Relaxing classical music selections

Composers (listed chronologically by life dates)

Stephen of Liège (ca. 850-920)

• Deum verum (Gregorian chant)

Josquin Desprez (ca. 1450/1455-1521)

• Ave maria, motet for chorus

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca. 1525-1594)

• Kyrie from the Pope Marcellus Mass

Gregorio Allegri (ca. 1582-1652)

• Miserere mei for two choirs

Remo Giazotto (1910-1998) [after Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751)]

• Adagio in G minor for strings and organ

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

• Adagio from Keyboard Suite No. 2 in F major, HWV 427
• Largo from Serse (opera)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

• Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
• Air on the G String from Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)

• Minuet in F major and Dance of the Blessed Spirits in D minor from Orfeo ed Euridice (opera)

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

• Adagio in F major, Hob. XVII:9 for piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

• Adagio from Serenade for Woodwinds in B-flat major, K. 361 “Gran Partita”
• Adagio from Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488
• Ave verum corpus, K. 618 for chorus and orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

• Scene by the Brook from Symphony No. 6 in F major, op. 68 “Pastoral”
• “Cavatina” from String Quartet in B-flat major, op. 130

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

• Entr’acte No. 3 (Andantino) from Rosamunde, op. 26, D. 797 for orchestra

Fryderyk (Frédéric) Chopin (1810-1849)

• Prelude in F-sharp major, op. 27 no. 13
• Romanze: Larghetto from Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, op. 11

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

• Träumerei (Dreaming) from Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), op. 15 for piano
• Romanze in F-sharp major, op. 28 no. 2

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

• The Bells of Geneva from Years of Pilgrimage, 1. Switzerland for piano

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

• Romanze: Poco Adagio from String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, op. 51 no. 1
• Wiegenlied (Lullaby), op. 49 no. 4 (arr. piano solo)

Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)

• Notturno: Andante from String Quartet No. 2 in D major

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

• The Swan from Carnival of the Animals for two pianos and orchestra

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

• Romance in F minor, op. 11 for violin and orchestra
• Largo from Symphony No. 9 in E minor, op. 95 “From the New World”

Jules Massenet (1842-1912)

• Meditation from Thaïs (opera, 1894/1898) for violin and piano

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

• Morning Mood from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, op. 46 for orchestra

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

• Pavane, op. 50 for orchestra and optional chorus
• Sicilienne from Pelléas et Mélisande, op. 80

Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)

• Abendsegen (Evening Prayers) from Hansel and Gretel (opera)

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

• Chrysanthemums for string quartet

Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), arr. Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938)

• Tango for piano

Edward MacDowell (1860-1908)

• To a Wild Rose (No. 1 from Woodland Sketches, op. 51, for piano)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

• Andante doucement expressif from String Quartet in G minor
• Rêverie for piano
• Clair de lune from Suite bergamasque for piano

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

• Morgen (Morning), op. 27 no. 4 for soprano and orchestra
• Beim Schlafengehen (Going to Sleep) from Four Last Songs for soprano and orchestra

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

• The Swan of Tuonela for orchestra

Erik Satie (1866-1925)

• Gymnopédie No. 1 for piano

Scott Joplin (1868-1917)

• Solace: A Mexican Serenade for piano

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

• Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis for double string orchestra with string quartet
• The Lark Ascending for violin and orchestra
• Silent Noon from The House of Life, song cycle for voice and piano

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)

• Transfigured Night (conclusion) for string orchestra

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

• Pavane pour one infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) for orchestra

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)

• “Children’s Intermezzo” from Othello, op. 79 for orchestra

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

• Introit from Requiem, op. 9 for solo voices, mixed chorus, orchestra, and organ

Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)

• Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror) (1978) for violin and piano

Philip Glass (b. 1937)

• Glassworks for piano
• Mishima/Closing for string quartet, from the music for the film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)

• Sleep for small chorus

Film music excerpts

John Barry (1933-2011)

• “John Dunbar Theme” from the soundtrack for Dances with Wolves (1990 motion picture)

Howard Shore (b. 1946)

• “The Shire” from the soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001 motion picture)