Calm classical music

Twelve slow, quiet pieces, from Chopin's lullaby to Pärt's Fratres.

12 works1 h 25 minChopin → Liszt → Wagner → Debussy → Massenet → Fauré → Grainger → Delius → Williams → Rachmaninoff → Pärt

Calm music is not empty music. These pieces move slowly and softly, often over a rocking or held bass, but each has a shape you can follow: a melody that leaves and comes back, a tune passed from one instrument to another, a quiet climax. Most last only a few minutes. They run in the order they were written, from 1844 to 1977.

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Path 01

Start here

Ten well-known works to learn the map on, each open in full to everyone.

Pachelbel → Bach → Vivaldi → Mozart → Beethoven → Schubert → Chopin → Dvořák → Debussy

10 works · 1 h 54 min

Path 02

Symphonies everyone should know

Twelve symphonies from Mozart's Fortieth to Shostakovich's Fifth, the core of the concert repertoire.

Mozart → Haydn → Beethoven → Schubert → Berlioz → Mendelssohn → Brahms → Mahler → Tchaikovsky → Dvořák → Shostakovich

12 works · 8 h 5 min

Path 04

Baroque essentials

Ground bass, ritornello, fugue and dance: the Baroque in twelve works, from Purcell to Bach's Musical Offering.

Purcell → Pachelbel → Bach → Vivaldi → Handel → Scarlatti

12 works · 1 h 42 min

Path 05

Understanding sonata form

The form behind most first movements, heard twelve times, from a small sonata to a symphony.

Mozart → Haydn → Beethoven → Schubert → Mendelssohn → Brahms → Prokofiev

12 works · 4 h 43 min

Path 06

Haydn in London

Haydn's two London visits, 1791–95: six of the symphonies he wrote there, three piano sonatas, and what he took home to Vienna.

Haydn

11 works · 3 h 40 min

Path 07

Ten minutes or less

Short, complete works for a single sitting.

Bach → Mozart → Haydn → Beethoven → Schubert → Mendelssohn → Saint-Saëns → Sibelius → Ravel → Debussy → Gershwin → Copland

12 works · 1 h 26 min

Path 08

The string quartet, 1772 to 1960

Four players across almost two centuries: Haydn shapes the conversation, Bartók breaks it open, Shostakovich turns it inward.

Haydn → Mozart → Schubert → Beethoven → Dvořák → Debussy → Reger → Bartók → Shostakovich

11 works · 5 h 9 min

Path 09

Fifteen kinds of work

One work for each kind in the catalog, from the symphony to choral music.

Beethoven → Vivaldi → Debussy → Holst → Dvořák → Mozart → Chopin → Scarlatti → Bach → Schubert → Strauss → Handel

15 works · 3 h 7 min

Path 10

Beethoven's nine symphonies

From the First of 1800 to the Choral of 1824, in the order Beethoven wrote them.

Beethoven

9 works · 5 h 26 min

Path 11

The concerto, 1721 to 1959

Soloist and orchestra across two and a half centuries, from Bach's harpsichord to Rostropovich's cello.

Bach → Vivaldi → Mozart → Beethoven → Mendelssohn → Tchaikovsky → Dvořák → Rachmaninoff → Ravel → Shostakovich

10 works · 4 h 59 min

Path 12

Romantic piano

Eleven short pieces from Field to Grieg, each holding one mood.

Field → Schubert → Mendelssohn → Chopin → Schumann → Liszt → Tchaikovsky → Rachmaninoff → Brahms → Grieg

11 works · 1 h 7 min

Path 13

The art song, from Schubert to Strauss

A poem, a voice and a piano, later an orchestra: from Schubert's first masterpieces to Strauss's last songs.

Schubert → Schumann → Wagner → Mahler → Debussy → Fauré → Strauss

10 works · 3 h 11 min

Path 14

Variations and fugue

Two ways of making much from little: a theme changed again and again, and a subject passed from voice to voice.

Bach → Mozart → Haydn → Beethoven → Mendelssohn → Brahms → Elgar

11 works · 3 h 14 min

Path 15

Paris around 1900

Fauré, Satie, Debussy, Chausson, Dukas and Ravel, from 1887 to 1920.

Fauré → Satie → Debussy → Chausson → Dukas → Ravel

11 works · 2 h 17 min

Path 16

Russian voices

From Glinka to Shostakovich: a century of Russian music, in the order it was written.

Glinka → Balakirev → Mussorgsky → Borodin → Rimsky-Korsakov → Tchaikovsky → Rachmaninoff → Scriabin → Prokofiev → Shostakovich

10 works · 4 h 31 min

Path 17

Chopin's piano music

Nocturne, étude, mazurka, scherzo, ballade, polonaise, waltz: Chopin's genres in twelve works, in the order he wrote them.

Chopin

12 works · 1 h 58 min

Path 18

Essential Mozart

Mozart in twelve works, from a motet written at sixteen to the Requiem he left unfinished.

Mozart

12 works · 4 h 36 min

Path 19

Essential Brahms

Brahms in twelve works, from the First Piano Concerto to the last of his piano pieces.

Brahms

12 works · 6 h 31 min

Path 20

The piano sonata, from Mozart to Prokofiev

Twelve piano sonatas from Mozart and Haydn to Prokofiev's war sonata of 1942.

Mozart → Haydn → Beethoven → Schubert → Chopin → Liszt → Berg → Bartók → Prokofiev

12 works · 4 h 15 min

Path 21

Debussy and Ravel

Two French composers side by side, often compared and often confused, from 1891 to Boléro in 1928.

Debussy → Ravel

12 works · 3 h 28 min

Path 22

Romantic violin concertos

Ten violin concertos, from Beethoven's of 1806 to Sibelius's of 1904.

Beethoven → Paganini → Mendelssohn → Wieniawski → Bruch → Lalo → Brahms → Tchaikovsky → Dvořák → Sibelius

10 works · 5 h 12 min

Path 23

Mahler, Bruckner and Strauss

The late Romantic orchestra at its largest: Bruckner's and Mahler's symphonies and Strauss's tone poems, 1880 to 1945.

Bruckner → Mahler → Strauss

12 works · 10 h 33 min

Path 24

Music of the nations

Folk songs, dances and landscapes, from Liszt's Hungary to Márquez's Mexico.

Liszt → Smetana → Grieg → Albéniz → Dvořák → Sibelius → Elgar → Williams → Janáček → Villa-Lobos → Rodrigo → Márquez

12 works · 2 h 49 min

Path 25

Choral masterpieces

Choirs from Handel's coronation anthem to Ligeti's cloud of voices: masses, requiems and psalms, 1727 to 1966.

Handel → Mozart → Brahms → Verdi → Fauré → Orff → Messiaen → Bernstein → Ligeti

12 works · 5 h 12 min

Path 26

Famous overtures

Twelve overtures from Mozart's Figaro to Bernstein's Candide, each a complete piece in a few minutes.

Mozart → Beethoven → Rossini → Weber → Mendelssohn → Wagner → Berlioz → Offenbach → Brahms → Tchaikovsky → Bernstein

12 works · 1 h 49 min

Path 27

20th-century classical music

Twelve directions the century took, from Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht of 1899 to Piazzolla's tango of 1982.

Schoenberg → Ives → Bartók → Holst → Gershwin → Barber → Prokofiev → Copland → Ligeti → Górecki → Piazzolla

12 works · 4 h 13 min