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.
300 matching works | Showing 76-100 | Page 4 of 12
Composition: 1878 and 1886 (two collections)
Dvorak's two sets of Slavonic Dances use the rhythmic characters of regional dances while supplying his own melodies. The first set draws mainly on Czech models; the second broadens the range to other Slavic dance types. Written for...
Composition: 1880
Dvorak composed the Sixth for conductor Hans Richter and dedicated it to him. The four-movement work combines a broad opening, a lyrical Adagio and a scherzo based on the strongly accented Czech furiant. Its eventual first performance...
Composition: 1884-1885
Dvorak's Seventh is darker and more concentrated than the Eighth Symphony that followed it. Written for London, it combines a tense D-minor opening with a lyrical slow movement, a rhythmically layered scherzo, and a forceful finale....
Composition: 1889
Dvorak's Eighth Symphony was composed in the surroundings of his country home at Vysoka. A brief darker opening gives way to a bright flute idea, and the score continually changes between reflective and energetic passages. The third...
Composition: 1893
Dvorak wrote the New World Symphony during his American residence, bringing his own musical language into contact with sounds and ideas he encountered there. Its broad English-horn Largo melody was later adapted into the song Goin'...
Composition: 1919
Elgar's Cello Concerto opens with an exposed solo declaration, giving the cello an immediate dramatic presence. Four movements contrast broad reflection with quicker, more fragile activity, and music from earlier in the work reappears...
Composition: 1908
Elgar's First Symphony begins with a broad motto that returns across its four movements. Much of the first movement moves away from the motto's A-flat major, creating a persistent tonal contrast. The quick second movement flows directly...
Composition: 1909-1911
Elgar's Second Symphony carries a dedication to the memory of Edward VII and a quotation from Shelley at its head. Its four movements include a substantial Larghetto and a fast, rhythmically unsettled Rondo. Recurring ideas link the...
Composition: 1887-1893 (main versions); expanded orchestration 1900
Faure's Requiem developed through successive versions rather than appearing as one fixed orchestral score. Its restrained choral writing and prominent solo passages emphasize repose, while the final In paradisum looks beyond the burial...
Composition: 1888
Franck compressed the functions of a conventional four-movement symphony into three movements. The central movement combines a songlike English-horn theme with scherzo-like activity. Earlier themes return in the finale, making the work...
Premiere: 1924
Gershwin wrote Rhapsody in Blue for Paul Whiteman's concert experiment combining popular idioms with concert music. The first performance featured Gershwin at the piano and Ferde Grofe's orchestration for jazz band. Its opening clarinet...
Composition: 1996
Glass based Heroes on material from the David Bowie and Brian Eno album of that name. Six movements develop selected songs into an orchestral symphony connected with a dance collaboration with Twyla Tharp. The music retains recognizable...
Composition: 1893
Glazunov dedicated his Fourth Symphony to Anton Rubinstein. It has three movements rather than the four customary in his other completed symphonies. A slow introduction presents material that continues to matter later, and a central...
Composition: 1895 (completion)
Glazunov's Fifth returns to a four-movement symphonic plan and sets its broad orchestral writing within clearly contrasted sections. A substantial opening movement is followed by scherzo, slow movement, and finale. The score's late...
Composition: 1909-1911
Gliere's Third Symphony turns the legend of Ilya Muromets into four large orchestral tableaux. The hero's emergence, an encounter with a formidable adversary, a princely celebration, and a final catastrophic scene supply the narrative...
Composition: 1976
Gorecki's Third Symphony sets three Polish texts associated with loss and the bond between mother and child. All three movements move slowly, using repetition and gradual growth to focus attention on the soprano's line. The first...
Publication: About 1859 (vocal publication)
Gounod places a new singing melody above the flowing harmony of Bach's C-major prelude from The Well-Tempered Clavier. The familiar vocal version sets the Latin Ave Maria prayer. Its identity therefore involves two composers with...
Composition: 1888; 1891-1893 (suite assembly and revisions)
Grieg first wrote incidental music for Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, then selected movements for two orchestral suites. The concert order creates a different experience from the full drama: contrasting landscapes, dances, and character scenes...
Composition: 1741
Handel's Messiah uses a scriptural compilation by Charles Jennens rather than a conventional dramatic plot. Solo recitatives and arias alternate with choruses across three large parts concerned with Christian prophecy, the Passion, and...
Premiere: 1717 (royal river performance)
Handel's Water Music is associated with King George I's river excursion on the Thames in 1717. Its contrasting dances and ceremonial movements suit a changing outdoor spectacle, with horns and other winds giving the ensemble a...
Composition: 1928-1930
Hanson wrote his Romantic Symphony for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's fiftieth anniversary. Its three movements share melodic material, allowing themes to return with different orchestral surroundings. Broad lyrical lines are central...
Composition: 1938-1939
Roy Harris compressed the Third Symphony into one continuous movement, organized into several contrasting phases rather than separate numbered movements. Long string lines give way to increasingly active contrapuntal writing and a fugue...
Composition: 1793-1794
Haydn's Military Symphony adds bass drum, cymbals and triangle to the orchestral sound familiar from his London concerts. Their conspicuous entry transforms the second movement, whose melody had an earlier life in a concerto for a...
Composition: 1793-1794
Haydn's Clock Symphony takes its nickname from the ticking accompaniment in the slow movement. That steady pattern supports a sequence of changing textures and moods, including moments when the expected regularity is interrupted. The...
Composition: 1794
Haydn composed the 102nd during his second London stay. A slow introduction leads into a forceful Allegro, while the Adagio gives prominent attention to the cello and delicate orchestral colours. Its premiere is associated with a...
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.