10. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in D major, Op. 23, No. 4
This piece may not be as well known as the G minor prelude from the same set, or the C-sharp minor prelude from Op. 3, but its simplicity and lyricism make it recommended listening for anyone who is just discovering the music of Rachmaninoff.
9. Frédéric Chopin: Scherzo No. 1, Op. 20
This tempestuous piece bears little resemblance to the traditional scherzo, which translates to “joke”. Perhaps this is a reflection of Chopin’s feelings towards the November Uprising in his home country.
8. Franz Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor
It may have put Brahms to sleep, but Liszt’s only sonata is like no other piece of its kind.
5. Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, “Unfinished”
Though he only completed two movements of this piece, it has nevertheless been hailed as one of his finest works. Musicologists continue to debate why Schubert left this work incomplete.
6. Franz Schubert: Three Marches Militaires, Op. 51, No. 1
This piece has seen many arrangements and transcriptions, it was originally a piano duet. It was likely composed by Schubert for teaching purposes, as he was teaching the two daughters of Count Johann Karl Esterházy at the time.
5. Johann Pachelbel: Canon in D
Pachelbel was undoubtedly the one-hit wonder of the Baroque period. When you next hear this piece, spare a thought for the cellist, who has the duty of repeating the same 8 notes 52 times.
4. Richard Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries
Famous for its use in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, it has also been the soundtrack to Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny and the 1915 silent film Birth of a Nation. The piece itself from from Wagner opera Die Walküre, part of the Ring Cycle.
3. Edvard Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King
This ominous and brooding piece is embedded is forever embedded pop culture, yet Grieg’s thoroughly Norwegian style ensures we never forget its origins.
2. George Frderic Handel: Zadok the Priest
Originally composed for the coronation of King George II in 1727, Zadok the Priest has since been used at the coronation of every British monarch since. This is in spite of the fact that the choir at Westminster Abbey sung it in the wrong part of the service in 1727!
1. Johann Strauss II: The Blue Danube
This waltz is so graceful it was the envy of every composer who didn’t write it (Brahms signed one copy “Alas! Not by Johannes Brahms”). It is surely the finest waltz ever written.