Classical Pieces to Listen to for Beginners
Photo by Maja Pechanach
For many teenagers, the world of classical music is left undiscovered. The long pieces with minimal words do not capture the attention of high schoolers wanting something simple to listen and sing along with. Beginning a new hobby, such as listening to a new genre of music, is hard to do in the stressful and hectic school year. But, as the boredom of being in quarantine for months starts to finally settle in, everyone is looking for something to do- and there’s no better time than the present!
With that said, this article lists the ten pieces of classical music everyone should listen to first. Each by a different composer, these pieces span hundreds of years of writing and each has a drastically different style. From the 1700s with Bach and Mozart to the present day with Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Rachmaninoff, almost anyone can find something they enjoy. Linked below is a Spotify playlist containing the pieces listed in the article.
Happy listening!
1) Symphony no. 40, movement 1
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Year Written: 1788
Duration: 8:18
This symphony, written during the Classical Period (1750 - circa 1825) is one of Mozart's most famous works, though many of his are well known to even those who don’t know much about classical music. He cataloged every single piece he wrote and completed two other symphonies in the same year. Mozart was an Austrian who wrote over 600 works in his lifetime, from symphonies like this one to operas and sonatas. His pieces are much more simple than other, later pieces on this list, but that doesn’t diminish their greatness- Mozart inspired many composers and sits as one of the greatest of all time today.
2) Symphony no. 5, movement 1
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Year Written: 1808
Duration: 7:31
Beethoven is often remembered for going deaf at the age of 22, and though it shaped his life, it also made him known as one of the greats. This piece is one of his most famous, with an opening anyone could recognize. The four simple notes are found everywhere in modern music, from disco hits of the ‘80s to film and television music. German author Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann described this symphony as "one of the most important works of the time". By this point, Beethoven was almost completely deaf, and very depressed because of it and the Napoleonic War raging around him in Vienna. Even though the first few measures are instantly recognizable, the rest of the symphony is a hidden gem that deserves to be equally significant to the world outside of classical music.
3) Rhapsody in Blue
Composer: George Gershwin
Year Written: 1924
Duration: 17:26
Though the longest piece on this list, the ‘Rhapsody’ form sets up six different themes that keep the music and musicians busy and keep the audience on the edge of their seats. This piece takes jazz from the 1920s and mixes it with a classical concerto by giving the pianist free improvisational reign and incorporating jazz elements commonly seen in the day- like a killer clarinet solo at the beginning. In his short life, Gershwin introduced jazz both into the classical scene and the theater scene, in musicals like Porgy and Bess and Strike Up The Band. This piece is a staple in both jazz and classical repertoire and will continue to be known as one of the great contemporary works.
4) Festive Overture
Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich
Year Written: 1947
Duration: 5:49
This piece was composed by Russian composer Shostakovich to commemorate the October Revolution. Its relatively short duration is perfect for a quick listen, and it has many different themes all packed into it. Shostakovich’s works are widely known in the classical world as modern and different from anything seen before. As the composers in his time began to branch out from the rules of earlier classical music, like the forms seen in Mozart and Bach, opinions of critics split. Some thought it was the best music ever heard, and others hated leaving behind the previous great composers. No matter what, Shostakovich and other contemporary composers should be heard just as much as the classics.
5) ‘Little’ Fugue in G minor
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Year Written: 1703-1707
Duration: 3:40
With this piece, we jump back in time to the Baroque period. This period, from the early 1600s to Bach’s death in 1750, is also well represented in architecture and literature. Bach wrote preludes, fugues, and other miscellaneous keyboard pieces for an early piano called a Harpsichord and for organ. This piece, in particular, was written for the organ and was first performed on a church organ in Dresden, Germany. A fugue is written for four parts, each introducing the same melody in a different way. When you listen, be sure to notice the new introductions in the lower voices. Bach’s ideas of counterpoint, or the rules of music, are still used today, and he is considered one of the greatest composers of all time next to writers like Mozart and Beethoven, who were heavily influenced by Bach works as well.
6) The Firebird Suite
Composer: Igor Stravinsky
Year Written: 1910 (shortened 1919 version is on the playlist)
Duration: 9:30
The Firebird was a ballet written for the National Russian Ballet, and this suite is a short collection of pieces from the larger work. This work was not only Stravinsky’s breakthrough, but also the first of three ballets he wrote- the other two being Petroushka and Rite of Spring. In fact, the latter produced riots and protests due to the Russian government’s strictness about what its composers wrote. Stravinsky was one of the first to step away from the writers who came before him, and it shifted modern music as other 20th century composers took inspiration from the pieces he created.
7) Symphony no. 9, movement 4
Composer: Antonin Dvořák
Year Written: 1893
Duration: 12:15
The nickname of this symphony is “From the New World”. The entire work is based on Dvořák’s first trip to America and the music he encounters. He was convinced that the future music of this country would be founded on African-American melodies. He quotes, “[Black music] can be the foundation of a serious and original school of composition, to be developed in the United States. These beautiful and varied themes are the product of the soil. They are the folk songs of America and your composers must turn to them.” Every movement has a famous melody, and any listener is sure to recognize at least something in the 2nd and 4th. Dvořák took inspiration from music around the country, and, as scholars say, it made listeners more aware of the history behind simple melodies. In all, this symphony changed Dvořák’s career and inspired audiences and musicologists everywhere.
8) 1812 Overture
Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Year Written: 1880
Duration: 15:55
Before the blurb even begins, just know that it’s true that there are 16 cannon shots at the end of the piece! 1812 Overture was written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia- which the Russian army won on September 7th. The many themes around the piece tell the story of the battle: it begins with a Russian chorale that represents the citizens praying for a quick victory. The French national anthem comes next as they marched into Russia, and a long scale run shows them retreating. Finally, a patriotic tune, God Save the Tsar, is played with the cannons in the background. This is one of Tchaikovsky’s most recognized works, and is still praised by the Russian government.
9) Prelude in C# minor
Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff
Year Written: 1892
Duration: 3:43
This piece’s epic beginning is why its nickname is “The Bells of Moscow”. Rachmaninoff wrote this when he was only 19, and it served as a predecessor for the rest of his powerful works, as it was very well received when he performed it at the Moscow Electrical Exhibition. Rachmaninoff wrote 24 preludes- one for each major and minor key signature. Originally popularized by Bach, other composers did the same, like Chopin, Scriabin, and Alkan. Rachmaninoff liked to say this was one of his favorite compositions, but after audiences would demand it as an encore after performances, he said, “Many, many times I wish I had never written it.” However, this piece started Rachmaninoff’s rise to fame, and he wouldn’t have been as famous without it.
10) Revolutionary Etude (Opus 10, no. 12)
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Year Written: 1831
Duration: 2:31
Chopin’s Polish roots led him to write this etude during the November Uprising, when Russia invaded Poland. In his words, “All this has caused me much pain. Who could have foreseen it?” It’s clear that Chopin used music to let out his emotions, as there are many other pieces that had a lot of meaning to him- like the Mazurkas, which were directly derived from a Polish dance. Etudes are designed to test technique, but as more romantic composers began to write them, they developed more meaning and more opportunities for performance. In his short life, Chopin composed over 200 works for piano alone- no other composer has contributed as many significant works to the piano’s repertoire.
