The Classic FM Concise Hall of Fame

The Classic FM Concise Hall of Fame celebrates classical music's unique ability to stir the emotions of a listener—whether it's the haunting melodies of Górecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs or Purcell's Dido and Aeneas; the passionately charged opening bars of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5; dramatic operas such as Puccini's La bohème; the moving sounds of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto; beautiful ballet scores from Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky; or blockbuster film soundtracks composed by John Williams and Howard Shore. Based on 15 years of selections by Classic FM's millions of listeners for the radio station's annual countdown of the nation's 300 favourite works, this definitive collection encompasses a rich variety of classical greats, contemporary masters, lesser-known treasures, and great British composers to provide a fascinating insight into our relationship with the music we love. This exclusive e-book version, based on the Sunday Times bestselling The Classic FM Hall of Fame, combines the stories behind each of the 300 pieces of music, with biographies of key composers, the full Hall of Fame ranking and detailed recommended recordings to help guide your listening and enjoyment of the greatest classical music of all time. Full of information and facts as relevant to a new listener discovering the joys of classical music as it is to long-time lovers of the genre, The Classic FM Concise Hall of Fame is the ideal companion to music which can inspire, entertain, relax, and invigorate us.