Essential Bach

• Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
• Orchestral Suites Nos. 1, 2, 3 (includes "Air"), and 4
• Double Violin Concerto
• Cello Suites Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
• Violin Partita No. 2
• Goldberg Variations
• The Well-Tempered Clavier
• Cantata No. 140, "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (includes "Sleepers, Awake")
• Mass in B Minor
• St. Matthew Passion

Essential Beethoven

• Symphonies Nos. 3 "Eroica", 5, 6 "Pastoral", 7, and 9 "Choral"
• Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5 "Emperor"
• Violin Concerto in D Major
• String Quartets Nos. 7, 8, and 9 ("Razumovsky"), 13, 14, and 15
• Piano Trio No. 7 "Archduke"
• Violin Sonata No. 9 "Kreutzer"
• Piano Sonatas Nos. 8 "Pathetique", 14 "Moonlight", 21 "Waldstein", 23 "Appassionata", 29 "Hammerklavier", and 32
• Missa Solemnis
• Fidelio (opera)

Essential Mozart

• Symphonies Nos. 38 "Prague", 39, 40, and 41 "Jupiter"
• Piano Concertos Nos. 20, 21, 23, and 24
• Clarinet Concerto
• Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra
• Clarinet Quintet
• String Quartet No. 19 "Dissonance"
• String Quintet in G Minor, K. 516
• Serenades Nos. 10 "Gran Partita" and No. 13 "Eine kleine Nachtmusik"
• Requiem
• Don Giovanni (opera)
• The Magic Flute (opera)
• The Marriage of Figaro (opera)

Antonin Dvorak

According to a consensus I derived from data associated with the Penguin and Gramophone classical music recording guides, the Naxos and Deutsche Grammophon music catalogs, and the website Classical.Net, Antonin Dvorak's legacy currently ranks 9th among all classical music composers. This and the knowledge that his music is accessible lead me to the conclusion that the number of my friends and colleagues who have heard of him or are familiar with his music is disproportionately low. Perhaps this is because his name begins with the sequence of letters, D-V-. Well, here he is:


A concise introduction to Dvorak's unique musical style may be found in his Mazurek for Violin and Orchestra in E Minor, Op. 49. A more familiar tune may be found in his Slavonic Dance No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 72 (not to be confused with his Slavonic Dance No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 46).

Communication (October 2009)

"If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music." --Gustav Mahler

"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