Greatest Classical Music Works

[Brian]

Criteria: Classical Music Works are ranked for their innovation and influence, as well as their aesthetic importance, historical significance and lasting popularity.

Edited By: Brian
Last Updated: 2010-10-31

1. Mass In B Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach
2. Der Ring des Nibelungen - Richard Wagner
3. Symphony No. 9 in D minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven
4. Symphony No. 5 in C minor - Ludwig van Beethoven
5. St Matthew's Passion - Johann Sebastian Bach
6. Tristan und Isolde - Richard Wagner
7. Don Giovanni - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
8. String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor - Ludwig van Beethoven
9. Messiah - George Frideric Handel
10. Rite of Spring - Igor Stravinsky
11. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major "Eroica" - Ludwig van Beethoven
12. Symphony No. 6 in B minor "Pathetique" - Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
13. Otello - Giuseppe Verdi
14. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor "Appassionata" - Ludwig van Beethoven
15. The Marriage of Figaro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
16. Symphony No. 41 in C major "Jupiter" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
17. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
18. Well-Tempered Clavier - Johann Sebastian Bach
19. Symphony No. 9 in E minor "From the New World" - Antonín Dvořák
20. Winterreise - Franz Schubert
21. Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major - Johannes Brahms
22. Piano Concerto in A minor - Robert Schumann
23. String Quintet in C major - Franz Schubert
24. Aida - Giuseppe Verdi
25. Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major "Emperor" - Ludwig van Beethoven
26. The Nutcracker - Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
27. Symphony No. 6 in F major "Pastorale" - Ludwig van Beethoven
28. Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor - Johann Sebastian Bach
29. Symphony No. 40 in G minor - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
30. Symphony No. 4 in E minor - Johannes Brahms
31. The Goldberg Variations - Johann Sebastian Bach
32. A Midsummer Night's Dream - Felix Mendelssohn
33. Violin Concerto in E minor - Felix Mendelssohn
34. Symphony No. 9 in C major "The Great" - Franz Schubert
35. Pictures at an Exhibition - Modest Mussorgsky (orch. by Maurice Ravel)
36. Clarinet Quintet in A major "Stadler" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
37. Prelude A L'apres Midi D'un Faune - Claude Debussy
38. Symphonie Fantastique - Hector Berlioz
39. Clarinet Quintet in B minor - Johannes Brahms
40. Petrouchka - Igor Stravinsky
41. Violin Concerto in D major - Ludwig van Beethoven
42. La Boheme - Giacomo Puccini
43. Piano Sonata in B minor - Franz Liszt
44. Cello Concerto in B minor - Antonín Dvořák
45. The Four Seasons - Antonio Vivaldi
46. Swan Lake - Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
47. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor - Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
48. Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat - Franz Schubert
49. Till Eulenspiegel - Richard Strauss
50. Symphony No. 8 in B minor "Unfinished" - Franz Schubert
51. Missa Solemnis - Ludwig van Beethoven
52. Messa Da Requiem - Giuseppe Verdi
53. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor "Moonlight" - Ludwig van Beethoven
54. Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor - Gustav Mahler
55. Symphony No. 2 in D minor - Jean Sibelius
56. Requiem - Gabriel Fauré
57. Madama Butterfly - Giacomo Puccini
58. String Quartet No. 14 in D minor "Death & the Maiden" - Franz Schubert
59. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor - Sergei Rachmaninoff
60. La Mer - Claude Debussy
61. 24 Preludes - Frederic Chopin
62. Water Music - George Frideric Handel
63. Violin Concerto in D major - Johannes Brahms
64. Piano Quintet in A major "The Trout" - Franz Schubert
65. String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major and Grosse Fugue - Ludwig van Beethoven
66. Also Sprach Zarathustra - Richard Strauss
67. Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor - Johann Sebastian Bach
68. Préludes, Book 1 - Claude Debussy
69. Piano Concerto in A minor - Edvard Grieg
70. Symphony No. 7 in A major - Ludwig van Beethoven
71. Polonaise No. 6 in A flat major "Heroic" - Frederic Chopin
72. Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection" - Gustav Mahler
73. Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major - Ludwig van Beethoven
74. Symphony No. 10 in E minor - Dmitri Shostakovich
75. String Quartet No. 15 in A minor - Ludwig van Beethoven
76. Symphony No. 5 in D minor - Dmitri Shostakovich
77. String Quintet No. 4 in G minor, K516 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
78. Parsifal - Richard Wagner
79. Finlandia - Jean Sibelius
80. Ein Heldenleben - Richard Strauss
81. Der Rosenkavalier - Richard Strauss
82. Appalachian Spring - Aaron Copland
83. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor - Ludwig van Beethoven
84. Boris Godunov - Modest Mussorgsky
85. Symphony No. 3 in F major - Johannes Brahms
86. La Traviata - Giuseppe Verdi
87. Carmen - Georges Bizet
88. Scheherazade - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
89. Die Zauberflote - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
90. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
91. Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
92. Requiem - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
93. Missa Papae Marcelli - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
94. Die Meistersinger - Richard Wagner
95. Symphony No. 39 in E flat major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
96. The Creation - Franz Joseph Haydn
97. Sleeping Beauty - Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
98. Symphony No. 7 in E major - Anton Bruckner
99. Romeo and Juliet - Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
100. Concerto for Orchestra - Béla Bartók
101. German Requiem - Johannes Brahms
102. Symphony No. 4 in F minor - Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
103. Symphony No. 1 in C minor - Johannes Brahms
104. Piano Quintet in F minor - Johannes Brahms
105. Serenade No. 13 in G major "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
106. String Quartet No. 12 in F major "American" - Antonín Dvořák
107. String Quartet No. 19 in C major "Dissonance" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
108. Clarinet Concerto in A major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
109. Violin Concerto in D major - Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
110. Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor - Johann Sebastian Bach
111. Symphony No. 9 in D minor - Gustav Mahler
112. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major - Johann Sebastian Bach
113. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major - Johann Sebastian Bach
114. Firebird Suite - Igor Stravinsky
115. Toccata and Fugue in D minor - Johann Sebastian Bach
116. Symphony No. 4 in E flat major "Romantic" - Anton Bruckner
117. Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
118. Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers of 1610) - Claudio Monteverdi
119. Symphony No. 4 in A major "Italian" - Felix Mendelssohn
120. Piano Trio No. 7 in B flat major, Op. 97 "Archduke" - Ludwig van Beethoven
121. Requiem Grande Messe des Morts - Hector Berlioz
122. War Requiem - Benjamin Britten
123. Tosca - Giacomo Puccini
124. Falstaff - Giuseppe Verdi
125. Die Schone Mullerin - Franz Schubert
126. Carmina Burana - Carl Orff
127. String Quartet No. 2 in D major "Nocturne" - Alexander Borodin
128. Rigoletto - Giuseppe Verdi
129. Glagolitic Mass - Leos Janácek
130. The Barber of Seville - Gioacchino Rossini
131. Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin
132. Cello Concerto in E minor - Edward Elgar
133. Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
134. Symphony No. 38 in D major "Prague" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
135. Cantata No. 140, Wachet Auf - Johann Sebastian Bach
136. Octet for Strings in E flat major - Felix Mendelssohn
137. String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor" - Joseph Haydn
138. Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis - Ralph Vaughan Williams
139. Violin Sonata in A major - César Franck
140. Symphony No. 3 in C minor "Organ" - Camille Saint-Saëns
141. Missa Pange Lingua - Josquin des Prez
142. Dichterliebe - Robert Schumann
143. Symphony No. 94 in G major "Surprise" - Franz Joseph Haydn
144. Symphony No. 101 in D major "The Clock" - Franz Joseph Haydn
145. Les Preludes - Franz Liszt
146. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major - Serge Prokofiev
147. Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major "Waldstein" - Ludwig van Beethoven
148. Cavalleria Rusticana - Pietro Mascagni
149. Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor - Sergei Rachmaninoff
150. Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major - Sergei Prokofiev
151. Piano Quintet in E flat major - Robert Schumann
152. Enigma Variations - Edward Elgar
153. Das Leid von der Erde - Gustav Mahler
154. Fantasy in C major "Wanderer" - Franz Schubert
155. Symphony No. 104 in D major "London" - Franz Joseph Haydn
156. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major - Franz Liszt
157. Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini - Sergei Rachmaninoff
158. The Art of the Fugue - Johann Sebastian Bach
159. Symphony No. 5 in E minor - Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
160. Daphnis et Chloe - Maurice Ravel
161. Trumpet Concerto in E flat major - Franz Joseph Haydn
162. Il Trovatore - Giuseppe Verdi
163. Ballade No. 1 in G minor - Frederic Chopin
164. Night on Bald Mountain - Modest Mussorgsky
165. Carnaval - Robert Schumann
166. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major "Hammerklavier" - Ludwig van Beethoven
167. Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 - Johannes Brahms
168. Adagio for Strings - Samuel Barber
169. Violin Concerto in D minor - Jean Sibelius
170. Turandot - Giacomo Puccini
171. Belshazzar's Feast - William Walton
172. Symphony No. 9 in D minor - Anton Bruckner
173. Faust - Charles Gounod
174. Symphony of Psalms - Igor Stravinsky
175. Lohengrin - Richard Wagner
176. Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major - Jean Sibelius
177. Mathis der Maler - Paul Hindemith
178. Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor - Frederic Chopin
179. Sinfonietta - Leos Janácek
180. Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor - Max Bruch
181. Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 - Edvard Grieg
182. Symphony No. 1 in D major - Serge Prokofiev
183. Symphony No. 8 in C minor - Anton Bruckner
184. The Royal Fireworks Music - George Frideric Handel
185. Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor - Béla Bartók
186. Rapsodie Espagnole - Maurice Ravel
187. Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat major - Franz Schubert
188. The Planets - Gustav Holst
189. String Quartet No. 4 in C major - Béla Bartók
190. Romeo and Juliet - Serge Prokofiev
191. Canon - Johann Pachelbel
192. The Blue Danube - Johann Strauss II
193. Four Coronation Anthems - George Frideric Handel
194. String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110 - Dmitri Shostakovitch
195. Verklärte Nacht - Arnold Schoenberg
196. 24 Caprices - Niccolo Paganini
197. Pelléas et Mélisande - Claude Debussy
198. Trois Gymnopédies - Erik Satie
199. Symphony No. 2 in G major "London" - Ralph Vaughan Williams
200. Three Places in New England - Charles Ives

[Alena_03]

I'd put number 9 as number 1, not 3.

[Brian]

I was going largely by my sense of their reputation on that. I've seen Mass in B Minor called the greatest piece of music ever made more than any other work. I thought The Ring's massiveness, and that it makes up such a big part of why Wagner is rated so highly that it seemed like a good choice for #2.