Top 10 Works by Classical Music Composers

Ludwig van Beethoven and Georg Friedrich Handel
Criteria: Top 10 Works by Classical Composers are ranked for their innovation and influence, as well as their aesthetic importance, historical significance and lasting popularity.

Last Updated: 2017-05-27
Bach, Johann Sebastian

1. Mass in B minor
2. St. Matthew Passion
3. Well-Tempered Clavier
4. Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor
5. Goldberg Variations
6. Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor
7. Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor
8. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major
9. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major
10. Toccata and Fugue in D minor

Bartok, Bela

1. Concerto for Orchestra
2. Violin Concerto No. 2
3. String Quartet No. 4
4. String Quartet No. 3
5. Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta
6. Piano Concerto No. 3
7. String Quartet No. 5
8. Piano Concerto No. 2
9. The Miraculous Mandarin
10. Duke Bluebeard's Castle

Beethoven, Ludwig van

1. Symphony No. 9 in D minor "Choral"
2. Symphony No. 5 in C minor
3. String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor
4. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major "Eroica"
5. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor "Appassionata"
6. Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major "Emperor"
7. String Quartet No. 13 in B flat and Grosse Fuge
8. Symphony No. 6 in F major "Pastoral"
9. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
10. Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major

Berlioz, Hector

1. Symphonie Fantastique
2. Requiem Grande Messe
3. Les Troyens
4. Harold in Italy
5. Roman Carnival Overture
6. La Damnation de Faust
7. Romeo and Juliet
8. Les Nuits d'Ete
9. L'Enfance du Christ
10. Te Deum

Brahms, Johannes

1. Symphony No. 4 in E minor
2. Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major
3. Clarinet Quintet in B minor
4. Symphony No. 3 in F major
5. Violin Concerto in D major
6. Ein Deutsches Requiem
7. Symphony No. 1 in C minor
8. Piano Quintet in F minor
9. Variations on a Theme by Haydn
10. Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor

Britten, Benjamin

1. War Requiem
2. Peter Grimes
3. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
4. Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings
5. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
6. A Ceremony of Carols
7. Sinfonia da Requiem
8. Turn of the Screw
9. Billy Budd
10. Les Illuminations

Bruckner, Anton

1. Symphony No. 7 in E major
2. Symphony No. 4 in E flat major "Romantic"
3. Symphony No. 9 in D minor
4. Symphony No. 8 in C minor
5. Te Deum
6. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major
7. Symphony No. 3 in D minor "Wagner"
8. Symphony No. 6 in A major
9. Mass No. 3 in F minor
10. Mass No. 2 in E minor

Chopin, Frederic

1. Preludes, Op. 28
2. Etudes, Op. 10
3. Nocturnes, Op. 27 (or 32)
4. Mazurkas, Op. 56
5. Polonaise #6 in A flat major, Op. 53 "Heroic"
6. Waltzes, Op. 64
7. Ballade No. 1 in G minor
8. Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor
9. Fantaisie in F minor
10. Barcarolle in F sharp major

Copland, Aaron

1. Appalachian Spring
2. Rodeo
3. Symphony No. 3
4. El Salon Mexico
5. Billy the Kid
6. Piano Variations
7. Clarinet Concerto
8. Fanfare for Common Man
9. Lincoln Portrait
10. Poems of Emily Dickinson

Debussy, Claude

1. Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un Faune
2. La Mer
3. Preludes Book 1
4. Preludes Book 2
5. Pelleas et Melisande
6. Nocturnes
7. String Quartet in G minor
8. Suite Bergamasque
9. Images for Orchestra
10. Estampes

Dvořák, Antonín

1. Symphony No. 9 in E minor "New World"
2. Cello Concerto in B minor
3. String Quartet No. 12 in F major "American"
4. Symphony No. 7 in D minor
5. Symphony No. 8 in G major
6. Slavonic Dances
7. Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor "Dumky"
8. Piano Quintet in E major
9. Stabat Mater
10. Symphony No. 6 in D major

Elgar, Edward

1. Cello Concerto in E minor
2. Enigma Variations
3. Violin Concerto in B minor
4. The Dream of Gerontius
5. Pomp and Circumstance
6. Symphony No. 1 in A flat major
7. Introduction and Allegro
8. Symphony No. 2 in E flat major
9. Falstaff
10. Chanson de Nuit and Chanson de Matin

Fauré, Gabriel

1. Requiem
2. Pelleas et Melisande Suite
3. Nocturnes
4. Violin Sonata in A major
5. Pavane for Orchestra & Chorus
6. La Bonne Chanson
7. Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor
8. Elegie
9. Ballade in F-sharp for Piano & Orchestra
10. Dolly

Franck, Césa

1. Violin Sonata in A major
2. Symphony in D minor
3. Symphonic Variations
4. Prelude, Chorale and Fugue
5. Chorales
6. Piano Quintet in F minor
7. Le Chasser Maudit
8. Les Eolides
9. String Quartet in D major
10. Piece Heroique

Grieg, Edvard

1. Piano Concerto in A minor
2. Peer Gynt
3. Holberg Suite
4. Lyric Pieces
5. Ballade in G minor (Variations on a Norwegian Folksong)
6. Two Elegaic Melodies
7. Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor
8. Norwegian Dances
9. Haugtussa
10. String Quartet in G minor

Handel, George Frideric

1. Messiah
2. Water Music
3. Music for the Royal Fireworks
4. Four Coronation Anthems
5. Judas Maccabeus
6. Concerto Grosso in B flat major, Op. 6, No. 7
7. Solomon
8. Organ Concerto No. 13 in F "Cuckoo"
9. Julius Caesar
10. Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 6

Haydn, Franz Joseph

1. The Creation
2. String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor"
3. Symphony No. 101 in D major "The Clock"
4. Symphony No. 104 in D major "London"
5. String Quartet in B flat major, Op. 76 No. 4 "Sunrise"
6. Symphony No. 94 in G major "Surprise"
7. Trumpet Concerto in E flat major
8. Mass No. 11 in D minor "Nelson"
9. Symphony No. 103 in E flat "Drum Roll"
10. String Quartets Op. 51 "The Seven Last Words of Christ"

Hindemith, Paul

1. Mathis der Maler
2. Symphonic Metamorphosis on a Weber Theme
3. Das Marienleben
4. Kleine Kammermusik for Wind Quintet
5. Ludus Tonalis
6. Konzertmusik for Brass and Strings
7. Sonata for Trumpet and Piano
8. Nobilissima Visione
9. Der Schwanendreher
10. Violin Concerto

Janácek, Leos

1. Glagolitic Mass
2. Sinfonietta
3. The Cunning Little Vixen
4. String Quartet No. 2
5. String Quartet No. 1
6. Jenufa
7. Taras Bulba
8. Katya Kabanova
9. In the Mists
10. Mladi (Youth) Sextet

Liszt, Franz

1. Piano Sonata in B minor
2. Les Preludes
3. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major
4. Faust Symphony
5. Hungarian Rhapsodies
6. Annees de Pelerinage
7. Transcendental Etudes
8. Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major
9. Totentanz
10. Dante Symphony

Mahler, Gustav

1. Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor
2. Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
3. Symphony No. 9 in D minor
4. Das Lied von der Erde
5. Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major
6. Symphony No. 1 in D major "Titan"
7. Symphony No. 4 in G major
8. Symphony No. 3 in D minor
9. Symphony No. 6 in A minor "Tragic"
10. Symphony No. 7 in E minor

Mendelssohn, Felix

1. Midsummer Night's Dream Incidental Music
2. Violin Concerto in E minor
3. Symphony No. 4 in A major "Italian"
4. Octet in E flat major
5. Hebrides Overture
6. Elijah
7. Symphony No. 3 in A minor "Scottish"
8. Songs Without Words for Piano
9. Symphony No. 5 in D major "Reformation"
10. Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

1. Don Giovanni
2. Le Nozze di Figaro
3. Symphony No. 41 in C major "Jupiter"
4. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor
5. Symphony No. 40 in G minor
6. Clarinet Quintet in A major
7. String Quintet No. 4 in G minor, K516
8. Die Zauberflote
9. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major
10. Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor

Prokofiev, Sergei

1. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major
2. Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major
3. Symphony No. 1 in D major
4. Romeo and Juliet
5. Peter and the Wolf
6. Lieutenant Kije Suite
7. Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor
8. Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat major
9. War and Peace
10. Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor

Rachmaninov, Sergei

1. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
2. Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor
3. Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini
4. Symphony No. 2 in E minor
5. Symphonic Dances
6. Thirteen Preludes, Op. 32
7. Ten Preludes, Op. 23
8. The Bells
9. Vespers
10. Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor

Ravel, Maurice

1. Daphnis et Chloe
2. Rhapsodie Espanole
3. Piano Concerto in G major
4. Bolero
5. La Valse
6. String Quartet in F major
7. Piano Concerto in D major
8. Gaspard de la Nuit
9. Pavane pour une Infante Defunte
10. Tombeau de Couperin

Saint-Saëns, Camille

1. Symphony No. 3 in C minor "Organ"
2. Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor
3. Carnival of Animals
4. Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso in A minor
5. Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor
6. Samson and Delilah
7. Danse Macabre
8. Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major
9. Variations on a Theme of Beethoven
10. Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor

Schoenberg, Arnold

1. Verklarte Nacht
2. Pierrot Lunaire
3. Five Orchestral Pieces
4. Chamber Symphony No. 1
5. Five Piano Pieces
6. Three Piano Pieces
7. Moses und Aron
8. Gurrelieder
9. String Trio
10. String Quartet 2 in F sharp minor

Schubert, Franz

1. Winterreise
2. String Quintet in C major
3. Symphony No. 9 in C major "Great"
4. Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat
5. Symphony No. 8 in B minor "Unfinished"
6. String Quartet No. 14 in D minor "Death & the Maiden"
7. Piano Quintet in A major "Trout"
8. Die Schone Mullerin
9. Wanderer Fantasy in C major for Piano
10. Erlkonig

Schumann, Robert

1. Piano Concerto in A minor
2. Dichterliebe
3. Piano Quintet in E flat
4. Symphony No. 3 in E flat "Rhenish"
5. Carnaval
6. Etudes Symphoniques
7. Kinderszenen
8. Fantasy in C Major
9. Cello Concerto in A minor
10. Kreisleriana

Shostakovich, Dmitri

1. Symphony No. 10 in E minor
2. Symphony No. 5 in D minor
3. String Quartet No. 8 in C minor
4. Symphony No. 1 in F major
5. Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor
6. Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor
7. Cello Concerto No. 1 in E flat major
8. Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major
9. Symphony No. 7 in C major
10. 24 Preludes & Fugues for Piano

Sibelius, Jean

1. Symphony No. 2 in D minor
2. Finlandia
3. Violin Concerto in D minor
4. Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major
5. Swan of Tuonela
6. Symphony No. 7 in C major
7. Symphony No. 1 in E minor
8. Symphony No. 4 in A minor
9. Tapiola
10. Karelia

Strauss, Richard

1. Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks
2. Also Sprach Zarathustra
3. Ein Heldenleben
4. Der Rosenkavalier
5. Don Juan
6. Four Last Songs
7. Elektra
8. Don Quixote
9. Salome
10. Death and Transfiguration

Stravinsky, Igor

1. Rite of Spring
2. Petrushka
3. Firebird
4. Symphony of Psalms
5. Les Noces
6. The Rake's Progress
7. Symphony in 3 Movements
8. Violin Concerto in D major
9. L'Histoire du Soldat
10. Mass

Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich

1. Symphony No. 6 in B minor "Pathetique"
2. The Nutcracker
3. Swan Lake
4. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor
5. Sleeping Beauty
6. Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture
7. Symphony No. 4 in F minor
8. Violin Concerto in D major
9. Eugene Onegin
10. Symphony No. 5 in E minor

Vaughan Williams, Ralph

1. Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
2. Symphony No. 2 "London"
3. Lark Ascending
4. Symphony No. 5 in D major
5. Symphony No. 4 in F minor
6. Symphony No. 3 "Pastoral"
7. Symphony No. 6 in E minor
8. Wasps Overture
9. Fantasia on Greensleeves
10. Symphony No. 1 "Sea Symphony"

Verdi, Giuseppe

1. Otello
2. Aida
3. Requiem Mass
4. Falstaff
5. La Traviata
6. Rigoletto
7. Il Trovatore
8. Don Carlos
9. Un Ballo in Maschera
10. La Forza del Destino

Vivaldi, Antonio

1. Four Seasons
2. Gloria, RV 589
3. L'estro armonico
4. Mandolin Concerto in C major
5. Flute C. in F major, Op. 10/2, RV 433
6. Flute C. in G minor, Op. 10/1, RV 439
7. Double Trumpet Concerto in C major
8. Lute Concerto in D major, RV93
9. Double Mandolin Concerto in G major
10. Credo in E minor

Wagner, Richard

1. Tristan und Isolde
2. Die Walkure
3. Gotterdammerung
4. Parsifal
5. Die Meistersinger
6. Lohengrin
7. Tannhauser
8. Das Reingold
9. Siegfried
10. The Flying Dutchman

Weber, Carl Maria von

1. Der Freischutz
2. Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor
3. Oberon Overture
4. Euryanthe Overture
5. Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E flat
6. Invitation to Dance
7. Konzertstuck
8. Concertino in E-flat for Clarinet & Orchestra
9. Piano Sonata No. 2 in A-flat
10. Bassoon Concerto in F major









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