Which composers and works are included in the Talk Classical List?

Updated

The Talk Classical List is a tiered ranking of the Talk Classical community's favorite and most highly recommended classical works. It spans nine tiers, from Tier 1 (the single most recommended work) down to Tier 9, and covers composers from the Baroque through the early 20th century. The works below are reproduced exactly as they appear in the list, including catalog numbers and composition years.

Composers represented

The list draws on a small core of composers, with Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Mahler, and Wagner appearing most often, plus single or few entries from Dvořák, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, Schubert, Debussy, and Fauré.

Composer Works on the list
Bach 7
Beethoven 8
Brahms 7
Mozart 5
Mahler 5
Wagner 5
Schubert 2
Dvořák 2
Stravinsky 1
Mussorgsky 1
Debussy 1
Fauré 1

The list by tier

Tier 1

  • Beethoven: Symphony #9 in D minor, op. 125 "Choral" (1824)

Tier 2

  • Bach: Das wohltemperierte Klavier (The Well-Tempered Clavier), BWV 846-893 (1722, 1742)
  • Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV 232 (1749)

Tier 3

  • Beethoven: Symphony #5 in C minor, op. 67 (1808)
  • Brahms: Symphony #4 in E minor, op. 98 (1885)
  • Mahler: Symphony #2 "Resurrection" (1894)
  • Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) (1913)
  • Wagner: Das Rheingold (1854)
  • Wagner: Die Walküre (1856)
  • Wagner: Siegfried (1871)
  • Wagner: Götterdämmerung (1875)

Tier 4

  • Bach: Cello Suites, BWV 1007-1012 (1720)
  • Beethoven: Symphony #3 in E-flat, op. 55 "Eroica" (1803)
  • Brahms: Piano Concerto #2 in B-flat, op. 83 (1881)
  • Dvořák: Symphony #9 in E minor, op. 95 "From the New World" (1893)
  • Mozart: Requiem Mass in D minor, K. 626 (1791)

Tier 5

  • Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (1741-2)
  • Bach: Matthäus-Passion ("St. Matthew Passion"), BWV 244 (1746)
  • Beethoven: Symphony #6 "Pastoral" in F, op. 68 (1808)
  • Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, op. 115 (1891)
  • Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (1909)
  • Mahler: Symphony #9 (1909)
  • Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)
  • Schubert: String Quintet in C, D. 956 (1828)
  • Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (1859)

Tier 6

  • Bach: Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046-1051 (1721)
  • Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080 (1742-50)
  • Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34 (1864)
  • Brahms: Symphony #1 in C minor, op. 68 (1876)
  • Brahms: Violin Concerto in D, op. 77 (1878)
  • Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, op. 104 (1895)
  • Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), K. 492 (1786)
  • Mozart: Symphony #41 in C, K. 551 "Jupiter" (1788)

Tier 7

  • Beethoven: Piano Concerto #4 in G, op. 58 (1806/7)
  • Beethoven: Piano Sonata #29 in B-flat, op. 106 "Hammerklavier" (1818)
  • Beethoven: String Quartet #13 in B-flat, op. 130 and the Große Fuge, op. 133 (1826-7)
  • Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)
  • Mahler: Symphony #6 in A minor (1904)
  • Mozart: Piano Concerto #20 in D minor, K. 466 (1785)

Tier 8

  • Brahms: Symphony #3 in F, op. 90 (1883)
  • Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A, K. 622 (1791)
  • Schubert: Winterreise, D. 911 (1827)

Tier 9

  • Beethoven: Piano Sonata #32 in C minor, op. 111 (1822)
  • Beethoven: Symphony #7 in A, op. 92 (1812)
  • Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, op. 45 (1868)
  • Fauré: Requiem in D minor, op. 48 (1890)

What kinds of works appear

The list is dominated by large-scale orchestral and choral works, but it also includes solo, chamber, and operatic repertoire:

  • Symphonies — Beethoven (Nos. 3, 5, 6, 7, 9), Brahms (Nos. 1, 3, 4), Mahler (Nos. 2, 6, 9), Mozart (No. 41), Dvořák (No. 9)
  • Concertos — Brahms (Piano No. 2, Violin), Beethoven (Piano No. 4), Dvořák (Cello), Mozart (Piano No. 20, Clarinet)
  • Chamber music — Bach Cello Suites, Brahms Clarinet Quintet and Piano Quintet, Schubert String Quintet, Beethoven String Quartet #13
  • Keyboard works — Bach Well-Tempered Clavier and Goldberg Variations, Beethoven piano sonatas (Nos. 29, 32)
  • Choral and vocal works — Bach Mass in B minor and St. Matthew Passion, Mozart Requiem, Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, Fauré Requiem, Schubert Winterreise, Mahler Das Lied von der Erde
  • Operas — Wagner's Ring cycle (all four operas), Tristan und Isolde, Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro
  • Orchestral and other works — Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and Art of Fugue

Periods covered

The earliest works on the list are Bach's, written between 1720 and 1750. The latest are Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (1913) and Mahler's symphonies and Das Lied von der Erde (1904–1909). The list therefore runs from the late Baroque through the Classical and Romantic eras into the early 20th century, with no works from the medieval, Renaissance, or post-1913 periods.