I once heard that the length specification for CD’s was based on fitting Beethoven’s 9th into one unit. Is this true?
<hijack> tee-hee!! Just gotta gloat for a minute here - in 2001 I picked up the violin again (after 25+ years away) and a few months later I joined a community orchestra. Sitting waaaaay in the back of the 2nds & playing a lot of “air violin”. In the past two seasons we’ve played SO MANY of these greats (Peer Gynt, Symphonie Fantastique, Appalachian Spring, Beethoven’s 5th, Rhapsody in Blue - to name a few)!
On 9/11/2002 we were part of the “Rolling Requiem” across the country that played Mozart’s Requiem - our performance was in a huge chapel @ the U. of Chicago.
And next season - oh yeah baby - Beethoven’s 9th w/our newly formed chorus!
Life is good! I hope all of you music lovers are having similar experiences!! </hijack>
Slightly under 74 minutes, because the 74-minute length of the audio CD format was supposedly set to accomodate this pice. (With emphasis on “supposedly” - snopes has it as undetermined)
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Yeah, I know. Fantasia. What can I say? That piece gives me the chills.
Mozart’s Requiem Mass. Never fails to move me deeply.
Beethoven’s 6th.
Orff’s Carmina Burana.
Cartooniverse
I a bit to moody to have a single all time favorite. So my nominations for favorites (in no particular order) would be:
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
Pachelbel Canon in D
Beethoven Violin Concerto in D major
Beethoven Symphony No. 6 Pastoral
Mozart Requiem
Vivaldi Four Seasons
Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture
Handel Messiah
Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto
Schubert String Quintet in C
I *cannot *narrow this down to fewer than 26:
Bach Toccata and Fugue in d minor
Barber Adagio
Beethoven Symphony #7
Brahms Piano Concerto #2
Brahms Symphony #3
Chopin Etude in E Major, Opus 10, #3
Copland Appalachian Spring
Dvorak New World Symphony
Gershwin Porgy and Bess
Lehar “Dein is mein ganzes herz” from The Land of Smiles
Mendelssohn Symphony #4
Mozart Clarinet Concerto
Puccini “Nessun dorma” from Turandot
Puccini “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2
Rachmaninoff Symphony #2
Rachmaninoff Etudes-tableaux, op39
Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto #2
Scriabin Etude, opus 8, #12
Smetana The Moldau from Ma Vlast
Stravinsky Le sacre du printemps
Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet
Tchaikovsky Symphony #6
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
Verdi Requiem
Wagner Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Some nominations of mine:
Mozart’s Requiem Mass
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
When I think of more modern musical creations, Holsts’ The Planets comes to mind
Bach deserves a lot of recognition:
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
Brandenburg Concerto
Mass in B Minor
Violin Concerto in D Minor
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring
Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelungen (Ring Cycle)
Handel’s Messiah (It made me cry when I saw it live at the Sydney Opera House)
God, there are so many more pieces I want to name, but the list would be endless. I haven’t even mentioned Beethoven, but he’s probably already got enough supporters out there. If I had the chance, I’d nominate just about every great piece ever written! Haydn, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak (My favourite composer)… sigh