Ravel's Piano Concerto in G

Ravel’s American influences are easily heard in his Piano Concerto in G Major, which he modeled after the light, divertimento-like concertos of Mozart and Saint‑Saëns.

Britten's Peter Grimes

Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes is one of the great operatic psychodramas–an outcast in a closed society, is Grimes truly a villain, or a victim of circumstance?

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15

Dmitri Shostakovich summed up his life and art in his 15th and final symphony. But, in the end, did it reveal who he really was, or was it just another mask for him to hide behind?

Britten's The Prince of the Pagodas

Britten's exotic fairy-tale ballet The Prince of the Pagodas fuses the sounds of East and West in a magical mix that sounds like nothing else he ever wrote.

Fauré’s Reqiuem

Gabriel Fauré called his Requiem "a lullaby of death...as gentle as I am myself." Serene and hopeful, it's one of the great spiritual masterpieces of the 20th century.

Bach’s Missa brevis

Like many of Bach's works, much of his Missa brevis had been used before and all of it would be used again, in his epic Mass in B minor. But in its original form it was actually something quite different: a bribe.

Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 4

Bach's Orchestral Suite #4 is a dazzling combination of rhythmic complexity and sonic brilliance; all the more amazing in that he wrote it (most likely) just for fun!