Classical Music

This page is about classical compositions where the question is something other than "Who composed ... ?"

General

Numbers

Symphonies written by Brahms		4
Piano concertos written by Beethoven		5
Bach's Brandenburg Concertos		6
Symphonies written by Sibelius		7
Mozart composed his first symphony at the age of		8
Number of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony		8th
Number of Schubert's last finished symphony (The Great C Major)		9th
Symphonies written by Beethoven, Mahler, Dvořák and Vaughan Williams (each!)		9
Number of Elgar's Enigma Variations		14
Piano concertos written by Mozart		27
Symphonies written by Mozart		41
Symphonies written by Haydn		104
Items in Kochel's catalogue of the works of Mozart		626

Other

Written by Tchaikovsky in 1882 to commemorate the successful Russian defence against Napoleon's invading Grande Armée, and in particular the Battle of Borodino; includes an extract from the French national anthem (La Marseillaise) and also the Russian anthem of Tchaikovsky's day (see also Marche Slave). Famous for its climactic volley of cannon fire and bell chimes		1812 Overture
Popular name for (the tune from) the 2nd movement of Bach's Suite no. 3 in D		Air on the G string
Opening motif used by the BBC during World War II, to suggest the Morse code for V (for Victory)		Beethoven's 5th symphony
One–act opera by Pietro Mascagni, often performed (and recorded) alongside Leoncavallo's Pagliacci		Cavalleria Rusticana
Classical guitar piece, written in 1970 by the British composer Stanley Myers; made famous when used as the theme tune to the 1978 film The Deer Hunter		Cavatina
Childish waltz, variations for 3 hands written by Rimsky–Korsakov et al before 1880		Chopsticks
Mozart's last opera (but completed before The Magic Flute)		La Clemenza di Tito
Haydn oratorio, considered by many to be his masterpiece: set to texts taken from the book of Genesis, the Psalms and Milton's Paradise Lost		The Creation
Mozart's string quartet in C major, K465		Dissonance
Elgar's oratorio depicting the passage of a dying man's soul to a glimpse of heaven; based on a poem by Cardinal Newman		The Dream of Gerontius
Not featured in Holst's Planets suite (of the eight major planets)		Earth
The sea that inspired Debussy's "three symphonic sketches for orchestra", La Mer (it was composed in Eastbourne)		English Channel
Elgar's 14 Variations on an Original Theme, op. 36; dedicated "to my friends, pictured within"		Enigma Variations
Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 5 in E flat major, op. 73		Emperor
Beethoven's only opera		Fidelio
The first four of the twelve violin concertos comprising Vivaldi's Op. 8 (1725)		The Four Seasons
Popular name for Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 (an extract, arranged for brass, was used in the famous 1973 Hovis advert)		From the New World
Chopin: Sonata no. 2 in B Flat minor, op. 35		Funeral March
Handel's Water Music was commissioned by		King George I (1717)
Handel wrote his four Coronation Anthems – including Zadok the Priest – for the coronation of		King George II (1747)
Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks was commissioned (to celebrate the ending of the War of the Austrian Succession by the Treaty of Aix–la–Chappelle) by		King George II (1749)
Popularly believed to have started the custom of standing for the Hallelujah Chorus (part of Handel's Messiah) at the London premiere, in 1743		King George II
Annual music festival, founded in 1934 by John Christie: held at (and named after) his country house near Lewes, East Sussex		Glyndebourne
Barcarolle: originally sung by a		Gondolier
Solo instrument in Rodrigo's Concerto d'Aranjuez		Guitar
Name given to a Mozart serenade (K250, 1776) and the 35th symphony (K385, 1782)		Haffner
Britain's oldest orchestra		Halle
Work by Mendelssohn, inspired by a visit to the Scottish island of Staffa and alternatively known as Fingal's Cave after one of the island's most famous features		Hebrides Overture
Nickname shared by Mozart's String Quartet No. 17 in Bb, K458, and Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 18 in Eb, Op. 31 No. 3		The Hunt
Elgar's Cockaigne Overture: subtitle		In London Town
Handel oratorio, about (named after the leader of) the Jewish revolt against the Syrians in 165 BC – as celebrated at Hannukah; written in honour of the Duke of Cumberland and his victory at Culloden; includes the chorus See, the Conqu'ring Hero Comes – tune used for the hymn Thine Be the Glory		Judas Maccabaeus
Movement of Holst's Planets suite, used as the tune to the hymn I Vow to Thee, My Country (and subsequently for the Rugby World Cup anthem World in Union). Title of the hymn tune is Thaxted – after the Essex village where Holst lived for many years		Jupiter
K, in the Mozart catalogue, stands for		Köchel
Words by A. C. Benson, set to the trio tune from Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1 – first appeared in the Coronation Ode, written for the coronation of Edward VII		Land of Hope and Glory
Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7: commemorates the Siege of (Russian city, during World War II)		Leningrad
Mahler's 1908 orchestral song cycle – six German versions of 8th–century Chinese poems (title means The Song of the Earth)		Das Lied von der Erde
1st symphony is sometimes known as 'The Titan', although the composer only used this name for early (incomplete) versions		Mahler
5th Symphony used in the 1971 film Death in Venice (starring Dirk Bogarde)		Mahler
Drama by Byron, incidental music by Schumann, on which Tchaikovsky based a symphony		Manfred
1876 piece by Tchaikovsky, written to commemorate an unsuccessful Serbian revolt against the Ottoman empire (in which many Russians participated). Shares many elements (including the Russian national anthem) with the 1812 Overture which was written 6 years later		Marche Slave (Slavonic March)
Oratorio by Handel, includes the choruses For Unto Us a Boy is Born and Hallelujah, and the aria I Know that My Redeemer Liveth; premiered at Neal's Music Hall, Fishamble Street, Dublin, 13 April 1742; proceeds donated to local charities and hospitals for the mentally ill, at the request of Jonathan Swift (Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral)		Messiah
Mendelssohn's Wedding March comes from his incidental music to		A Midsummer Night's Dream
Chopin: Waltz in D flat major, Op. 64 No. 1		Minute Waltz
Dark, atmospheric piece from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet – a.k.a. Dance of the Knights – used as a theme tune by Sunderland AFC, the rock band Muse, the British version of the TV show The Apprentice, and the 1979 film Caligula		Montagues and Capulets
Dedicatee of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Concerto; also the original dedicatee of his 3rd symphony (Eroica), which was re–dedicated to the composer's patron, Prince Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz		Napoleon Bonaparte
Form of popular song, the name deriving from a festival that was held from the 1830s until 1950; famous examples include O Sole Mio and Funiculi, Funicula		Neapolitan song
British national hero, celebrated in the alternative title of Haydn's Missa in Angustiis (Hoboken XXII/11, composed in 1798)		Nelson
The ninth and most famous of the Enigma variations: inspired by Elgar's friend Augustus Jaeger (Jaeger being German for hunter, and the piece being named after a Biblical patriarch described as "a mighty hunter"); played at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday		Nimrod
Song by Henry Purcell, from the 1675 play The Libertine by Thomas Shadwell: famously recorded at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1929, sung by the Manchester Children's Choir accompanied by the Hallé Orchestra (see also Musicals)		Nymphs and Shepherds
William Walton's march for the coronation of Elizabeth II		Orb and Sceptre
Operetta by Offenbach that features the Can Can		Orpheus in the Underworld
Name given to a Beethoven piano sonata and a Tchaikovsky symphony		Pathétique
Play by Ibsen: Grieg's incidental music includes Morning Mood, Anitra's Dance, In the Hall of the Mountain King		Peer Gynt
Mussorgsky's piano suite in ten movements (1874), inspired by the paintings of Viktor Hartmann; various orchestrations, the most famous one by Ravel; starts with the Promenade, variations of which reoccur at several points later in the work; ends with The Great Gate of Kiev		Pictures at an Exhibition
Elgar's five marches, No. 1 known as Land of Hope and Glory		Pomp and Circumstance
Elgar's Nursery Suite (1931): dedicated to 5–year–old		Princess Elizabeth
Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Op. 34, 1946): subtitled Variations and Fugue on a Theme of		Purcell
Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony: dedicated to		Queen Victoria
Chopin: Prelude no. 15 in D Flat, op. 28		Raindrop Prelude
Mozart's final, unfinished work (K626)		Requiem Mass
Popular name for the beginning of Act III of the second opera in Wagner's Ring cycle		Ride of the Valkyries
Ballet by Prokofiev, with choreography by Nijinsky: caused a near–riot when premiered by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes (Russian Ballet) in Paris in 1913		The Rite of Spring
Nickname shared by the 4th symphonies of Anton Bruckner and (more obscurely) the Mexican composer Carlos Chávez		Romantic
Handel oratorio that includes the aria Let the Bright Seraphim, sung by Kiri Te Kanawa at Charles & Diana's wedding		Samson
The Sea and Sinbad's Ship: Part 1 of (symphonic poem by Rimsky–Korsakov)		Scheherezade
Ninth movement and most familiar aria from Bach's secular cantata, BWV 208 – a.k.a. the Hunting Cantata		Sheep May Safely Graze
13th century hymn, a meditation on the suffering of the Virgin Mary at the Cruxifixion: Latin title means "stood the mother"; set to music by various composers, most famously Palestrina, Pergolesi and the two Scarlattis (Alessandro and his son Domenico)		Stabat Mater
The thirteenth and penultimate movement in Saint–Saens's Carnival of the Animals – written for cello and two pianos, a staple of the cello repertoire		The Swan
Reveries – Passions, A Ball, Scene in the Fields, March to the Scaffold, and Dream of a Night of the Sabbath are English translations of the titles given to the five movements of		Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz)
Schubert's piano quintet in A minor		The Trout
Benjamin Britten's work based on the poems of Wilfred Owen – commissioned for the consecration of Coventry–s new cathedral, in 1962		War Requiem
Composed by Handel for a picnic on the Thames in 1717 – allegedly as a peace offering to George I		Water Music
Tune composed in 1793 for a clock in the University Church at Cambridge – and hence sometimes known as Cambridge Quarters; probably the most commonly used chime for striking clocks, most famously the one in what has been officially known since 2012 as the Elizabeth Tower at the Palace of Westminster (popularly known as Big Ben); said to be based on an extract from I Know That My Redeemer Liveth, from Handel's Messiah		Westminster Quarters (or Chimes)
Rossini overture, an extract from which was used as the theme to The Lone Ranger (also adapted for the theme song to a TV series of the same name as the overture)		William Tell
The opening motif of Beethoven's 5th symphony (used by the BBC to introduce news bulletins during WWII, because it echoed the Morse code for the letter V, signifying Victory) is said to have been inspired by the call of the		Yellowhammer
Anthem written by Handel for the coronation of George II in 1727, and used at every subsequent British coronation; the anthem of the UEFA Champions League, used since its introduction in 1992, borrows heavily from it; also used in adverts for P&O Cruises		Zadok the Priest
Spanish term for a light musical drama – named after a royal hunting lodge near Madrid where first performed – also the name of a type of fish stew		Zarzuela

Beethoven

Symphonies

No. 3

No. 6

No. 9

Piano Sonatas

No. 4	Grand Sonata	No. 8	Pathétique	No. 12	Funeral March
No. 14	Moonlight	No. 17	Tempest	No. 18	The Hunt
No. 21	Waldstein	No. 23	Appassionata	No. 24	À Thérèse
No. 26	Les Adieux (Das Lebewohl)	No. 29	Hammerklavier

The famous Moonlight sonata is in the key of C–sharp minor. It was published as one of two sonatas (Nos. 13 and 14, Opus 27), each of which is described as a Sonata quasi una fantasia (sonata in the manner of a fantasia). No one is very sure why.

Symphony with five movements (rather than the conventional four), given programmatic titles: (1) Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside; (2) Scene by the brook; (3) Merry gathering of country folk; (4) Thunder, Storm; (5) Shepherd's song. Cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm

Haydn

Symphonies Nos. 82 – 87 (commissioned by Count d'Ogny for performance by the Concert de la Loge Olympique)		Paris Symphonies
Last 11 symphonies (nos. 94–104)		London Symphonies

The Paris Symphonies

Beware: none of Haydn's symphonies is individually nicknamed the Paris symphony, but six of his symphonies (Nos. 82 to 87 – see above) were commissioned to be performed in Paris and are collectively known as the Paris Symphonies. Mozart, on the other hand, did write a Paris symphony – see below.

Four of Haydn's six Paris symphonies have names:

No. 82		The Bear		No. 83		The Hen
No. 84		In Nomine Domini		No. 85		La Reine

The London Symphonies

Six of Haydn's eleven London symphonies (nos. 94 to 104 – see above) have names:

No. 94		Surprise		No. 96		Miracle		No. 100		Military
No. 101		Clock		No. 103		Drum Roll		No. 104		London

Other named symphonies:

(Orchestra leaves the stage one by one)	No. 45	Farewell
	No. 48	Maria Theresa
(After the city where it was performed in 1791)	No. 92	Oxford

Holst: The Planets

The Planets was Holst's op. 32 and was first performed in 1920. The seven movements are normally performed in this order:

The Bringer of War		Mars
The Bringer of Peace		Venus
The Winged Messenger		Mercury
The Bringer of Jollity		Jupiter
The Bringer of Old Age		Saturn
The Magician		Uranus
The Mystic		Neptune

If you're wondering how to remember this order: it's the three rocky planets other than Earth (the ones nearest the Sun) in reverse order of distance from the Sun, followed by the four gas giants (the ones furthest from the Sun) in increasing order of distance from the Sun.

In other words, they're in order of distance from the Sun, except that the first three (Mercury, Venus and Mars) are reversed.

Note that when Holst wrote The Planets, Pluto hadn't been discovered. This of course ceased to be an issue after 2006, when Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet (along with Ceres and Eris – later joined by Haumea and Makemake). As it did when it was written, The Planets now has movements for all of the planets except Earth.

Mahler

No. 2

No. 8

Unfinished

Mendelssohn (symphonies)

No. 3

No. 4

No. 5

Mozart (symphonies)

	No.	Nickname
	31	Paris
	35	Haffner
(Austrian town – written on a journey there)	36	Linz
(After the city where it was performed in 1787)	38	Prague
	41	Jupiter

Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf

*Q: In Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, which animal or character is represented by the ...*		A:
Flute		Bird
Clarinet		Cat
Oboe		Duck
Bassoon		Grandfather
A theme on woodwind and trumpet, with gunshots on timpani and bass drum		Hunters
Stringed instruments (violin, viola, cello, bass)		Peter
French horns		Wolf

Most of these questions can equally well be asked the other way round.

Schubert