Ten Composers.......one piece each.

[hornteacher]

In an effort to create a better starter list for beginners, come up with a list of ten composers and ONE selection for each composer that would be a great introduction for a beginner.

For Example:

Bach - Brandenberg #2
Haydn - Symphony 94
Mozart - Clarinet Concerto
Beethoven - Symphony 5
Schubert - Trout
Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto
Brahms - Symphony 1
Dvorak - Symphony 9
Tchaikovsky - Romeo and Juliet
Shoshtakovich - Symphony 5

[Ephemerid]

Good choices 

Bach: Cello Suite No. 6
Stravinsky: Symphony of Pslams
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem
Takemitsu: Tree-Line
Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande
Messiaen: Les Offrandes oubliees
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16
Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Vaughan Williams: Silent Noon (for very personal reasons)

[ChamberNut]

Brahms - Clarinet Sonata No. 1
Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 Moonlight
Bach - Cello Suite # 1
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
Mozart - Symphony No. 40
Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture
Wagner - Ride of the Valkries
Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring
Elgar - Pomp & Circumstance
DeBussy - Danse sacree et danse profane

[prémont]

Bach - Brandenberg #2

Excuse me :  BRANDENBURG. Who told you otherwise??

[prémont]

Machault : Mass
Binchois: Triste plaisir
DuFay: Vergine bella
Busnois: Bel acueil
Dowland: Lacrimae (7 pavanes)
Sweelinck: Fantasia chromatica
Buxtehude: Toccata d-minor
Bach: Brandenburg 2
Beethoven: Pianosonata 23
Bartok: Pianoconcerto 3

[gomro]

In an effort to create a better starter list for beginners, come up with a list of ten composers and ONE selection for each composer that would be a great introduction for a beginner.

Just off the top of my head, composers I've been playing recently

Akutagawa - Ellora Symphony
Peck - The Glory and the Grandeur
Wuorinen - The Great Procession
Gerhard - Symphony #3 "Collages"
Stockhausen - Freude
Reich - Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ
Yoshimatsu - Symphony #4
Adams - Harmonielehre
Dallapiccola - Variationi per Orchestra
Messiaen - Turangalila Symphonie

There's an esoteric "intro" list, I guess! Oh well...someone else will no doubt cover Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

[paulb]

If someone came up to me and asked for directions to the doorway to classical music, of course depending on his previous musical influences, heavy rock, jazz etc.
In general I'd direct them to all of Mozart, all Debussy, all Ravel and all Prokofiev.
No Bartok nor Shostakovich. Not at the beginning at least.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Excuse me :  BRANDENBURG. Who told you otherwise??

It was obviously just a misspelling, or he misremembered.

[prémont]

It was obviously just a misspelling, or he misremembered.

I ask, because I have seen the same error made several times by other posters, so I wonder what the source of this mistake may be.

[(poco) Sforzando]

I ask, because I have seen the same error made several times by other posters, so I wonder what the source of this mistake may be.

I don't know. Perhaps to his eye, a mountain looks like a castle and castle looks like a mountain.

Anyhow - to the question. This won't be an exact answer, but on the few occasions that someone has actually asked me for a starter selection for a beginner, I have made up a set of three sampler CDs, each with about a dozen self-contained pieces of music representing a good variety of major composers and works in any genres. (Yes, I know it's not legal to do this.) The selections aren't written in stone and could change next time I'm asked this question, but I think it's a good idea not to throw too much at the beginner at first. At the same time I don't want to confine a new listener only to orchestral music of the 19th century, which is what so many music-appreciation courses and such seem to emphasize. And so the three sampler disks concentrate first on the most familiar period, then branch out chronologically to early and modern music (with a little LvB in the middle so the gap isn't too jarring), and then concentrate on a single composer (Beethoven, of course  ).


DISK 1: Baroque through Romantic
1.   JS Bach (1685-1750). Toccata and Fugue in D minor. BWV 565. E. Power Biggs, organ
2.   Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757). Sonata in G, K.14, K. 387. Igor Kipnis, harpsichord
3.   Frederic Chopin (1810-49). Ballade #1 in G minor, Op. 23. Artur Rubinstein, piano
4.   Claude Debussy (1862-1918). L'Isle Joyeuse. Robert Casadesus, piano
5.   Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91).  Piano Concerto #23 in A, K. 488, finale.  Robert Casadesus, piano, George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra
6.   Mozart, Non più andraì from Le Nozze di Figaro.  Cesare Siepi, bass, Erich Kleiber, Vienna Philharmonic.
7.   Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). La Donna è Mobile and Quartet from Rigoletto. Jan Peerce, tenor, Erna Berger, soprano, et al., Renato Cellini conductor
8.   Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924).  Un bel dì from Madame Butterfly. Maria Callas, soprano, Tullio Serafin, conductor.
9.   Richard Wagner (1813-83). Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. Kirsten Flagstad, Wilhelm Furtwängler conductor.
10.   Franz Schubert (1797-1828). Two songs from Die Schöne Müllerin: Mein, Die Liebe Farbe. Petre Munteanu, tenor
11.   Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-93). Symphony No. 4 in f minor, Op. 36: 3rd movement, Scherzo.  Igor Markevitch, London Symphony Orchestra.
12.   Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92: 4th movement, Allegro con brio.  Carlos Kleiber, Vienna Philharmonic

DISK 2: Early and modern music
1.   Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-77).  Hareu, hareu, le feu / Helas, on sera pris. David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London.
2.   Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474). Ce moys de may. David Munrow.
3.   Josquin des Prez (c. 1455-1521).  Ave Maria.  Tallis Scholars
4.   Josquin des Prez.  El Grillo (The Cricket). Hilliard Ensemble.
5.   Carlo Gesualdo (1561-1613). Or che in gioia credea / O sempre crudo amore. Robert Craft conducting.
6.   Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). From Vespers: Psalm 121, Laetatus sum. Jürgen Jürgens conducting the Monteverdi Chorus of Hamburg and Vienna Concensus Musicus.
7.   Henry Purcell (1659-95).  Fantasia on one Note for 5 viols. Fretwork.
8.   Ludwig van Beethoven.  Quartet #13 in Bb, Op. 130, 3rd movement, Andante con moto. Yale Quartet.
9.   Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). Symphony #5 in C# minor, 4th movement, Adagietto. Rudolf Barshai conducting German Youth Philharmonic.
10.   Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951).  Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16. #1: Premonitions, #3 Colors.  Pierre Boulez, BBC Symphony.
11.   Anton Webern (1883-1945). Concerto for 9 Instruments, Op. 24, 1st and 3rd movements.  Robert Craft conducting.
12.   Béla Bartók (1881-1945). Quartet #5, 3rd movement: Scherzo.  Takacs Quartet
13.   Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). Les Noces (The Wedding), Part IV.  Leonard Bernstein conducting.
14.   Luciano Berio (1925-2003).  Sinfonia, 2nd movement: O King.  Swingle Singers, Pierre Boulez conducting Orchestre Nationale de France
15.   Elliott Carter (1908-   ).  A Celebration of 100x150 Notes. Oliver Knussen, London Sinfonietta
16.   Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975).  Violin Concerto #1 in A minor, Op. 99, 2nd movement: Scherzo.  Lydia Mordkovitch, violin, Neeme Järvi, Scottish National Orchestra.

DISK 3  Music of Beethoven
1.   Overture to Goethe's Egmont, Op. 84.  Ferenc Fricsay, Berlin Philharmonic
2.   Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 (Pathetique), 2nd movement.  Eric Heidsieck
3.   String Quartet No. 6 in Bb, Op. 18 #6, 3rd movement.  Juilliard Quartet
4.   String Quartet No. 2 in G, Op. 18 #2, 4th movement.  Juilliard Quartet
5.   Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, 1st movement, Allegro con brio.  Gunther Schuller, unnamed orchestra
6.   Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata), 2nd movement.  Yves Nat (with a bit of the opening of the 3rd movement, connecting without pause to:)
7.   String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, 1st movement, Allegro con brio.  Juilliard Quartet
8.   Symphony No. 8 in F, Op. 92, 2nd movement, Allegretto scherzando.  George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra
9.   Piano Sonata No. 24 in F# major, Op. 78, 1st movement.  Robert Casadesus
10.   Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101, 1st movement.  Charles Rosen
11.   String Quartet No. 16 in F, Op. 135, 2nd movement, Vivace; 3rd movement, Lento cantabile.  Yale Quartet
12.   Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, choral portion of finale.  Soloists, Ferenc Fricsay, Berlin Philharmonic

[Don]

Bach - Goldberg Variations
Beethoven - Sym. 9
Mozart - Clarinet Concerto
Schumann - Davidsbundlertanze
Schubert - Trout Quintet
Brahms - Violin Concerto
Dvorak - Piano Quintet, Op. 81
Stravinsky - Rite of Spring
Bruckner - Sym. 7
Mahler - Sym. 4

[Steve]

Beethoven, Symphony No. 3
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 10
Mahler, Das Lied von Der Erde
Chopin, Etudes
Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsodies
Bach, Brandenburg Concerti
Schubert, Symphony No.8, "Unfinished"
Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1
Stravinsky, Rite of Spring
Brahms, Violin Concero in D

[longears]

For a newbie to classical music?

Beethoven "Waldstein",
Bach d minor concerto for 2 Violins,
Mozart symphony #40,
Brahms A major serenade,
Stravinsky Rite of Spring,
Sibelius violin concerto,
Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,
Gershwin An American in Paris,
Schumann Piano Quintet,
Rach 2.

[Bonehelm]

Beethoven, Symphony No. 3
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 10
Mahler, Das Lied von Der Erde
Chopin, Etudes
Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsodies
Bach, Brandenburg Concerti
Schubert, Symphony No.8, "Unfinished"
Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1
Stravinsky, Rite of Spring
Brahms, Violin Concero in D

Steve, I'm worried that the DSCH 10 and RoS wouldn't appeal to beginners of classical music 

[longears]

Steve, I'm worried that the DSCH 10 and RoS wouldn't appeal to beginners of classical music 

Some seem unconcerned about that.  Seems to me that recommendations for beginners in general (rather than specific persons whose predilections one knows) ought be pieces with time-tested broad appeal, and that such an introductory list should comprise major figures and a variety of genres.  In addition to those considerations, my choices were guided by my own experiences as a new listener and by the experiences of others I know--most of whom were excited and intrigued by the RoS on first hearing.

[Timmyb]

This lot shouldn't scare too many off.
Beethoven - Symphony no 5
Schubert - Impromptus
Mozart - symphony no 40
Dvorak - cello concerto
Tchaikovsky - ballet suites
Sibelius - violin concerto
Brahms - piano concerto no 1
Chopin - nocturnes
Rachmaninov - cello sonata
Vaughan Williams - the lark ascending

[hornteacher]

I ask, because I have seen the same error made several times by other posters, so I wonder what the source of this mistake may be.

I didn't look at my CD cover before I typed it.   

[Keemun]

Here's my list: 

Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
Beethoven – String Quartet No. 15
Brahms – German Requiem
Bruckner – Symphony No. 7
Dvorak – Symphony No. 9
Mozart – Clarinet Concerto
Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No. 2
Schubert – Symphony No. 8
Tchaikovsky – Violin Concerto

[MN Dave]

Beethoven: Fifth Symphony
Brahms: Fourth Symphony
Bach: Goldberg Variations
Schubert: "Trout" Quintet
Schumann: Piano Concerto
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Chopin: Nocturnes
Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Purcell: Funeral Music for Queen Mary
Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre

[Steve]

Steve, I'm worried that the DSCH 10 and RoS wouldn't appeal to beginners of classical music 

When, by chance, I am able to turn someone on to classical music, I find that Rite of Spring makes an excellent starting point. Beginners can respond to its lush themes and transcendent imagery. (Sacrifice, Glory, Games, etc).

As far as Shostakovich's 10th goes, I suppose it is, as Keenum mentioned, a matter of intent with such lists. When I put together this list, I wasn't looking specifically for 'simple' or overly accessible pieces, just elements from the cannon that highlight particular genres. The 10th was my first exposure to Shostakovich, so I suppose my opinion may be slanted.