Classical CD Suggestions

This page was designed to help librarians and anyone who has just discovered classical music that might be wanting to build a CD collection. This is a list of standard repertoire and is quite general. Some items on the list may encompass numerous CDs. For example, I have only listed Beethoven Symphones, but he wrote 9 of them. Likewise terms like "piano music" or "chamber music" are general and may comprise anything from a few to hundreds of individual items.

In this list, composers are grouped roughly within each musical era and listed alphabetically within each group. Please note that some composers span more than one musical era.

There may be many recordings available of various pieces, and it's useful to check reviews in music magazines or on the net. I do not indicate specific recordings or performers on this page, but when ordering, I do try to look for quality performances.

There are many compilation CDs with music by several composers. They are not included here, but of course are worth considering.

Mediaeval Music

There were lots of mediaeval composers, but most are not known for large works as in later eras. Small instrumental and secular vocal works, or sacred music makes up the bulk of surviving music. Look for composers such as Adam de la Halle, John Dunstable, Jacopo da Bologna, Leonin, Perotin, Gilles Binchois, Leonel Power, Guillaume Dufay, Francesco Landini and many others.

Hildegard of Bingen	Vocal works, including Sequences, Hymns
Guillaume de Machaut	Messe de Notre Dame
Johannes Ockeghem	Masses

Renaissance Music

William Byrd	Masses and other sacred music Madrigals and consort songs Keyboard music Viol consort music
Josquin des Prez	Masses and sacred choral music (motets)
John Dowland	Lute songs (3 books) A Pilgrim's Solace Viol consort music Solo lute music
Carlo Gesualdo	Madrigals
Tobias Hume	Music for lyra viol/viola da gamba from The First Part of Ayres, and Captaine Hume's Poeticall Musicke Songs from the above books
Orlando di Lasso (Roland de Lassus)	Psalms of David Motets Le lagrime di San Pietro
Claudio Monteverdi	Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda Vespro della Beata Vergine (The Vespers) Orfeo (opera) Madrigals (9 Books) Masses Vocal music (solos and duos)
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina	Masses, such as Missa Papae Marcelli Motets
Thomas Tallis	Masses
Various composers	The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book

Baroque music

Johann Sebastian Bach	6 Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046-1051 St Matthew Passion, BWV 244 Orchestral Suites, BWV 1066-1069 Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, BWV 1001-1006 Sonatas and Partitas for flute, BWV 1030-1035, 1013 Harpsichord Concerti Keyboard works Over 200 Cantatas Mass in b minor, BWV 232 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 Well-tempered Clavier, BWV 846-893
Dieterico (Dietrich) Buxtehude	112 Cantatas Organ works Suites for harpsichord Trios for violin, gamba and harpsichord
Louis-Nicolas Clerambault	Cantatas
Francois Couperin	Concerts Royaux Solo harpsichord music Lecons de Tenebraes
Giovanni Gabrieli	Instrumental canzonas Sacred motets
Georg Frideric Handel	The Messiah Gloria Music for the Royal Fireworks Water Music Keyboard works Concerti grossi Organ concertos, op. 4 & 7 Trio sonatas Solomon (oratorio)
Jean-Marie Leclair	Violin Concertos Violin Sonatas Trio Sonatas
Jean-Baptiste Lully	Ballets Operas Grands Motets
Henry Purcell	Dido and Aeneas The Fairy Queen The Indian Queen Solo keyboard pieces and suites Viol consorts Trio Sonatas
Jean-Philippe Rameau	Pieces de Clavecin Cantatas
Domenico Scarlatti	Keyboard sonatas
Heinrich Schutz	Italian madrigals Psalms of David Cantiones sacrae
Georg-Philipp Telemann	Paris Quartets Sonatas for Recorder and Harpsichord Suite in A minor for Flute and Strings Cantatas Trio sonatas
Antonio Vivaldi	The Four Seasons Gloria Violin concertos Orchestral concerti and sinfonias Cello sonatas Violin sonatas Cantatas for solo voice and continuo

Classical era

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach	Sonatas for Flute and Continuo Magnificat Symphonies Solo Keyboard works Concertos
Ludwig van Beethoven	5 Piano Concertos Violin Concerto, op. 61 Fidelio, op. 72 (opera) Symphonies The Piano Trios String Quartets Piano Quintets 32 Piano Sonatas Violin Sonatas Cello Sonatas Wind sextet, op. 71
Luigi Boccherini	Guitar quintets String quintets Cello concertos
Franz Josef Haydn	Trumpet Concerto Cello Concertos Piano Concertos Piano sonatas The Creation Nelson Mass Mass in time of War Piano Trios String quartets
Johann Nepomuk Hummel	Piano works Trumpet Concerto Piano concertos Chamber music
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	22 Piano Concertos Flute and Harp concerto Flute Concertos Horn concertos Requiem The Magic Flute Don Giovanni Così fan tutte Marriage of Figaro Clarinet Concerto Clarinet Quintet Piano Trios Mass in c minor Wind serenades Divertimenti (such as Eine Kleine Nachtmusik)

Romantic era

Hector Berlioz	Damnation of Faust Le Corsair Overture Requiem Symphonie Fantastique, op. 14 Various overtures Harold in Italy
Georges Bizet	Carmen
Alexander Borodin	3 Symphonies Chamber music In the Steppes of Central Asia Polovtsian Dances Prince Igor (opera)
Johannes Brahms	Piano works Symphonies Hungarian Dances Quintets (string, piano, clarinet) Cello Sonatas 2 Piano Concertos Various overtures (Academic Festival, Tragic) Serenades for Orchestra Sextets Violin concerto
Anton Bruckner	Masses Motets Requiem 9 Symphonies String quintet
Frederic Chopin	Piano works, including the Ballades, Sonatas, Nocturnes, Waltzes, Preludes, Polonaises Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise for piano and orchestra Piano Concertos Piano trio Cello sonata Vocal music
Antonin Dvorak	Symphonies (esp. New World Symphony) Carnival Overture Concertos (Piano, Violin, Cello) Piano quartets and quintets Slavonic Dances Piano Trios
Edward Elgar	Cello Concerto Pomp & Circumstance Marches Enigma Variations Violin Concerto
Manuel de Falla	La Vide Breve (opera) Three-Cornered Hat Dances Nights in the Gardens of Spain (for Piano and Orchestra) Piano works
Gabriel Faure	Requiem, op. 48 Pelléas et Mélisande for Orchestra Op. 80 Piano works Pavane for Orchestra Op. 50
César Franck	Organ music Violin sonata Piano quintet Symphonic poems Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra Symphony in d minor
Reinhold Gliere	3 Symphonies Horn Concerto, op. 91 4 string quartets Vocal works
Edvard Grieg	Piano concerto, op. 16 Piano works Peer Gynt Suites Holberg Suite
Franz Liszt	2 Piano Concertos Hungarian Rhapsodies Piano works Totentanz for Piano and Orchestra
Felix Mendelssohn	Piano Concertos Violin Concerto Songs without Words (for piano) Piano works Midsummer Night’s Dream (incidental music) Octet for Strings Op. 20 Symphonies Piano Trios
Modest Mussorgsky	Pictures at an Exhibition Boris Godounov
Giacomo Puccini	La Boheme Madame Butterfly Tosca Many other operas
Sergei Rachmaninov	4 Piano Concertos Symphonies Piano works Piano trios Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Ottorino Respighi	Ancient Airs and Dances The Birds Suite The Pines of Rome The Fountains of Rome
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov	Capriccio españole for Orchestra Schéhérazade (symphonic suite) Symphonies
Gioachino Rossini	Many Overtures to operas The Barber of Seville Semiramide, An Italian in Algiers
Camille Saint-Saens	Carnival of the Animals Piano Concertos Cello Concerto Symphonies
Franz Schubert	9 Symphonies Piano sonatas Piano trios String Quartets and Quintets Piano works Arpeggione Sonata Lieder and song cycles
Clara Schumann	Piano works
Robert Schumann	Piano Concerto Cello Concerto Song cycles, such as Dichterliebe Piano works Piano trios Symphonies Symphonic Études for Piano Op. 13
Alexander Scriabin	Piano works
Bedrich Smetana	Bartered Bride (opera) Ma vlast 2 string quartets Choral and vocal music Piano music
Peter Ilyitch Tschaikowsky	Swan Lake Nutcracker Suite Symphonies Piano Concertos Piano works Roméo and Juliet Fantasy Overture 1812 Overture Eugen Onegin (opera) Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra Op. 33
Giuseppe Verdi	Aida Falstaff, Otello, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, and many other operas Requiem
Richard Wagner	The Ring Cycle (4 operas) Lohengrin Mastersingers of Nuremburg Tristan und Isolde Tannhauser
Carl Maria von Weber	Clarinet Concertos Grand Duo Concertant for Clarinet and Piano Piano music Overtures
Hugo Wolf	Vocal works

20th century

Samuel Barber	Adagio for strings Concertos – violin, piano Symphonies
Bela Bartok	Concerto for orchestra Piano concertos Violin concertos The Miraculous Mandarin Piano works (including Microcosmos) Sonata for Solo Violin Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Alban Berg	Lyric Suite Violin Concerto Wozzek (opera)
Leonard Bernstein	West Side Story ballet music Mass
Benjamin Britten	Peter Grimes, op. 33 (opera) Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings Op. 31 Sinfonia da Requiem Op. 20 Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Op. 34
Aaron Copland	Appalachian Spring Piano concerto Rodeo (Dance episodes or complete ballet) Symphonies
Claude Debussy	Piano works Sonatas – violin, cello, flute Pelléas et Mélisande (opera) String quartet Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune Nocturnes for Orchestra and Chorus La Mer (Symphonic Sketches) for Orchestra
Frederick Delius	Appalachia for choir & orchestra Chamber music On hearing the first cuckoo in Spring Koanga Piano concerto Songs Violin concerto
George Gershwin	An American in Paris Piano works Rhapsody in Blue Porgy and Bess (opera)
Philip Glass	Einstein On The Beach Powaqqatsi (film music) Violin Concerto
Gustav Holst	Choral Fantasia The Planets - orchestral suite The Hymn of Jesus St Pauls Suite
Leos Janacek	Cunning Little Vixen (opera) Glagolitic Mass (Slavonic Mass) Jenůfa (opera) Piano works Chamber music
Aram Khachaturian	Film music (many works) Piano Concerto Piano works String Quartet Suites 1-3 from Gayane Suites 1-3 from Spartacus Trio for Clarinet, Violin & Piano Violin Concerto
Zoltan Kodaly	Hary Janos: Suite Works for cello
Gyorgy Ligeti	Atmosphères Horn trio Piano works
Gustav Mahler	Kindertotenlieder Das Lied von der Erde Rückert Lieder 10 Symphonies
Olivier Messiaen	Quatuor pour la fin du temps Turangalîla-Symphony Organ music Vingt Regards for Piano
Francis Poulenc	Chamber music Concerto for 2 pianos and organ in d minor Piano works Piano concerto
Sergei Prokofiev	Classical Symphony Piano Concertos Violin Concertos Peter and the Wolf Lieutenant Kije Suite Piano works Symphonies
Maurice Ravel	String Quartet Piano Trio Piano works Piano concertos Daphnis et Chloé (ballet) Alborada del gracioso for Orchestra Boléro for Orchestra Chansons Medacasses for Soprano and Orchestra Pavane pour une infante defunte
Joaquin Rodrigo	Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra
Arnold Schoenberg	Piano works Transfigured Night Various concertos
Dmitri Shostakovich	Concertos for Violin, Cello or Piano String Quartets Symphonies Piano works
Jean Sibelius	Violin Concerto Finlandia Symphonies
Karlheinz Stockhausen	Kontakte [electronic music] Piano works Stimmung (for 6 vocalists)
Richard Strauss	Alpine Symphony Op. 64 Horn Concerto Don Juan Op. 20 (Symphonic Poem) Four Last Songs for Soprano and Orchestra Till Eulenspiegel Op. 28 (Symphonic Poem) Salome (opera)
Igor Stravinsky	Firebird (ballet suite) Pétrouchka (ballet) Rite of Spring Symphony of Psalms The Soldier’s Tale
Ralph Vaughan Williams	Fantasia on a Theme by Tallis Fantasia on Greensleeves The Lark Ascending for Violin and Orchestra Symphonies