All conductors, particularly those in instrumental music education, should possess cultivated musical taste and values. Continuous contact and exposure to excellent quality music contributes to the development and elevation of musical taste. These factors are very important when conductors/teachers evaluate and select music for study and/or teaching and/or performance.
One of the best ways to develop one’s taste is to listen and study significant pieces of music. Conductors should be familiar with the list of compositions shown below.
Benson, Warren — The Leaves Are Falling
Dvořák, Antonín — Serenade for Winds, Op. 44
Grainger, Percy — Colonial Song
Grainger, Percy — Lincolnshire Posy
Hindemith, Paul — Symphony in B-flat for Concert Band
Holst, Gustav — First Suite and Second Suite for Band
Husa, Karel — Music for Prague, 1968
Messaien, Olivier — Oiseaux exotiques
Mozart, Wolfgang — Serenade No. 10 in B-flat, K. 361, “Gran Partita”
Persichetti, Vincent — Masquerade
Schmitt, Florent — Dionysiaques, Op. 62
Schoenberg, Arnold — Theme and Variations, Op. 43a
Stravinsky, Igor — Octet for Wind Instruments
Stravinsky, Igor — Symphonies of Wind Instruments
Bach, J. S. — The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Bach. J. S. — Six Brandenburg Concerti, BWV 1046–1051
Bach, J. S. — St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244
Barber, Samuel — Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
Barber, Samuel — Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24
Bartók, Béla — Concerto for Orchestra
Beethoven, Ludwig van — String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132
Beethoven, Ludwig van — Symphonies No. 3 & 6
Berlioz, Hector — Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
Brahms, Johannes — Symphonies No. 1 & 4
Brahms, Johannes — A German Requiem, Op. 45
Britten, Benjamin — War Requiem
Carter, Elliott — A Symphony of Three Orchestras
Copland, Aaron — Appalachian Spring
Copland, Aaron — Symphony No. 3
Corigliano, John — Symphony No. 1
Danielpour, Richard — Concerto for Orchestra
Debussy, Claude — Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun”
Debussy, Claude — Three Nocturnes
Diamond, David — Symphony No. 2
Handel, George Frideric — Concerti Grossi, Op. 6
Haydn, Franz Joseph — Symphony No. 104 in D, “London”
Hindemith, Paul — Mathis der Maler
Holst, Gustav — The Planets, Op. 32
Ives, Charles — Three Places in New England
Lutosławski, Witold — Concerto for Orchestra
Mahler, Gustav — Symphony No. 3 in D minor
Mozart, Wolfgang — Don Giovanni, K. 527
Mozart, Wolfgang — Piano Concerti No. 21 & 22
Mozart, Wolfgang — Symphony No. 41 in C, K. 551, “Jupiter”
Nielsen, Carl — Symphony No. 4, Op. 29, “The Inextinguishable”
Penderecki, Krzysztof — Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
Piston, Walter — Symphony No. 2
Prokofiev, Sergei — Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64
Schoenberg, Arnold — A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46
Shostakovich, Dmitri — Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
Sibelius, Jean — Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 43
Strauss, Richard — Don Juan, Op. 20
Strauss, Richard — Four Last Songs
Stravinsky, Igor — Symphony of Psalms
Stravinsky, Igor — Le sacre du printemps
Vaughan Williams, Ralph — Symphony No. 3, “Pastoral”
If conductors are not familiar with any of the above works, they should familiarize themselves with them as soon as possible. The practice of “consistent listening to great music” is very important! It should be a part of every conductor’s life.