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

[(poco) Sforzando]

Says Nande ya nen? "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.

I don't know if I'm considered one of the "some," but I think my three sampler discs meet most of the above criteria, with some exceptions. I wanted to give the beginner first a sampler - no piece more than 10 minutes, so as not to tax the new listener's powers of concentration, and a large variety of genres and periods. So my disc #1 includes piano music, chamber, opera, Lieder, and orchestral pieces from about 1630-1920, all of which are probably of immediate appeal. (The last person I gave it to was most taken, predictably, by the Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky selections.) Disc #2 on the other hand was intended to branch out beyond the expected repertory, to show the new listener that there are other things music can do besides the traditional patterns. And in fact a couple of people I gave this to showed unexpected interest in Renaissance music. Bartók, and Elliott Carter. Disc #3 goes into a single composer's music in a bit more depth, showing the three traditional periods from Beethoven's output in samples for piano, quartet, and orchestra.

In this way I hope to give the beginner a "tasting menu," after which they can pursue their own interests.

I do admit that some of the lists here have seemed more esoteric than I would prefer.

[Haffner]

Bach- Brandenburg Concerto #5
Beethoven- op. 59
Brahms- Piano Concerto #1
Gorecki-Symphony no.3
J. Haydn- op. 20
Mozart- String Quintet in G minor
Mahler- Symphony no. 4
Schoenberg- Pierrot Lunaire
Verdi- La Traviata
Wagner:- Der Fliegende Hollander

[karlhenning]

Shoshtakovich - Symphony 5

Oh, I hope you're not in the classroom; your speech is slurred today 

[Haffner]

Oh, I hope you're not in the classroom; your speech is slurred today 

Actually, let's could switch the Gorecki I listed for Shostakovich's 4th or 10th. Or his 7 or 8th SQ. Or...

My thinking is slurred today...(and it's been since X-mas without zee Weed of Joy. GAD!

[karlhenning]

Weed of Joy

Dandelion?

[Haffner]

Dandelion?

"Mandrake Root" (Coloured Deepest Purple)

[Xenophanes]

Excuse me :  BRANDENBURG. Who told you otherwise??

Maybe he likes mountains?

[quintett op.57]

Franck - Piano quintet
Schnittke - Cello Sonata n°1
R.Strauss - Thus spoke Zarathoustra
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
Ravel - String quartet
Smetana - String quartet n°1
Mussorgsky - Pictures at an exhibition
Borodin - String quartet n°2
Pärt - Tabula Rasa
Glass - String quartet n°5

[Benji]

R.Strauss - Thus spoke Zarathoustra
Pärt - Tabula Rasa

I'd have thought so too, but my experience introducing Zarathoustra to friends is one of short-lived thrill and rapidly decreasing interest. Shocking, yes.

But yes, Pärt was very succesful, but I got better responses to Fratres than Tabula Rasa, which mirrors my own preference anyway.


Ok, so might I suggest the works that hooked me:

Mahler - Symphony No.1
Holst - The Planets
Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis (you'd have to be dead inside to not be moved by that, if you can get the required stillness
Stravinsky - Le Sacre du Printemps
Rachmaninov - 2nd Piano Concerto
Dvorak - 9th Symphony
Debussy - Preludes, book 1
Janacek - Sinfonietta
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue

and finally, my secret wardrobe, the door through which I entered this magical world (and I suspect I am not alone in my generation in having this experience) - the John Williams scores to the Star Wars films. And yes, I'm still very fond of this music as any of the works above, and not just for nostalgic reasons. 

[Christo]

Ten easy starters to begin with, at random:

Frederick Delius, La Calinda (from Koanga)
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Charterhouse Suite (for Strings)
Gustav Holst, Capriccio
Walter Leigh, Concertino for Harpsichord and Strings
John Ireland, Concertino Pastorale
Eugene Goossens, Oboe Concerto
Lennox Berkeley, Divertimento
Cornelis Dopper, Chiaconna Gotica
Hendrik Andriessen, Kuhnau Variaties
Joly Braga Santos, Divertimento no. 1

[eyeresist]

10 composers, 10 introductory pieces...

Mozart - piano concerto 20
Beethoven - symphony 3
Schubert - symphony 8
Chopin - preludes
Brahms - symphony 4
Dvorak - symphony 8
Mahler - symphony 1
Elgar - Enigma variations
Sibelius - symphony 5
Prokofiev - symphony 5


No Bruckner for the first few years!

[longears]

No Bruckner for the first few years!

And no chamber music, either? (aside from the Chopin)

[Teresa]

DEBUSSY, CLAUDE (1862-1918)
  Images for Orchestra (1908)
DUKAS, PAUL (1865-1935)
  The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1897)
GOULD, MORTON (1913-1996)
  Latin American Symphonette (1940)
GRIEG, EDVARD (1843-1907)
  Peer Gynt: Suites 1 & 2 (1876)
GROFÉ, FERDE (1892-1972)
  Grand Canyon Suite for Orchestra (1931)
HOLST, GUSTAV (1874-1934)
  The Planets, Op. 32 (1916)
IPPOLITOV-IVANOV, MIKHAIL (1859-1935)
  Caucasian Sketches, Op. 10 (1894)
MASSENET, JULES (1842-1912)
  Le Cid: Ballet Music (1885)
NIELSEN, CARL (1865-1931)
  Aladdin Suite
THOMSON, VIRGIL (1896-1989)
  The Plow That Broke The Plains: Suite (1936)

Damn this was hard but here are 10 musically colorful classical compositions should be likable to anyone how has never heard classical music before.

[BachQ]

IPPOLITOV-IVANOV, MIKHAIL (1859-1935)
  Caucasian Sketches, Op. 10 (1894)

And there is virtually nothing else from Ippolitov-Ivanov to recommend to a beginner .........

[Topaz]

1   Beethoven - Moonlight Piano Sonata
2   Mozart - Clarinet Quintet
3   Schubert - Notturno, D 897 (or Adagio of String Quintet, D 956)
4   Brahms - Clarinet Quintet
5   Schumann - Romance Op 28/2
6   Haydn - Trumpet Concerto
7   Bach - Cantata BWV 140
8   Sibelius - Andante Festivo
9   Wagner - Entry of the Gods into Valhalla
10   Handel - Messiah (selection of about 5 tracks)

[greg]

hmmmmmmm for beginners, eh?


Brahms- Piano Concerto #1
Mahler- Symphony #6
Xenakis- Ata
Bach- Well-Tempered Clavier
Beethoven- Moonlight Sonata
Stravinsky- Rite of Spring
Adams- Harmonielehre
Shostakovich- String Quartet #8
Sibelius- Nightride and Sunrise
Prokofiev- Cello Sinfonia Concertante

[eyeresist]

And no chamber music, either? (aside from the Chopin)

And no opera, choral music, or lieder. It would be hypocritical to recommend music that doesn't interest me - that's for others to do.

(To qualify, I am interested in piano music, but I think the richer and more varied sound of the orchestra makes new music more accessible to classical n00bs.

[RebLem]

Bach, J.S.:  Brandenburg Concerto 2
Handel:  Messiah
Haydn:  Sym 94 "Surprise"
Mozart:  Clarinet Concerto
Beethoven:  Violin Concerto
Brahms: Violin Concerto
Dvorak: Cello Concerto
Stravinsky:  Le sacre du printemps
Prokofiev:  Sym 1 "Classical"
Shostakovich:  Piano Quintet

[Tsaraslondon]

Thinking of the works that got me started (only a teenager at the time, remember, so my taste was not very sophisticated).

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Khachaturian: Piano Concerto
Ravel: Daphins et Chloe
Debussy: La Mer
Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty
Puccini: La Boheme
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
Prokoviev: Romeo and Juliet
Poulenc: Piano Concerto

If there seems to be a French/Russian bias, then that is because my mentor, through whom I discovered a lot of music, and who encouraged my new passion, was, and still is, a big fan of Russian and French music. This was all around the age of 14. By about 18, I was heavily into opera, especially Verdi and Puccini. I remember that my love of Mozart came later, (in my 20s), and Bach later still. Now I have, I hope, more sophisticated tastes over a wide range of musical styles and periods, but I still enjoy the ten pieces named above. Only the Khachaturian now seems less than a masterpiece, though I still enjoy giving it the occasional outing

[Teresa]

Thinking of the works that got me started (only a teenager at the time, remember, so my taste was not very sophisticated).

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Khachaturian: Piano Concerto
Ravel: Daphins et Chloe
Debussy: La Mer
Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty
Puccini: La Boheme
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
Prokoviev: Romeo and Juliet
Poulenc: Piano Concerto

If there seems to be a French/Russian bias, then that is because my mentor, through whom I discovered a lot of music, and who encouraged my new passion, was, and still is, a big fan of Russian and French music. This was all around the age of 14. By about 18, I was heavily into opera, especially Verdi and Puccini. I remember that my love of Mozart came later, (in my 20s), and Bach later still. Now I have, I hope, more sophisticated tastes over a wide range of musical styles and periods, but I still enjoy the ten pieces named above. Only the Khachaturian now seems less than a masterpiece, though I still enjoy giving it the occasional outing

Yours seems to be the best beginner list so far (of course next  to mine), most of the other posters recommendations would "scare" me away from Classical Music for good.  While they may enjoy lots of long symphonies these are too difficult for beginners.  For example I love the symphonies of Mahler and Shostakovich but I would never recommend a neebee try these first!  For Shostakovich the Festival Overture, Hamlet, The Bolt, The Age of Gold, The Jazz Suites and Tea for Two would be better entry points.

I believe Symphonic Poems, Overtures, Ballet and other music with lots of tonal color and rememberable melody lines are much better place to begin with any composer.   I think posters are losing sight this is supposed to be a starter list for beginners!!