Timelessly beautiful classical masterpieces. Recommended classical music.
A showcase of stunningly beautiful classics, all at once!
There are so many beautiful pieces in classical music, aren’t there?
This time, I’ve selected works that are especially beautiful—“classics that are just too beautiful.”
It’s a lineup of masterpieces that have been passed down through a long history.
When you think of beautiful classical music, many people imagine something calm and refreshing, but I’ve also picked pieces not only for solo piano but also for voice and full orchestra.
Now then, please take your time and enjoy!
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Masterpieces of Classical Music That Are Too Beautiful. Recommended Classical Music (21–30)
Nocturne No. 20 “Posthumous”Frederic Chopin
This piece, also known for being used in the film The Pianist, was completed in Vienna in 1830 and sent to Chopin’s sister Ludwika.
It is said to have been written as a piece for Ludwika to practice the Piano Concerto No.
2, and it incorporates fragmentary motifs from that concerto as well as from Chopin’s song The Maiden’s Wish.
It is a work whose exquisite shading is highly appealing.
Hymn No. 312: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”Charles Crozat Converse
This is a beloved hymn by Charles Crozat Converse, who also worked as a lawyer.
The original lyrics are said to have been written by someone who suffered the profound sorrow of losing a fiancée twice.
The warm, enveloping melody—overflowing like a prayer to a friend who shares every burden—soothes the heart.
Composed around 1868, the piece’s composer, Converse, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1895.
It’s a recommended song to listen to when you want to quietly reflect or drift off to sleep with a sense of peace.
Masterpieces of Classical Music Too Beautiful for Words: Recommended Classical Pieces (31–40)
Meditation from ThaïsJules Emile Frédéric Massenet
An interlude from the opera Thaïs.
Set in a town along the Nile in North Africa in the 4th century, Thaïs tells a wild love story between the courtesan Thaïs and the monk Athanaël.
This piece is the interlude that plays at a pivotal moment when, persuaded by Athanaël, Thaïs gives up her life as a courtesan and resolves to embrace a life of faith.
It vividly depicts Thaïs’s inner turmoil and her determination.
“Lacrimosa (Day of Tears)” from the RequiemWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem, the last piece Mozart left behind.
He died while composing the “Dies Irae,” leaving his own composition unfinished; the remaining sections were written and completed by his pupil.
It is said that when the commission for the Requiem arrived, Mozart wrote in a letter, “This piece is my own requiem,” leading some to describe the commissioner as a “messenger from the realm of the dead.” A Requiem is not a song to soothe the souls of the deceased, but a prayer asking that the punishment the dead receive from God after death be lightened, and that they be granted eternal light.
Pavane for a Dead PrincessJoseph-Maurice Ravel
It is a piano piece composed by the French composer Maurice Ravel.
More than ten years after its composition, Ravel himself arranged it for orchestra.
The model for the “dead princess” is said to be the 17th-century Spanish Infanta Margarita.
Ravel is believed to have seen her portrait in the Louvre Museum and drawn inspiration from it.
He described the piece as “a dance such as a little princess might have danced at the Spanish court in former times.” Within its nostalgic, sentimental mood that seems to long for a bygone era, one can glimpse a light, dance-like melody.
Adagio for Strings and OrganTomaso Albinoni
A signature work by the Italian composer Albinoni, who was active during the Baroque era.
The Adagio in G Minor, with its poignantly sentimental melody for organ and strings, is a masterpiece that has been used as a theme in numerous films and television programs.
In the film The Trial, released in the 1960s, it left a vivid impression on viewers, and the piece became a major hit alongside the film’s release.
It is a work that makes excellent use of Baroque musical characteristics, such as a low, heartbeat-like rhythm and an antiphonal interplay of melodies that resembles a dialogue.
La CampanellaFranz Liszt
This is a piano piece arranged and written based on the theme of the Rondo “La Campanella” from the third movement of Niccolò Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.
2.
Paganini, an Italian violinist particularly renowned for his virtuosic technique, was said to have acquired his skill at the cost of selling his soul to the devil, and that extraordinary technique is vividly reflected in this piece as well.
“La Campanella” means “the little bell” in Italian, and from the very opening melody one can easily imagine the sound of bells ringing.