[Orchestra] Introducing famous and popular pieces
Among classical music, the orchestra is the most opulent and offers the widest range of expression.
When a variety of instruments, each infused with the performer’s own sensibility, come together to create a single piece of music, it produces a unique allure found nowhere else.
In this article, we’ve picked out famous and popular orchestral pieces.
Even within orchestral music, there are many genres—from symphonies and concertos to operas.
We’re introducing everything from pieces everyone has heard to works well-known among classical enthusiasts, so be sure to check them out.
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[Orchestra] Introducing famous and popular pieces (61–70)
Air on the G StringJ.S.Bach
The commonly used name for an arrangement by August Wilhelmj of a work by Johann Sebastian Bach—known as the father of music—for solo violin with piano accompaniment.
The piece gets its name from the fact that it can be performed using only the violin’s G string, and in Japan it’s often heard at graduation ceremonies and similar occasions.
It also reached a wider audience when it was sampled in 1997 by the German music group Sweetbox in their song “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.” A staple of classical music, its beautifully expansive melody—hard to believe it’s played solely on the violin’s G string—soothes the soul.
EntertainerScott Joplin
“The Entertainer” was composed in 1902.
It begins in C major, but later modulates to F major; in that section the rhythm also differs from the rest.
With a brisk yet relaxed feel, the piece follows an A-B-A-C-D form.
It was apparently not very popular at the time, but after it was used in the film “The Sting,” it became instantly famous.
Even today it is widely used in commercials and video games, so many people have likely heard it.
E.T.John Williams
A masterpiece by film music maestro John Williams.
It brilliantly captures the heart of a moving story about the friendship between a lonely boy and a gentle extraterrestrial.
It won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the Grammy, and the BAFTA.
Williams is the only person to have received all of these awards multiple times with the same score.
This piece symbolizes universal themes of friendship, adventure, and cross-cultural exchange, expressing the film’s magical world through music.
Born from Williams’s long-standing collaboration with director Steven Spielberg, it is a gem that conveys the profound bond between cinema and music.
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97 “Rhenish”Robert Schumann
Composed in 1850.
Although it is numbered No.
3, the “Rhenish” was the last of the four symphonies to be written.
Schumann was 40 years old and had moved to Düsseldorf.
It is said that the work was inspired by life along the Rhine River there.
The lively melody of the first movement lifts the listener’s spirits.
Serenade for StringsPeter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
You probably remember the Staff Service commercial with the “Corporate—Oh Jinji, Oh Jinji” jingle as background music.
It’s also been used in ads for Tokyo DisneySea and Kracie.
The melody gently soothes a mind and body tired from work or study.
The strings are beautiful, wrapping the listener’s heart in warmth.
For example, if you’re feeling stressed from human relationships, this piece can wash away that hazy feeling—it has that kind of power.
It’s great to listen to while taking a bath.
Prelude to Act III from LohengrinRichard Wagner
Lohengrin is one of the knights who appears in the legend of King Arthur.
He is the hero who arrived in a swan-drawn boat to rescue a princess who was about to be ensnared by intrigue.
This prelude is a highly brilliant piece performed at the beginning of Act III, which opens with the wedding scene of the princess.
If you listen closely to the oboe toward the end, you can hear the melody of the famous Bridal Chorus that follows.
Rhapsody on a Theme of PaganiniSergei Vasil’evich Rachmaninov
This is a work by Sergei Rachmaninoff, a composer who represents Russia, and one of the few pieces he composed after emigrating to the United States.
It is said to strongly reflect Rachmaninoff’s homesickness after being forced to leave his country due to the Russian Revolution.
The title was given following the suggestion: “Why not use the legend of Niccolò Paganini—rumored to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for transcendental virtuosity—as the storyline?” Of the 24 variations, the 18th is particularly famous and is often used in film soundtracks.
Ranging from calm and sweet variations to intense and weighty ones, it is a piece that lets you enjoy a wide variety of moods.
