Classical Masterpieces: Recommended Works You Should Hear at Least Once
Classical music, the foundation of all music.
It began with chants sung in churches and led to the birth of countless composers and works.
In Japan, classical music remains close to us even today—taught in music classes and played as background music in a variety of settings.
In this article, we’ll introduce a wide range of classical pieces: from famous works you’ve likely heard somewhere at least once, to lesser-known pieces that will still linger in your ears.
Please enjoy these masterpieces of classical music—performed in many forms, from sacred music and symphonies to piano solos and concertos, including works arranged for different instruments.
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Classical Masterpieces: Recommended Works You Should Hear at Least Once (41–50)
Symphonies Nos. 1–5Felix Mendelssohn
This is a performance by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado, included in “Mendelssohn: The Complete Symphonies.” When it comes to Mendelssohn, the “Wedding March,” one of the pieces from the incidental music A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is widely known as a representative work.
Classical Masterpieces | Recommended Works You Should Hear at Least Once (51–60)
String Quartet No. 66 in G major “Lobkowitz”, Op. 77, No. 1, Hob. III:81Franz Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet No.
66 in G major, “Lobkowitz,” performed by the Kuijken String Quartet.
With over a hundred works that helped establish the symphony, he came to be known as the “Father of the Symphony.”
Overture CollectionGioachino Rossini
An album of Rossini overtures conducted by Claudio Abbado with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
As the foremost opera composer of the early Romantic era, Rossini enjoyed immense popularity among audiences as well as composers and writers such as Chopin, Wagner, and Stendhal.
Pavane of TearsJohn Dowland
Even as Europe entered the Renaissance, where the influence of Christianity remained very strong, there was a strong perception that songs spreading the Gospel of Christ were the proper form of music.
However, by the late Renaissance, instrumental music developed.
This is a famous piece for the lute.
Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15Robert Schumann
A representative composer of the German Romantic school is Schumann.
He wrote music for a wide range of ensembles, from symphonies to instrumental works, but his piano pieces are especially famous.
The idea of rendering scenes as a child perceives them directly into music is a quintessentially Romantic conception.
GymnopédieErik Satie
The distinctly French music sparked by Fauré took shape as what Satie called “Impressionism.” Closely linked with the Impressionist painting of the time, Impressionist music differs from the temporally dramatic development of Romantic music, bearing instead the characteristics of depicting only the impression of a scene or an emotion.
Symphonic Poem “Finlandia”Jean Sibelius
Conducted by Herbert von Karajan, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
This piece is the most famous among Sibelius’s works and gained popularity as a composition that stirred Finnish patriotism against the oppression of Imperial Russia.