Complete List?

Possible nub question, but can I somewhere get a list of all compositions we just need to know? The list can be very large, I just haven't found a good one. I'm talking about the hundreds of must-hears that exist.

I would rather recommend composers instead of works.

J. S. Bach: excellent teacher for a composer attracked to polyphonic writing, mathematicaly perfect pitch organization and at the same sound you can't "hear" mathematics in music.

L. van Beethoven: if you want to learn how to create long compositions with simple motifs, Beethoven is for you, especially third symphony.

Witold Lutoslawski, Frank Martin: for anybody interested in dodecaphonic (free chromatic) composing and make it sound beautiful. Skip Schönberg and Webern! - unless you like pointlism.

Richard Strauss, Robert Simpson: if you want to learn how write very virtuoso for orchestra.

French composers such as Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Henri Duttilleux, Olivier Messiaen: if you like exciting and less familiar colouring. Messian is also very good to study rarely used rhythm.

Scandinavian and Baltic composers are good example how to find a bridge between modern music and traditional beauty. Check Einojuhani Rautavaara, Per Norgard, Aulis Sallinen, Joonas Kokkonen, Uljas Pulkkis, Magnus Lindberg (works written since 1990, earlier are aggressive in sound), Jaan Rääts, Erkki Sven Tüür, Arne Nordheim, Jon Leifs.

As for choral music, it depends on a style of music. If you like simple modern diatonics, try Eric Whitacre or Morten Lauridsen or Javier Busto. If you prefer more dissonant or hybrid-like music, try Scandinavian, especially Swedish composers (Lidholm, Sandstroem).

If somebody is interested in Slovenian music - we have a huge choral tradition, all our folk songs are at least two voices, frequently three or four voices - I suggest Anton Lajovic, Emil Adamic, Damijan Mocnik, Ambroz Copi, Tadeja Vulc, Nana Forte. ;)

Game-changing pieces (in the sense that they were extremely influential and may have changed the course of history):

Bach--Well-Tempered Clavier

Beethoven--Eroica and ninth symphonies

Weber--Der Freischütz

Berlioz--Symphonie Fantastique

Wagner--Tristan und Isolde

Debussy--Prelude a l'apres midi d'un faune

Ravel--Miroirs

Stravinsky--The Rite of Spring, maybe even Petrushka

Schoenberg--Pierrot Lunaire, I guess (*blech*)

Other things worth knowing:

the development of Gregorian chant and medieval/Renaissance composers like Josquin and Machaut

Palestrina

Purcell--a huge influence on Handel and extremely underrated in my opinion. Everyone knows Dido's Lament, but his other music is well worth exploring (Music for the funeral of Queen Mary--YES!).

Bach--mass in b minor, the chorales, the concertos

Handel--I'm quite fond of the Water Music and the Music for the Royal Fireworks (especially the overture--wow! One of my favourite pieces from the Baroque period). Messiah has some nice parts but isn't his greatest work, in my mind.

Domenico Scarlatti--the sonatas

Sammartini and Bach's sons--good to see where the later classical style had its roots

Haydn--the string quartets and symphonies

Mozart--most of the piano concertos written in Vienna (except #26!), The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, the last 6 symphonies (5, really...37 is not by him although it's still numerically in there for some reason). #41 should have been the Eroica of its time, but it's not clear it was ever performed.

Beethoven--hard to pick among the piano sonatas, but I suppose the Waldstein, Appassionata, Hammerklavier, and final three might be considered the greatest or most revolutionary (though, really, so were the early ones). The Rasumovsky quartets, the Kreutzer sonata, the last 5 quartets, the Grosse Fuge, the Diabelli Variations. And, obviously, the symphonies. The Missa Solemnis has quite a following too.

Schubert--Winterreise, other various Lieder (I assume you know Der Erlkönig), the Unfinished and Great C Major symphonies, the quintet in C

Schumann--I'm one of the unusual people that prefers music from his supposedly weaker middle period where he was branching out into classical forms, like the piano quintet and his symphonies. Others prefer his early piano music, which admittedly might be more "creative." The Fantasy in C is often considered one of his greatest piano works. Carnaval. The Lieder (Dichterliebe)

Chopin--umm...I couldn't really say anything specifically, but I'd focus on the solo stuff, despite the popularity of the concertos.

Liszt--his late piano pieces are...intriguing/prophetic.

Wagner--The Ring. If nothing else, because of how enormous an undertaking it was and the fact he lived to complete it.

Mendelssohn--music from A Midsummer Night's Dream, the octet, the violin concerto in e minor, the Italian symphony

Verdi--the requiem, so many operas, it would be hard to choose, but prior to about 1850, I'm not so sure. Aida is surprisingly weak, despite its popularity (or at least parts are).

Brahms--the first piano concerto, any of the symphonies, the quartets, the late intermezzos, the clarinet quintet (his late works are really mellow, though). The German Requiem is popular, but I don't know it that well.

Bruckner--if you like any of his symphonies, you'll probably find something to like in all of them. #5's finale is an astounding achievement.

Tchaikovsky--the violin concerto, Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, Eugene Onegin, the first piano concerto, the fourth and sixth symphonies

Maybe I'll get back to this later....

There is no "list." You decide what pieces you feel are most powerful to you through many years of listening and study. There are, however, a number of pieces that you are expected to know as a student of composition at any serious music school - walking into a music school without having a thorough knowledge of "the basics" - the oeuvres of composers like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, etc. - would be like attempting to attain an English degree without any knowledge of Shakespeare.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, in the end) for you, you can't get by in a serious pursuit of composition without a knowledge of and ability to appreciate modern and contemporary works, either (if we were to continue the literary analogy here, trying to study composition without knowing some of the important works by Ligeti, Messiaen or Cage and others would be something akin to trying to obtain a degree in literature without exposure to Beckett, or Joyce.)

As this latter part of the repertoire seems to be a stumbling block for you, it may prove beneficial to have a list of works that might serve as "more accessible", yet still important introductions to the bodies of work produced by some of these composers. Here are a few:

Cage: Sonata XIII from Sonatas and Interludes - Something akin to a lullaby that a music-box might produce; very lovely writing.

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra - a cornerstone of the 20th century orchestral repertoire.

Debussy: La Mer - a cross between a tone-poem and symphony, one of the most important works by this composer.

Ligeti: Musica Ricercata - a series of pieces for solo piano, mostly studies in the integration of folk music into what was becoming Ligeti's language at this time (although this was not necessarily his intention) - interestingly organized in that each piece in the set uses one more pitch-class than the last, culminating in a usage of all twelve pitches of the chromatic scale. One of these pieces is a funeral dirge in memory of Bartók, with sonorities that suggest booming church bells.

Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms - as the titles suggests, a work for orchestra and choir after texts from the Psalms, sung in Latin.

Messiaen: "Praise to the Immortality of Jesus" from Quartet for the End of Time - a singularly gorgeous meditation for violin and piano, wherein the violinist is given the somewhat strange expressive indication to play the part in a "paradisiac" fashion.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, in the end) for you, you can't get by in a serious pursuit of composition without a knowledge of and ability to appreciate modern and contemporary works, either (if we were to continue the literary analogy here, trying to study composition without knowing some of the important works by Ligeti, Messiaen or Cage and others would be something akin to trying to obtain a degree in literature without exposure to Beckett, or Joyce.)

Having a knowledge of something and appreciation of something are two separate things (to say nothing of liking). I don't think any composer is compelled to appreciate anyone else's music or approach, despite that appearing to be the prevailing wisdom now. The opinions many composers expressed regarding others should attest to that. I do think it's good to attempt to see the value in various approaches, but that doesn't mean at the end you can't reject it or say you just don't get what everyone else sees in it.

Messiaen: "Praise to the Immortality of Jesus" from Quartet for the End of Time - a singularly gorgeous meditation for violin and piano, wherein the violinist is given the somewhat strange expressive indication to play the part in a "paradisiac" fashion.

"Somewhat" strange? Maybe you can explain what "paradisiac" is supposed to mean. Is it supposed to be a cross between a parade and an aphrodisiac?

P.S. I wouldn't call it "gorgeous" at all, really.

Thanks for the responses, I guess I was looking for a list of pieces we are just expected to know, but I guess no good one exists? I obviously can learn on my own, just wondered, thanks.

Thanks for the responses, I guess I was looking for a list of pieces we are just expected to know, but I guess no good one exists? I obviously can learn on my own, just wondered, thanks.

Game-changing pieces (in the sense that they were extremely influential and may have changed the course of history):

Bach--Well-Tempered Clavier

Beethoven--Eroica and ninth symphonies

Weber--Der Freischütz

Berlioz--Symphonie Fantastique

Wagner--Tristan und Isolde

Debussy--Prelude a l'apres midi d'un faune

Ravel--Miroirs

Stravinsky--The Rite of Spring, maybe even Petrushka

Schoenberg--Pierrot Lunaire, I guess (*blech*)

Other things worth knowing:

the development of Gregorian chant and medieval/Renaissance composers like Josquin and Machaut

Palestrina

Purcell--a huge influence on Handel and extremely underrated in my opinion. Everyone knows Dido's Lament, but his other music is well worth exploring (Music for the funeral of Queen Mary--YES!).

Bach--mass in b minor, the chorales, the concertos

Handel--I'm quite fond of the Water Music and the Music for the Royal Fireworks (especially the overture--wow! One of my favourite pieces from the Baroque period). Messiah has some nice parts but isn't his greatest work, in my mind.

Domenico Scarlatti--the sonatas

Sammartini and Bach's sons--good to see where the later classical style had its roots

Haydn--the string quartets and symphonies

Mozart--most of the piano concertos written in Vienna (except #26!), The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, the last 6 symphonies (5, really...37 is not by him although it's still numerically in there for some reason). #41 should have been the Eroica of its time, but it's not clear it was ever performed.

Beethoven--hard to pick among the piano sonatas, but I suppose the Waldstein, Appassionata, Hammerklavier, and final three might be considered the greatest or most revolutionary (though, really, so were the early ones). The Rasumovsky quartets, the Kreutzer sonata, the last 5 quartets, the Grosse Fuge, the Diabelli Variations. And, obviously, the symphonies. The Missa Solemnis has quite a following too.

Schubert--Winterreise, other various Lieder (I assume you know Der Erlkönig), the Unfinished and Great C Major symphonies, the quintet in C

Schumann--I'm one of the unusual people that prefers music from his supposedly weaker middle period where he was branching out into classical forms, like the piano quintet and his symphonies. Others prefer his early piano music, which admittedly might be more "creative." The Fantasy in C is often considered one of his greatest piano works. Carnaval. The Lieder (Dichterliebe)

Chopin--umm...I couldn't really say anything specifically, but I'd focus on the solo stuff, despite the popularity of the concertos.

Liszt--his late piano pieces are...intriguing/prophetic.

Wagner--The Ring. If nothing else, because of how enormous an undertaking it was and the fact he lived to complete it.

Mendelssohn--music from A Midsummer Night's Dream, the octet, the violin concerto in e minor, the Italian symphony

Verdi--the requiem, so many operas, it would be hard to choose, but prior to about 1850, I'm not so sure. Aida is surprisingly weak, despite its popularity (or at least parts are).

Brahms--the first piano concerto, any of the symphonies, the quartets, the late intermezzos, the clarinet quintet (his late works are really mellow, though). The German Requiem is popular, but I don't know it that well.

Bruckner--if you like any of his symphonies, you'll probably find something to like in all of them. #5's finale is an astounding achievement.

Tchaikovsky--the violin concerto, Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, Eugene Onegin, the first piano concerto, the fourth and sixth symphonies

Maybe I'll get back to this later....

Thanks

Having a knowledge of something and appreciation of something are two separate things (to say nothing of liking). I don't think any composer is compelled to appreciate anyone else's music or approach, despite that appearing to be the prevailing wisdom now. The opinions many composers expressed regarding others should attest to that. I do think it's good to attempt to see the value in various approaches, but that doesn't mean at the end you can't reject it or say you just don't get what everyone else sees in it.

"Somewhat" strange? Maybe you can explain what "paradisiac" is supposed to mean. Is it supposed to be a cross between a parade and an aphrodisiac?

P.S. I wouldn't call it "gorgeous" at all, really.

Don't really care. Pick a fight elsewhere, lol. A dictionary might also help.

Don't really care. Pick a fight elsewhere, lol. A dictionary might also help.

Also thanks for the list, I'll look into it

Thanks for the responses, I guess I was looking for a list of pieces we are just expected to know, but I guess no good one exists? I obviously can learn on my own, just wondered, thanks.

It's probably more specific to whatever school you're attending and what they want you to study. I'm sure most of the ones I listed in my first list would be brought up at some point, however.

Don't really care. Pick a fight elsewhere, lol. A dictionary might also help.

I didn't realize I was picking a fight. *shrug*

Honestly, I thought it was a word he made up, but I see I was wrong. Apologies.

Incidentally it's important to understand the distinction between "liking" and "appreciating" - I personally like all the works I listed very much (with the possible exception of La Mer, which still eludes me to some extent) - however to "like" is not necessarily required of anyone in anything (although I think if one looks hard enough, there are things to like about any work of art). Nonetheless, one should be able to recognize the value of the technique, concept and sheer work that has gone into a piece - that's what I refer to when I say "appreciate".