amazing music too and some of them are featured in the list). I also listen to film-game soundtracks and metal music, and my classical preferences tend to be the ones similar to these modern genres. I am huge fan of Symphonic Metal (not surprisingly 😜) music -Nightwish- and I am planning to release a Metal compilation too, so follow me to get alerted when it’s published
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Before starting, here are a few things to consider:
- Each “piece” is a full work with all of its movements. Unfinished works are not included in the list.
- “Classical Music” is a vague and sometimes controversial definition. While majority of my list is made from traditional western classical music (1600–1950), I am open to all works from any place or time. If you’re from Antarctica and release a symphony tomorrow, if it is good enough it can enter the list.
- I will review each piece solely based on its musicality, I will treat works with religious texts such as Mahler’s 8th Symphony purely musically. Most composers didn’t care about the texts’ religious meaning either.
- Yes, this is the subjective opinion of one person on the internet. Don’t be offended if your favorite pieces aren’t listed here or vice versa 😀. I’ve been listening to classical music for a couple of years and I’ve only listened to a small portion of all classical music (it is actually impossible to listen to all in a human lifetime). I guess that even myself will disagree to the some of the list when I revisit it 10 years later.
I will share my top X favorite pieces in these classical genres. While there are many more genres, these are the ones I did the most listening and I’m the most familiar with.
- Symphonies
- String Quartets
- Piano Concertos
- Instrumental Concertos
- Piano Sonatas
- Other Works
Now let’s begin:
NOTE: As of now I left short explanations to some pieces. I’m preparing full reviews for all of them, they will be here soon!
About the year and the length:
Year: The premiere of the work. But if the composing date and premiere date are too far apart (i.e. the work wasn’t premiered at the composer’s lifetime), I will use the generally accepted composing date.
Duration: Can vary between recordings, I will use the most popular recording I found as reference.
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***** Symphonies *****
Symphonies are played with a large orchestra; often including strings, woodwinds, brass, keyboard and percussion instruments.
1- Symphony №9 “Choral”, Ludwig van Beethoven
Year: 1824| Duration: 74 minutes (the reason why CDs have been designed to store 74 minutes of audio)
This is arguably the most famous work of the western classical music of all time, for a very good reason. Premiered on 7 May 1824 at Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna, the 9th Symphony is an absolute of masterpiece that has changed the music forever.
You probably know this symphony for its “Freude schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium” theme which is the anthem of the European Union. While that part is indeed amazing, the real wonders are at the rest of symphony.
(I’ll use this recoding as a reference for the timestamps)
The first movement starts with a “God tuning the universe” theme, which already hints us about the massive scale of the work. This symphony is all about the grandiosity: either all the drama of someone’s live, all the humanity, or the entire universe. The first movement is one of the best instrumental movements of all time and it is full epic melodies. The fugue starting at 06:18 the passage from 09:17 are amazing. The movement’s finale starting from 14:50 jaw-dropping, though is made obvious that is a movement finale and not a symphony finale, hinting that we’re just starting.
The second movement is a Scherzo, a term used for short and dance-like fun pieces. This is one of the most authentic symphonic movements, it has a fun and adventurous spirit but it maintains the grandiosity of the symphony. I really appreciate how Beethoven managed to compose a scherzo at the time he was totally deaf and dealing with many illnesses which will lead to his death in 3 years. The epic percussion crash at 18:17 actually resembles “beat drop” we seen in modern music. The melody at 19:36 is so beautiful.
The slow third movement is my the least favorite part of the symphony, though I get the idea of making a calm movement before the explosive 4th movement. The theme at 28:20 is worth looking at.
The fourth movement… This is part where history will be written and the music will forever change.
The movement starts with a an epic introduction and callbacks to the previous movements, than the famous “Ode to Joy” theme slowly starts with strings, slowly evolving with multiple instruments joining in. Than this section closes with an even more epic version of the introduction.
Now, for the first time in history, we will see the human voices in a symphony. The lyrics are based on the “Ode to Joy” poem of the German Poet Friedrich Schiller.
Aside from first use of human voice in a symphony, we witness another historic turning point. So far, human voice was only used in religious works with Latin texts, often asking the God to forgive the sins, such as Mozart’s requiem. This is the first time a non-religious text , a German poem about the brotherhood of humanity, is used in a large scale work. This inspired all future composers to produce vocal music with various themes instead of just religion and arguably paved the way for modern pop music.
First there is a baritone solo then bass chorus, alto and soprano join. The passage between 49:23 and 51:10 is super epic with an intense climax. Then we see a a surprising Turkish March theme with male voices. Afterwards at 53:00 there is an instrumental fugue, which is remarkably dramatic.
Fron 54:30, Beethoven is slowly teasing us for the upcoming climax. Actually this is something we see in modern music, I don’t remember this in any other classical work. At 54:50, finally, the famous “Freude schöner Götterfunken” theme comes with full chorus 😀
Now we’re at 55:45, we have 10 minutes of music until the end at 1:05:40, probably the best 10 minutes of music ever produced by mankind.
We see a new theme, “Seid umschlungen, Millionen!” (Be embraced, millions) with males voices. Then… at 56:10… Soprano & Alto choruses repeat the theme with unmatched beauty and epicness. I consider this passage between 56:10 and 56:38 THE BEST moment in all, all of the music.
I’ll stop the timestamp analysis here, the remaining 9 minutes are full of musical gems you need to discover yourself. From 1:03:53 we see the ending coda of the symphony, which is pretty dramatic and grandiose but also happy considering the brotherhood and unity theme of the movement.
BTW, did I mention that Beethoven was completely deaf when composing the 9th ?
Final thoughts: Aside from being a musical masterpiece at its own, Symphony No 9 revolutionanized the art forever. Actually it could be a seperate article that how Beethoven & his 9th transformed the art- which was mostly based on religious ideals- to human emotions, freedom and sophistication in the Romantic Period.
7 May 2024 Edit: Today is the 200th anniversary of the premiere of the symphony in Theater am Kärntnertor, Vienna. There are anniversary concerts all around the world. Could I attend to one? Haha no, I had a stupid midterm exam between 18:30–20:00! Dreams vs Real Life 🥹
Though I managed to catch some of this livestream at the bus.
2- Symphony №3, Gustav Mahler
Year: 1902. Duration: 110 minutes
With a length of 110 minutes, this is the longest symphony of all time (among the standard repertoire, an unofficial term encompasing popular works performed by the prestigious concert halls). Since symphonies are often the longest works, not surprisingly, the 3rd Symphony is the longest classical work of all time. It has 6 movements 4 of which are instrumental. One has an Alto soloist the other has an Alto soloist, woman’s chorus and children’s chorus !
This symphony is out-of-the-world and by far the most creative thing in music since Beethoven’s 9th a century ago. The first movement alone is 30–35 minutes masterpiece that blows the listener’s mind. The real craziness starts in 4th movement with an Alto solo, a soundtrack-like music that was not heard at its time (1902). The 5th movement is even crazier with a fun theme that you can’t encounter in any other symphony. The final instrumental movement is intense& emotional and its end with a majestic climax. Here are the descriptions of each movement by the composer:
- “Pan Awakes, Summer Marches In”
- “What the Flowers in the Meadow Tell Me”
- “What the Animals in the Forest Tell Me”
- “What Man Tells Me”
- “What the Angels Tell Me”
- “What Love Tells Me”
As you can see, the symphony starts with a nature but gets more and more abstract and ends with the love. Putting love at the last movement , Mahler is emphasizing that love is more important than anything else ❤️
UPDATE: I published the detailed review of this Symphony in a new article:
3- Symphony №9 “From the New World”, Antonin Dvorak
Year: 1893 .Duration: 45 minutes
You’ve probably heard the famous theme of the 2nd movement (Largo) of the symphony, which is often used in films and advertisements. The first and the fourth movement are also crazily epic, you can’t miss this symphony.
The symphony was premiered in Carnegie Hall, New York in 1893. People liked it so much that there was 15 minutes of clapping madness after every movement.
4- Symphony No. 8 “Symphony of a Thousand”, Gustav Mahler
Year: 1910. Duration: 80 minutes
Mahler actually didn’t approve the Sinfonie der Tausend name given by his publisher , but the symphony’s premiere in 1910 was indeed played with 1029 musicians! (171 instrumentalists+ 858 singers)
Favorite recordings:
The 8th Symphony is probably the most ambitious classical work ever. Beethoven 9th was revolutionary for using human voice in a symphony for the first time, but in the final movement. The 8th uses full vocal forces from the first second, the first symphony to do so. First, look at the orchestration of the symphony.
To give you a reference point, here is orchestration of the Mozart’s famous 40th Symphony 😀
The structure of the 8th Symphony is quite unusual. Instead of 4–5 movements like a traditional symphony, the symphony has 2 movements but each movement is divided into parts.
Movement 1, Veni Creator Spiritus
The symphony starts with the “Veni Creator Spiritus” main theme, and IMO it is the most epic symphonic entrance ever. I get chills each time I listen to the first minute.
In the rest of movement 1, the symphony visits many different themes of the Veni Creator Spiritus, a religious Latin hymn. Soloists, choruses, orchestra and organ is used with full force to create epic wall of sound that is unmatched in any classical work. In contrast to the typical sad, emotional and mysterious theme of Mahler’s symphonies, the 8th Symphony is quite energetic and enthusiastic.
Movement 2, Closing Scenes of Goethe’s Faust
If you’re familiar with Mahler, you knew that you can’t have a simple listening session with Mahler and things had to get philosophical some way or another 😁
The two movements, while textually and musically distinct, are thematically linked by ideas of redemption, enlightenment, and spiritual transcendence.
Veni Creator Spiritus (Come, Creator Spirit) is a Christian hymn about calling the “Holy Spirit” to the Earth.
On the other hand Faust, a complex literature work by the famous German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The part used in the 8th Symphony can be summarized as “Redemption through love”.
In his 3rd Symphony, Mahler used a secular Nietzsche poem (“The Midnight Song”) and a religious hymn (“Three Angels Were Singing”) in two consecutive movements. He is doing that again in the 8th Symphony!. Mahler was born as a Jew, later converted to Christianity due to anti-semitic pressure in the Germany/Austria at that time, but he was known to be agnostic. In all of his life, Mahler was constantly questioning religious themes such as death and afterlife.
Musically, this movement is slower than the 1st movement but is still packed with amazing melodies. To be honest, there are small slightly boring parts. We see a lot of unconventional instruments like celesta, harmonium and even mandolin. This could be the first time a guitar-like instrument is used in a Symphony.
And the ending… the last 5 minutes or so gets more and more intense until a jaw-dropping climax. Having the best entrance, the 8th Symphony also has the best symphonic ending, ever.
During his lifetime, Mahler was very popular as a conductor but most of his own compositions were disliked/neglected. The premiere of his 8th Symphony, conducted by himself, was the first truly successful reception he had, after the end there was a thunderous applause which lasted for no less than twenty minutes.
The 8th Symphony is the work I most want to hear in a live performance 😀. Almost everyone on r/classicalmusic agrees that hearing this in live is something totally different especially if it indeed performed with near 1000 performers. For recordings, I shared the best two recordings I found (the Apple music one won a Grammy Award). Some recordings of the 8th can be very bad, as it is very hard to record everything in detail, so listening a good recording is essential for this symphony.
5- Symphony No. 2 , Jean Sibelius
Year: 1902 | Movements:4 | Duration: 45 minutes
A brilliant symphony from lesser known Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The background melody that is slowly building in the final movement is breathtaking. Combining soothing Finnish folk melodies, heroic advocation for the Finland’s independence from Russia and a Beethoven-like tension among the whole work, this symphony is something special.
6-Symphony No. 40, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
I should start by stating that I am not the biggest fan of Mozart’s symphonies, they are often too repetitive and lack a clear theme. However, his 40th symphony is something else (he has 41 in total). This symphony is simply magical, if a work is composed by an alien that must be it 😜. The first movement is especially famous for how elegant & melodic it is.
7- Symphony No. 6 “Tragic”, Gustav Mahler
Composed: 1903–1904| Premiere: 1906, Essen/Germany, conducted by the composer| Movements: 4 | Length: 86 minutes
I published a standalone article for this monstrosity and one reader replied like this
“I appreciate the warning regarding how to prepare for listening to this piece. It is not for the faint of heart.”
Be warned: This symphony, famous for the hammer blows at the final movement, may disrupt your physiology. Take a look at it when you have free time, not when you’re studying before final exams etc. 😅 If you’re curious you can listen to the 1st movement, it is generally epic & uplifting as it features a soaring theme dedicated to his wife Alma. The final movement? 😮 Nevermind 🥲
__Curse of the Ninth ___
I’d like briefly talk about the infamous “Curse of the Ninth”, a superstition that a composer will die after releasing his 9th symphony. Some notable examples are Beethoven, Schubert, Dvorak, Bruckner and Mahler.
Mahler actually tried to circumvent this. After releasing his 8th Symphony, he was hesitant to release his 9th and he named his next symphonic work not a symphony but “Das Lied von der Erde” (The song of the Earth). And it actually worked! But when he released his actual 9th symphony, he passed away before he could finish his 10th one. So it appears like you can trick the Gods by releasing your symphonies with different names, but when you release a work named “Symphony No 9” the Reaper knocks your door.
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***** Piano Concertos *****
Piano concertos are played with a piano soloist and an orchestra, though the orchestra is usually smaller than a symphonic one.
1- Piano Concerto No. 3, Sergei Rachmaninoff
Year: 1900 | Duration: 35 minutes | Movements: 3
Many people consider Rach 2 and Rach 3 the best piano concertos ever written, for a good reason. They are extremely sophisticated, emotional and full of lush melodies. It is hard to decide between them but I’ll go with the Rach 3. You’ll recognize the opening theme as it is often used in commercials. The passage starting at 9:00 is so insanely epic that you’ll want to turn the volume all the way up!
2- Piano Concerto No. 3, Ludwig van Beethoven
Year: 1803 | Duration: 40 minutes | Movements: 3
I want to introduce more composers but what can I do if Beethoven’s music is so good ?
This is the best piano concerto ever, period (edit: After further review. I decided to place Rach 3 to the top 😅 but they are all so close that the first 4 can be arbitrary) . The first movement is super intense as it fully captures the darkness and the sophistication of Beethoven. From epic adventurous orchestral passages to solo piano cadenzas, this movement is an experience of its own kind
The 2nd Largo movement is also amazing but for a totally different reason. In a huge contrast, it one of the most emotional and lovely piece of music ever written. While it is pretty sad, it makes you relax and actually feel happy after listening to it. It is quite hard to describe the beauty of this movement, you have to listen to it yourself and bring to tears.
The 3rd movement is fast and exciting, while it is pretty good IMO it is not on par with the sophistication of the first two movements. Nevertheless, the first 2 are more than enough to crown this work to the top.
3- Piano Concerto №2, Sergei Rachmaninoff
Year: 1900 | Duration: 35 minutes | Movements: 3
For Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos, look no further than Anna Fedarova’s recordings with AVROTROS Klassiek. She, the orchestra and the sound engineer of the recording did a phenomenal job. I mean 42 million people watched the recording below, they can’t be all wrong, right?. NEVERMIND, 8.4 billion people watched Despacito so they can be 🤣. Actually that’s higher than the population of the Earth.
Similarly to the Rach 3, Rach 2 has a super epic passage at the middle of the 1st movement, this time starting at 6:50
4- Piano Converto No. 4, Ludwig van Beethoven
Year: 1808 | Duration: 35 minutes | Movements: 3
It was very hard to decide between Beethoven’s the third and the fourth concertos, as both of them are crazily good. Again, the 1st and 2nd movements of this concerto are sublime. People speculate conspiracy theories about Mozart or Paganini but we should talk about if the notes of the second movement came from the Heaven (Plot twist: it came from the Hell).
5- Piano Concerto No. 20, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Year: 1785| Duration: 32 minutes | Movements: 3
A mindblowing dark intro from Mozart, I wish he had done more pieces like this.
6- Piano Concerto No. 1, Frederic Chopin
Year: 1808 | Duration: 35 minutes | Movements: 3
The intro is great. Thanks for reading my detailed review
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***** Instrumental Concertos *****
Instrumental concertos are played with an instrumental soloist (often violin or cello) and an orchestra. Some rare works have multiple soloists.
1- Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto, He Zhanhao & Chen Gang
Year: 1785 | Length: 35 minutes | Movements: 7
The concerto was written in 1959 by two Chinese composers He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, while they were students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The concerto is based on an ancient Chinese legend Butterfly Lovers. It is a programmatic work with each movement corresponding to a chapter of the story. ❤️
The intro is nothing short of magnificent, so is the rest of the piece. While it is played with western instruments, you can immediately feel the Asian vibes. This could be the most underrated classical work of all time, I don’t know why I never encountered it in any playlist or r/classicalmusic etc.
EDIT: I’ve listened to it a couple of time more, this piece is unbelievably good, literally every second of it. ‼️ I’ll write more about it soon 💯
Also check the alternative “Double Concerto” version for Violin and erhu (a Chinese instrument)
2- Violin Concerto, Ludwig van Beethoven
Year: 1806 | Duration: 50 minutes | Movements:3
This is Beethoven’s only violin concerto and it is such a delightful one. I love how emotional& lyrical it is while keeping a baroque/classical period elegancy and authority. IMO this is the absolute peak of the Classical period as Beethoven paves the way for the Romantic period.
I think this work is a prime example of the genius and the variety of Beethoven. He is best known for innovative works such as Eroica(3rd Symphony), programmatic 6th Symphony, Appassionata sonata and of course the 9th Symphony. The violin concerto has a fairly standart Haydn era form, yet it is still an absolute masterpiece. Beethoven’s violin concerto inspired later composers like Brahms and Sibelius but IMO, their violin concertos don’t even come close.
I suggest you to take a look at this recoding, its quality is crystal clear and it includes new cadenzas specifically made for this recording
Cadenza: When composing concertos, composers may leave some parts intentionally blank so the performers can play there however they like.
Also check this performance by Hilary Hahn, she is often considered the best violinist alive.
3- Violin Concertos No 1–4 “Four Seasons”, Antonio Vivaldi
Year: 1721| Duration: 43 minutes| Movements: 3 for each concerto
It would be a sin to not to include the Four Seasons concerto, one of the most well known works of the western classical music. Released around 1721, this is the oldest work on my list.
These are technically 4 different concertos, but I think it makes more sense to treat them as a single work. Each concerto represents a season:
- 1- Spring (La primavera)
- 2- Summer (L’estate)
- 3- Autumn (L’autunno)
- 4- Winter (L’inverno)
You’ve certainly heard the 1st movement of the Spring. All concertos are beautiful and worth listening to but here are my favorite movements:
- 2nd movement of the Spring (Largo)
- 3rd movement of the Summer (Presto)
- 2nd movement of the Autumn (Adagio)
- Entirety of the Winter, it is so epic
4- Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano “Triple Concerto”, Ludwig van Beethoven
Year: 1803| Duration: 35 minutes | Movements: 3
This work is surprisingly unpopular compared to his famous Violin Concerto. I think this concerto is equally great with its amazing melodies on the first and the third movement. The violin-cello-piano soloists passage on the 3rd movement (starting at 27:35 at the video below) is spectacular, I don’t remember seeing such passage for 3 soloists in anywhere else.
5- Violin Concerto, Jean Sibelius
Year: 1905| Duration: 38 minutes | Movements: 3
One of the most popular(and challenging) works the violin repertoire,
again… I need to study for my exams !!!!!🥵 see you
6- Cello Concerto, Edward Elgar
Year: 1919| Duration: 35 minutes | Movements: 4
Written after the WW1 about the feelings of the war, the first 10 or so minutes of this concerto is brilliant. Though it gets slightly boring in the later parts.
Note: While the piece looks sad, note that the British composer Elgar was on the winning side of the war 😜
7- Violin Concerto No. 5 “Turkish”, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Year: 1775 | Duration: 30 minutes | Movements: 3
I think violin concertos are Mozart’s the best genre, as it allows to fully express his magical melodies and rich harmony. His 5th violin concerto is an exciting work full of action. The final movement has some Turkish melodies 🤪 hence the concerto is named “Turkish”.
8- Concerto for Flute and Harp, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Year: 1778. Duration: 28 minutes | Movements: 3
This piece falls into the “Classical music for sleeping” stereotype that I usually dislike. But… this concerto is so beautiful that I had no other choice but put it into the list. It is, especially the 2nd movement, is absolutely enchanting. Not even Beethoven could compose something like this, this is the magic of Mozart at its finest.
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***** String Quartets *****
String Quartets are played with 2 violins + a viola + a cello in an intimate chamber music setup.
1- String Quarter №14, Ludwig van Beethoven
Year 1826. Duration: 45 minutes
Favorite recordings:
(I’ll use the Youtube video for timestamps, but I strongly recommend the Apple Music recording by the Alti String Quartet. I couldn’t find it on Youtube)
According to some sources, Beethoven claimed that this is his the most perfect single work. After listening to it, Franz Schubert said “After this, what is left for us to write?”, and this quartet was the last piece he listened before passing away. IMO this and his 9th Symphony are the best two pieces of music ever. If I had to choose one I’d probably choose the Symphony but comparing a string quartet and a symphony doesn’t make much sense.
Beethoven’s late string quartets (12–16th quartets are all very complex, special and innovative). But the 14th quartet is by far the most famous and the most beloved one.
Beethoven’s late works are known for their emotional intensity, and the 14th quartet he composed a year before his death is perhaps the most extreme one.
The emotions you can find in this string quartet are:
- Darkness
- Epicness
- Sorrow
- Anger
- Intellectual Sophistication
- Elitism and arrogance
- Anxiety
- Melancholy
- A little bit of hope, folkish melodies and playfulness
The first performance of the work took place in 1835, 7 years after Beethoven’s death. It wasn’t really liked by public, because the work was way ahead of his time (just like Große Fuge we will cover later) . At that era (transition from Classical to Romantic Era) string quartets were known to be laid back and simple pieces, and people got quite confused after hearing this thing.
Tempo markings: Adagio: slow, Andanta: moderate, Allegro: fast, Presto: Very fast
1st Movement, Adagio
Richard Wagner said that “this movement reveals the most melancholy sentiment expressed in music”. The movement is quote sad and melancholic, gets more and more intense towards the end.
2nd Movement, Allegro
On the other hand, this movement is opens with folk-like melodies. It is the only piece of Beethoven I know with a Celtic-ish folk theme.
3rd Movement, Allegro
A very short movement of 52 seconds, it features a playful melody with fast playing violins.
4th Movement, Andante
With a length of 15 minutes, this movement is extremely complex. While the general theme of the movement is sorrow, I think there is much more than that. This is the ultimate showcase of the intellectual complexity of Beethoven. The start at 10:58 already tells us that this is not an ordinary piece of music. The emotional passage starting at 14:30 is breathtaking. We see 7 variations of a melody, many pizzicatos (where strings are plucked by hand, like a guitar, instead of played by a bow) any many mind blowingly sophisticated melodies…
5th Movement, Presto
This movement is another example of the genius of Beethoven. It is a fast movement in scherzo form, and while it has some playfulness it is still very dramatic. It is so beautiful and catch, I don’t think if I’ve ever heard something like this, maybe the 2nd movement of his 16th string quartet comes close.
Themes worth looking at: The variation of theme main theme at 27:04, and the ending starting at 29:29.
This movement alone is modern (despite being composed 2 centuries ago) a masterpiece you can’t miss.
6th Movement, Adagio
This is a short, sombre movement that acts as an introduction to the epic finale. 6th movement and the final movement are played “attaca” , without breaks.
7th Movement, Allegro
The hell is descending !! ♨️♨️♨️
This movement is perhpas the most crazy, intense, emotional and aggressive section of all classical music.
From the very start, at 32:30, this music starts to give me chills. Here are the themes:
Mega epic main theme, starting at 32:30 and goes several variations
The sorrowful second theme at 33:13
The third theme at 34:28
Main theme, now with a fugue 35:10 (Fugue: Where 2+ melodies play at the same.)
The second theme, extended and also fugal
The counterpoint at 35:30
A suddent burst of anger at 37:27
And… the majestic climax starting at 37:40. I think this isn’t just a climax of the movement, or the quartet, it is the climax of Ludwig van Beethoven. If his life was a film, this must be the soundtrack of the final scene because it reflects all the emotions (mostly sorrow, we’re talking about a deaf and lonely man 😥) he had in his life. I think Beethoven knew this and composed this quartet as his last “epic” work and as a farewell. He would then only compose 2 more quartets (No 15 and 16), which are relatively laid back, and passed away a year later in 1827.
Also check this arrangement of the quartet for orchestra, by the famous conductor Leonard Bernstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE_crvhG3Co
2- String Quartet №12 “American”, Antonin Dvorak
Year: 1893. Duration: 25 minutes
Influenced by African American melodies after Dvorak went to the US as the director of the New National Conservatory.
3- String Quartet №14 “Death and the Maiden”, Franz Schubert
Year: 1824. Duration: 40 minutes
Is it a coincidence that this quartet’s number aligns with Beethoven’s ?
4- String Quarter №8, Dmitri Shostakovich
Year: 1960. Duration: 23 minutes
Shostakovich was fearing that Soviets were coming for him and left this quartet as a suicide note. It is a dark truth that most musical masterpieces like this are a product of composer’s personal tragedies.
5- String Quartet №13 (with Große Fuge) , Ludwig van Beethoven
Year: 1825. Duration: 40 minutes, 56 minutes including the Große Fuge.
This piece, send to the space in the Golden Record disk of the Voyager spacecraft, has an interesting story. The work we know as Große Fuge (Grand Fugue) today was originally the 6th and the final movement of the String Quartet 13. But after people heavily condemned it for being unlistenable, Beethoven decided to release Große Fuge as a separate work and composed a new finale for the quartet. BTW, the new finale of the String Quartet 13 is the last notes of music Beethoven has composed (His last full piece was his String Quartet 16).
It is often debatedif Große Fuge should be included in this quartet. I personally prefer including it and treat the String Quartet №13 as a 7 movement work.
I love the 1st, 2nd(Presto) and 4th movements for their dramatic, complex and sometimes fun melodies.
I’m not the biggest fan of the replacement finale (the 6th movement). After people condemned Große Fuge so much, I guess Beethoven dialed back and decided to compose a simpler movement. While this movement is not bad at its own, I think it is not on par with the music in the late quartets. This is the last movement Beethoven has composed, I wish if it was the other way( after composing this first, composing Große Fuge as the true finale and his last work)
Große Fuge
Where should I start… As you can probably guess from its name, Große Fuge (Grand Fugue) is a crazily eccentric work. If you’ve read my review of the final of the 14th String Quartet, this movement is an even more extreme case. 😂
Beethoven was very proud of this movement. But after hearing this monstrosity at its premiere in 1825, people disliked it so much that it was never being played in public until 1856. Beethoven’s publisher begged him to replace it with a new finale. Beethoven, known for being stubborn to modify his works, surprisingly accepted it and the Fugue was published as a separate work.
In 1900s, the opinion about the Fugue has considerably changed. It is now considered among Beethoven’s supreme achivements. Russian composer Igor Stravinsky called it “an absolutely contemporary(modern) piece of music that will be contemporary forever”. Which is so true, after hearing this you definitely wouldn’t guess that it was composed in 1825.
From the very start, the work is full of crazy, intense and almost psychedelic melodies. Someone on Reddit jokingly said “Beethoven became deaf after hearing this😐”. I don’t see much point of doing timestamp analysis, you need to discover this work by yourself. Good luck :)
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Piano Sonatas:
Piano sonatas are played by a piano soloist.
1- Piano Sonata №14 “Moonlight”, Ludwig van Beethoven
Year: 1801. Duration: 15 minutes
It is debated if this masterpiece actually has an 2nd movement as some claim that short melody is a part of the 3rd movements. Regardless, this sonata is super popular across the world. The first movement is dark and mysterious, while the third movement is exciting, epic and optimistic (or perhaps still dark?).
2- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 , Franz Liszt
Year: 1851. Duration: 12 minutes
I love how authentic and virtuosic this sonata (although named differently) is. Did you know that Liszt was the first artist in modern history that people fought each other to see him performing live ?
3- Piano Sonata No. 29 “Hammerklavier”, Ludwig van Beethoven
Year: 1818. Duration: 40 minutes
Hammerklavier was the name of the modern piano in German. Someone in Youtube comments said “I started analysing this work when I was 13 . Now I am 81 and still working on it !” and it couldn’t be more true. This sonata has amazing melodies but it is so complex that it burns the listener’s brain. To be honest I haven’t fully digested this work yet and I need more listens for my full review.
4- Piano Sonata No. 7 “Stalingrad”, Sergei Prokofiev
Year: 1943. Duration: 18 minutes
Written during the WW2 by the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. This sonata is the second of his 3 “War Sonatas”, sonatas No. 6, 7 and 8. It is sometimes called “Stalingrad” though the name wasn’t given the composer
While war works are often sad and dramatic, this sonata is quite fun and relaxed. I appreciate how he composed such an enjoyable work at a time where everyone was losing their mind to kill each other 😁
5- Black Earth, Fazıl Say
Year: 1997. Duration: 6 minutes
This is such a unique work. First, I suggest you to take a listen:
Does it count as a piano sonata ? Technically yes as it is a solo pianist playing the piano. He is using various techniques to create a guitar-like sound but it is all coming from piano after all.
This piece is based on a Turkish folk poem and I am preparing explanation of the story. And being composed in 1997, this is the most recent work of the list.
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***** Other Works *****
The classical works that don’t exactly fit into one of the genres above
- Tabula Rasa, Arvo Part
Year: 1977. Duration: 30 minutes
This piece, composed in 1977, has two movements and my opinion couldn’t be more divided on them. The first movement (Ludus) is one of the most intense, aggressive, dramatic or even horrific pieces of all the music (probably inspired from the Beethoven’s 14th quartet). The theme gets more and more advanced to a point of absolute insanity.
On the other hand the second movement (Silentium) is just generic and boring for some reason. But who cares, the first movement is enough to make this a modern masterpiece.
- Violin Sonata No 9 “Kreutzer” , Ludwig van Beethoven
Year: 1803. Duration: 40 minutes
Beethoven dedicated this work to the French violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer, who called the piece “worthless” and refused to play it 😅. He was disrespecting Beethoven, but in his Wikipedia page today the only thing is being dedicatee of the Beethoven’s sonata and no one cares about his own “worthless” compositions or performances 😂
Nowadays this is one of the most beloved works of Beethoven. The first movement is shockingly good. Creating an almost symphonic layer of sound with a only violin and piano, it is so adventurous and emotional. This is one of Beethoven’s earlier works, composed 21 years before his 9th Symphony, but it is unbelievably mature and complex. There is also a book of Tolstoy named “Kreutzer Sonata”
- Missa Solemnis, Ludwig van Beethoven
Year: 1824. Duration: 85 minutes
This is an extremely sophisticated work, I suggest you to listen the final part “Agnus Dei” first to get warm to this monstrosity before listening to the full thing. Unlike some reviewers I won’t pretend that I’m understanding the religious Latin vocals 😁, I just love the melodies. The famous Beethoven portrait was painted while he was working on Missa Solemnis.
- 1812 Overture, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Year: 1882. Duration: 15 minutes
This epic patriotic work is scored with cannons, yes actual cannon shots. Though this work is now banned after the Russia Ukraine War :)
- Pas de Deux (The Nutcracker), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Year: 1892. Duration: 5 minutes
Pas de Deux is the most famous part of the Tchaikovsky’s The Nutracker ballet. You’ve probably heard some variation of its melody but never heard the full piece. Take a listen, it is magnificent.
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Closing Thoughts
Why no JS Bach? JS Bach is often included in the top 3 (Bach-Mozart-Beethoven). While he has amazing works I don’t consider him one of my favorites. The points of his music is their melodies and fugues, and while they are extraordinary (especially for his time where modern piano wasn’t even invented), his works are similar and get repetitive. Most of his music is composed for churches, they don’t have a clear theme, narrative and create emotional impact on the listener (unlike Beethoven& Mahler for example). Though I haven’t listened to Bach much and my opinion may change as I discover his music more.
Expanding the List: I am planning to expand the list by adding new categories, increasing the pieces per category from 5 to 10 and include more modern classical works, so stay in touch.
Thanks for reading my article! You can reach me (atahanuz23@gmail.com) if you have questions, spot any mistakes, or try to convince me to update the list :)
