[Pharmboy]

I just don't tire of listening to the above. I have always been impressed with Freeper taste and have an open mind and am willing to learn (I also expect to get several good suggestions for CDs to buy myself for the Holidays).

[NewAmsterdam]

What a delight to see so many people interested in classical music! Thank goodness that the love of music isn't dead yet after decades of bombardment with pop-rubbish.

My suggestions:

Beethoven's 31st and 32nd piano sonatas (probably the most beautiful music I have ever heard)

Beethoven's Razumovsky quartets (opus 59)

Bach's cantata 'Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland II'

Rachmaninov's Preludes (esp. no. 24, what a lovely piece of classical kitsch)

George Enescu's Sonatas for violin and piano

I could go on for a while, if you wish.

[IronJack]

The Chorale ("Ode to Joy") from Beethoven's Ninth
Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major
Overture to The Marriage of Figaro by WA Mozart
Beethoven's "Consecration of the House" Overture
"Siegfried's Funeral" from the Ring of the Niebelungen by Ricard Wagner
The "Fra Diavolo" Overture by Daniel Francois Obert

Oh yeah, and anything else by Ludwig von Beethoven, including, but not limited to: the Egmont Overture, the Eroica Symphony, the Pastorale, the C Minor (Fifth) Symphony, and recordings of the maestro humming in the shower.

[IronJack]

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings.

[epow]

I'm afraid my taste in music isn't refined enough for this "high brow" thread, but I'll give my mostly low-brow romance-era choices for that desert isle anyway just so the aficianados of cerebral music can have some laughs.

1. Almost any Pavarotti cd of 19th century Italian and French operatic arias.

2. Beethoven: 5th Symphony

3. Beethoven: 9th Symphony

5. Rachmaninov: 2nd piano Concerto, preferably by Artur Rubinstein

6. Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody # 2 (in his original piano version)

7. Greig: Piano Concerto in A minor

8. Handel: Messiah

9.Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite

10.Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet (no, I'm not gay)

[johnboy]

occurred to me that not once in 300 comments did anyone mention rodriguez ... i recall he wrote some very listenable stuff; too, fernando sor wrote a great deal - studies and pieces both - that have yet to be surpassed in bringing forth the beauty and complexity of the classical guitar. alas, it would take me hours rummaging around in closets, reviewing notes - goodness, i'd probably even have to dig out the guitar, too! (ugh) before i could even consider compiling a list.

[A Navy Vet]

Tales of the Vienna Woods - Strauss.

[Marysecretary]

The Lord's Prayer comes to mind. It's a great song.

[devere]

Sousa, Semper Fidelis or The Stars and Stripes Forever ( both great; I can’t choose between them ).

Joplin, The Maple Leaf Rag.

Chopin, Nocturne Opus 9 #2 or Fantasie Impromptu in C sharp Minor Opus 66 ( both are great!).

Any Mozart clarinet or flute concerto; sheer loveliness.

Beethoven Symphony #5.

Beethoven string quartet #16 in F major Opus 135 ( his last work before he died, and very unusual Beethoven ).

Bach Brandenburg concerto #5 ( #2, and #3 are great also ).

Bach keyboard concerto in D Minor; here’s an amazing performance of this great music by 9 year old virtuoso Alice Burla: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwvWrKdXDVc

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, or if you prefer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker.

It’s hard not to pick a hundred more pieces of music...

[Age of Reason]

J.S. Bach and Handel would fill my top hundred.

When I was a teenager, I would have preferred Beethoven and Mozart. But I grew up.

[LukeL]

I like Turkey in the Straw, and Camp Town Races

[humblegunner]

FREEBIRD!

[newguy357]

It is inconceivable to not have some Brahms in that list.

[Military family member]

There are several pieces of early American Music, especially the Tin Pan Alley songs that I would probably want to take with me.

Certainly "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away," by Paul Dresser. As a Hoosier, and as a resident of Dresser's hometown, Terre Haute, Indiana, I would be amiss to not include that selection. Especially with Jim Nabors singing it.

[decal]

In absolutely no order at all, and it could well be completely different tomorrow:

Tallis: Spem in Alium

Berlioz: Requiem, op. 5

Purcell: The Funeral Music for Queen Mary

Tchaikovsky: The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom

Bruckner: Ninth Symphony

Mascagni: The "Hymn to the Sun" from Iris

Satie: Gnossiennes

Schönberg: Verklärte Nacht

Handel: Messiah

PDQ Bach: The Art of the Ground Round, S. $1.19/lb