Every composer has experienced joy, love, sorrow, anxiety, confusion, and regret. Throughout the past 400 years, instruments and playing styles have changed, yet the basic universal human emotions have remained the same. In my opinion, here are most brilliant, exciting, hopeless, sad, and interesting pieces the world has ever heard.
BAROQUE ERA:
Composer: Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Title: Concerto in D Major Op. 6 No. 4
Instrumentation: Four baroque violins, one baroque cello, one baroque viola, one violone, one baroque organ, one archlute
Musicians: Voices of Music
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Title: Cello Suite No. IV in D Major, BWV 1012
Instrumentation: Violoncello da spalla solo
Musician: Sergey Malov
Composer: Marco Uccellini (1603-80)
Arranger: Jeannette Sorrell
Title: La Bergamasca
Instrumentation: Eight baroque violins, two traversos, three baroque violas, one baroque contrabass, one baroque guitar
Musicians: Apollo's Fire
CLASSICAL ERA:
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Title: String Quartet No. 8 in F, K. 168, Mvt. IV. Allegro (Fugue)
Instrumentation: Two violins, one viola, one cello
Musicians: Hagen Quartett
Composer: Joseph Haydn
Title: String Quartet Op. 76, No. 3. Mvt. II "Emperor"
Instrumentation: Two violins, one viola, one cello
Musicians: Emerson String Quartet
Composer: Luigi Boccherini
Title: Cello Concerto no. 7 in G Major, G. 480, Mvt. I. Allegro
Instrumentation: Cello and chamber orchestra
Musicians: Mischa Maisky with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
ROMANTIC ERA:
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Title: Symphony No. 5
Instrumentation: Orchestra
Musicians: Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Thielemann
Composer: Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Arranger: Fritz Kreisler
Title: Songs My Mother Taught Me
Instrumentation: Cello, violin, and piano
Musicians: Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Pearlman with Radio Filarmonia
Composer: Frederic Chopin
Title: Nocturne in C Sharp Minor No. 20
Instrumentation: Piano solo
Musician: Vladimir Ashkenazy
CONTEMPORARY ERA:
Composer: Olivier Messiaen (1908-92)
Title: Quartet for the End of Time
Instrumentation: Clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Musicians: Antje Weithaas, Sol Gabetta, Sabine Meyer, Bertrand, Chamayou
Composer: Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)
Title: Sonata for Solo Cello
Instrumentation: Cello solo
Musician: Janos Starker
Composer: Elliott Carter
Title: Four Lauds, No. 3 "Rhapsodic Musings"
Instrumentation: Violin solo
Musician: Jennifer Koh
As you can tell, there are many different styles of classical music. Each has its own unique sound. Listen across the eras, find what you like, and enjoy the sounds you hear!
With joy,
Lourdes de la Peña and the StringTime Family