Sight-reading practice
30-second preview, then play. UNEB Practical Music ear-training cadence.
Western — Classical & Romantic
Public-domain works that anchor the standard analytical vocabulary: tonic / dominant, perfect cadence, sonata exposition, Alberti bass, period structure.
- BaroqueC · 4/4
Two-Part Invention No. 1 in C major
J. S. Bach(BWV 772)
Invention — two-voice imitative counterpoint, motif inverted and transposed through closely related keys.
AO3 - ClassicalC · 4/4
Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, 1st movement
W. A. Mozart(K. 545)
Sonata-allegro — Exposition (P1: C major; T; S: G major; K). Often called "Sonata facile" — textbook example of Classical phrase structure.
AO3 - RomanticEm · 2/2
Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4
F. Chopin(Op. 28 No. 4)
Through-composed — slow descent in the LH harmony under a sustained RH melodic line; chromatic voice-leading.
AO3 - ClassicalC · 2/4
Symphony No. 94 in G major, 2nd movement ("Surprise")
J. Haydn(Hob. I:94)
Andante theme + 4 variations. The famous fortissimo chord lands at bar 16 — the 'surprise' that wakes the audience.
AO3 - BaroqueCm · 4/4
Two-Part Invention No. 2 in C minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 773)
Invention — two-voice imitative counterpoint, the subject inverted at the dominant in bar 3.
AO3 - ClassicalG · 4/4
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525 — 1st movement opening
W. A. Mozart(K. 525)
Sonata-allegro — exposition opens with a unison fanfare arpeggiating tonic & dominant; second theme arrives in the dominant key (D major).
AO3 - ClassicalG · 4/4
String Quartet Op. 76 No. 3, 'Emperor' — Poco adagio (theme)
J. Haydn(Op. 76 No. 3, Hob. III:77)
Theme + 4 variations on Haydn's 'Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser' (later the German national anthem). 16-bar period with PAC at bar 16.
AO3 - Classical/RomanticD · 4/4
Symphony No. 9 — 'Ode to Joy' theme
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 125)
Theme + variations. The choral finale presents this melody in unison strings before the chorus enters with Schiller's text.
AO3 - RomanticD · 2/4
Piano Quintet 'Trout' — 4th mov. theme
F. Schubert(D. 667)
Theme + 5 variations on Schubert's own song 'Die Forelle'. Each variation gives the melody to a different player.
AO3 - RomanticE · 6/8
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 — 'Morning Mood'
E. Grieg(Op. 46 No. 1)
Pastoral — flutes and oboes pass the melody back and forth over a sustained string drone. ABA' structure within the first 16 bars.
AO3 - RomanticDb · 4/4
Symphony No. 9 'New World' — Largo theme
A. Dvořák(Op. 95)
Slow movement — cor anglais (English horn) solo over hushed strings. Pentatonic melody (often heard as a spiritual).
AO3 - Classical / Early-RomanticCm · 2/4
Symphony No. 5 in C minor — opening motif
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 67)
Sonata-allegro. Iconic four-note 'fate' motif (short-short-short-LONG) saturates the entire movement. Two statements at the outset establish C minor; the same rhythmic cell drives the development.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueD · 4/4
Canon in D
J. Pachelbel
Canon — three violins enter in turn over an 8-note ground bass. The bass progression (I–V–vi–iii–IV–I–IV–V) repeats 28 times, supporting increasingly elaborate violin variations.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEm · 2/4
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 71a (Nutcracker Suite))
Character piece from the Nutcracker ballet suite. Celesta solo over pizzicato strings. Tchaikovsky chose the celesta — newly invented — for its 'crystalline' timbre.
AO3↓ full score - Classical / Early-RomanticD · 4/4
Symphony No. 9 — 'Ode to Joy' theme
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 125)
Theme from the choral fourth movement of Beethoven's last symphony. The melody is first stated by cellos and basses in unison, then taken up by the full orchestra and chorus on Schiller's text 'An die Freude'.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalD · C|
The Marriage of Figaro — Overture
W. A. Mozart(K. 492)
Overture — 'Presto' in D major. Sonata-form-without-development, just exposition + recapitulation. The opening, sotto voce strings, sets up a long crescendo; the whole orchestra crashes in for the second theme.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticC · C
Wedding March (Midsummer Night's Dream)
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 61, No. 9)
Incidental-music march from Mendelssohn's score for Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Used to accompany Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding. ABA form with a brilliant fanfare A and a contrasting lyrical B.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalGm · C|
Symphony No. 40 in G minor — 1st movement
W. A. Mozart(K. 550)
Molto allegro — sonata form. Opens with the most-recognised three-note 'sigh' motif in Mozart, on solo violins over agitated viola accompaniment. The motif saturates the movement.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticE · 6/8
Morning Mood (Peer Gynt Suite No. 1)
E. Grieg(Op. 46 No. 1)
Tone-painting prelude from Grieg's incidental music for Ibsen's 'Peer Gynt'. Pastoral 6/8, the flute opens with a folk-like pentatonic melody, oboe answers, the strings build the dawn.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalC · 2/4
Symphony No. 94 'Surprise' — 2nd movement
J. Haydn(Hob. I:94)
Andante — theme and variations. The 'surprise' is a sudden fortissimo chord at the end of the eighth bar, after eight bars of pianissimo. Haydn allegedly inserted it to keep aristocrats from dozing off.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEm · 6/8
Vltava (The Moldau)
B. Smetana(JB 1:112/2 (Má vlast No. 2))
Symphonic poem — second of six in 'Má vlast' (My Homeland). Programmatic depiction of the Vltava river's flow from source through forests, peasant wedding, moonlight, rapids, to Prague. Iconic E-minor folk-style theme returns three times.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticDm · 2/4
Habanera (Carmen)
G. Bizet(Carmen, Act I)
Aria from Bizet's opera Carmen — 'L'amour est un oiseau rebelle'. Habanera = Cuban-derived Spanish dance form, characterised by a syncopated dotted-rhythm bass. Carmen's first appearance in the opera; she sings her entire seductive philosophy in three minutes.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBb · 5/4
Promenade (Pictures at an Exhibition)
M. Mussorgsky
Promenade — recurring interlude in Mussorgsky's piano cycle 'Pictures at an Exhibition'. Depicts the composer walking between paintings at an exhibition by his friend Hartmann. Famous in Ravel's 1922 orchestral arrangement.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · 3/4
Symphony No. 8 'Unfinished' — 1st movement
F. Schubert(D. 759)
Allegro moderato — sonata form. Cellos and basses open with a hushed B-minor theme, low and unison. Two further themes appear in turn (oboe & clarinet duet, then strings). Schubert wrote two complete movements then stopped — the work has been performed as a torso ever since.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticB · 4/4
Bridal Chorus (Lohengrin)
R. Wagner(WWV 75)
Chorus from Act III of Wagner's opera Lohengrin — 'Treulich geführt'. Sung by the female chorus as Elsa is led to the bridal chamber. The most-performed processional in Western weddings (universally known as 'Here Comes the Bride').
AO1↓ full score - RomanticEb · C
1812 Overture — final climax
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 49)
Festival overture — composed to commemorate Russia's 1812 defeat of Napoleon. Quotes 'La Marseillaise' (representing Napoleon's army) and the Russian Orthodox 'God Preserve Thy People' chant (representing victorious Russia). Famously calls for cannon and church bells in the score.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticF#m · 2/4
Hungarian Dance No. 5
J. Brahms(WoO 1 No. 5)
Originally for piano four-hands; better-known in the orchestral version. Brahms based the melodies on Hungarian folk-style tunes (some authentic, some invented). Vivace — agitato — vivace ABA structure with tempo changes.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticAm · C
Piano Concerto in A minor — opening
E. Grieg(Op. 16)
Allegro molto moderato — sonata form. Famous opening: timpani roll into a stormy descending piano cascade in A minor. Grieg's only piano concerto and a Romantic-era staple.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticGm · 3/4
Slavonic Dance Op. 46 No. 8
A. Dvořák(Op. 46 No. 8)
Furiant — fiery Bohemian dance. The eighth and most-performed of Dvořák's first Slavonic Dance set (Op. 46). Originally for piano four-hands; better-known in the orchestral version.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalC · C
Symphony No. 41 'Jupiter' — finale
W. A. Mozart(K. 551)
Final movement of Mozart's last symphony. Five-subject fugal finale — culminates with all five contrapuntally combined in the coda.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalGm · C
Symphony No. 25 in G minor
W. A. Mozart(K. 183)
Allegro con brio — Mozart's first minor-key symphony, age 17. Sturm und Drang style. Famous from the opening of Amadeus (1984).
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalEb · C
Symphony No. 39 in E♭
W. A. Mozart(K. 543)
Slow Adagio introduction + Allegro. First of the final 'three great symphonies' summer 1788.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalDm · C
Don Giovanni — Overture
W. A. Mozart(K. 527)
Andante (D minor) introduction + Molto allegro (D major). The slow intro returns at the opera's denouement.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalEb · C
The Magic Flute — Overture
W. A. Mozart(K. 620)
Adagio (with three E♭ chords) + Allegro fugato.
AO3↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticEb · 3/4
Symphony No. 3 'Eroica'
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 55)
Allegro con brio — sonata form. Originally dedicated to Napoleon (later scratched out). The piece that arguably ends the Classical and starts the Romantic era.
AO3↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticF · 2/4
Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral'
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 68)
Five-movement programmatic symphony. Beethoven titled each movement (e.g. 'Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the country').
AO3↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticAm · 2/4
Symphony No. 7 — Allegretto
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 92)
Allegretto in A minor — most-played Beethoven slow movement. Theme + variations on a dactylic rhythmic ostinato.
AO3↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticFm · 3/2
Egmont Overture
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 84)
Slow F-minor introduction + Allegro. Concert standard, freedom-of-thought subject (Goethe's play about Count Egmont).
AO3↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticCm · C
Coriolan Overture
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 62)
Concert overture inspired by Heinrich von Collin's tragedy. Three opening C unisons + agitated theme.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticC · C
Symphony No. 9 'Great' in C
F. Schubert(D. 944)
Andante introduction + Allegro ma non troppo. Schubert's last completed symphony, 'of heavenly length' (Schumann).
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBb · C
Symphony No. 5 in B♭
F. Schubert(D. 485)
Allegro — sonata form. Schubert age 19, scored for chamber-sized orchestra. Mozart-ish lightness.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticC · C
Symphony No. 1 — finale theme
J. Brahms(Op. 68)
C minor → C major. The finale's main theme echoes the Ode to Joy ('any donkey can see that' — Brahms).
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEm · C
Symphony No. 4 in E minor
J. Brahms(Op. 98)
Allegro non troppo — sonata form. Brahms's last symphony.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticF · 6/4
Symphony No. 3 in F
J. Brahms(Op. 90)
F major sonata form. The 3rd-movement Poco allegretto is famously gentle (used in many films).
AO3↓ full score - RomanticD · 3/4
Symphony No. 2 in D
J. Brahms(Op. 73)
Allegro non troppo — sonata form. Pastoral D major, written in summer at Lake Wörth.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBb · 2/4
Variations on a Theme by Haydn
J. Brahms(Op. 56a)
Theme + 8 variations + finale (passacaglia). Theme = St. Anthony Chorale (now thought not by Haydn).
AO3↓ full score - RomanticA · 6/8
Symphony No. 4 'Italian'
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 90)
Allegro vivace — sonata form. Mendelssohn's musical postcard from his 1830-31 Italian tour.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticAm · 3/4
Symphony No. 3 'Scottish'
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 56)
Andante con moto + Allegro un poco agitato. Sketched after Mendelssohn's 1829 Scottish tour.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · C
Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave)
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 26)
Concert overture inspired by Mendelssohn's 1829 visit to Fingal's Cave on Staffa, Scotland. Sea-storm imagery throughout.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEb · 3/4
Symphony No. 3 'Rhenish'
R. Schumann(Op. 97)
Five-movement symphony. 4th movement evokes Cologne Cathedral.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · C
Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique'
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 74)
Adagio — sonata form. Tchaikovsky's last symphony, completed days before his death.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · C
Romeo and Juliet — Fantasy Overture
P. I. Tchaikovsky(TH 42)
Concert overture / fantasy. Programme: Friar Laurence intro + Capulet/Montague feud + love theme + tragic close.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · C
Swan Lake — Theme
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 20)
Famous oboe theme depicting the swan-princess Odette. B minor.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticD · 3/4
Waltz of the Flowers (Nutcracker)
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 71)
Closing waltz of Act 2. Harp cadenza opens; horn section sings the principal theme.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEm · C
Symphony No. 9 'New World' — finale
A. Dvořák(Op. 95)
Allegro con fuoco. Most famous E-minor symphonic finale.
AO3↓ full score - ImpressionistE · 9/8
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
C. Debussy(L. 86)
Symphonic poem. Setting of Mallarmé's poem. Boulez called it 'the awakening of modern music'.
AO3↓ full score - Late RomanticD · C
Symphony No. 1 'Titan' — opening
G. Mahler
Slow introduction Wie ein Naturlaut + Allegro commodo. Strings hold a 7-octave A pedal under wind cuckoo calls.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · 9/8
Ride of the Valkyries
R. Wagner(WWV 86B)
Prelude to Act 3 of Die Walküre. Among the most-recognised orchestral passages.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueBb · 3/8
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Solomon)
G. F. Handel(HWV 67)
Sinfonia opening Act 3 of the oratorio Solomon. Two oboes + strings.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticAm · 3/4
Anitra's Dance (Peer Gynt Suite)
E. Grieg(Op. 46 No. 3)
Allegretto — character piece from Peer Gynt incidental music. Scoring: triangle + muted strings.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · C|
In the Hall of the Mountain King
E. Grieg(Op. 46 No. 4)
Closing piece of Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. Steady accelerando + crescendo on a single ostinato theme.
AO3↓ full score - Late Romantic / RussianAm · 2/4
Flight of the Bumblebee
N. Rimsky-Korsakov
Orchestral interlude from the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan. Frantic chromatic semiquaver figuration.
AO3↓ full score - Late Romantic / RussianE · C
Scheherazade — opening
N. Rimsky-Korsakov(Op. 35)
Symphonic suite based on 1001 Nights. The Sultan's theme (heavy unison) + Scheherazade's solo violin theme.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalD · 2/4
Symphony No. 101 'Clock'
J. Haydn(Hob. I:101)
Andante 2nd movement — ticking accompaniment in pizzicato.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalD · C
Symphony No. 104 'London'
J. Haydn(Hob. I:104)
Adagio + Allegro. Haydn's last symphony, last of the London set.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchF#m · C
Pavane in F♯ minor
G. Fauré(Op. 50)
Pavane — slow processional in F♯ minor. Originally for piano; orchestral version most-played.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEb · C
1812 Overture — opening
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 49)
Largo opening — Russian Orthodox chant 'God Preserve Thy People' on solo violas + cellos.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticD · 3/4
Sleeping Beauty Waltz
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 66)
Act 1 waltz. The most-played ballet waltz worldwide.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticG · 4/4
March (Nutcracker)
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 71)
Children's-party march from Act 1. Toy-soldier rhythms.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBbm · C
Marche Slave
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 31)
Concert orchestral piece based on Serbian folk-tunes + 'God Preserve the Tsar'.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticFm · 3/4
Symphony No. 4 in F minor
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 36)
Andante sostenuto + Moderato con anima. 'Fate motif' brass fanfare opens the symphony.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEm · C
Symphony No. 5 in E minor
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 64)
Andante introduction + Allegro con anima. 'Fate motif' on clarinets opens.
AO3↓ full score - Early-modern (Russian)B · 7/4
Firebird — finale
I. Stravinsky
Closing apotheosis of The Firebird ballet. Horn solo + full orchestra. The 1910 score is in PD per 95-year US rule.
AO3↓ full score - Late Romantic / EnglishD · 2/4
Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1
E. Elgar(Op. 39 No. 1)
Concert march. 'Trio' theme set as 'Land of Hope and Glory'. Ubiquitous American graduation march.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / EnglishEb · 3/4
Nimrod (Enigma Variations)
E. Elgar(Op. 36)
Variation IX of the Enigma Variations. Ceremonial slow processional.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticDm · C
Night on Bald Mountain — opening
M. Mussorgsky
Tone poem. Orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov 1886 (the standard concert version). St. John's Eve witches' sabbath.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / RussianAm · C
Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor)
A. Borodin
Suite of dances from Prince Igor (Act 2). Famous theme used for 'Stranger in Paradise'.
AO3↓ full score - Late RomanticC#m · 4/4
Symphony No. 7 — Adagio
A. Bruckner
Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam. Wagner tubas (newly invented) feature prominently. Bruckner's slow movement on Wagner's death.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalA · C
Symphony No. 29 in A
W. A. Mozart(K. 201)
Allegro moderato — sonata form. Mozart age 18. Octave-leap opening signature.
AO3↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticE · C
Fidelio Overture
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 72)
Concert overture to Beethoven's only opera. Slow E major introduction + Allegro.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · C
Fingal's Cave (alternate)
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 26)
Fingal's Cave Overture / Hebrides Overture (variant title). Tone poem about Scotland's Hebrides.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticD · 3/4
The Blue Danube
J. Strauss II(Op. 314)
Concert waltz suite — five waltzes + intro + coda. Austria's unofficial second national anthem.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticD · 2/4
Radetzky March
J. Strauss I(Op. 228)
Concert march. Closes the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert every year — audience claps along.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticD · 2/4
Can-Can (Orpheus in the Underworld)
J. Offenbach
Galop infernal — Act 4 finale of the operetta. The most-recognised dance tune from any operetta.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchCm · C
Symphony No. 3 'Organ'
C. Saint-Saëns(Op. 78)
Two-part symphony with prominent organ. Saint-Saëns's last symphony, dedicated to Liszt.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchGm · 3/4
Danse Macabre
C. Saint-Saëns(Op. 40)
Tone poem on a Henri Cazalis poem. Death plays violin at midnight on Halloween.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticDm · 2/4
L'Arlésienne Suite — Farandole
G. Bizet
Closing farandole of L'Arlésienne incidental music suite. Combines two Provençal folk tunes.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEb · C
1812 Overture — finale
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 49)
Closing apotheosis of the 1812 Overture. Cannons + church bells.
AO3↓ full score - Trad. / 18th centuryG · 3/4
God Save the King (Queen)
Anonymous (English Trad.)
British national anthem. Strophic. Tune used by many other countries / institutions over time.
AO1↓ full score - Late 18th-century FrenchF · 4/4
La Marseillaise
C. J. Rouget de Lisle
French national anthem. Strophic. Composed during the French Revolution.
AO1↓ full score - Late RomanticEb · C
Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection' — finale
G. Mahler
Five-movement choral symphony. Famous Resurrection chorus closes.
AO3↓ full score - Late RomanticE · 3/4
Symphony No. 9 — Adagio
A. Bruckner
Adagio — third movement. Bruckner's last completed movement.
AO3↓ full score - Late RomanticEb · C
Symphony No. 4 'Romantic'
A. Bruckner
Four-movement symphony. Famous 'Romantic' nickname. Horn-call opening.
AO3↓ full score - Late RomanticC · C
Also sprach Zarathustra — opening
R. Strauss(Op. 30)
Tone poem opening. C—G—C trumpet fanfare. Famous from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
AO3↓ full score - Late RomanticC · 4/4
Tod und Verklärung
R. Strauss(Op. 24)
Tone poem — 'Death and Transfiguration'. Programmatic narrative of an artist's death and apotheosis.
AO3↓ full score - Late Romantic / ModernC · 3/4
Boléro
M. Ravel(M. 81)
Single-theme orchestral piece. Theme repeated 18 times with progressive orchestration build-up. Snare drum ostinato throughout.
AO3↓ full score - Early-modern SpanishEm · C
Ritual Fire Dance (El amor brujo)
M. de Falla
Closing dance from El amor brujo ballet. Trill-based rhythmic ostinato.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticA · 2/4
Les Toréadors (Carmen Suite)
G. Bizet
Opening prelude of Carmen, used as the suite's opening movement.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEb · C
The Great Gate of Kiev (Pictures)
M. Mussorgsky
Closing piece of Pictures at an Exhibition. Massive E♭ major apotheosis.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticD · 6/8
Night on Bald Mountain — finale
M. Mussorgsky
Closing dawn-bell section. The witches' sabbath ends with church bell calling daybreak.
AO3↓ full score - Early Russian RomanticD · C
Russlan & Ludmilla — Overture
M. Glinka
Sparkling D major overture. Russian operatic opening standard.
AO3↓ full score - Late Romantic / RussianA · C
Capriccio Espagnol — opening
N. Rimsky-Korsakov(Op. 34)
Five-section orchestral suite on Spanish themes.
AO3↓ full score - Early ModernC · 2/4
Peter and the Wolf
S. Prokofiev(Op. 67)
Symphonic fairy tale for narrator + orchestra. Each character has its own instrument and motif.
AO3↓ full score - Early ModernD · C
Classical Symphony
S. Prokofiev(Op. 25)
Four-movement symphony in Haydnesque style. Allegro + Larghetto + Gavotte + Finale.
AO3↓ full score - Early ModernCm · free
Rite of Spring — Sacrificial Dance
I. Stravinsky
Closing dance of The Rite of Spring. Famously irregular metres and dissonance. The 1913 premiere caused a riot.
AO3↓ full score - Early ModernC · C
Petrushka — Russian Dance
I. Stravinsky
Closing dance of Tableau 1 of Petrushka ballet. Strong C major folk feel.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchC · C
Organ Symphony — finale
C. Saint-Saëns(Op. 78)
Closing Maestoso of Symphony 3 'Organ'. Famous fortissimo C major organ chord opens the finale.
AO3↓ full score - ImpressionistG · 6/8
Petite Suite — En bateau (orchestral)
C. Debussy(L. 65)
Orchestrated 1907 by Henri Büsser from the original piano four-hands suite.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticC · 2/4
Jeux d'enfants — Galop
G. Bizet(Op. 22)
Closing piece of Bizet's piano four-hands children's suite (also orchestrated). Galop dance.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticE · C
Barber of Seville — Overture
G. Rossini
Overture to opera buffa. Sparkling allegro with characteristic Rossini crescendos.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticE · C
William Tell — Overture
G. Rossini
Four-section overture: Dawn + Storm + Pastoral + Cavalry. Famous galloping finale.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticA · 2/4
Norwegian Dance No. 2 in A
E. Grieg(Op. 35 No. 2)
From Grieg's Four Norwegian Dances for piano four-hands. Standard concert piece.
AO3↓ full score
Piano — Practical study pieces
Graded keyboard works for the practical performance topics. Build technique alongside listening / analysis.
- Early-RomanticAm · 3/8
Bagatelle in A minor ("Für Elise")
L. v. Beethoven(WoO 59)
Rondo: A B A C A. The recognisable A theme uses the minor-mode E – D♯ – E semitone oscillation as its motivic kernel.
AO2 - BaroqueG · 3/4
Minuet in G major
Christian Petzold (long attributed to J. S. Bach)(BWV Anh. 114)
Binary form — A‖:8‖ B‖:8‖. Both halves end with PAC (A → V; B → I).
AO2 - RomanticG · 2/4
Soldatenmarsch (Soldiers' March) from Album for the Young
R. Schumann(Op. 68 No. 2)
Ternary — A B A. Each section 8 bars. Marcato dotted-rhythm motif throughout the A section.
AO2 - ClassicalC · 4/4
Sonatina in C major, 1st movement
M. Clementi(Op. 36 No. 1)
Miniature sonata — Exposition (P → V), short Development, Recapitulation. Standard piano-grade-3 study work.
AO2 - RomanticA · 3/4
Prelude in A major, Op. 28 No. 7
F. Chopin(Op. 28 No. 7)
Mazurka-style — 16-bar miniature. AABA' structure with the climactic moment at bar 12 (chromatic alteration).
AO2 - RomanticC · 4/4
Melody, from Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 1
R. Schumann(Op. 68 No. 1)
16 bars, ternary AABA. Two-voice texture (RH soprano + LH bass) with simple block harmonies.
AO2 - BaroqueEm · 2/2
Bourrée in E minor, from Lute Suite
J. S. Bach(BWV 996)
Binary form — A‖:8‖ B‖:8‖. The most famous lute piece in the standard guitar repertoire.
AO2 - ClassicalAm · 2/4
Rondo Alla Turca, K. 331 — opening
W. A. Mozart(K. 331)
Final movement of Sonata K. 331. Rondo: A B A C A — the famous 'Turkish March' is the A theme.
AO2 - ImpressionistDb · 9/8
Clair de lune (incipit)
C. Debussy(L. 75 No. 3)
Ternary ABA' from Suite bergamasque. Atmospheric impressionist piano.
AO3 - RomanticEb · 3/4
Wiegenlied (Brahms's Lullaby), Op. 49 No. 4
J. Brahms(Op. 49 No. 4)
Strophic art-song — two verses with the same melody. Originally for voice + piano, often adapted for solo piano.
AO2 - RomanticEb · 12/8
Nocturne in E♭ major
F. Chopin(Op. 9 No. 2)
Nocturne — slow lyrical melody (RH) over a rippling broken-chord LH accompaniment in compound time. ABA structure with ornamented return.
AO2↓ full score - Classical / Early-RomanticC#m · C|
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ minor — 1st movement
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 27 No. 2 ('Moonlight'))
Adagio sostenuto — ternary form with a broken-chord triplet accompaniment running throughout. Beethoven's marking 'sempre pp e senza sordini' (always quiet, no dampers) calls for held pedal.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticAm · 2/4
Arabesque, Op. 100 No. 2
F. Burgmüller(Op. 100 No. 2)
Character study — a one-page Allegro scherzando in A minor. From Burgmüller's '25 Études faciles', Grade 2-ish, the staple of the early-grade exam list.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticA · 3/4
Prelude in A major, Op. 28 No. 7
F. Chopin(Op. 28 No. 7)
Prelude — 16 bars total, the shortest of Chopin's Op. 28 set. Mazurka-flavoured rhythm, A major throughout with a brief tonicisation of the supertonic. A first-recital staple.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticF · 4/4
Träumerei (Kinderszenen)
R. Schumann(Op. 15 No. 7)
Character piece — 'Dreaming', No. 7 of the 13-piece 'Scenes from Childhood'. Through-composed but feels like ABA. The most-played short Romantic piano piece in the world.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticAb · 6/4
Liebestraum No. 3 in A♭ major
F. Liszt(S. 541 No. 3)
Notturno — Liszt's piano transcription of his own song 'O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst'. ABA form, the central B section moves through remote keys (E major, then C major) before returning. Famous central cadenza.
AO2↓ full score - Classical / Early-RomanticAb · 2/4
Pathétique Sonata — 2nd movement (Adagio cantabile)
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 13)
Adagio cantabile — slow movement of the Pathétique sonata. ABACA rondo. The opening A theme, sung in the tenor register of the keyboard, has become Beethoven's most-recognised slow melody.
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueF · 3/4
Two-Part Invention No. 8 in F major
J. S. Bach(BWV 779)
Invention — two-voice imitative counterpoint. Cheerful F-major Allegro. Subject (one bar long, ascending arpeggio) is answered an octave below at the half-bar.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticAb · 3/4
Impromptu in A♭ major, Op. 90 No. 4
F. Schubert(D. 899 No. 4)
Impromptu — fourth of the four Op. 90 set. Cascading right-hand arpeggios in A♭ major open the piece (often misnotated as A♭ minor — the descending arpeggio creates that ambiguity). ABA, with a song-like central section.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticA · 2/4
Spring Song (Songs Without Words)
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 62 No. 6)
Song without words — Allegretto grazioso, A major. From Mendelssohn's Op. 62 set. RH arpeggios provide the accompaniment while the melody emerges in the inner voice (LH thumb).
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueDm · C
Prelude in D minor (WTC Book I)
J. S. Bach(BWV 851)
Prelude — sixth pair of WTC Book I. Continuous semiquaver figuration in the RH against a leaping LH bass. Toccata-style virtuosic perpetual motion.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticC · 2/8
Prelude in C major, Op. 28 No. 1
F. Chopin(Op. 28 No. 1)
Agitato — 8 bars long. Opens the Op. 28 set with rolling broken-chord arpeggios in C major. Explicitly modelled on Bach's WTC Prelude in C (BWV 846).
AO2↓ full score - RomanticEm · 2/2
Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4
F. Chopin(Op. 28 No. 4)
Largo — 25 bars. RH single line of long, sighing notes; LH descending chromatic chord progression provides the entire interest. Played at Chopin's own funeral.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticDb · C
Prelude in D♭ major 'Raindrop', Op. 28 No. 15
F. Chopin(Op. 28 No. 15)
Sostenuto — ABA. Repeated A♭ in the inner voice (the 'raindrop') runs through the entire piece, switching from RH (A section) to LH (B section, in C♯ minor / enharmonic D♭).
AO2↓ full score - RomanticCm · C
Étude in C minor 'Revolutionary', Op. 10 No. 12
F. Chopin(Op. 10 No. 12)
Allegro con fuoco — étude in left-hand passagework. Written upon hearing news of the failed November Uprising in Warsaw. RH outlines fortissimo octave melody over relentless LH semiquaver runs.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticE · 2/4
Étude in E major 'Tristesse', Op. 10 No. 3
F. Chopin(Op. 10 No. 3)
Lento ma non troppo — ABA. The A theme is among the most lyrical melodies Chopin wrote (he himself reportedly said 'I have never written a more beautiful melody'). The central B section explodes into virtuoso double-thirds.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticDb · 3/4
Waltz in D♭ 'Minute', Op. 64 No. 1
F. Chopin(Op. 64 No. 1)
Molto vivace — ABA. The 'minute' nickname refers not to time (it takes ~2 minutes) but to the Italian 'minuto' meaning 'small'. Whirling RH figuration over a dancing LH waltz pattern.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticC#m · 3/4
Waltz in C♯ minor, Op. 64 No. 2
F. Chopin(Op. 64 No. 2)
Tempo giusto — ABACA rondo. Three contrasted themes: melancholy A in C♯ minor, faster B with D♭ major contrast, lyrical central C in D♭ major. One of Chopin's three most-played waltzes.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticBbm · C
Funeral March (Sonata No. 2), Op. 35 mvt 3
F. Chopin(Op. 35 mvt 3)
Marche funèbre — ABA. The most-played funeral piece in Western culture. Chopin wrote it standalone in 1837 and built the Sonata Op. 35 around it. The B section ('trio') is a tender D♭ major lullaby.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticC#m · C
Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66
F. Chopin(Op. 66 (posth.))
Allegro agitato — ABA. Chopin wrote it then suppressed it, asking for it to be destroyed; published posthumously. Now one of his most-played works. Cross-rhythms in the outer sections (RH 4 against LH 6) make this a famous coordination challenge.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticAb · 3/4
Polonaise in A♭ 'Heroic', Op. 53
F. Chopin(Op. 53)
Maestoso — large-scale polonaise in A♭ major. Polonaise = stately Polish dance in 3/4 with characteristic dotted rhythm. The central E major section features the famous descending octave ostinato in the LH ('the cavalry').
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueG · C
French Suite No. 5 in G — Allemande
J. S. Bach(BWV 816)
Six-movement keyboard suite. Allemande opens with characteristic upbeat in 16ths.
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueAm · 3/8
English Suite No. 2 in A minor — Prelude
J. S. Bach(BWV 807)
Italian-style concerto prelude opening the suite. Ritornello + solo episodes.
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueAm · C
Two-Part Invention No. 13 in A minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 784)
Two-part invention with descending arpeggio subject in A minor.
AO2↓ full score - ClassicalF · C
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C — 2nd mvt
W. A. Mozart(K. 467)
Andante in F major — soloist's slow movement made famous by the 1967 Swedish film 'Elvira Madigan'.
AO2↓ full score - ClassicalF#m · 6/8
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A — 2nd mvt
W. A. Mozart(K. 488)
Adagio in F♯ minor — Mozart's only F♯ minor work. Long-breathed cantabile.
AO2↓ full score - ClassicalAm · 2/4
Piano Sonata No. 11 — Rondo alla Turca
W. A. Mozart(K. 331)
Closing 'Turkish March' — most-played Mozart piano movement.
AO2↓ full score - ClassicalAm · C
Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor
W. A. Mozart(K. 310)
Sonata-allegro. Mozart's first minor-key piano sonata, written in Paris during his mother's death.
AO2↓ full score - ClassicalDm · C
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor
W. A. Mozart(K. 466)
Mozart's first minor-key piano concerto. Beethoven wrote his own cadenzas for it.
AO3↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticC · C
Piano Sonata No. 21 'Waldstein'
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 53)
Allegro con brio — sonata form. Heroic-period piano sonata. Famous quiet pulsing-chord opening.
AO2↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticFm · C
Piano Sonata No. 23 'Appassionata'
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 57)
Allegro assai — sonata form. F minor heroic sonata.
AO2↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticEb · C
Piano Concerto No. 5 'Emperor'
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 73)
Allegro — sonata form. Soloist enters in bar 1 with cadenza-like flourishes (no orchestral exposition first).
AO3↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticCm · C
Pathétique Sonata — 1st mvt
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 13)
Grave introduction + Allegro di molto e con brio. The Grave returns twice during the movement.
AO2↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticDm · 3/8
Piano Sonata 'Tempest' — 3rd mvt
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 31 No. 2)
Allegretto — perpetual-motion finale, sonata form.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticBbm · 6/4
Nocturne in B♭ minor, Op. 9 No. 1
F. Chopin(Op. 9 No. 1)
First of Chopin's published nocturnes. ABA + coda.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticCm · C
Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1
F. Chopin(Op. 48 No. 1)
Funeral-march nocturne. ABA. The B section is a chorale-like C major; the return doubles the LH octaves.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticGm · C
Ballade No. 1 in G minor
F. Chopin(Op. 23)
Sonata-form-with-narrative. Chopin's first ballade — invented the genre. Free formal scheme suggesting a story.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticFm · 6/8
Ballade No. 4 in F minor
F. Chopin(Op. 52)
Chopin's last ballade and the most ambitious. Variations + sonata form hybrid.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBbm · 3/4
Scherzo No. 2 in B♭ minor
F. Chopin(Op. 31)
ABA. Famous opening 'sotto voce' triplet question + fortissimo answer.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticEm · C
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor
F. Chopin(Op. 11)
Allegro maestoso. Standard piano concerto repertoire.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticAm · 3/4
Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4
F. Chopin(Op. 17 No. 4)
Mazurka — Polish triple-meter dance with characteristic accent on beat 2 or 3.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticEb · 3/4
Grande Valse Brillante in E♭
F. Chopin(Op. 18)
Concert waltz. Most-published Chopin waltz — Schumann said it was 'meant to be danced'.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticDb · 6/8
Berceuse in D♭
F. Chopin(Op. 57)
Variations on a 4-bar pattern over a tonic-dominant ostinato. Lullaby in D♭ major.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticBb · C
Piano Sonata in B♭
F. Schubert(D. 960)
Schubert's last piano sonata, completed weeks before his death. Slow Molto moderato opening famous for its trill on the B♭1 (lowest piano note).
AO2↓ full score - RomanticGb · C
Impromptu Op. 90 No. 3 in G♭
F. Schubert(D. 899 No. 3)
Andante — slow lyrical impromptu. Six-flat key.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticFm · 2/4
Moment Musical No. 3 in F minor
F. Schubert(D. 780 No. 3)
Allegro moderato — F minor character piece. Mazurka-like rhythm.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticDm · 6/4
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
J. Brahms(Op. 15)
Maestoso — sonata form. Brahms's first major orchestral work; took years to finish.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBb · C
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B♭
J. Brahms(Op. 83)
Allegro non troppo — four-movement concerto (rare). Horn opening duet with piano.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticA · 3/4
Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 2 in A
J. Brahms(Op. 118 No. 2)
Andante teneramente — late piano piece. ABA, central F♯ minor section.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticF#m · 6/8
Venetian Boat Song Op. 30 No. 6
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 30 No. 6)
Song without words. Barcarolle in F♯ minor with rocking 6/8 LH ostinato.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticAm · C
Piano Concerto in A minor
R. Schumann(Op. 54)
Allegro affettuoso. Originally a single-movement concerto-fantasy; expanded to three.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticG · 2/4
Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Kinderszenen)
R. Schumann(Op. 15 No. 1)
Opening of Kinderszenen. ABA. Among the most-played first-Schumann piano pieces for students.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticAm · 6/8
Wild Horseman (Album for the Young)
R. Schumann(Op. 68 No. 8)
Compound 6/8 character piece. Among Schumann's most-taught student pieces.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticBbm · 3/4
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B♭ minor
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 23)
Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso. Famous D♭ major opening (in 'wrong' key relative to home B♭ minor).
AO3↓ full score - ImpressionistDb · 9/8
Clair de lune (Suite bergamasque)
C. Debussy(L. 75)
Andante très expressif — third movement. The most-played Debussy piano piece. ABA.
AO2↓ full score - ImpressionistE · 4/4
Arabesque No. 1 in E
C. Debussy(L. 66 No. 1)
Andante con moto. Cross-rhythms (3 against 2) define the texture.
AO2↓ full score - ImpressionistGb · 3/4
La fille aux cheveux de lin (Préludes Bk 1)
C. Debussy(L. 117 No. 8)
Très calme et doucement expressif — lyrical prelude in G♭ major.
AO2↓ full score - ImpressionistF · 4/4
Rêverie
C. Debussy(L. 68)
Andantino — early Debussy piano piece. ABA. Long-breathed RH melody over arpeggiated LH.
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueDm · C
Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 1052)
Three-movement concerto. Most-played Bach keyboard concerto. Originally probably for violin.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalC · 2/4
Sonata in C — Rondo (K. 545)
W. A. Mozart(K. 545)
Closing Rondo of the Sonata facile. AABA form, dance-like.
AO2↓ full score - ClassicalDm · C
Fantasia in D minor
W. A. Mozart(K. 397)
Andante + Allegretto. Through-composed fantasy. Mozart's most-played standalone piano fantasy.
AO2↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticEb · C
Bagatelle Op. 33 No. 1
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 33 No. 1)
Bagatelle in E♭ — first of seven. Andante grazioso quasi allegretto.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticAb · C
Étude Op. 25 No. 1 'Aeolian Harp'
F. Chopin(Op. 25 No. 1)
Allegro sostenuto. RH arpeggio études with melodic line in the top voice.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticAm · C
Étude Op. 25 No. 11 'Winter Wind'
F. Chopin(Op. 25 No. 11)
Allegro con brio. Octaves + chromatic semiquaver passagework.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticBb · 3/4
Mazurka in B♭ Op. 7 No. 1
F. Chopin(Op. 7 No. 1)
Mazurka — Polish triple-meter dance with characteristic accent on beat 3.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticAm · 3/4
Mazurka in A minor Op. 67 No. 4
F. Chopin(Op. 67 No. 4)
Posthumously published mazurka. ABA. Wistful A minor.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticCm · C
Prelude Op. 28 No. 20 in C minor
F. Chopin(Op. 28 No. 20)
Largo — 13 bars. Funeral chord progression in solid harmonic blocks.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticG · 6/8
Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise
F. Chopin(Op. 22)
Andante Spianato (G major, 6/8) + Polonaise (E♭ major). Originally for piano + orchestra.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticC#m · C
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
F. Liszt(S. 244 No. 2)
Lassan (slow) + Friska (fast). Most-played Liszt piano piece. Inspired by Hungarian Romani folk style.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticG#m · 6/8
La Campanella (Grandes Études de Paganini No. 3)
F. Liszt(S. 141 No. 3)
Étude — bell-imitation in high register. Liszt's transcription of Paganini's Violin Concerto 2 finale.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticDb · C
Consolation No. 3 in D♭
F. Liszt(S. 172 No. 3)
Lento placido — most-played Consolation. ABA, with Chopin-like nocturne writing.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticA · 3/8
Mephisto Waltz No. 1
F. Liszt(S. 514)
Concert paraphrase from Lenau's Faust. ABA + coda. Diabolical character.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · C
Piano Sonata in B minor
F. Liszt(S. 178)
Single-movement sonata of ~30 minutes. Themes-and-transformations form. Considered the great Liszt piano work.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticAb · 6/8
Au bord d'une source (Années de pèlerinage)
F. Liszt(S. 160 No. 4)
'Beside a Spring' — first book of Années. Cascading water imagery throughout.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticC · C
Wanderer Fantasy
F. Schubert(D. 760)
Four-movement fantasy played without break. Cyclic — all movements derived from Schubert's lied 'Der Wanderer'.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticDb · 3/4
Carnaval — Promenade
R. Schumann(Op. 9)
From the 22-piece Carnaval suite. Schumann's pianistic costume-ball — each piece a character.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticC · C
Fantasie in C
R. Schumann(Op. 17)
Three-movement fantasy. Originally proposed as a Beethoven memorial. Quote from Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte at end.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticC#m · C
Symphonic Études
R. Schumann(Op. 13)
Theme + 12 études (variations) + finale. Theme by Baron von Fricken (Schumann's father-in-law).
AO3↓ full score - RomanticG · 2/4
Soldier's March (Album for the Young)
R. Schumann(Op. 68 No. 2)
Easy student march. Among Schumann's most-taught pieces.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticE · 2/4
Rondo Capriccioso
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 14)
Slow Andante + Allegro presto rondo. Brilliant scherzo-like piano writing.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticEb · C
Songs Without Words Op. 30 No. 1
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 30 No. 1)
Andante espressivo. Lyrical melody over arpeggiated LH.
AO2↓ full score - ClassicalD · C
Rondo in D
W. A. Mozart(K. 485)
Allegro — Rondo for solo piano. Among Mozart's most-played standalone Rondos.
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueCm · C
Toccata in C minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 911)
Free toccata for keyboard. Sectional. Improvisatory style.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalF · 3/4
Piano Sonata No. 12 in F
W. A. Mozart(K. 332)
Allegro — sonata form. F major piano sonata in three movements.
AO2↓ full score - ClassicalBb · C
Piano Sonata No. 13 in B♭
W. A. Mozart(K. 333)
Allegro — sonata form. B♭ major piano sonata in three movements.
AO2↓ full score - ClassicalCm · C
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor
W. A. Mozart(K. 457)
Molto allegro — sonata form. Mozart's most stormy piano sonata. Often paired with the C minor Fantasia K. 475.
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueCm · C
French Suite No. 2 in C minor — Allemande
J. S. Bach(BWV 813)
Six-movement keyboard suite. Allemande in C minor.
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueBb · C
Keyboard Partita No. 1 in B♭
J. S. Bach(BWV 825)
Six-movement keyboard partita. Praeludium + dance suite.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticDm · 4/4
October — Autumn Song (The Seasons)
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 37a No. 10)
Slow piano piece. From Tchaikovsky's calendar of monthly character pieces.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticGm · 3/4
Capriccioso (The Seasons June)
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 37a No. 6)
June Barcarolle. From the calendar cycle.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticEb · 2/4
Arietta (Lyric Pieces Op. 12)
E. Grieg(Op. 12 No. 1)
Short character piece — opening of Grieg's Lyric Pieces cycle. ABA. Norwegian folk-style melody.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticDm · 2/4
March of the Trolls (Lyric Pieces Op. 54)
E. Grieg(Op. 54 No. 3)
Character piece. Standard piano repertoire from the Lyric Pieces cycle.
AO2↓ full score - ImpressionistEb · C|
Golliwog's Cakewalk (Children's Corner)
C. Debussy(L. 113)
Closing piece of Debussy's Children's Corner suite. Cakewalk rhythm + parodic Wagner Tristan quote.
AO2↓ full score - ImpressionistC · C|
Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum (Children's Corner)
C. Debussy(L. 113)
Opening piece of Children's Corner. Parody of Clementi's Gradus ad Parnassum.
AO2↓ full score - Late 19th-century FrenchD · 3/4
Gymnopédie No. 1
E. Satie
Slow, lyrical piano piece. Sparse, almost minimal texture. ABA.
AO2↓ full score - Late 19th-century FrenchFm · free
Gnossienne No. 1
E. Satie
Free-rhythm piano piece (no time signature, no barlines). Modal melody with exotic flavour.
AO3↓ full score - Late RomanticC#m · C
Prelude in C♯ minor
S. Rachmaninov(Op. 3 No. 2)
Famous early Rachmaninov piece. ABA — heavy A theme + agitato B + return.
AO2↓ full score - Late RomanticCm · C
Piano Concerto No. 2 — opening
S. Rachmaninov(Op. 18)
Moderato — sonata form. Famous opening — eight tolling chords on solo piano before orchestra enters.
AO3↓ full score - Late RomanticDb · 3/4
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini — Variation 18
S. Rachmaninov(Op. 43)
Variation 18 of Rachmaninov's Paganini Rhapsody. Inverted Paganini theme; the most-played single Rachmaninov tune.
AO3↓ full score - Baroque (Late Italian / Iberian)Dm · 3/4
Sonata in D minor K. 1
D. Scarlatti(K. 1)
Single-movement keyboard sonata — first published in the 1738 Essercizi.
AO2↓ full score - Baroque (Late Italian)E · 3/4
Sonata in E K. 380
D. Scarlatti(K. 380)
Single-movement keyboard sonata. ABA. Stately Spanish-flavoured triple metre.
AO2↓ full score - ClassicalC · C
Sonatina in C — Op. 36 No. 1
M. Clementi(Op. 36 No. 1)
First of the six famous Sonatinas Op. 36. Three movements: Spiritoso, Andante, Vivace.
AO2↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticC · 2/4
Sonatina in C — Op. 20 No. 1
F. Kuhlau(Op. 20 No. 1)
Standard student sonatina. Three movements.
AO2↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticC · C
Étude Op. 740 No. 1
C. Czerny(Op. 740 No. 1)
Technical étude from Czerny's 'Art of Finger Dexterity'. Five-finger keyboard study.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticG · 2/4
By the Stream (25 Études Faciles)
F. Burgmüller(Op. 100 No. 16)
Character étude. Standard student piece from the 25 Études cycle.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticG · 6/8
Pastorale (25 Études Faciles)
F. Burgmüller(Op. 100 No. 3)
Character étude.
AO2↓ full score - ImpressionistC · 6/4
La cathédrale engloutie (Préludes Bk 1)
C. Debussy(L. 117 No. 10)
Profondément calme — slow prelude depicting a sunken cathedral rising from the sea.
AO3↓ full score - ImpressionistC#m · 3/4
Pour le piano — Sarabande
C. Debussy(L. 95)
Sarabande — slow stately middle movement of Pour le piano suite.
AO2↓ full score - ImpressionistG · 6/8
En bateau (Petite Suite)
C. Debussy(L. 65 No. 1)
Opening of Petite Suite for piano four-hands. Barcarolle gondolier rhythm.
AO2↓ full score - Late Romantic / ImpressionistG · 4/4
Pavane pour une infante défunte
M. Ravel(M. 19)
Pavane — slow processional. Originally for piano (1899), orchestrated 1910. Standard recital piece.
AO2↓ full score - ImpressionistE · C
Jeux d'eau
M. Ravel(M. 30)
'Fountains' — virtuosic piano showpiece. Cascading-water imagery throughout.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticGm · C
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor
C. Saint-Saëns(Op. 22)
Andante sostenuto opening + Allegro scherzando + Presto. Bach-style cadenza opens.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticCm · C
Impromptu Op. 90 No. 1 in C minor
F. Schubert(D. 899 No. 1)
Allegro molto moderato — first of the four Op. 90 set. ABA + coda. March-character.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticEb · 3/4
Impromptu Op. 90 No. 2 in E♭
F. Schubert(D. 899 No. 2)
Allegro — sparkling RH triplet figuration in E♭. ABA + coda.
AO2↓ full score - RomanticGb · 2/4
Humoresque No. 7 in G♭
A. Dvořák(Op. 101 No. 7)
Most-played Humoresque from Op. 101 set. Light dance character.
AO2↓ full score - Baroque (Late Italian)A · 3/4
Sonata in A K. 208
D. Scarlatti(K. 208)
Andante e cantabile — slow movement Scarlatti sonata. Exception in his fast-piece catalogue.
AO2↓ full score - Baroque (Late Italian)Fm · 3/8
Sonata in F minor K. 466
D. Scarlatti(K. 466)
Andante moderato — slow F minor sonata. Famous and frequently transcribed.
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueF · 2/4
Italian Concerto — Presto
J. S. Bach(BWV 971)
Closing Presto of the Italian Concerto. Brilliant 2/4 dance.
AO2↓ full score - BaroqueDm · C
Italian Concerto — Andante
J. S. Bach(BWV 971)
Slow movement of Italian Concerto. Long-breathed cantilena over walking bass.
AO3↓ full score - Early Modern AmericanF · 2/4
Promenade (Walking the Dog)
G. Gershwin
From the film Shall We Dance. Light Gershwin character piece.
AO2↓ full score - ImpressionistC · 3/4
Brouillards (Préludes Bk 2)
C. Debussy(L. 123 No. 1)
Modéré — opening prelude of Préludes Book 2. Bitonal C/D♭ writing.
AO3↓ full score
Ugandan — Traditional ensemble
PEDAGOGICAL REDUCTIONS, NOT TRANSCRIPTIONS. Each ABC sketch is the platform author's teaching outline derived from the structures described in scholarly sources (cited per entry). The live tradition is the source of truth; equidistant tunings, micro-timing, and the call-and-response improvisation cannot be captured on Western staff. Use these as a starting scaffold and replace with field-recorded versions when you have access to them.
- TraditionalC · 6/8
Baakisimba — engalabi + drums sketch
Ganda traditional (arr. for teaching)
Cyclic — 6/8 ostinato. The engalabi long drum keeps the time-line; the bakisimba (named drum cluster) plays the dance pattern. Polyrhythm against 3 against 2.
AO1 - TraditionalC · 4/4
Bwola dance — bul opening pattern
Acholi traditional (arr. for teaching)
Bwola is the royal dance of the Acholi. The bul (frame drum) carries the introduction; dancers respond with a circular processional. Square-feeling 4/4 with the second beat heavily accented.
AO1 - TraditionalC · free
Amadinda xylophone — okukoonera (the elder's part)
Ganda traditional (arr. Kyagambiddwa-style)
Three interlocking parts — okunaga (lead), okwawula (response), okukoonera (octave double of the resultant). Tuning is pentatonic and equidistant (≈ 240 cents per step).
AO1
Western — Choral & oratorio
Public-domain choral repertoire: motets, anthems, oratorio choruses. Anchors for AO3 (analysis of voice writing, text-painting, fugal entries) and AO1 (rehearsal-room performance practice). Full scores link to CPDL / IMSLP — both freely downloadable.
- BaroqueD · 4/4
Hallelujah Chorus (Messiah)
G. F. Handel(HWV 56)
Chorus from Part II of Messiah. Homophonic 'Hallelujah' acclamations alternate with imitative settings of the text. Closes Part II with overwhelming D-major affirmation.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · 4/4
If Ye Love Me
T. Tallis
Four-voice anthem — SATB, English text from John 14. AABB structure: opening homophonic statement → imitative middle section → repeat of the imitative section.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueG · 9/8
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
J. S. Bach(BWV 147)
Chorale fantasia closing Cantata BWV 147 ('Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'). Triplet ritornello on strings + oboes; chorus enters with the chorale tune in long notes — the famous 'tune' the world knows.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalD · C
Ave Verum Corpus
W. A. Mozart(K. 618)
Motet for SATB chorus, strings, and organ. 46 bars total — Mozart's last sacred work before the Requiem. Through-composed; binary AB with a coda.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Gloria — opening chorus
A. Vivaldi(RV 589)
Opening chorus of the 12-movement Gloria. Octave leaps in the strings establish an exuberant D-major fanfare; chorus enters homophonically on 'Gloria in excelsis Deo'.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalDm · 12/8
Lacrimosa (Requiem)
W. A. Mozart(K. 626)
Lacrimosa — the eighth movement of the Requiem. Mozart wrote only the first eight bars of the choir part before he died; Süssmayr completed the rest. Slow 12/8 in D minor with rising chromatic gestures.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Zadok the Priest
G. F. Handel(HWV 258)
Coronation anthem No. 1 — composed for the coronation of George II, sung at every British coronation since. Long instrumental build (rising broken-chord arpeggios, 23 bars of crescendo) before the chorus enters fortissimo on 'Zadok the priest'.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueEb · C
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
J. S. Bach(BWV 140)
Chorale cantata in seven movements based on Philipp Nicolai's 1599 hymn-tune. The fourth movement (a quartet of strings + chorale) became famous as Bach's 'Sleepers Wake' — universal Advent / Reformation programming.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEb · 3/4
Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen (Ein deutsches Requiem)
J. Brahms(Op. 45, mvt 4)
Fourth movement of 'Ein deutsches Requiem' (A German Requiem). Brahms set Lutheran Bible texts (in German, not Latin) to comfort the bereaved rather than depict Last Judgment. This movement is the central pastoral, on Psalm 84: 'How lovely are thy dwellings'.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueD · 3/4
Magnificat — opening chorus
J. S. Bach(BWV 243)
Opening chorus of the Magnificat in D — Bach's full-orchestra setting of Mary's canticle from Luke 1. Trumpets + drums in jubilant D major; five-part chorus (SSATB).
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchBb · 4/4
Pie Jesu (Requiem)
G. Fauré(Op. 48 mvt 4)
Aria — soprano (or treble) solo + orchestra. The fourth movement of Fauré's Requiem. Setting of just two short phrases from the Latin sequence 'Dies irae'. Among the most-recorded sacred solo arias in the repertoire.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchD · 3/4
In Paradisum (Requiem)
G. Fauré(Op. 48 mvt 7)
Closing movement of Fauré's Requiem — the 'In paradisum' antiphon, sung as the deceased is led from the church to burial. Soprano-led, harp-like accompaniment, hushed dynamics throughout.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueBm · C
Mass in B minor — Kyrie I
J. S. Bach(BWV 232)
Opening Kyrie — five-voice fugue (SSATB) on a chromatic descending subject. The Mass in B minor is Bach's late summa, assembled in his last years from new and pre-existing material.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBb · C
He, Watching Over Israel (Elijah)
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 70 No. 29)
Chorus from Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah. Setting of Psalm 121: 'He, watching over Israel, slumbers not nor sleeps'. Compact 4-minute movement, beloved of choral festivals.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century EnglishD · C
Jerusalem (And did those feet)
C. H. H. Parry
Hymn — strophic, two verses. Setting of William Blake's preface to 'Milton: A Poem in Two Books' (1804). Composed in 1916 for the suffragist movement; Parry conducted its first performance. England's de facto second national anthem.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueEm · C
Cantata 'Christ lag in Todesbanden'
J. S. Bach(BWV 4)
Chorale cantata in seven movements + sinfonia, all based on Luther's chorale tune. Bach's earliest surviving cantata.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueA · 3/4
And the Glory of the Lord (Messiah)
G. F. Handel(HWV 56)
First chorus of Messiah. SATB chorus, four motivically-distinct subjects in turn, all combined at the close.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Worthy is the Lamb (Messiah)
G. F. Handel(HWV 56)
Closing chorus of Messiah. Slow declamatory opening + Amen fugue.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticG · C
God So Loved the World (Crucifixion)
J. Stainer
Anthem from Stainer's oratorio The Crucifixion. SATB chorus, through-composed.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticBb · C
I was glad
C. H. H. Parry
Coronation anthem. Composed for Edward VII (1902); used at every British coronation since. SATB + organ + brass.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueEm · 12/8
St. Matthew Passion — opening chorus
J. S. Bach(BWV 244)
Double-chorus opening with chorale tune (boys' choir) cantus firmus over twelve-eight lament.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueGm · C
St. John Passion — opening chorus
J. S. Bach(BWV 245)
Herr, unser Herrscher — double-fugue opening with insistent dotted-rhythm cries.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Mass in B minor — Sanctus
J. S. Bach(BWV 232)
Six-voice Sanctus (SSAATB) in D major with three trumpets + drums. The most resplendent moment in Bach.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueEm · 3/2
Mass in B minor — Crucifixus
J. S. Bach(BWV 232)
Chromatic ground-bass passacaglia. 13 statements of a 4-bar descending chromatic tetrachord.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueD · 3/8
Christmas Oratorio — opening chorus
J. S. Bach(BWV 248)
Jauchzet, frohlocket! — joyful D-major chorus with timpani opening, three trumpets.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Cantata 'Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott'
J. S. Bach(BWV 80)
Reformation Day cantata. Opening fugal chorus on Luther's chorale tune.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueC · C
Cantata 'Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen'
J. S. Bach(BWV 51)
Solo soprano cantata with solo trumpet. Virtuoso writing for both.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalDm · C
Mozart Requiem — Dies Irae
W. A. Mozart(K. 626)
Day-of-Wrath chorus — fast, fortissimo, agitated D minor.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticF# · 12/8
Va, pensiero (Nabucco)
G. Verdi
Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, Act 3. Italy's unofficial second national anthem.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticC · 3/4
Anvil Chorus (Il Trovatore)
G. Verdi
Chorus of gypsies hammering on anvils — Act 2 of Il Trovatore. Triplet rhythms suggest blacksmiths' work.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalCm · C
The Creation — Representation of Chaos
J. Haydn(Hob. XXI:2)
Orchestral introduction to the oratorio Die Schöpfung. Famous unstable harmony depicting primordial chaos before 'Let there be Light'.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticDb · C
Cantique de Jean Racine
G. Fauré(Op. 11)
Choral piece for SATB + organ (or piano). Setting of Jean Racine's French paraphrase of a Latin hymn.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / EnglishF · 3/4
Beati Quorum Via
C. V. Stanford(Op. 38 No. 3)
SSATBB six-part motet on Psalm 119. Standard cathedral-choir repertoire.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late Victorian EnglishG · C
Sevenfold Amen
J. Stainer
Choral 'Amen' setting. SATB. Standard Anglican cathedral choir piece for prayers.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueG · C
Rejoice in the Lord alway
H. Purcell(Z. 49)
Bell anthem (named for the bell-like LH ostinato in the symphony). SATB + strings.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalF · 6/8
Laudate Dominum (Vesperae solennes)
W. A. Mozart(K. 339)
Soprano solo with chorus. From Mozart's Vespers for a Confessor. Long-breathed solo line over rocking 6/8 strings.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueEm · C
Jesu, meine Freude
J. S. Bach(BWV 227)
Five-voice motet — palindromic structure. Eleven movements arranged symmetrically around a central choral fugue.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueBb · C
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
J. S. Bach(BWV 225)
Eight-voice double-choir motet. Brilliant fugal opening on Psalm 149.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueF · C
Laetatus sum
A. Vivaldi(RV 607)
Vespers psalm setting for soprano + chorus. SATB.
AO3↓ full score - Baroque (Late Italian)Fm · C
Stabat Mater
G. B. Pergolesi
12-movement setting for soprano + alto soloists + strings. Composed shortly before Pergolesi's death age 26.
AO3↓ full score - Late 18th-century English / 19th-century AmericanG · 3/4
Amazing Grace
J. Newton / W. Walker
Strophic hymn. Text by John Newton 1779; tune 'New Britain' attached by William Walker 1835.
AO1↓ full score - Trad. / MedievalEb · 3/4
Be Thou My Vision
Trad. Irish / E. Hull
Hymn — Irish folk-tune 'Slane' (10th century, traditional) + Eleanor Hull 1905 English text.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late Victorian EnglishD · C
Holy, Holy, Holy
J. B. Dykes
Hymn tune 'Nicaea' set to Reginald Heber 1826 text. Trinity Sunday hymn.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late Victorian EnglishD · 4/4
Onward, Christian Soldiers
A. Sullivan
Hymn tune 'St Gertrude' set to Sabine Baring-Gould 1865 text. Processional hymn.
AO1↓ full score - Trad. / 18th centuryG · C
O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
Trad. / J. F. Wade
Hymn tune 'Adeste Fideles' attributed to John Francis Wade 1751. Christmas hymn.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Trad.Bb · 6/8
Silent Night (Stille Nacht)
F. X. Gruber
Christmas carol — composed Christmas Eve 1818 in Oberndorf, Austria. Strophic.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticF · C
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
F. Mendelssohn / W. H. Cummings
Christmas carol — Mendelssohn's tune (1840, originally from a Gutenberg festival cantata) + Charles Wesley 1739 text.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticF · 2/4
Jingle Bells
J. L. Pierpont
Originally for Thanksgiving, became a Christmas standard. Strophic.
AO1↓ full score - Medieval / VictorianG · C
Good King Wenceslas
Trad. / J. M. Neale
Christmas carol on a 13th-century Finnish spring-tune 'Tempus Adest Floridum' + 1853 Neale lyrics.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchA · 3/4
Panis angelicus
C. Franck
Solo aria with organ + cello. Setting of the Aquinas eucharistic hymn. Standard wedding/funeral piece.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Victorian EnglishF · C
Blessed be the God and Father
S. S. Wesley
Anthem for SATB + organ + soprano solo. Standard Anglican cathedral repertoire.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Victorian EnglishF · C
I saw the Lord
J. Stainer
Verse anthem for SATB + organ. Setting of Isaiah 6.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticF · C
Hear my prayer (O for the wings of a dove)
F. Mendelssohn
Anthem for soprano solo + chorus + organ. Famous treble solo 'O for the wings of a dove'.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchAb · C
Tantum ergo
G. Fauré(Op. 65)
Setting of the eucharistic Latin hymn. SATB + organ.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueF · C
I was glad (Purcell)
H. Purcell(Z. 19)
Coronation anthem for James II. SATB + strings.
AO1↓ full score - Baroque (Late French)D · 2/4
Te Deum — Prélude
M.-A. Charpentier(H. 146)
D major prelude opening Charpentier's Te Deum. Famous as the Eurovision theme.
AO1↓ full score - Renaissance / Early BaroqueG · C
Cantate Domino
C. Monteverdi
Six-voice motet. Setting of Psalm 95.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchDm · C
Libera Me (Requiem)
G. Fauré(Op. 48 mvt 6)
Sixth movement of Fauré's Requiem. Solo baritone + chorus.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticBb · C
He, watching over Israel — extended
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 70)
Movement 29 of Elijah. SATB chorus + organ.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticF · C
Cast thy burden upon the Lord (Elijah)
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 70)
Quartet from Elijah Part 1. SATB.
AO1↓ full score
Strings — Practical study pieces
Graded violin / cello / string-ensemble works for the practical performance topics. Public-domain editions sourced from Mutopia / IMSLP.
- BaroqueG · C
Cello Suite No. 1 in G major — Prelude
J. S. Bach(BWV 1007)
Prelude — unaccompanied cello, broken-chord toccata. The single most-played piece of solo cello repertoire. 42 bars, harmonic outline of G major / its closely related keys, structured around an internal pedal point.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Air on the G String
J. S. Bach(BWV 1068 (Orchestral Suite No. 3, mvt 2))
Air — slow movement of the third Orchestral Suite. The popular name comes from August Wilhelmj's 19th-century arrangement that transposed the violin line down to fit the cello's G string. A two-part texture: walking-bass + soaring melody.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalA · 3/4
Minuet (from String Quintet in E major)
L. Boccherini(Op. 11 No. 5 (G. 275))
Minuet from a five-movement string quintet (2 violins, viola, 2 cellos). The single best-known piece by Boccherini — pizzicato accompaniment, gracious upper-string melody, gentle staccato cadences.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticEm · C
Violin Concerto in E minor — 1st movement
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 64)
Allegro molto appassionato — sonata form. Soloist enters in bar 2 (rare for a Romantic concerto — the orchestra usually plays a long ritornello first). Cadenza placed before the recapitulation, also unusual.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueE · C
Spring (The Four Seasons), Concerto No. 1
A. Vivaldi(Op. 8 No. 1, RV 269)
Programmatic violin concerto — Vivaldi attached a sonnet to each of the four seasons describing the scene the music depicts. 1st movement Allegro: 'Joyful spring has arrived, the birds salute it with happy song'.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueG · C
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G
J. S. Bach(BWV 1048)
Concerto for three trios — three violins + three violas + three cellos + continuo. No solo / tutti distinction; every player is both soloist and ripienist. Two movements (the 'middle' is famously just two chords).
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueC · C|
Cello Suite No. 3 — Bourrée I & II
J. S. Bach(BWV 1009)
Pair of bourrées from the third Cello Suite. Bourrée I in C major, dancing 2/4 cut-time; Bourrée II in C minor, more lyrical. Standard ABA dance pairing — Bourrée I is played, then II, then I again da capo.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueF · C
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F
J. S. Bach(BWV 1047)
Concerto grosso for an unusual concertino: trumpet, recorder, oboe, and violin, with strings + continuo. The high natural-trumpet writing is famously demanding — only a handful of players in the world play it on the period instrument.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalG · C
Eine kleine Nachtmusik — 1st movement
W. A. Mozart(K. 525)
Allegro — sonata form. Serenade in four movements for string ensemble (or string quartet + double bass). The most-recognised opening fanfare in classical music; outline of the G-major chord with rocket-like upward leaps.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueDm · 3/4
Chaconne (Partita No. 2 for solo violin)
J. S. Bach(BWV 1004 mvt 5)
Chaconne — closing movement of the second Partita for solo violin. ~13 minutes long, 64 variations on a 4-bar harmonic progression. The single most-celebrated piece in the violin repertoire; often played alone as a recital piece.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueGm · 3/4
Summer — Concerto No. 2 (The Four Seasons), 3rd movement
A. Vivaldi(Op. 8 No. 2, RV 315)
Presto — third movement, 'the storm'. The most virtuosic of all Four Seasons solo passages: rushing semiquaver figuration depicting summer thunderstorm. Programmatic — Vivaldi's sonnet describes hailstones flattening the wheat.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueEb · C
Winter — Concerto No. 4 (The Four Seasons), 2nd movement
A. Vivaldi(Op. 8 No. 4, RV 297)
Largo — central slow movement. Solo violin sings a long-breathed melody; pizzicato strings depict 'rain falling outside while we are warm by the fire' (Vivaldi's sonnet text). Famous for its tranquility amid the surrounding stormy fast movements.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticC · C
Serenade for Strings in C — 1st movement
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 48)
Pezzo in forma di sonatina — Tchaikovsky's tribute to Mozart. Opens with a chorale-like fanfare in the full string ensemble; the same chorale returns to close the movement and the entire serenade.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticF · C
String Quartet No. 12 'American' — 1st movement
A. Dvořák(Op. 96)
Allegro ma non troppo — sonata form. Composed during Dvořák's three-year residency in the United States. Pentatonic main theme; uses spirituals and Native American melodic shapes Dvořák heard in Iowa.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchG · 6/4
The Swan (Carnival of the Animals)
C. Saint-Saëns(R. 125 No. 13)
Cello solo + two pianos. Penultimate movement of the 14-piece zoological fantasy. Saint-Saëns suppressed publication of the entire suite during his lifetime — only 'The Swan' was allowed in print, on the grounds that it was 'serious enough' for his reputation.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D
J. S. Bach(BWV 1050)
Concerto grosso with concertino of flute, violin, harpsichord. Famous 65-bar harpsichord cadenza in mvt 1.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalC · C
String Quartet 'Dissonance' K. 465
W. A. Mozart(K. 465)
Adagio + Allegro. Famous chromatic introduction in C minor before C major Allegro.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueGm · C
Christmas Concerto
A. Corelli(Op. 6 No. 8)
Concerto grosso for two violins + cello + strings. Closes with a 12/8 Pastorale evoking shepherds.
AO3↓ full score - Baroque attrib./20th-centuryGm · C
Adagio in G minor
T. Albinoni / R. Giazotto
Slow string adagio in G minor. Published 1958 as a 'reconstruction' from an Albinoni fragment; modern scholarship disputes authorship.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueF · C
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F
J. S. Bach(BWV 1046)
Concerto grosso for two horns, three oboes, bassoon, violin piccolo, strings, continuo.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueG · 3/8
Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G
J. S. Bach(BWV 1049)
Concertino: violin + two recorders. Outer Allegros bracket a slow Andante.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueBb · C
Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B♭
J. S. Bach(BWV 1051)
Unique scoring: two violas + two viole da gamba + cello + violone + harpsichord. No violins.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueDm · C
Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 1008)
Six dance movements: Prelude–Allemande–Courante–Sarabande–Minuet I/II–Gigue.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueEb · C
Cello Suite No. 4 in E♭
J. S. Bach(BWV 1010)
Sixth-most-played of the suites; harmonically rich Sarabande and brilliant Bourrées.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueCm · C
Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 1011)
Originally for scordatura (top string tuned down to G). French overture–style Prelude with fugue.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · 12/8
Cello Suite No. 6 in D
J. S. Bach(BWV 1012)
Originally for 5-string cello. The most virtuosic suite — high tessitura throughout.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueE · 3/4
Partita No. 3 in E for solo violin — Preludio
J. S. Bach(BWV 1006)
Preludio — perpetual-motion 16ths in E major. Bach later arranged it as the Sinfonia of Cantata 29.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueGm · C
Sonata No. 1 in G minor for solo violin
J. S. Bach(BWV 1001)
Adagio + Fuga + Siciliana + Presto. The Adagio's free improvisatory style is iconic violin-recital opening.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalG · C
Violin Concerto No. 3 in G
W. A. Mozart(K. 216)
Allegro — sonata form. Mozart's most-played violin concerto, written age 19.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalA · C
Violin Concerto No. 5 'Turkish'
W. A. Mozart(K. 219)
Allegro aperto + Adagio + Tempo di Menuetto with Turkish episode.
AO1↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticD · C
Violin Concerto in D
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 61)
Allegro ma non troppo — sonata form. Five timpani strokes open the work — radical for 1806.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticA · C
Piano Quintet 'Trout'
F. Schubert(D. 667)
Five-movement piano quintet (piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass). 4th movement is variations on Schubert's lied 'Die Forelle'.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticD · 3/4
Violin Concerto in D
J. Brahms(Op. 77)
Allegro non troppo — sonata form. Written for Joachim, dedicatee. Long orchestral exposition.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · 6/8
Clarinet Quintet
J. Brahms(Op. 115)
Late Brahms chamber masterpiece. Clarinet + string quartet.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEb · C
Octet for Strings — 1st mvt
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 20)
Allegro moderato ma con fuoco — sonata form. Mendelssohn aged 16. Eight strings (4 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos).
AO3↓ full score - RomanticD · C
Violin Concerto in D
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 35)
Allegro moderato — sonata form. Originally rejected as 'unplayable' by Auer; now standard repertoire.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBm · 4/4
Cello Concerto in B minor
A. Dvořák(Op. 104)
Allegro — sonata form. The greatest cello concerto in the repertoire (Brahms allegedly said so).
AO3↓ full score - Late RomanticF · 4/4
Symphony No. 5 — Adagietto
G. Mahler
Sehr langsam — slow movement for strings + harp only. Famous from Visconti's Death in Venice (1971).
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueF · C
Autumn (Four Seasons)
A. Vivaldi(Op. 8 No. 3, RV 293)
Violin concerto. Three movements depicting harvest dance, drunkards' sleep, and the hunt.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueAm · C
Concerto in A minor for violin
A. Vivaldi(Op. 3 No. 6, RV 356)
Allegro — three-movement violin concerto. Standard Suzuki Book 4 piece.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueC · C
Concerto for Mandolin in C
A. Vivaldi(RV 425)
Three-movement concerto for solo mandolin + strings. The most-played piece in mandolin literature.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticG · C
Holberg Suite — Praeludium
E. Grieg(Op. 40 No. 1)
Praeludium opening Grieg's neo-Baroque suite for string orchestra. Five movements.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalG · C
String Quartet 'Emperor' — slow mvt
J. Haydn(Op. 76 No. 3)
Variations on Haydn's hymn 'Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser' — later Germany's national anthem.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueDm · 3/4
La Folia (Op. 5 No. 12)
A. Corelli(Op. 5 No. 12)
Variations on the Iberian La Folia chord progression. 23 variations for violin + continuo.
AO3↓ full score - Baroque / Late ItalianGm · C
Devil's Trill Sonata
G. Tartini
Solo violin sonata in 4 movements. Famous closing passage with extended trills.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticAm · 2/4
Caprice No. 24 in A minor
N. Paganini(Op. 1 No. 24)
Theme + 11 variations + finale. The most-cited solo violin work — borrowed by Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Lutosławski.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchAm · C
Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso
C. Saint-Saëns(Op. 28)
Slow Introduction + virtuosic Rondo. Composed for Sarasate.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchD · C
Méditation (Thaïs)
J. Massenet
Solo violin entr'acte from the opera Thaïs. Among the most-played violin recital pieces.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueDm · C
Concerto for Two Violins in D minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 1043)
Three-movement double violin concerto. Slow movement is the famous Largo ma non tanto in F major.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueE · C
Violin Concerto No. 2 in E
J. S. Bach(BWV 1042)
Three-movement violin concerto. Bright E major.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueAm · C
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 1041)
Three-movement violin concerto. Standard student concerto.
AO1↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticF · C
Romance No. 2 in F
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 50)
Solo violin + orchestra. Romance — slow lyrical character piece.
AO1↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticF · C
String Quartet 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 1
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 59 No. 1)
Allegro — sonata form. F major. First of three quartets dedicated to Count Razumovsky.
AO3↓ full score - Classical / Early RomanticBb · C
Grosse Fuge
L. v. Beethoven(Op. 133)
Originally finale of String Quartet Op. 130. Massive double fugue. Stravinsky called it 'an absolutely contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever'.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticAm · C
Arpeggione Sonata
F. Schubert(D. 821)
Three-movement sonata for arpeggione (extinct guitar-cello hybrid) + piano. Now played on cello, viola, or double bass.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticF · C
Octet in F
F. Schubert(D. 803)
Six-movement octet for clarinet, horn, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass. Modeled on Beethoven's Septet Op. 20.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueA · C
Violin Sonata Op. 5 No. 9
A. Corelli(Op. 5 No. 9)
Sonata da camera (chamber sonata). Five movements: Preludio, Giga, Adagio, Tempo di Gavotta, Allegro.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Concerto for Lute in D — RV 93
A. Vivaldi(RV 93)
Three-movement concerto for lute (or guitar) + strings.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / EnglishEm · C
Cello Concerto in E minor
E. Elgar(Op. 85)
Adagio — Moderato. Elgar's late masterpiece. Famous Jacqueline du Pré recording.
AO3↓ full score - Late Romantic / EnglishE · 2/4
Salut d'Amour
E. Elgar(Op. 12)
Salon piece for violin + piano. Elgar's wedding gift to his fiancée Caroline.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalF · 4/4
Serenade String Quartet (Op. 3 No. 5)
J. Haydn (attrib.)(Op. 3 No. 5)
Andante cantabile from a quartet long attributed to Haydn (now thought by Roman Hofstetter). Famous melody.
AO3↓ full score - Trad.C · 2/4
Twinkle, Twinkle (Theme & Variations)
Trad. / Suzuki arr.
Foundation of Suzuki violin Book 1. Theme + 4 rhythmic variations + theme.
AO1↓ full score - Trad. / 18th centuryF · 2/4
Frère Jacques (Brother John)
Anonymous (French Trad.)
Round in four parts. The first universal canon for school choir or string quartet.
AO1↓ full score - Trad. / 19th centuryC · 6/8
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Anonymous (American Trad.)
Round in four parts. American children's song.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / RussianD · C
String Quartet No. 2 — Notturno
A. Borodin
Slow movement of String Quartet No. 2. Famous as one of the most lyrical Russian chamber pieces.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEb · C
Two Elegiac Melodies (Holberg Suite)
E. Grieg(Op. 34)
Two-movement suite for string orchestra. Slow lyrical writing.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticAm · C
Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor
C. Saint-Saëns(Op. 33)
Single-movement concerto in three connected parts.
AO3↓ full score - ImpressionistGm · C
String Quartet in G minor
C. Debussy(L. 91)
Four-movement string quartet — Debussy's only quartet. Animé et très décidé opening.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchA · C
Violin Sonata No. 1 in A
G. Fauré(Op. 13)
Allegro molto + Andante + Allegro vivo + Allegro quasi presto. Standard French chamber repertoire.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchCm · C
Élégie for Cello
G. Fauré(Op. 24)
Slow elegiac piece for cello + piano. Standard cello recital.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueF · C|
Bourrée (Water Music F major)
G. F. Handel(HWV 348)
Bourrée from F major Suite of Water Music.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticD · C
Andante Cantabile (String Quartet No. 1)
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 11)
Slow movement of String Quartet No. 1. Folk-tune theme — Tolstoy reportedly wept on hearing it.
AO3↓ full score - Late Romantic / EnglishG · 2/4
Chanson de Matin
E. Elgar(Op. 15 No. 2)
Salon piece for violin + piano. Bright pastoral character.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchG · 6/4
Le Cygne (cello arrangement)
C. Saint-Saëns(R. 125 No. 13)
Cello arrangement of The Swan from Carnival of the Animals.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / ModernF · C
String Quartet in F
M. Ravel(M. 35)
Four-movement string quartet. Allegro moderato + Assez vif + Très lent + Vif et agité.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchCm · 2/4
Allegro Appassionato (Cello)
C. Saint-Saëns(Op. 43)
Solo piece for cello + orchestra. C minor virtuoso vehicle.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchGm · 6/8
Sicilienne
G. Fauré(Op. 78)
Salon piece for cello + piano (also flute, violin). 6/8 sicilienne rhythm.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticD · C
Andante Cantabile (cello version)
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 11)
Cello + orchestra arrangement of String Quartet 1 slow movement.
AO1↓ full score - Late RomanticDm · 2/4
Elfentanz
D. Popper(Op. 39)
Cello showpiece. Light dance character.
AO1↓ full score - 20th-century ArgentineAm · 4/4
Libertango (sample)
A. Piazzolla
Tango nuevo. Standard string-orchestra arrangement. Note: Piazzolla d. 1992 — work is NOT yet PD; included as future-stub.
AO3 - BaroqueEb · C|
Bourrée (Cello Suite 4 in E♭)
J. S. Bach(BWV 1010)
Bourrée I + II from Cello Suite 4. Pair of dance movements.
AO1↓ full score
Wind & brass — Practical study pieces
Solo and chamber works for woodwind (flute, clarinet, oboe) and brass (trumpet, horn). Public-domain. Useful for the practical performance topic when piano isn't the student's first instrument.
- BaroqueBm · 2/4
Badinerie (Orchestral Suite No. 2)
J. S. Bach(BWV 1067 (mvt 7))
Badinerie — closing movement of the second Orchestral Suite. 'Badinerie' = 'banter'. Solo flute over strings, fast and playful, binary form.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalD · 3/4
Clarinet Concerto in A — 2nd movement (Adagio)
W. A. Mozart(K. 622)
Adagio — central slow movement. Clarinet sings a long-breathed melody over hushed strings. Mozart wrote it for the basset clarinet (an extended-range instrument) but it's now nearly always played on the standard A-clarinet.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Prince of Denmark's March (Trumpet Voluntary)
J. Clarke
Trumpet Voluntary — short ceremonial piece, originally for harpsichord. The most-played wedding processional in the English-speaking world. Rondo-like ABACA structure.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · 3/2
Water Music — 'Alla Hornpipe'
G. F. Handel(HWV 349 (Suite in D))
Hornpipe — second movement of Handel's Suite in D from the Water Music. Trumpet and horn fanfares alternate with strings; ternary form ABA.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalEb · C
Horn Concerto No. 4 in E♭ — 1st movement
W. A. Mozart(K. 495)
Allegro maestoso — sonata form. Mozart wrote four horn concertos for his friend Joseph Leutgeb; this is the last and the most polished. Hand-stopping technique was the only way Leutgeb could play chromatic notes (the natural horn had no valves).
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueBb · 12/8
Sheep May Safely Graze (Cantata BWV 208)
J. S. Bach(BWV 208 (aria 'Schafe können sicher weiden'))
Aria — soprano + two recorders + continuo. From Bach's secular 'Hunting Cantata' (BWV 208), commissioned for a duke's birthday. Often arranged for various solo instruments — the recorder duo is the original timbre.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalBb · C
Bassoon Concerto in B♭ — 1st movement
W. A. Mozart(K. 191)
Allegro — sonata form. Mozart's only bassoon concerto and the universal audition piece for the instrument. Soloist enters after the orchestral ritornello with a leaping figure that exploits the bassoon's full two-and-a-half-octave range.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalG · C
Flute Concerto No. 1 in G — 1st movement
W. A. Mozart(K. 313)
Allegro maestoso — sonata form. One of Mozart's two flute concertos; the standard audition piece for the instrument. Mozart famously disliked the commission ('I cannot bear writing for an instrument I cannot stand') but the music doesn't show it.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalC · C
Oboe Concerto in C — 1st movement
W. A. Mozart(K. 314)
Allegro aperto — sonata form. The standard oboe audition piece. Mozart later transposed it to D for flute (became Flute Concerto No. 2). Both versions are widely performed.
AO1↓ full score - Late 19th-century American MarchEb · 2/2
The Stars and Stripes Forever
J. P. Sousa
Concert march — multi-strain march form (intro + AABBCDCDCD with a piccolo obligato in the trio). Officially designated the National March of the United States by Act of Congress in 1987.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueF · C
Flute Concerto 'La tempesta di mare'
A. Vivaldi(Op. 10 No. 1, RV 433)
Programmatic flute concerto — 'The Storm at Sea'. Three movements.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalEb · C
Trumpet Concerto in E♭
J. Haydn(Hob. VIIe:1)
Allegro — sonata form. Composed for the new keyed trumpet (precursor to valved trumpet).
AO1↓ full score - Late 19th-century American MarchEb · 6/8
Washington Post March
J. P. Sousa
Concert march in 6/8. Favourite for the 1890s two-step dance craze.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Music for the Royal Fireworks — Overture
G. F. Handel(HWV 351)
French overture (slow + fast) for outdoor performance. Composed for King George II's celebration of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalAb · 6/8
Trumpet Concerto — 2nd mvt (Andante)
J. Haydn(Hob. VIIe:1)
Slow movement — A♭ major. Lyrical chromatic writing exploits the keyed trumpet's new ability.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Trumpet Tune (in D)
H. Purcell(Z. 678)
Short ceremonial trumpet voluntary. Often confused with Clarke's 'Prince of Denmark's March'.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueF · 3/2
Hornpipe (Water Music F major)
G. F. Handel(HWV 348)
Hornpipe from the F major Suite of Water Music.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueAm · C
Fantasia No. 2 for solo flute
G. P. Telemann(TWV 40:3)
From the 12 Fantasias for solo flute. Two-movement fantasia with arpeggiated polyphony.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticFm · C
Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor
C. M. von Weber(Op. 73)
Allegro — sonata form. Standard Romantic clarinet concerto.
AO1↓ full score - Late 19th-century American MarchEb · 2/2
The Liberty Bell March
J. P. Sousa
Concert march — multi-strain. Used as the Monty Python's Flying Circus theme.
AO1↓ full score - Late 19th-century American MarchEb · 2/2
The Thunderer March
J. P. Sousa
Concert march. Sousa's wife's favorite.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Flute Concerto 'Il Gardellino' (Goldfinch)
A. Vivaldi(Op. 10 No. 3, RV 428)
Programmatic flute concerto imitating goldfinch song. Three movements.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueEm · C
Bassoon Concerto in E minor
A. Vivaldi(RV 484)
Three-movement bassoon concerto. Vivaldi composed 39 bassoon concertos — more than any other composer.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueDm · C
Oboe Concerto in D minor
A. Vivaldi(RV 454)
Three-movement oboe concerto. Vivaldi composed 17 oboe concertos.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueC · C
Piccolo Concerto in C — RV 443
A. Vivaldi(RV 443)
Three-movement piccolo concerto. Originally for sopranino recorder.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueC · C
Concerto for Two Trumpets in C — RV 537
A. Vivaldi(RV 537)
Three-movement concerto for two solo trumpets + strings.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueBbm · 6/8
Sicilienne (Flute Sonata BWV 1031)
J. S. Bach(BWV 1031 (attrib.))
Slow movement of the Flute Sonata in E♭ (transcribed in B♭ minor for flute alone). Authorship attributed to Bach but disputed (possibly by C.P.E. Bach).
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / RussianAm · 2/4
Flight of the Bumblebee (flute version)
N. Rimsky-Korsakov
Famous showpiece often arranged for flute, trumpet, violin, etc.
AO1↓ full score - ImpressionistBbm · 3/4
Syrinx (Solo Flute)
C. Debussy(L. 129)
Solo flute piece — Pan's syrinx. Originally entitled 'Flûte de Pan'.
AO1↓ full score - ModernBb · C
Clarinet Sonata
F. Poulenc(FP 184)
Three-movement clarinet sonata. Witty, lyrical Poulenc late style.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Trumpet Voluntary (separate)
J. Clarke
Standalone trumpet tune. Often programmed alongside Prince of Denmark's March.
AO1↓ full score - Late 19th-century American MarchEb · 2/4
King Cotton March
J. P. Sousa
Concert march. Composed for the Cotton States Exposition (Atlanta 1895).
AO1↓ full score - Late 19th-century American MarchEb · 2/4
Semper Fidelis March
J. P. Sousa
Concert march. Designated official march of the US Marine Corps.
AO1↓ full score - Late 19th-century American MarchBb · 6/8
El Capitán March
J. P. Sousa
Concert march from Sousa's operetta El Capitán.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalF · C
Romance (Clarinet Concerto)
C. Stamitz
Slow movement of Stamitz Clarinet Concerto No. 3. Mannheim-school cadence.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
King William's March
J. Clarke
Trumpet voluntary. Standard ceremonial.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueBm · 3/4
Polonaise (Orchestral Suite No. 2)
J. S. Bach(BWV 1067)
Polonaise from second Orchestral Suite. Solo flute + strings.
AO1↓ full score
Voice — Art song & lieder
Solo voice + piano repertoire — the German Lieder tradition (Schubert, Schumann, Brahms) plus widely-sung English/Italian art songs. AO1/AO2 anchors for vocal performance and accompaniment.
- RomanticBb · 4/4
Ave Maria
F. Schubert(D. 839)
Lied — Schubert's setting of Walter Scott's 'Ellens Gesang III' (Ellen's Song III) from 'The Lady of the Lake'. The Latin Ave Maria text is later (often substituted in church performances). Strophic, six bars per verse, piano broken-chord accompaniment.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticD · 2/2
An die Musik
F. Schubert(D. 547)
Lied — 'To Music', a hymn-like ode to music itself. Two verses in strophic form. Schober's text. The final encore at every Schubertiade.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / 19th-century AmericanEb · 9/8
Beautiful Dreamer
S. Foster
Parlour song — Foster's last published work, in the genteel American 'serenade' tradition. Strophic, two verses, simple piano accompaniment.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticG · 2/4
Heidenröslein
F. Schubert(D. 257)
Lied — Schubert's setting of Goethe's poem 'Heidenröslein' ('Little Rose on the Heath'). Strophic, three verses, the same gentle G-major melody for each. One of the most-arranged folk-style melodies in the Lieder tradition.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticAb · 6/8
Auf Flügeln des Gesanges (On Wings of Song)
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 34 No. 2)
Lied — Mendelssohn's setting of Heinrich Heine's poem. Compound 6/8 metre, gently rocking piano accompaniment, the vocal line floats above on a long-breathed melody. Three verses, varied accompaniment per verse.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticGm · C
Erlkönig
F. Schubert(D. 328)
Lied — Schubert's 18-year-old setting of Goethe's ballad 'Der Erlkönig' (the Elf King). A father rides through the night with his sick son; the Erlking lures the boy; the boy dies. Through-composed (no verse repetition), with the singer voicing four characters (narrator, father, son, Erlking).
AO3↓ full score - RomanticF#m · 2/4
Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (Dichterliebe)
R. Schumann(Op. 48 No. 1)
Lied — opening of Schumann's song-cycle Dichterliebe ('Poet's Love'). Strophic. Heine's text speaks of a love kindled in May; Schumann sets it as a fragmentary meditation, never quite resolving the harmony.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEb · 3/8
Du bist die Ruh
F. Schubert(D. 776)
Lied — Schubert's setting of Friedrich Rückert's poem. Strophic with variation; the quiet tonic E♭ major returns each verse with mounting intensity. Among the most-loved Schubert lieder.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticE · 3/4
Der Lindenbaum (Winterreise)
F. Schubert(D. 911 No. 5)
Lied — fifth song of Winterreise (Winter Journey), Schubert's 24-song cycle on Wilhelm Müller's poems. The wandering protagonist passes a familiar lime tree; folk-song memory clashes with present grief. Strophic with major/minor reversals.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / 19th-century AmericanG · 2/4
Oh! Susanna
S. Foster
Minstrel song — two verses + chorus. Foster's first popular hit (he sold the rights for $100). Known nationwide within months of publication; one of the founding songs of the American popular tradition.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueF · C
Ombra mai fù (Largo from Xerxes)
G. F. Handel(HWV 40)
Da capo aria from Serse. The most-arranged Handel aria ('Handel's Largo').
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueGm · 3/2
When I am laid in earth (Dido's Lament)
H. Purcell(Z. 626)
Aria from Dido and Aeneas. Ground-bass aria with descending chromatic tetrachord.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticF · C
Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)
S. Foster
Minstrel song / parlour ballad. State song of Florida.
AO3↓ full score - ClassicalDm · C
Der Hölle Rache (Queen of the Night, Magic Flute)
W. A. Mozart(K. 620)
Coloratura soprano aria — Act 2. Vengeance aria with the famous high F6.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalBb · 2/4
Voi che sapete (Marriage of Figaro)
W. A. Mozart(K. 492)
Cherubino's Act 2 aria. The page-boy character (mezzo-soprano travesti) sings of love. Most-recorded Mozart aria.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticDb · 2/4
Die Forelle (The Trout)
F. Schubert(D. 550)
Lied — strophic with three verses. The accompaniment depicts the trout swimming in a brook.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticDm · 3/4
Ständchen (Schwanengesang)
F. Schubert(D. 957 No. 4)
Serenade — Lied from Schwanengesang, posthumous song collection. ABA. Among Schubert's most-performed lieder.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticDm · 6/8
Gretchen am Spinnrade
F. Schubert(D. 118)
Lied — Schubert's first masterpiece (age 17). Through-composed setting of Goethe's Faust I. The piano spinning-wheel accompaniment is iconic.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticEb · 2/4
Songs My Mother Taught Me
A. Dvořák(Op. 55 No. 4)
Lied — strophic. From 'Gypsy Songs' on Czech texts. ABA + reprise.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticB · 3/8
La donna è mobile (Rigoletto)
G. Verdi
Tenor aria from Act 3 of Rigoletto. Among the most-recognised opera arias.
AO1↓ full score - Late RomanticG · C
Nessun dorma (Turandot)
G. Puccini
Tenor aria from Act 3. Made famous globally by Pavarotti's 1990 World Cup performance.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticBb · C
Toreador Song (Carmen)
G. Bizet
Baritone aria + chorus, Act 2 of Carmen. 'Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre'.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueF · 3/4
Lascia ch'io pianga (Rinaldo)
G. F. Handel(HWV 7)
Da capo aria from Rinaldo. Almirena laments her captivity.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchCm · 3/4
Après un rêve
G. Fauré(Op. 7 No. 1)
Mélodie — French art song. Long-breathed melody over arpeggiated piano.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticDm · C
Der Tod und das Mädchen
F. Schubert(D. 531)
Lied — 'Death and the Maiden'. Two stanzas. Theme later used in the slow movement of String Quartet D. 810.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticBm · 3/4
Der Doppelgänger (Schwanengesang)
F. Schubert(D. 957 No. 13)
Lied — 'The Double'. Heine text. Sparse piano accompaniment over rising chromatic vocal line.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticB · C
Nacht und Träume
F. Schubert(D. 827)
Lied — 'Night and Dreams'. Pianissimo throughout. Long-breathed legato.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticC · C
Ich grolle nicht (Dichterliebe)
R. Schumann(Op. 48 No. 7)
Lied — 'I bear no grudge'. Heine text. Dramatic outburst with insistent piano chords.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticA · 2/4
Wie Melodien zieht es mir
J. Brahms(Op. 105 No. 1)
Late Brahms lied. ABA. Setting of Klaus Groth.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / 19th-century AmericanG · 2/4
Camptown Races
S. Foster
Minstrel song. Strophic + 'doo-dah' refrain. Among the most-recognised American folk-style melodies.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / 19th-century AmericanF · C
Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair
S. Foster
Parlour ballad — strophic. Dedicated to Foster's estranged wife Jane.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueBm · 12/8
Erbarme dich (St. Matthew Passion)
J. S. Bach(BWV 244)
Alto aria with solo violin obbligato. The single most-played aria in St. Matthew Passion.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalF · 2/4
Alleluia (Exsultate, jubilate)
W. A. Mozart(K. 165)
Closing Alleluia of the motet. Coloratura soprano showpiece. Age 17 Mozart in Milan.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalC · C
Non più andrai (Marriage of Figaro)
W. A. Mozart(K. 492)
Figaro's Act 1 aria warning Cherubino about military life. March-aria, fanfare-like.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticEb · C
Lord God of Abraham (Elijah)
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 70)
Bass / baritone aria from Elijah Part 1. The prophet's prayer for fire.
AO1↓ full score - Late RomanticAb · 6/8
O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi)
G. Puccini
Soprano aria from one-act opera. Probably the most-performed soprano aria worldwide.
AO1↓ full score - Late RomanticGb · C
Un bel dì vedremo (Madama Butterfly)
G. Puccini
Soprano aria from Act 2. Cio-Cio-San awaits Pinkerton's return.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticEb · 6/8
Au fond du temple saint (Pearl Fishers)
G. Bizet
Tenor + baritone duet. Among the most-performed opera duets.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Trad.Eb · 4/4
Danny Boy (Londonderry Air)
F. Weatherly / Trad.
Irish trad. melody (Londonderry Air, 1855) with Frederic Weatherly's 1913 lyrics 'Danny Boy'. Standard Irish ballad.
AO1↓ full score - Late Medieval / RenaissanceDm · 3/4
Scarborough Fair
Anonymous (English Trad.)
Traditional English ballad. Modal (Dorian) melody. Standard English folk repertoire.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueE · C
Piangerò la sorte mia (Giulio Cesare)
G. F. Handel(HWV 17)
Cleopatra's Act 3 da-capo aria. Standard soprano recital piece.
AO1↓ full score - Trad. / 19th centuryAm · 6/8
House of the Rising Sun
Anonymous (American Trad.)
American folk-blues ballad. Modal melody (Am). Strophic.
AO1↓ full score - Trad. / 19th centuryF · C
Shenandoah
Anonymous (American Trad.)
American sea shanty / river song. Strophic. Long-breathed melody.
AO1↓ full score - African-American SpiritualDb · C
Deep River
Anonymous (American Spiritual)
African-American spiritual. Pentatonic melody. Standard concert spiritual.
AO1↓ full score - African-American SpiritualEb · C
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Anonymous (American Spiritual)
African-American spiritual. Strophic + chorus.
AO1↓ full score - African-American SpiritualDm · C
Go Down, Moses
Anonymous (American Spiritual)
African-American spiritual. Call-and-response. Strophic.
AO1↓ full score - African-American SpiritualCm · C
Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
Anonymous (American Spiritual)
African-American spiritual. Strophic + lament refrain.
AO1↓ full score - African-American SpiritualF · C
Steal Away to Jesus
Anonymous (American Spiritual)
African-American spiritual. Strophic + refrain.
AO1↓ full score - Trad. / 19th centuryG · 3/4
Down in the Green Fields
Anonymous (English Trad.)
English folk-song. Strophic.
AO1↓ full score - Trad. / 18th centuryF · C
Loch Lomond
Anonymous (Scottish Trad.)
Scottish folk-song. Pentatonic melody. Strophic + chorus.
AO1↓ full score - Trad. / 18th centuryF · 4/4
Auld Lang Syne
Trad. / R. Burns
Scottish folk-song. Burns set text 1788. Strophic. New Year tradition.
AO1↓ full score - Renaissance / Trad.G · C
Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
B. Jonson / Trad.
English art song. Strophic. Jonson's 1616 text + traditional tune.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueEb · 3/4
Bist du bei mir
G. H. Stölzel (attrib. Bach)(BWV 508)
Soprano aria from Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook. Long attributed to Bach but actually by Stölzel.
AO1↓ full score - Late RomanticF · C
Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
G. Mahler
Lied — Mahler's setting of Rückert. From Rückert-Lieder cycle. Long-breathed melody.
AO1↓ full score - Late RomanticDm · C
Nun will die Sonn' so hell aufgehn (Kindertotenlieder 1)
G. Mahler
First of Mahler's five Kindertotenlieder ('Songs on the Death of Children'). Rückert text.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / Early ModernEb · C
Im Abendrot (Four Last Songs)
R. Strauss
Last of Strauss's Four Last Songs. Setting of Eichendorff. Strauss died less than a year after composition.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchEm · C
Élégie
J. Massenet
Mélodie for voice + piano. Tearful E minor.
AO1↓ full score - Late RomanticC#m · C
Vocalise
S. Rachmaninov(Op. 34 No. 14)
Wordless lied for voice + piano. Standard concert vocalise. Often arranged for cello, violin, etc.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticC · C
Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)
C. Gounod / J. S. Bach
Gounod's melody set over Bach's WTC Prelude in C (BWV 846). Standard wedding/funeral piece.
AO1↓ full score - RomanticDb · C
Letter Scene (Eugene Onegin)
P. I. Tchaikovsky(Op. 24)
Tatiana's Act 1 letter aria. Long-breathed soprano scene.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / RussianF#m · C
Prince Igor's aria
A. Borodin
Bass-baritone aria from Act 2. Russian operatic standard.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueBb · 12/8
Schafe können sicher weiden (Cantata BWV 208)
J. S. Bach(BWV 208)
Soprano aria from secular Hunting Cantata. Two recorders + continuo.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueF · 3/4
Cara sposa (Rinaldo)
G. F. Handel(HWV 7)
Da capo aria from Rinaldo. Standard contralto recital piece.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueBm · 3/4
Quia respexit (Magnificat)
J. S. Bach(BWV 243)
Soprano aria from Magnificat. Solo oboe d'amore obbligato.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Let the bright Seraphim (Samson)
G. F. Handel(HWV 57)
Soprano aria with solo trumpet. From oratorio Samson. Closing piece.
AO1↓ full score - Baroque (Italian)Fm · C
Vergin tutto amor (Italian art song)
F. Durante
Standard 'Italian Art Song' compilation piece. From the 24 Italian Songs anthology.
AO1↓ full score - Late Renaissance / Early BaroqueF · C
Amarilli, mia bella
G. Caccini
Solo monody from Caccini's Le nuove musiche. Foundation of solo song.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalG · C
Nel cor più non mi sento
G. Paisiello
Aria from opera La molinara. Standard student Italian art song.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueAm · C
Intorno all'idol mio
M. A. Cesti
Aria from opera Orontea. Standard 17th-century recital aria.
AO1↓ full score - Baroque (Late Italian)Fm · C
Tre giorni son che Nina
G. B. Pergolesi (attrib.)
Aria — long attributed to Pergolesi, possibly by Vincenzo Ciampi. Standard student Italian art song.
AO1↓ full score - ClassicalC · C
Che farò senza Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice)
C. W. Gluck
Mezzo-soprano aria from Act 3. Standard recital aria.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / ItalianFm · C
Vaghissima sembianza
S. Donaudy
Italian art song from 36 Arie di stile antico. Salon-style.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / ItalianF · C
Non t'amo più
F. P. Tosti
Italian art song. Salon style. Standard tenor recital.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / EnglishEb · 6/8
Now sleeps the crimson petal
R. Quilter
English art song. Tennyson text. ABA.
AO1↓ full score - Late Romantic / EnglishF · 6/8
Linden Lea
R. Vaughan Williams
English folk-song setting. Strophic. Among Vaughan Williams's most-performed songs.
AO1↓ full score - BaroqueF · C
Largo from Xerxes (alternate)
G. F. Handel(HWV 40)
Most-arranged Handel aria for any combination — solo voice, organ, strings, brass.
AO1↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchBbm · 3/4
Clair de lune (Fauré, mélodie)
G. Fauré(Op. 46 No. 2)
Mélodie — setting of Verlaine. Different from Debussy's Clair de lune piano piece.
AO1↓ full score
Organ & keyboard
Organ repertoire and harpsichord works that don't fit the piano category. Bach, Buxtehude, the great preludes and toccatas. Ideal AO3 material for discussing texture and registration.
- BaroqueDm · C
Toccata and Fugue in D minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 565)
Toccata + Fugue paired piece. The toccata opens with the most-famous descending mordent in Western music, then explores D minor / its dominant through free improvisatory writing. The fugue follows, with a four-voice subject derived from the toccata's main motif.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueC · C
Prelude in C major (WTC Book I)
J. S. Bach(BWV 846)
Prelude — the opening of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I. 35 bars of broken chords. Each bar is a single harmony arpeggiated in a fixed pattern; the only musical element that changes is the harmony.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueG · 3/4
Goldberg Variations — Aria
J. S. Bach(BWV 988)
Aria — opening movement of the Goldberg Variations. A stately Sarabande in G major, 32 bars, the bass line of which generates the 30 variations that follow. The piece returns at the end (the 'da capo Aria') to close the cycle.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueF · C
Italian Concerto — 1st movement
J. S. Bach(BWV 971)
First movement of Bach's Italian Concerto for solo harpsichord — a one-instrument 'concerto' that imitates the Vivaldi tutti / soloist alternation using the harpsichord's two manuals (forte = both manuals, piano = upper manual only). Ritornello form.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueGm · C
Little Fugue in G minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 578)
Four-voice fugue for organ — the 'little' is in contrast to Bach's larger Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV 542. Compact subject (4 bars), four voice entries (SATB by register), conventional exposition + episodes.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueCm · 3/4
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 582)
Passacaglia + Fugue paired piece. Passacaglia = 21 variations over an 8-bar bass theme. Fugue follows, taking the first half of the passacaglia bass as its subject. The grandest single organ work of the Baroque era.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueEb · C
Wachet auf — Chorale Prelude
J. S. Bach(BWV 645)
Chorale prelude — Bach's organ arrangement of the central tenor aria from Cantata BWV 140. One of the six 'Schübler' chorale preludes (published by Schübler as Bach's last organ collection).
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueDm · 3/2
Passacaglia in D minor
D. Buxtehude(BuxWV 161)
Organ passacaglia — 4-bar bass theme + 28 variations. A direct model for Bach's BWV 582 (Bach famously walked 250 miles to hear Buxtehude play in 1705).
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueF · 3/8
Toccata in F major
J. S. Bach(BWV 540)
Toccata + Fugue with two huge pedal points. Longest pedal solos in Bach's organ output.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueC · 9/8
Prelude and Fugue in C
J. S. Bach(BWV 547)
Prelude in 9/8 + Fugue in 4/4. Late-Leipzig writing with invertible counterpoint.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueBb · C
Les Barricades Mystérieuses
F. Couperin(Pièces de Clavecin Bk 2)
Harpsichord rondeau. The 'mysterious barricades' have never been definitively explained.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueCm · C
WTC Book 1 — Prelude & Fugue C minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 847)
Prelude (toccata-style figuration) + four-voice fugue.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueEbm · C
WTC Book 1 — Prelude & Fugue E♭ minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 853)
Slow declamatory prelude (in E♭ minor) + tragic fugue (notated in D♯ minor for clarity).
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueBm · C
WTC Book 1 — Prelude & Fugue B minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 869)
Closing pair of WTC Book 1. Long chromatic fugue subject (uses every chromatic note).
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueC · C
Prelude in C
D. Buxtehude(BuxWV 137)
Stylus phantasticus organ prelude — improvisatory, with embedded fugue.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueE · C
The Harmonious Blacksmith
G. F. Handel(HWV 430)
Air with five variations — closing movement of Suite No. 5 for harpsichord.
AO3↓ full score - Baroque (French)Gm · 2/4
La Poule (Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin)
J.-P. Rameau
Character piece — 'The Hen'. Imitates clucking via repeated-note figuration.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueDm · C
Art of Fugue — Contrapunctus 1
J. S. Bach(BWV 1080)
Opening fugue of Bach's last didactic work. D minor subject treated in 14 fugues + 4 canons.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueCm · C
Musical Offering — Ricercar a 6
J. S. Bach(BWV 1079)
6-voice fugue based on the 'Royal Theme' from Frederick the Great. Ne Plus Ultra of Baroque counterpoint.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueGm · C
Fantasia & Fugue in G minor
J. S. Bach(BWV 542)
Fantasia (free, virtuosic) + Fugue (chromatic 4-voice). Among Bach's greatest organ pairs.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueEb · C
Clavier-Übung III — St Anne Fugue
J. S. Bach(BWV 552)
Triple fugue closing Clavier-Übung III. Three subjects representing the Trinity.
AO3↓ full score - RomanticBb · C
Organ Sonata No. 4 in B♭
F. Mendelssohn(Op. 65 No. 4)
Four-movement organ sonata. Mendelssohn revived the German organ tradition.
AO3↓ full score - Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchBm · 9/8
Prélude, Fugue & Variation
C. Franck(Op. 18)
Prélude (lyrical 9/8) + Fugue + Variation. Among Franck's most-played organ works.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueAm · C
Orgelbüchlein — Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
J. S. Bach(BWV 599)
Chorale prelude opening Bach's Orgelbüchlein. Setting of Advent chorale tune.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueG · 12/8
Komm, heiliger Geist (Leipzig Chorale)
J. S. Bach(BWV 651)
Late chorale prelude on Pentecost hymn. Pedal ostinato + RH virtuoso figuration.
AO3↓ full score - Baroque (French)F · 6/8
Soeur Monique
F. Couperin
Caractère piece for harpsichord — 'Sister Monica'. Rondeau form. From Pièces de Clavecin Bk 3.
AO3↓ full score - Baroque (French)Em · 2/2
Tambourin
J.-P. Rameau
French character piece — drum-imitation. From Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueDm · 3/2
Suite in D minor — Sarabande (Handel)
G. F. Handel(HWV 437)
Sarabande from Handel's Suite in D minor for harpsichord. Theme used by film 'Barry Lyndon' (Kubrick 1975).
AO3↓ full score - Late Romantic / Late 19th-century FrenchF · C
Toccata (Symphony No. 5)
C.-M. Widor(Op. 42 No. 1)
Closing toccata of Symphony 5 for organ. Standard wedding recessional.
AO3↓ full score - Late Romantic / French ModernistD · C
Carillon de Westminster
L. Vierne(Op. 54 No. 6)
Showpiece using the Westminster chimes as theme. Vierne was Notre-Dame's organist.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueC · C
Magnificat Fugue
J. Pachelbel
Organ fugue based on Magnificat tone. From Pachelbel's Magnificat Fugues collection.
AO3↓ full score - Late Renaissance / Early BaroqueDm · C
Toccata Prima
G. Frescobaldi
Toccata for harpsichord/organ. From Toccate e partite (Book 1).
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueGm · C
Keyboard Suite No. 7 in G minor — Passacaille
G. F. Handel(HWV 432)
Passacaille — closing variation movement of the suite. Famous arrangement by Halvorsen for violin + viola.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueA · 9/8
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr
J. S. Bach(BWV 662)
Chorale prelude from the Leipzig Eighteen. Decorated chorale tune in highly ornamented style.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueDm · C
Air with Variations (Suite No. 3 in D minor)
G. F. Handel(HWV 428)
Air + 6 variations. From Handel's Suite No. 3 for harpsichord.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueG · C
Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit
J. S. Bach(BWV 668)
Bach's last chorale prelude — dictated from his deathbed. Closing piece of Art of Fugue.
AO3↓ full score
Renaissance — Sacred & secular
16th and early 17th-century repertoire — motets, madrigals, masses, lute songs. Palestrina, Tallis, Byrd, Victoria, Josquin, Monteverdi. Modal, polyphonic, the foundation everything else stands on.
- RenaissanceF · C
Sicut cervus
G. P. da Palestrina
Motet for SATB. Setting of Psalm 42: 'As the deer longs for water-streams'. Two-part form (prima pars, secunda pars). One of the most-anthologised Renaissance motets — a perfect first introduction to imitative polyphony.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Missa Papae Marcelli — Kyrie
G. P. da Palestrina
Mass setting for six voices (SAATBB). The Kyrie, Christe, and second Kyrie make up movement 1. Famous for the legend that this Mass 'saved polyphony' from being banned by the Council of Trent.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceG · C
Spem in alium
T. Tallis
Motet for FORTY independent voices (eight choirs of five). Possibly written for Queen Elizabeth I's 40th birthday. The single most-elaborate piece of Renaissance polyphony — voices enter one at a time across the eight choirs, building to all 40 singing simultaneously at the climax.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Ave verum corpus
W. Byrd
Motet for SATB from Byrd's 'Gradualia' — the cycle of Catholic motets he published despite Anglican England's penal laws against Catholic worship. Through-composed, moderate length (~4 minutes).
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
O magnum mysterium
T. L. de Victoria
Motet for SATB. Setting of the Christmas Matins responsory. Through-composed, with the closing 'Alleluia' in triple meter. Performed at virtually every cathedral choir's Christmas service.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Ave Maria … virgo serena
Josquin des Prez
Motet for SATB. The most-anthologised work of the High Renaissance. Five sections matching the five 'Ave' salutations of the text; each section uses different polyphonic devices (canon, paired duet, homophony).
AO3↓ full score - Renaissance / Early BaroqueDm · C
Lasciatemi morire (Lamento d'Arianna)
C. Monteverdi
Solo madrigal — the only surviving fragment of Monteverdi's lost opera 'Arianna'. The opera music is gone; this lament was published separately and survived. A milestone in early monody and a foundational piece for the Baroque solo aria.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceAm · C
Flow my tears
J. Dowland
Lute song — solo voice with lute accompaniment (often performed today with guitar or harpsichord). Strophic with three verses. Originally published in Dowland's 'Second Book of Songs' (1600).
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceAm · C
Pavan: The Earle of Salisbury
W. Byrd
Pavan for keyboard — published in Byrd's 'Parthenia' (1612), one of the first printed keyboard-music books in England. Stately AABB form. A pavan is a slow processional dance.
AO3↓ full score - Renaissance / Early BaroqueCm · C
Miserere mei, Deus
G. Allegri
Setting of Psalm 51 for two choirs (5 + 4 voices). Sung at the Sistine Chapel during Holy Week. The Vatican kept the score secret for centuries; legend has it the 14-year-old Mozart memorised the entire piece after one hearing in 1770.
AO3↓ full score - Late Renaissance / Early BaroqueC · C
Toccata (L'Orfeo)
C. Monteverdi
Opening fanfare of L'Orfeo — first masterpiece of opera. C major fanfare for trumpets + drums + strings.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceBb · C
Tallis's Canon
T. Tallis
Two-voice canon at the octave, 8 bars. Universal English hymnal staple.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Stabat Mater
G. P. da Palestrina
Eight-voice double-chorus motet. Setting of the medieval sequence on Mary at the foot of the cross.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Mass for Four Voices — Kyrie
W. Byrd
Mass setting for SATB. Byrd's recusant Catholic music for clandestine domestic worship.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceEm · C
Popule meus, quid feci tibi?
T. L. de Victoria
Tenebrae responsory for Good Friday. SATB. The 'Improperia' (reproaches) of Christ from the cross.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Missa Pange Lingua
Josquin des Prez
Mass setting based on the chant 'Pange lingua'. Josquin's late masterpiece. SATB throughout.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
This is the record of John
O. Gibbons
Verse anthem — alternating solo voice + chorus. Setting of John 1:19-23. Standard Anglican choir repertoire.
AO1↓ full score - RenaissanceG · C
Now is the month of maying
T. Morley
Ballett — strophic dance song with fa-la-la refrain. SATB, syllabic, dance-like.
AO1↓ full score - Late Renaissance / Early BaroqueG · C
Vespers of 1610 — Magnificat
C. Monteverdi(SV 206)
Closing Magnificat of Monteverdi's Vespers — virtuoso vocal solos + double-choir.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Laudibus in sanctis
W. Byrd
Five-voice motet. Setting of Psalm 150 in Latin. From Byrd's Cantiones Sacrae.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Lamentations of Jeremiah
T. Tallis
Five-voice setting of Lamentations text for Holy Week. Two parts (Lamentations I + II).
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceEm · C
Tenebrae Responsories
C. Gesualdo
Set of responsories for Holy Week, six voices. Famous for extreme chromaticism.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceDm · C
Tristis est anima mea
O. di Lasso
Five-voice motet. Setting of Christ's Holy Thursday text. SAATB.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceG · C
This sweet and merry month of May
W. Byrd
English madrigal — six voices. SSAATB. From Musica Transalpina.
AO1↓ full score - Late Renaissance / Early BaroqueGm · C
Cruda Amarilli
C. Monteverdi
Five-voice madrigal. Famous for its 'unprepared' dissonances that helped trigger the Baroque seconda prattica.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceEm · 6/8
Greensleeves
Anonymous (English Trad.)
English folk-song. First registered 1580. Strophic with a refrain (sometimes 'What Child is This?').
AO1↓ full score - Late RenaissanceEm · 6/8
Greensleeves to a Ground
Anonymous (English Trad.)
Variations on Greensleeves over a ground bass. From The Division Flute (1706).
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueD · C
Sound the Trumpet (Come, Ye Sons of Art)
H. Purcell(Z. 323)
Counter-tenor duet with trumpets. From the birthday ode for Queen Mary II.
AO1↓ full score - Renaissance / BaroqueF · C
Pavan in F
J. Jenkins
Pavan for viola da gamba consort. Standard English consort repertoire.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceEm · C
Solo e pensoso
L. Marenzio
Five-voice madrigal — setting of Petrarch sonnet. Famous chromatic ascending opening.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
O magnum mysterium (Victoria, alternate)
T. L. de Victoria
Christmas motet. Most-anthologised Spanish Renaissance choral work.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Tu es Petrus
G. P. da Palestrina
Six-voice motet. Setting of Christ's words to Peter (Matthew 16). Standard cathedral repertoire.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Non vos relinquam
W. Byrd
Five-voice motet. Pentecost text 'I will not leave you orphans'.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
O nata lux
T. Tallis
Five-voice motet. Setting of Transfiguration hymn. Compact and popular.
AO3↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
Rejoice in the Lord
Anonymous (English Renaissance)
Verse anthem for solo + chorus. From the Mulliner Book.
AO1↓ full score - RenaissanceAm · C
Pavan: Sir William Petre
W. Byrd
Pavan for keyboard. From My Ladye Nevells Booke (1591).
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueF · C
If Music Be the Food of Love
H. Purcell(Z. 379)
English song. Setting of Henry Heveningham's Shakespeare-flavoured text.
AO1↓ full score - RenaissanceF · C
The Silver Swan
O. Gibbons
English madrigal for five voices. SSATB. From Madrigals & Motetts of 5 Parts.
AO3↓ full score - BaroqueDm · 3/4
Rondeau (Abdelazer)
H. Purcell(Z. 570)
Rondeau from incidental music to Aphra Behn's tragedy. Famous as Britten's Young Person's Guide theme.
AO3↓ full score
Jazz & Ragtime — Public-domain era
Pre-1925 American vernacular: ragtime, early blues, Tin Pan Alley. Scott Joplin, W.C. Handy, James Scott, Joseph Lamb. All scores PD via the 95-year rule. The roots of jazz, before recordings copyrighted everything.
- Ragtime / Early 20th-century AmericanAb · 2/4
Maple Leaf Rag
S. Joplin
Ragtime — AABBACCDD form (multi-strain march form, inherited from Sousa's brass-band marches). Published by John Stark in 1899 in Sedalia, Missouri. The piece that launched ragtime's commercial era.
AO3↓ full score - Ragtime / Early 20th-century AmericanC · 2/4
The Entertainer
S. Joplin
Ragtime march — AABBACCDD. Subtitled 'A ragtime two step'. Briefly forgotten after Joplin's death, then revived by Marvin Hamlisch's arrangement for the 1973 film 'The Sting' — the most-played ragtime piece of the 20th century.
AO3↓ full score - Ragtime / Early 20th-century AmericanF · C
Solace — A Mexican Serenade
S. Joplin
Slow ragtime / habanera. Joplin's only published piece in habanera rhythm — the same dance form Bizet used for Carmen's 'L'amour est un oiseau rebelle'. Slow 4/4, dotted-rhythm bass.
AO3↓ full score - Ragtime / Early 20th-century AmericanG · 3/4
Bethena — A Concert Waltz
S. Joplin
Ragtime waltz — five 16-bar strains in different keys (G, D, B♭, G, D). Published a year after Joplin's wife Freddie died; many writers read the piece as a memorial.
AO3↓ full score - Early Blues / Tin Pan AlleyG · C
St. Louis Blues
W. C. Handy
12-bar blues + 16-bar habanera contrast section. Handy's most-recorded composition; one of the first commercially-published blues songs. Written in the form Handy heard in informal performances in Mississippi Delta clubs.
AO3↓ full score - Early Blues / Tin Pan AlleyF · C
The Memphis Blues
W. C. Handy
Multi-strain ragtime + blues hybrid — published 1912 (originally as 'Mr. Crump', a campaign song for Memphis mayor E.H. Crump). Often credited as the first published blues, though scholarship is contested.
AO3↓ full score - Ragtime / Early 20th-century AmericanAb · 2/4
Grace and Beauty
J. Scott
Classic ragtime — AABBACCDD. James Scott was published by John Stark (Joplin's publisher) and is one of the 'Big Three' classic ragtime composers (Joplin, Scott, Lamb).
AO3↓ full score - Ragtime / Early 20th-century AmericanBb · 2/4
Sensation — A Rag
J. Lamb
Classic ragtime — AABBACCDD. Joseph Lamb was the third of the 'Big Three' (with Joplin and Scott) and the only white member. Self-taught; published by John Stark on Joplin's recommendation.
AO3↓ full score - RagtimeBb · 2/4
Pine Apple Rag
S. Joplin
Ragtime AABBACCDD. Late-Joplin chromatic harmony.
AO3↓ full score - RagtimeAb · 2/4
The Easy Winners
S. Joplin
Ragtime two-step AABBACCDD. Self-published by Joplin.
AO3↓ full score - RagtimeEb · 2/4
The Strenuous Life
S. Joplin
Ragtime two-step AABBACCDD. Title from Theodore Roosevelt's 1899 speech.
AO3↓ full score - RagtimeC · 2/4
Elite Syncopations
S. Joplin
Ragtime two-step AABBACCDD.
AO3↓ full score - Ragtime / OperaBb · C
A Real Slow Drag (Treemonisha)
S. Joplin
Closing chorus of Joplin's opera Treemonisha. Slow drag rhythm.
AO3↓ full score - RagtimeAb · 2/4
Frog Legs Rag
J. Scott
Classic ragtime AABBACCDD.
AO3↓ full score - RagtimeBb · 2/4
American Beauty Rag
J. Lamb
Classic ragtime — among Lamb's most-played works. Denser harmony than Joplin.
AO3↓ full score - Early BluesC · C
Beale Street Blues
W. C. Handy
12-bar blues + secondary theme. Beale Street is Memphis's blues-music thoroughfare.
AO3↓ full score - Early BluesG · C
Yellow Dog Blues
W. C. Handy
12-bar blues + multi-strain. About a railroad junction in Mississippi.
AO3↓ full score - RagtimeBb · 2/4
Magnetic Rag
S. Joplin
Late ragtime — five-strain extension of Joplin's classical-ragtime form.
AO3↓ full score - Ragtime / Early JazzAb · 2/4
Charleston Rag
E. Blake
Ragtime composition. Eubie Blake's signature piece, allegedly composed 1899 but first published 1917.
AO3↓ full score - Early JazzAb · 2/4
King Porter Stomp
J. R. Morton
Standard New Orleans stomp. Multi-strain. Played by every swing band of the 1930s.
AO3↓ full score - Early JazzBb · C
Tiger Rag
Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Multi-strain stomp. The most-recorded jazz tune of the 1920s. Authorship contested.
AO3↓ full score - Early Jazz / SpiritualF · C
When the Saints Go Marching In
Anonymous (American Trad.)
Spiritual / dixieland standard. Strophic + chorus.
AO1↓ full score - RagtimeEb · 3/4
Binks's Waltz
S. Joplin
Concert waltz — five-strain. From Joplin's mature waltz period.
AO3↓ full score - Ragtime / OperaC · C
We're Goin' Around (Treemonisha)
S. Joplin
Chorus from Joplin's opera Treemonisha. The piece premiered posthumously in 1972.
AO3↓ full score - Early BluesF · C
Careless Love
W. C. Handy / Trad.
Strophic blues — older folk source, published Handy 1921. 12-bar blues form. Standard early-blues song.
AO3↓ full score - Early JazzBb · C
Livery Stable Blues
Original Dixieland Jazz Band
First commercial jazz recording (1917). 12-bar blues + comedy animal-imitation breaks.
AO3↓ full score - RagtimeBb · 2/4
Hilarity Rag
J. Scott
Classic ragtime AABBACCDD.
AO3↓ full score - RagtimeBb · 2/4
Ragtime Nightingale
J. Lamb
Classic ragtime AABBACCDD. Bird-call effects.
AO3↓ full score - Ragtime / Early JazzC · 2/4
Fizz Water
E. Blake
Ragtime two-step. Eubie Blake collaborator with Noble Sissle.
AO3↓ full score - Early Modern AmericanBb · C
Rhapsody in Blue — opening
G. Gershwin
Single-movement concert piece for piano + orchestra. Iconic clarinet glissando opening.
AO3↓ full score - Early BluesF · C
Mr. Crump Don't 'Low (1909 version)
W. C. Handy
Original Memphis Blues source song before the 1912 publication. 12-bar blues.
AO3↓ full score
Every piece in this library is public-domain — composers d. before 1925. Incipits are teaching transcriptions; click into a work for the full-score link (IMSLP / CPDL / Mutopia, all freely downloadable). UNEB prescribes its own annual set works; treat this library as the platform's standing pedagogical anchor — works the teacher can lean on year-round.