Thanks, David, for giving us a reason to think about a list of our favorite
music.  Instead of limiting it to 3 works, let me quickly list a bunch of
favorites by composer.  The parentheticals next to some of the works are
intended to make gratuitously provocative and opinionated comments.

Beethoven:
Op. 132 String Quartet in A Minor (the greatest string quartet ever written)
Op. 111 Piano Sonata in C Minor (Number 32) (surely the greatest piano
sonata ever written, except for maybe a bunch of Beethoven's other sonatas)
Missa Solemnis
9th Symphony (the greatest symphony ever written, except for the other
Beethoven symphonies and perhaps the Mahler 9th; Verdi can kiss my
you-know-what for saying that the last movement of the Beethoven 9th was
vulgar)

Bach:
Goldberg Variations (maybe the greatest keybaord work ever written)
Six Partitas (the greatest set of keyboard works ever written, except for
the Goldbergs)
Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (the greatest body of solo instrument
works ever written, except for a handful of keyboard works)
Brandenberg Concertos
B minor Mass
St. Matthew Passion
A bunch of organ works (I can't decde how to narrow it down, especially when
I get into the chorale preludes, and particularlly Nun komm' der Heiden
Heiland)
Art of Fugue

Mozart:
Marriage of Figaro (I think this may be the greatest opera ever written)
Magic Flute (opera's greatest triumph over a horrible libretto)
G Minor String Quintet, K516
D Minor Piano Concerto, number 20, K466
G Minor Symphony, no. 40, K550

Mahler:
Symphony 9 (the greatest symphony ever written after Beethoven)
Song of the Earth
Ich bin der Welt adhanden gekommen (from Ruckert lieder) (depending on my
mood, it might win my vote for the single most moving work ever written)

Wagner:
Parsifal (I think this, too, may be the greatest opera ever written)
Tristan und Isolde (perhaps the most innovative work ever written)
The Ring

Stravinky:
Rite of Spring
Symphony of Psalms

Monteverdi:
L'Orfeo (certainly one of the most innovative works ever written)
The Madrigals (the greatest body of works before Bach)

Machaut:
Songs (the greatest body of works predating Monteverdi)

Puccini:
La Boheme

Verdi:
Falstaff

Sibelius:
5th Symphony

Debussy:
Pelleas et Melisande (the greatest opera with an absolute minimum of
bombast)

Strauss:
Four Last Songs (this, with Parsifal, might win by vote for the most
spiritually moving work by an otherwise morally repulsive individual)

Dvorak:
8th Symphony
American String Quartet, Op. 95
Both sets of Slavonic Dances, op. 46 & 72

Brahms:
Op. 117/118/119 piano works

Haydn:
The Creation
The Seasons

For a slight twist, here's my list of greatest bodies of works, with "body"
defined more broadly than above:
Bach's organ works
Bach's non-organ keyboard works
Bach's big choral works
Bach's  cantatas
Beethoven's piano sonatas
Beethoven's symphonies
Beethoven's string quartets
Mozart's operas
Mozart's piano concertos
Wagner's operas
Mahler's symphonies
Monteverdi's madrigals

This was done in haste.  If I were to be more careful and thoughtful,
these lists would take weeks, although it would be a hell of lot more fun
than almost anything else I can think of doing.

Drew M. Capuder
Fairmont, West Virginia USA
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