A curated collection of 300 classical works and cycles: symphonies, concertos, keyboard music, opera, chamber and choral music. Explore composers, background and listening guides.
One entry per work or cycle. Whole symphonies, operas and sets count as one entry. The collection draws on the supplied candidate lists and is presented alphabetically rather than as a definitive ranking.
4 matching works | Showing 1-4 | Page 1 of 1
Composition: 1969-1972
Schnittke's First Symphony brings conflicting musical styles into the same large orchestral space. Quotations, popular idioms, modernist textures and theatrical actions interrupt one another across its extended course. These collisions...
Composition: 1979
Schnittke framed his Second Symphony in six sections corresponding to the Ordinary of the Mass. Voices present liturgical material while the orchestra supplies a much larger surrounding musical argument. The subtitle names the Austrian...
Composition: 1981
Schnittke wrote his Third Symphony for the new Gewandhaus in Leipzig. The score engages with German musical history, using motifs derived from composers' names within a large orchestral design. Historical allusions coexist with modern...
Composition: 1988
Schnittke gave this four-movement work a double title to join two orchestral traditions. Violin, oboe and harpsichord form a concertino in the opening movement, set against a large orchestra. The second movement reworks a fragment from...
The 300-entry selection uses the 100 general favorites in the supplied classical list, then adds the earliest 200 nonduplicate symphony candidates in the supplied order. It is a curated discovery collection, not a universal popularity ranking. One work or cycle counts as one entry; movements and performances are not separately counted. Titles, musical forms, chronology and version notes are reviewed against the cited sources. Composition, premiere and publication dates are labeled separately; uncertainty is retained. Era and listening suggestions are editorial aids.
1960-2025. Each year contains 150 selections.