Robert Peters writes:

>So this is my question: Which, say, 25 works, do you think are absolutely
>essential for every serious classical CD collection? The works should be
>of every period (from the Middle Ages to the present) and from every genre
>(opera, Lied, symphony, chamber music, concert, etc.).

Bach: The Well Tempered Clavier, Goldberg Variations, Mass in b minor
Mozart: Divertimento for Strings, K. 563
Haydn: Symphony #102, String Quartets, opus 76
Beethoven: Symphony #7, Almost any piano sonata, Quartets opus 59
Schubert: String Trios
Chopin: Preludes
Liszt: A Faust Symphony
Bruckner: Symphony #7
Brahms: Symphony #4, Piano Quintet
Mahler: Symphony #2. (with others to follow), Das Lied von der Erde
Debussy: La Mer
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
Ives: Fourth Symphony
Sibelius: Symphony #4.
Nielsen: Symphony #5.
Strauss: Four Last Songs
Bartok: Quartet #2
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
Shostakovitch: Piano Trio #2, Symphony #4
Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time
Schnittke: Viola Concerto
Vaughn Williams- Symphony #4 or 5.

This is meant to complement what you have and in common with other such
lists it is a matter of individual choice - but this is my story and I am
sticking to it.

Professor Bernard Chasan
Physics Department, Boston University