# best piece of classical music written... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 20, 2003, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680 "2003-07-20T02:42:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SnugTheJoiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnugTheJoiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnugTheJoiner)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/21 "2003-07-21T08:06:18Z")
Brahms’s Waltz in A flat. ---
**Author:** ![cajela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cajela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cajela)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/22 "2003-07-21T08:09:28Z")
Re public domain: yes, the music might well be PD - so you could possibly download scores and lyrics somewhere. For choral classics you must start with CPDL, [http://www.cpdl.org/](http://www.cpdl.org/) and for other things try googles list at [http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Music/Resources/Downloadable\_Music\_Sheets/Public\_Domain/](http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Music/Resources/Downloadable_Music_Sheets/Public_Domain/) If it’s a new edition, it will not be public domain unless it has been specifically donated (like the CPDL editions). And most of the performances will be from editions within the last 50 years or so. The performances and recordings will definitely NOT be PD. Good luck finding an orchestra, choir, soloist, conductor etc… As for the actual topic, no way can I decide. This week my head is full of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, which I sang last Saturday. Magnificent late Renaissance polyphony. ---
**Author:** ![Kegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/23 "2003-07-21T10:56:38Z")
Beethovens 5th piano concrto, absolutly… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/24 "2003-07-21T12:49:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Freiheit \* > \*\*Hey everybody–these are probably all public domain, does anyone know of a website where a good collection of classical music can be DL’d? \*\* Try [The Classical Music Archives](http://www.classicalarchives.com/index.html). Though the music is in public domain, performances of it are not unless the musician makes them PD. The Archives does have a good selection of music that can be downloaded, though. My choices: Beethoven’s Ninth (people have already properly praise “Ode to Joy,” but the second movement is just as good). Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture (only if performed live with real cannon, though). Dvorak – Piano Quintet, Op. 81 Dvorak – String Quartet No. 12 “American” (these are often packaged together in one CD) Rossini – William Tell Bach – Brandenberg Concerto #3 ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/25 "2003-07-21T16:01:32Z")
My nomination is: Edvard Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite. But I think it’s wonderful that some consider Arnold Schoenberg’s music worthy of consideration. Schoenberg wrote some pretty awesome stuff. \ Arnold Schoenberg’s son Lawrence was my computer programming teacher in High School. \ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/26 "2003-07-21T18:26:40Z")
Definite: Mozart Requiem Egmont Overture Possible: Berlioz Requiem (the most beautiful music i’ve ever heard, but relatively devoid of meaning or feeling. Plus, I’ve only heard it once. Additionally, I used to think _Symphonie Fantastique_ was one of the best, but I heard a horrible version of it which made me change my mind. Who know if this is the same too.) ---
**Author:** ![haardvark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@haardvark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haardvark)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/27 "2003-07-21T18:52:39Z")
different strokes for different folks, i guess. These mist me up almost every time: Brahms _Symphony Number 1_. Transcendent. 3rd movement still knocks me on my hiney 20+ years after I first heard it (in the 6th grade, music appreciation class) Grieg _Holberg Suite_. Maybe pedestrian but it was the first live symphony performance I saw as a grown-up. I still clearly remember how transfixed I was watching the cellists and the first row violins working in perfect sync and counterpoint, and how the conductor held effortless sway over it all… Vivaldi \*Concerto In A Minor For Two Violins And Orchestra, Op. 3, No. 8 \* Came across it by accident in the bargain bin, in _An Isaac Stern Vivaldi Gala_. Don’t know much about it but I love love love it anyway. Are these **the** best. Doubt it. Right now, they’re _ **my** _ best. - haardvark, who misses weekend Symphony runs but is happy to be a new dad for all that ---
**Author:** ![blue22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58f4c7/32.png) [@blue22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue22)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/28 "2003-07-22T02:15:07Z")
Some pretty-darn-good pieces (not necessarily in order): Wagner - Prelude to Tristan und Isolde Brahms - Symphony No. 1 (esp. 2 mvt.) Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 6 Mahler - Symphony No. 10 (the Adagio) Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8, “Pathetique” (not just the 2 mvt.) Chopin - Nocturnes, op. 9 Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue Berlioz - Symphony Fantastique ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/29 "2003-07-22T02:29:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Freiheit \* > \*\*Hey everybody–these are probably all public domain, does anyone know of a website where a good collection of classical music can be DL’d? \*\* if you’re looking for legal free performances, then you should check out the classical offerings at: [MP3.com](http://MP3.com), [SoundClick.com](http://SoundClick.com), [BeSonic.com](http://BeSonic.com), and [Vitaminic.com](http://Vitaminic.com). While not always the best performances available, there are many good to very fine recordings of traditional symphonic and chamber music. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/30 "2003-07-22T03:48:17Z")
My offerings in no particular order of pieces I truly love: (because I agree that this is too difficult to call – perhaps when Bravo or Trio fall into chaos like VH1 they’ll start producing list programs and shows like I love the atonalists). Bach - Little Fuge in G Minor, another vote for the unaccompanied Cello Suites, plus I really do love his harpsichord pieces, particularaly the concerto in Dm and the Fantasy in Cm. St. Matthew’s Passion Handel - Another vote for the Water Music and I very much like “The Creation” Hayden - The Emporer Quartet Mozart - Symphonies 40 and 41, the Opera Don Juan, and the Coronation Mass in C Major (I’ll also add votes for the quartet in G minor and the Requiem) Beethoven – String Quartets (Especially the late ones), Every one of the Piano sonatas, The 9th Symphony (especially the Scherzo), The Triple Concerto Schubert - The Elf King, Death and the Maiden Quartet. The Piano Trios Mendelsohn - Violin Concerto in E minor Ravel - Tzigane Debussey - Afternoon of a Faun, Images for Orchestra Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring, The Firebird Bartok - The String Quartets Ives - Three Places in New England, The Unanswered Question, Piano Sonata No. 2 (Concord, Mass.), String Quartets 1 & 2 Berg - Violin Concerto Crumb - Night Music Webern - Opus 21, Symphony for Orchestra in 2 movements Copeland - Appalachian Spring (Ballet – much preferable to the overblown orchestral version), The Red Pony, The Tender Land Gershwin - Porgy and Bess, Three Preludes, Piano Concerto in F Bernstein - Chichester Psalms, Mass (A Theatre Piece), Symphony No. 1 Jerimiah, Dybbuk (Ballet), Sonata for Clarinet and Piano Glass - Koyaanisqatsi, 1000 Airplanes On The Roof, Songs of Liquid Days (Song Cycle) Elvis Costello - The Juliette Letters There are many others, but that’s what springs to mind when thinking of pieces I really like. ---
**Author:** ![Tree\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9dc877/32.png) [@Tree\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tree_Boy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/31 "2003-07-22T07:50:08Z")
How long is the complete 9th sypmhony by Beethoven? The version I have is 24 mins and 41 seconds in length. Do I have it all or only part of it? ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/32 "2003-07-22T13:17:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tree Boy \* > \*\*How long is the complete 9th sypmhony by Beethoven? The version I have is 24 mins and 41 seconds in length. Do I have it all or only part of it? \*\* Sounds like you’ve only got the last movement. The entire symphony lasts about 70 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/33 "2003-07-22T14:46:28Z")
Another vote for Beethoven’s Ninth–the whole thing. I would also nominate the opening to the Third Act of Puccini’s _Tosca_–a personal favorite of mine–and the “Liebestod” from Wagner’s _Tristan und Isolde_. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/34 "2003-07-22T16:25:02Z")
My pick: “Rhapsodie Upon A Theme By Paginin”-by S. Rachmaninov=wait, that’s page nine you ninny! ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/35 "2003-07-22T19:33:51Z")
No contest. Beethoven 7. Second movement, Allegretto. After that, Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, considered as one choice, would be hard to beat. ---
**Author:** ![SeGate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SeGate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeGate)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/36 "2003-07-22T20:21:16Z")
**ddgryphon** , I’m glad to see someone else mention Copeland. “Appalachian Spring” is one of my very favorites. And I always look forward to beef commercials so I can hear “Rodeo”! I am also a big fan of Satie. I especially like his “Gymnopedies” 1, 2, & 3. ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/37 "2003-07-23T00:30:15Z")
Aha… Found the Classical Fans here. I can’t possibly make a list of “favourites” but could make a list of favourite recordings/interpretations/orchestra’s/directors/instrumentalists/singers. But that would be also a very long one so I wont bore you people with it. It’s interesting however to see here Satie (which I played a lot when I was a child because those funny titles he gave his works seduced me on forehand) and Orff (I went once again to a Carmina Burana some week ago) And then I saw also mentioned Gerswhin’s Porgy and Bess, which I didn’t hear live since a very long time. Did anyone ever heard Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso? I have a fabulous recording of it, but never had the opportunity to see it on stage. Salaam. A ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/38 "2003-07-23T01:12:57Z")
Bach: Goldberg Variations D. Scarlatti: Sonatas K443 in D major and K27 in B minor Brahms: Symphony No. 4 Handel: Water Music Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde ---
**Author:** ![The\_Eugenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@The\_Eugenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Eugenius)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/39 "2003-07-23T02:44:06Z")
Some favorites: Bach: “Mache dich, mein Herze, rein” from St. Matthew’s Passion Handel: Overture to Music for the Royal Fireworks Haydn: Cello Concerto in C Major, third movement Mozart: “Notturna” serenade Beethoven: Variations on a theme by Wranitsky, WoO 71; String Quartet in Eb Major, Op. 127, second movement Schubert: “Rosamunde” string quartet Bizet: “L’Arlessiene” Suite No. 2 Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Chopin: Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Handel, Op. 24 Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A Minor, Op. 50; The Seasons, Op. 53 Rachmaninov: Vespers ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680/40 "2003-07-23T03:19:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SeGate \* > \*\ ***ddgryphon** , I’m glad to see someone else mention Copeland. “Appalachian Spring” is one of my very favorites. And I always look forward to beef commercials so I can hear “Rodeo”! > > I am also a big fan of Satie. I especially like his “Gymnopedies” 1, 2, & 3. \*\* SeGate: I just found a recording exclusively of Keyboard works by Satie. Now I’m looking for Scriabin (or Skriabin) Sonatas. They’re really interesting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-piece-of-classical-music-written/189680.md?page=3)