Best Classical Music for IB - Rankings

Good recs tbh

Concertos:

Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos (I think most people start with No. 2)

Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1

Elgar Cello Concerto 

Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez (II. Adagio Movement is the most well known section)

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto 

Brahms Violin Concerto

Sibelius Violin Concerto

Symphonic Pieces:

Scheherazade

Brahms Symphony No. 3

Brahms Symphony No. 4

Dvorak Serenade for Strings

Mendelssohn Symphony No. 5 

Beethoven Symphony No. 7

Mozart Symphony No. 40 (Pretty well known, but Mozart isn't really my cup of tea as you can tell from this list)

Sibelius Symphony No. 7 

Bruckner Symphony No. 7

Solo Pieces:

J.S. Bach Sonata No. 1 for Violin (Hilary Hahn has best recording)

J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations 

Song Without Words Op. 109 (Yo-Yo Ma has my favorite recording)

J.S. Bach Partita for Violin (V. Chaconne)

Chopin Nocturnes (They're all fantastic, you'll likely recognize a couple already)

Tchaikovsky Valse Sentimentale (This one has a special place in my heart)

Sibelius 13 Pieces for Piano, Op. 76 II. Etude

11 Comments
 

I use only 1 piece on repeat. It's better psychologically because you associate that song with work focus. It does the job on cancelling any noise and also to set you psychologically for work. After 5 minutes it stops feeling like a distraction, so it's there but it's also not there...

Take Five - The Dave Brubeck Quartet

incentives triumph ethics
 

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