Eternity in an Hour

 

~ The Music Lesson by Lord Frederic Leighton

~

“The end of all good music is to affect the soul.” 

~ Claudio Monteverdi

There is a certain charm in classical music. A certain class. There are some who pretend to listen to classic pieces in hope to look cultured and refined. They pretend to appear as though they were brought up with a silver spoon in their mouths and with an unparalleled education in music that would be the envy of others. Perhaps these pretenders, these people who wears pretty masks to hide the ugliness of their inferiority are much more numerous than those who really appreciate the subtle nature of classical music. But these people are not important. These people are inconsequential. They appreciate noise but not music. They look to the fame of great composers than the beauty of their works. How unfortunate for them to be exposed to the magnificence of mankind’s greatest works of art and yet are unable to appreciate them for what they are.

Classical music is more than just instrumental music to allow one to look sophisticated and cultural. When listened correctly in the right environment, they stimulate thought and ideas, bringing the soul from the cruel unforgiving world of reality into a sanctuary within the deep recesses of the composer’s mind. Classical music gives some peace, others rest, and they set the mood of their listeners. The beauty of classical music is its absence of words. Music is a language by its own right with no limitations and boundaries. Only the emotionally insensitive would listen to Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and not feel the tragedies of life. Only those that are tone-death would listen to Mozart’s child-like pieces and not feel the optimism in which he led his short life. Do we not all feel our emotions and passions churning like world-pools within our bosoms at the heroic nature at Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

Words are not needed with classical music.

The composer simply kidnaps the minds of listeners and thrust them into the mental state of the composer. And without the limitations of linguistics, the listener than feels as the composer feels and reflects upon the memorable moments of his life with either a sense of triumph, remorse, or indifference. Different people will feel differently when hearing the same classical piece. Our life is the sum of experiences. And time and space does not allow two individuals to share the exact same experiences. Therefore, the every piece of classical music would invoke very different feelings from each and every one of us.

Please find below a list of my favourite classical music pieces.

The Baroque Era (1600 – 1750)

Johann Pachelbel (1653 – 1706)

Canon in D

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Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695)

Dido and Aeneas

Trumpet Tune in D

Come Ye Sons of Art

~

Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (1671 – c. 1751)

Adagio in G Minor

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Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)

“I have heard him boast of composing a concerto faster than a copyist could write it down!” 

~ Charles de Brosses, 1739

The Four Seasons, Op. 8, No. 1-4, RV 271

Concerto for Flute, Op. 10, No. 3, RV 428, “The Goldfinch”

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George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759)

“Handel understands effect better than any of us; when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt.” 

~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Messiah, HWV 56

Water Music, HWV 348-50

Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 7150)

“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” 

~ Johann Sebastian Bach

The Well Tempered Clavier, BWV 846-893

Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

The Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046-1051

St Matthew Passion, BWV 244

Six Suites for Solo Cello, BWV 1007-1012

Mass in B Minor, BWV 232

Overtures BWV 1066 – 1069

Toccata and Fugue in D minor

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The Classical Era (1750 – 1820)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)

“We cannot despair about mankind knowing Mozart was a man.” 

~ Albert Einstein

Don Giovanni, K 527

Piano Concerto No. 21, K 467

Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K, 331

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K 525

Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter”, K 551

Requiem, K 626

Piano Sonata No. 8, K 310

~

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)

“Keep your eye on him; one day he will make the world talk of him.” 

~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Nine Symphonies

Piano Sonata in F Minor “Appassionata”, Op. 57

Piano Sonata in C minor “Pathetique”, Op. 8

Piano Sonata in C sharp minor “Moonlight”, Op. 27

Piano Sonata in C major “Waldstein”, Op. 53

Fur Elise

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The Romantic Era (1810 – 1920)

Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)

“Schubert’s life was one of inner, spiritual thought, and was seldom expressed in words but almost entirely in music.”

~ Franz Eckel

Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, “Unfinished”, D 759

Ave Maria

Serenade

Moment Musical No. 3 in F minor

Marche Militaire No. 1 in D major, D 733

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Frederic Chopin (1810 – 1849)

“After playing Chopin, I feel as if I had been weeping over sins that I had never committed, and mourning over tragedies that were not my own.”

~ Oscar Wilde

 Preludes, Op. 28

Etudes, Op. 10 and Op. 25

Nocturnes

Waltzes

Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op 66

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Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)

“Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.”

~ Johannes Brahms

Hungarian Dance No. 5

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

Waltz No. 15 in A-Flat major

Lullaby

Academic Festival Overture

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Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

“My mind and fingers have worked like two damned ones. Unless I go mad, you will find an artist in me.” 

~ Liszt

Transcendental Etudes, S 139

Hungarian Rhapsodies No 1 – 6

Liebestraum No. 3 in A flat major

Piano Sonata in B minor

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Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)

“I am a Russian in the completest possible sense of that word.”

~ Tchaikovsky

Swan Lake, Op. 20

Nutcracker, Op. 71

Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66

1812 Overture, Op. 49

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Sergey Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943)

“Only one place is closed to me and that is my own country – Russia”

~ Rachmaninoff

Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18

Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 3 No. 2

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Sir Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934)

“There is music in the air. All you have to do is take as much as you require.”

~ Sir Edward Elgar

Variations on an Original Theme “Enigma”, Op. 36

Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D major, Op. 39

Salut D’Amour, Op. 12

Cello Concerto, Op. 85