The Greatest Classical Music of All Time
Contents
The greatest classical music of all time according to experts.
Introduction
There are countless pieces of classical music that have stood the test of time, fascinate audiences, and continue to be performed today. While there are many ways to measure greatness, this list focuses on works that have been widely recognized as some of the best ever written. From beautifully moving symphonies to thrilling operas, these pieces have it all.
The Baroque Era
The Baroque Era was a period of great creativity in music, with composers such as Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel writing some of the most beautiful and well-loved pieces of all time. This era saw the development of polyphony and the Carmelite Order of monks developing a new type of Gregorian Chant. The Baroque Era was truly a golden age for classical music.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach was a German composer of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and vocal works such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Bach’s abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognized as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
Bach was born in Eisenach, in the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, into a Lutheran family. He was expected to follow his father’s career as a musician, but instead he became a student at St Michael’s School in Lüneburg and later at the renowned St Thomas School, Leipzig. Bach’s musical education consisted mainly of learning to play works by other composers, although he did receive some tuition in music theory and possible composition from his uncle Johann Christoph Bach, who was fourteen years his senior and Cantor at Eisenach. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, Bach’s health problems made regular concert performances impossible for him during much of his life; he did give occasional performances at court or on special occasions. In addition to Cantatas written for church services such as Christmas Oratorios and Easter Passion Music he wrote secular concertos (usually called “sinfonias”), keyboard works both technical (The Well Tempered Clavier) and programmatic (“The Art of Fugue”, “Musical Offering”, “The Goldberg Variations”), suites (English Suites French Suites Partitas) and sonatas for violin (Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo);dance suites for orchestra (Ouverture française: No 4 French Suite No 5 English Suite No 6 Partita No 2 );and many other pieces including The Tone Art Of Fugue .
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759) was born in the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, in the German city of Halle. He is celebrated as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, and his work includes some of the most popular pieces of classical music ever written.
Handel was a master of the Baroque style, and his work is characterized by Ornate melodies, complex harmonies and dramatic word-painting. He was a skilled performer on both the harpsichord and organ, and he composed concertos, oratorios, operas and chamber music.
Handel is best known for his oratorio Messiah, which has become an enduring Christmas classic. Other well-known works include the Water Music suite and the Royal Fireworks Music.
The Classical Era
The Classical era was a time of great change in Western music. The period saw the rise of new genres of music such as opera and the symphony. Composers such as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven created masterpieces that are still enjoyed by classical music lovers today. In this article, we’ll explore some of the greatest classical music of all time.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart is synonymous with classical music. He was a child prodigy who, by the age of five, was already performing for European royalty. He went on to compose some of the most beloved works in all of classical music, including symphonies, operas, and concertos. Mozart’s music is still hugely popular today, and his work continues to influence composers across genres.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (16 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist, who is arguably the defining figure in the history of Western music.
Beethoven was born in the city of Bonn in the Electorate of Cologne, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. He displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by Christian Gottlob Neefe, the Court Organist. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn and gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death.
During his lifetime, Beethoven composed nine symphonies, five concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his only opera Fidelio, and two masses.
Beethoven’s personal life was plagued by tragedy. His hearing deteriorated from 1800 onwards (possibly as a result of syphilis or lead poisoning), leading him to withdraw from society. His nephew Karl attempted suicide in 1826; Beethoven intervened but Karl never recovered from his failed suicide attempt and became increasingly estranged from his uncle.
Beethoven died on 26 March 1827 at the age of 56 after suffering a protracted illness possibly involving liver disease and renal failure. At the time of his death he was working on his 10th symphony which was eventually completed by Franz Schubert as Symphony No. 8 in C minor “Unfinished”.
The Romantic Era
The Romantic Era of classical music is often said to be the greatest era of all time. Many of the greatest composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky were writing during this time period. The Romantic Era was a time of great emotion and passion and you can hear that in the music. If you’re looking for the best classical music of all time, you can’t go wrong with the Romantic Era.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who was born on May 7, 1840 in Russia, was a leading Romantic Era composer. He wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the world and his work includes symphonies, operas, ballets and chamber music.
During his lifetime, Tchaikovsky’s music was accused of being “lacking in form and coherence.” Critics said that the melodies were too tuneful and emotionally indulgent. They also complained that his orchestration was overloaded. However, the public loved his music and he enjoyed great success during his lifetime.
Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake premiered in Moscow in 1877 and was an instant success. It is now one of the most popular ballets of all time. His ballet The Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1890 and is also still very popular today.
Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin premiered in 1879 and is considered to be one of the finest Russian operas ever written. Other well-known operas by Tchaikovsky include The Queen of Spades (1890) and Iolanta (1892).
Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony, which is known as the “Winter Daydreams Symphony,” was not well received when it premiered in 1866 but it is now one of his most popular works. Some of his other best-known symphonies are the “Little Russian” Symphony (1868), the “Pathétique” Symphony (1893) and the “Manfred” Symphony (1885).
Although Tchaikovsky’s music fell out of favor with critics after his death, it has since been reevaluated and is now admired for its craftsmanship, melodic beauty and emotional power.
Frederic Chopin
Chopin was born in Poland in 1810 and died in Paris in 1849. His father was a French émigré, and his mother came from a Polish family of minor nobility. He was baptized with the name of Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin. Although he used the Polish spelling of his first name, and signed some Polish compositions with that name (“Fryderyk”), he is generally referred to in English-language sources as “Frederic” or “Frederick”. He grew up in Warsaw and completed his musical education there. In 1830 he left Poland, apparently intending never to return.
Chopin’s music combines shades of Polish folk music with an elegant, classical style that reflects the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, among others. He is considered one of the greatest composers for the piano. His pieces for solo piano include mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, etudes, impromptus and preludes. Many are virtuosic show-pieces designed to demonstrate the performer’s technique. Others are intimate character pieces which emphasize mood over technical display. In addition to solo works for piano, Chopin also composed concerti for piano and orchestra – most notably the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor – as well as works involving other instruments such as songs for voice and piano, chamber music (including a cello sonata), and a number of polonaises for solo piano and orchestra.
The Modern Era
The modern era of classical music is usually said to have begun after the death of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750. The greatest classical music of all time was composed during this period, which lasted until the early 19th century. The modern era is characterized by a period of great diversity in musical styles.
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky was one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He composed some of the most famous and well-loved classical pieces of all time, including The Firebird, The Rite of Spring, and (my personal favorite) The Rake’s Progress. Stravinsky’s music is known for its uniqueness, complexity, and originality, and it continues to be performed and studied by classical music lovers all over the world.
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev was born on April 27, 1891, in the Ukrainian town of Sontsovka (now Krasne), Russia. The son of a landowner and grain merchant, Prokofiev was exposed to music at an early age; his grandmother often sang songs to him, and he began piano lessons at age four. He composed his first piece, “The Robe of Nessus,” at the age of nine. In 1904, Prokofiev entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied piano under Anna Essipova and composition under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1910, he won the conservatory’s prestigious Rubinstein Prize for his Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16. The following year, he completed his graduation piece–the one-act opera Undine–and embarked on his first concert tour as a pianist-composer.
Prokofiev made his first trip to the United States in 1918, playing concerts in New York City and Boston. He returned to Russia later that year and began work on an opera based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The work was not completed until 1932; by that time Prokofiev had settled in Paris and was busy composing symphonies, instrumental works, and film scores (he wrote the music for Sergey Eisenstein’s landmark 1925 film Battleship Potemkin). In 1936, Prokofiev traveled to the Soviet Union for a series of concert appearances; he decided to remain there after Joseph Stalin’s government enacted strict censorship laws that made it difficult for artists to work freely outside of the country.
During World War II, Prokofiev wrote some of his most popular works, including the ballet Romeo and Juliet (1935-1936) and the cantata Alexander Nevsky (1938). He also produced several patriotic Soviet works during this period, including the cantata Zdravitsa (Hail to Stalin), which earned him a personal congratulatory telegram from Stalin himself. After the war ended, Prokofiev continued to compose prolifically; among his most well-known works from this period are the operas War and Peace (1941-1952) andbetrayal (1954), as well as the ballet Cinderella (1945-1948).
Prokofiev died on March 5th 1953 after suffering a series of strokes. He was buried with full military honors in Moscow’s Red Square; more than 100 000 people came to pay their respects during his funeral procession..
