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Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor
It is one of the best-known compositions and was premiered during the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras. It contains a distinctive four-note "short-short-short-long" motif that reoccurs throughout the four movements. -
Schubert Erlkönig
Erlkönig is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and reflects a curiosity of supernatural phenomena during the romantic era. The poem was turned into a vocal piece by Schubert, where the music and poem depict a child being lured and killed by a supernatural being, a king of fairies. -
Rossini Il Barbiere di Siviglia
The Barber of Seville is a two-act opera buffa based on French comedy from 1775. Opera Buffa allows for certain flexibility and dialogue to tell the story in a more comical way. -
Paganini 24 Caprices for Violin, op. 1
The Caprices were written in 1805, published in 1820, and are in the form of études, with each number exploring different advanced violin skills. It was deemed unplayable many, but allowed for professional musicians to show off their virtuosity. -
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
Symphonie fantastique is one of the first programmatic symphonies where the instrumental music depicts something non-musical such as a story or landscape. In this case, the music is inspired by Shakespearean actress, Harriet Smithson, and her life. -
Chopin Mazurkas Op. 7 (1830-1832)
Mazurkas Op. 7 is a set of five Mazurkas dedicated to M. Johns de la Nouvelle-Orleans. These pieces are inspired by traditional Polish dances and folk music. -
Mendelssohn Das Jahr
Das Jahar is a 12-part piano suite, and each part represents a month of the year. This style of writing, character pieces, is emblematic of the romantic era. -
Gottschalk Souvenir de Porto Rico (1857-1858)
Souvenir de Porto Rico was a piece from a tour in Puerto Rico and was inspired by a Puerto Rican folk Christmas piece called "Si me dan pasteles", and it incorporated afro-Cuban rhythms and ostinatos. Many say that this was one of the first pieces to use rhythms and melodies like American ragtime and jazz. -
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite of ten pieces composed in 1874 and it is one of the cornerstone repertoire for virtuoso pianists. -
Bizet Carmen
Carmen is a four-act opera by Bizet where musical numbers were separated by dialogue, unlike traditional opera. There is a tragedy and depicts the life of proletarians and touches topics such as immorality and lawlessness. -
Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a four-cycle German musical work where each part is performed on separate days. It contains dialogue and references to plot points from previous days. This type of opera was logistically difficult to carry out at the time, which made it highly esteemed. It follows the struggles of gods, mythical creatures, and other supernatural phenomena. -
Brahms' Symphony No.4
Brahms' Symphony No.4 contains four movements and is one of the last symphonies to be composed during his life. It is said to be the greatest orchestral work since Beethoven. -
Mahler Symphony No.1
Symphony No.1 follows the traditional four-movement form, and it was not well received during its first performance. It was only after several more performance and revisions the the piece was published in 1898. One thing striking feature is the order of movements, where the second movement is the minuet and trio and the third movement is slow. Another feature is the dramatic ending in the last movement with F minor. -
Debussy Voiles from Preludes book 1
Debussy is symbolic of the impressionist era. His music used bitonaility, the whole tone scale, the pentatonic scale, choral melodies, and atonality. In this piece, the pentatonic scale phrases are used to symbolize the sails on a boat, and the whole tone scale is used to symbolize the absence of a sail. Alternatively, people think that the title means veils because of the veiled tonality in the A sections. -
Schönberg Pierrot Lunaire
The work is written for a soprano vocalist that recites poems, accompanied by a small instrumental ensemble. This style of accompaniment was referred to as melodrama. The music is most atonal and is among Schoenberg's most popular and performed compositions. -
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring is an orchestral ballet that was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company. The avant-garde nature of the performance was highly controversial, and although denied by Stravinsky, the music had a significant resemblance to Russian Folk music. This work is considered to be one be a cornerstone piece in the modernist movement. -
de Falla Homenaje
Manuel de Falla was one of Spain's most important composers musicians of the first half of the 20th century. His style in Homenaje, represents that of Modernism with large Spanish influence. The guitar, ostinatos, and melodies are grounded in Spanish folk music, while the ambiguous tonality and form are emblematic of modernism. -
Gershwin I Got Rhythm
I Got Rhythm is by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Although the song is a jazz standard, its chord progression is know rhythm changes as rhythm changes, and has given way for many contrafacts which are also jazz standards. The original version of I Got Rhythm is considered a Tin Pan Alley song from Broadway.
It follows the verse-chorus form. -
Bonds The Negro Speaks of Rivers
This song is based on a poem by Langston Hughes. The poem illustrates the prideful connection between Black people and the geography around them. Margaret Bonds highlights the generational and geographic differences through changes in vocal inflection piano accompaniment. -
Shostakovich Symphony No.5 premier
Shostakovich Symphony number 5 gives listeners wind of familiarity by quoting other pieces like Habanera from Bizet's Carmen and Russian melodies which memorialize the dead. It is a nostalgic piece as well as a politically inspired piece to criticize the ruling party. It was extremely well received by listeners by evoking their emotions. -
Ellington Cotton Tail
Duke Ellington's Cotton Tail is a contrafact to Gershwin's I Got Rhythm. Duke Ellington's big band style came out of the WWII era, and became a significant strategy in achieving US cultural hegemony in enemy and ally countries alike. Prior to Ellington, jazz music utilizes smaller ensemble sizes. Ellington, along with increasing ensemble size, added denser harmonic and rhythmic patterns. -
Copland Appalachian Spring
Appalachian Spring is by Aaron Copland and has achieved widespread popularity as an orchestral suite. The 8-section piece is written for a thirteen person chamber orchestra, and has become the accompaniment for ballet where the storyline recounts the adventures of 19th century American settlers. -
Cage Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
In 1940, Cage was commissioned to write a percussion-centric ballet score. Due to limited financing for percussion instruments, he invented the idea of the prepared piano which transforms one piano into a makeshift percussion ensemble. The score gives precise instructions for altering 45 with pianos strings pennies, screws, bolts, wood, and other materials to produce percussive sounds. The music is inspired Indian classical music as well as Indonesian Gamelan. -
Davis Kind of Blue
Miles Davis' Kind of Blue is not only one of the most important hard bop albums, but one of the most influential jazz and music albums of all time. The entire album utilizes modality in the songs and emphasizes improvisation as a jazz denominator. -
Crumb Ancient Voices of Children
Ancient Voices of Children by George Crumb is a musical composition written in 1970 to memorialize the dying children during the Spanish civil war. The combination of prayer stones, Japanese temple bells, a musical saw, and a toy piano create an eerie childlike accompaniment to the boy soprano that the music is scored for. The lyrics are from two poems by Federico Garcia Lorca. -
Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Short Ride in a Fast Machine by John Adams is meant to evoke the thrill, excitement, and terror of riding in a sports car at night. It is emblematic of minimalism, a compositional style that weaves ostinatos and simple melodic motifs into a complex musical texture. The entire performance lasts around 4 and a half mintues.
