10. Joseph Cosma/Jacques Prévert: Autumn Leaves
Originally sung in French with the title Les feuilles mortes, this jazz standard has become a gateway into jazz harmony and progressions. It is made up almost solely of ii-V-I progressions.
9. Frédéric Chopin: Waltz in E minor, B. 56
Published posthumously in 1851, Chopin composed this waltz just before he left Poland in 1830. It’s frosty character gives way to a warmer major section in the middle of the piece.
8. J. S. Bach: French Suite No. 5, BWV. 816
This charming set of pieces if perhaps the best known of Bach’s so-called French Suites. The gigue which makes up the final movement is particularly delightful.
7. Edward Elgar: Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 85
This was Elgar’s last major composition, and had a disastrous debut because of a substantial lack of rehearsal time in the lead up to the performance. It achieved popularity in the 1960’s with a recording by Jacqueline du Pré, who performs it here.
6. Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein: My Favourite Things
This song needs no introduction, and is one of many songs from A Sound of Music to have become jazz standards (with honourable mentions going to Edelweiss, Do-Re-Me and the title song The Sound of Music). Here is the version from the 1965 film, sung by Julie Andrews.
5. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
There is no single Beethoven concerto that isn’t magnificent. They are each among the finest concerti ever written, however the fourth is the most technically demanding. Watch Eric Lu play it below, in a performance that won him first prize in the Leeds International Piano Competition.
4. Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
This concerto is one of the most popular and frequently performed violin concertos in history. It is to violinists what Beethoven’s Emperor is to pianists. Unusually for its time the piece is through-composed, which each movement leading in to the next.
3. Henry Mancini: The Pink Panther
Written for the 1963 film of the same name, this song was nominated for Best Original Score at the 37th Academy Awards, ultimately losing to Mary Poppins.
2. Giacomo Puccini: Nessum Dorma
This aria from Turnadot became Pavrotti’s signature song after the 1990 World Cup. Listen to him singing it below.
1. W.A. Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
There is surely no-one who hasn’t heard the opening broken chords of these charming pieces. Mozart gives us a masterclass in chamber writing, never burdening the listener than a single more note than is necessary.