Essential Renaissance / Baroque / Classical Composers

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

The unique British voice in Baroque music, Henry Purcell was the greatest English composer until Elgar in the 1800s. He’s known for his operatic works.

Greatest Works:

1. Dido and Aeneas*
2. Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary
3. The Fairy Queen*
4. King Arthur*
5. The Indian Queen*
6. Come Ye Sons of Art
7. Timon of Athens
8. Rondeau from Abdelazer
9. Dioclesian*
10. Ode for Cecilia’s Day

Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icg52hDM9Wo&list=PLEXM-evUYOx-5aI1yZZajv2rymJ5h8tTI

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

A virtuoso violinist mainly known today for his concertos including the famous set The Four Seasons. Vivaldi was also an accomplished composer of operas and sacred music.

Greatest Works:

1. The Four Seasons
2. L’estro Armonico
3. Gloria
4. La stravaganza
5. Orlando furioso*
6. Violin Concertos, Op 12
7. Stabat Mater
8. La Cetra
9. Griselda*
10. Dorilla in Tempe*

Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzE-kVadtNw&list=PLEXM-evUYOx98CAuvhksb9jLUddIJs4AV

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)

Telemann was one of the most prolific composers of all time and a leading voice in German Baroque music. His immense body of work includes many cantatas, operas and various instrumental pieces.

Greatest Works:

1. Tafelmusik
2. Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst
3. Viola Concerto in G Major
4. Orpheus*
5. St. Matthew Passion
6. Concertos for Four Violins
7. Trumpet Concerto in D
8. St. Luke Passion
9. Das Ist Je Gewisslich Wahr
10. 12 Solo Fantasias for Violin

Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNFkKhfdgZM&list=PLEXM-evUYOx8NrgWW4YNW1T9054L0VMba

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

The most famous of all Baroque composers. Known for his mastery of fugues, complex keyboard works and immense choral masterpieces.

Greatest Works:

1. Mass in B Minor
2. The Well-Tempered Clavier
3. Double Violin Concerto in D Minor
4. St. Matthew Passion
5. Goldberg Variations
6. Brandenburg Concerto
7. Partita for Violin No. 2 (Chaconne)
8. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
9. Art of the Fugue
10. Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor

Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r6eJ-snUS8&list=PLEXM-evUYOx-V7ntAnaLlAMdwYZwmvf0v

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

A Baroque master second only to Bach in terms of fame and influence Handel was a brilliant composer of many forms. His operas and oratorios are the most famous but his orchestral works are similarly revolutionary.

Greatest Works:

1. Messiah
2. Music for the Royal Fireworks
3. Orlando*
4. Water Music
5. Solomon
6. Organ Concerto in F Major “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale”
7. Alexander’s Feast
8. Partenope*
9. Organ Concerto Op 7 No. 1 in B-flat Major
10. The Harmonious Blacksmith

Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH3T6YwwU9s&list=PLEXM-evUYOx8FKNhKqyM00X8YnqAfIeId

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)

One of the great early composers of the classical era, Gluck was a influential voice in the changing landscape of opera of the time, notably his departure from the opera seria formula.

Greatest Works:

1. Orfeo ed Euridice*
2. Iphigenie ed Tauride*
3. Alceste*
4. Iphigenie en Aulide*
5. Don Juan
6. La rencontre imprevue*
7. Armide*
8. Ezio*
9. Echo et Narcisse*
10. Paride ed Elena*

Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EENw_ptgGcg&list=PLEXM-evUYOx-ifwkMgkesHAQjxw5nyjB6

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

No composer in history has been more innovative in musical form than Haydn who is responsible for both the symphony and the string quartet. An extremely prolific composer with over 100 symphonies, Haydn’s music was music was the cleverest and often most beautiful of the era.

Greatest Works:

1. String Quartet No. 62 in C Major “Emperor”
2. Symphony No. 104 in D Major “London”
3. String Quartet No. 63 in B-flat Major “Sunrise”
4. The Seven Last Words of Christ
5. Symphony No. 100 in G Major “Military”
6. Symphony No. 97 in C Major
7. String Quartet No. 61 in D Minor “Fifths”
8. Symphony No. 83 in G Minor “La Poule”
9. The Creation
10. Symphony No. 102 in B-flat Major

Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieiz6wyQSTc&list=PLEXM-evUYOx-gDZY_K0K2L1Ib8ze3MIIZ

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The most famous composer of all time and definitive voice of the classical era. Excelled in every available musical form, notably operatic, symphony, keyboard and chamber.

Greatest Works:

1. Don Giovanni*
2. Symphony No. 41 in C Major “Jupiter”
3. Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major
4. Symphony No. 40 in G Minor
5. Le nozze di Figaro*
6. Die Zauberflote*
7. Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor
8. Symphony No. 36 in C Major “Linz”
9. Requiem in D Minor
10. Cosi fan tutte*

Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVPkfHD6b7E&list=PLEXM-evUYOx8Z0J102Z2tH1rWJ_fPL8KS

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

The greatest symphonist and master of all forms, Beethoven innovated every musical form he touched. With his epic symphonies, complex chamber works and virtuosic piano works, Beethoven carried music into the Romantic period.

Greatest Works:

1. Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major “Eroica”
2. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor “Choral”
3. Symphony No. 6 in F Major “Pastoral”
4. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor
5. Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major “Emperor”
6. String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor
7. Piano Sonata No. 30 in C Minor
8. Symphony No. 5 in C Minor
9. String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor
10. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor “Appassionata”

Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgIjGSPmk7I&list=PLEXM-evUYOx8wZard2hRBstTzvnRiUdpr