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Genre · Europe, over many centuries

Classical

Where to start with classical music: Bach: The Goldberg Variations, then seven more albums below, in order.

Here, classical music means the Western art-music tradition: music written down in scores and played by orchestras, choirs, chamber groups and soloists. It runs through the Middle Ages, the Baroque of Bach and Vivaldi, the classical and Romantic eras of Mozart, Beethoven and Mahler, and on into music still being written today.

Listen for three things. The theme, a melody you will hear return and change. The form, the way a long piece is built in movements and sections. And the color of the instruments: solo piano, strings or a full orchestra. Each recording below is a different door in.

Start listening8 albums, in order →
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  5. 5
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  8. 8
If you only play oneBach: The Goldberg VariationsGlenn Gould · 1955

If you only play one classical recording, make it this one: Glenn Gould's 1955 Goldberg Variations, Bach on solo piano, clear and quick.

Part of Common practice period →
Step 1

Where to start: 8 classical music albums, in order

Click a cover to hear 30-second previews. Start at the top; each record takes you a little further.

  1. 01

    Bach: The Goldberg Variations

    Glenn Gould · 1955

    An aria and 30 variations, played by Gould at the start of his career; every voice in Bach's counterpoint comes through clearly.

    Common practice period
  2. 02

    Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

    I Musici · 1982

    Four violin concertos that paint spring, summer, autumn and winter, with birdsong, storms and ice in short, vivid movements.

    Common practice period
  3. 03

    Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7

    Carlos Kleiber · 1975–76

    The most famous opening in music and a symphony built on rhythm, played by the Vienna Philharmonic with real drive.

    Common practice period
  4. 04

    Vladimir Horowitz: Carnegie Hall 1965

    Vladimir Horowitz · 1965

    Horowitz returning to the stage after twelve years away, playing Bach, Schumann, Scriabin and Chopin live.

  5. 05

    Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

    Sir Georg Solti · 1975

    A symphony that tells a story: an artist's opium dream, a ball, a march to the scaffold and a witches' sabbath.

    Common practice period
  6. 06

    Mahler: Symphony No. 8

    Sir Georg Solti · 1973

    The 'Symphony of a Thousand' for a huge orchestra, choirs and soloists, with Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

  7. 07

    Britten: War Requiem

    Benjamin Britten · 1963

    Britten set the Latin Requiem beside Wilfred Owen's First World War poems for the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, and conducts it here himself.

    20th-century classical music
  8. 08

    Music for 18 Musicians

    Steve Reich · 1978

    About an hour of pulsing, repeated patterns for 18 players; minimalism at its warmest, close in spirit to electronic and ambient music.

    20th-century classical music

Previews courtesy of Apple Music.

Which one did you like best? Its tag below the cover is the branch to dig into next.

Step 2

How classical music grew

5 periods, each with the branches that appeared in it. Branches with a dot have their own page.

  1. Up to 1600

    Early music

    Plainchant in medieval churches grew into polyphony, several melodies sung at once, and Renaissance composers such as Josquin and Palestrina refined it.

    Early music
  2. 1600–1750

    Baroque

    Opera, the concerto and the fugue took shape. Bach, Handel and Vivaldi wrote music of strong rhythm and interweaving lines.

    Common practice period

    On the route: record 1, record 2, record 3, record 5

  3. 1750–1900

    Classical and Romantic

    Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven built the symphony and the sonata, and the Romantics stretched them: Berlioz, Chopin, Wagner and Mahler wrote bigger and more personal music.

  4. 1900–1960s

    The 20th century

    Debussy, Stravinsky and Schoenberg broke with the old harmony, and later composers wrote for electronics, chance and film.

    20th-century classical music

    On the route: record 7, record 8

  5. 1960s onward

    Minimalism and after

    Minimalists such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass returned to steady pulse and repetition, and composers today mix classical forms with pop, electronic and world music.

The full lineage tree
↘ 900s 910s 920s 930s 940s 950s 960s 970s 980s 990s 1000s 1010s 1020s 1030s 1040s 1050s 1060s 1070s 1080s 1090s 1100s 1110s 1120s 1130s 1140s 1150s 1160s 1170s 1180s 1190s 1200s 1210s 1220s 1230s 1240s 1250s 1260s 1270s 1280s 1290s 1300s 1310s 1320s 1330s 1340s 1350s 1360s 1370s 1380s 1390s 1400s 1410s 1420s 1430s 1440s 1450s 1460s 1470s 1480s 1490s 1500s 1510s 1520s 1530s 1540s 1550s 1560s 1570s 1580s 1590s 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700s 1710s 1720s 1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1780s 1790s 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Traditional music of KoreaTraditional music of Korea ClassicalClassical · 500 Korean court musicKorean court music · 900 Andalusi classical musicAndalusi classical music · 1000 20th-century classical music20th-century classical music · 1900 Indian classical musicIndian classical music · 1980

Bright border: has its own pageDashed: sources that flowed inSolid line: documented stylistic originFaint dashes: grouped under classical musicHover a genre to see where it came from and went

Step 3

Pick a branch of classical music

The 3 branches people play most. Each has its own 8 albums and lineage.

  1. Common practice periodThe tonal music of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, in major and minor keys.Open on the genre map →
  2. 1900s20th-century classical musicNew harmonies, rhythms and sounds that broke the old rules.Open on the genre map →
  3. 1980sIndian classical musicRagas and talas improvised and elaborated over a drone.Open on the genre map →

See classical music on the genre map

Its place among more than 1,200 genres, next to its neighbors.

Open the genre map →

Keep digging classical music in Cratto

Scan your records, light up your own genre globe, and see how much of your shelf is classical music.

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All 9 subgenres of classical musicby decade

900s

Korean court music

1000s

Andalusi classical music

1900s

20th-century classical music

1980s

Indian classical music

Undated

Common practice periodEarly musicKurdish classical musicOttoman musicPersian traditional music
Genres classical music directly influenced25
JazzCool jazzBossa novaProgressive rockRagtimeBig bandOrchestral jazzWest Coast jazzAvant-garde musicRussian popThird streamChamber jazzNew-age musicLatin balladBaroque popChamber popArt rockCantopopCello rockNeoclassical metalTrance musicPsychedelic tranceSymphonic metalUplifting tranceNovelty piano

Genre names and classification follow Wikipedia (Classical, List of music genres and styles), CC BY-SA 4.0; lineage lines follow the stylistic origins each genre's entry records. Album artwork and previews come from Apple Music.