Sweet Sounds

Several months ago I introduced you to one of my mentors, the late Colonel Thomas Blythe Gentry, VMI Class of 1944.  Not only did he teach several of my English classes, but he also served as adviser to the Timmins Music Society, a social and educational club that promotes the understanding and appreciation of classical music.  He advised the Society since its founding in 1951.

Just the other day I found a crumpled and stained piece of paper that I haven't seen in many years.  It is a playlist of classical music that Colonel Gentry typed for me in 1987 and gave to me as a "starter kit."  He thought it would help me appreciate the music.

I treasure this list but have never shared it with anyone.

However, I think it's time.  Colonel Gentry would want you to enjoy the music.  I haven't changed a word.  Perhaps you could work through it at your own pace.

THE GENTRY LIST

Bach

Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 - Suite No. 3 in D Major - Magnificat (chorus and orchestra) - Organ music: Fugue in G Minor (Little), Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

Barber

Adagio for Strings

Beethoven

Overtures: "Coriolan," "Leonore No. 3," "Egmont" - Sonatas (piano): No. 14 in C Minor ("Moonlight"), No. 23 in F Minor ("Appassionata") - Concerto No. 5 in E Flat - Symphonies: No. 5 in C Minor, No. 6 in F

Berlioz

Harold in Italy (viola and orchestra) - Overtures: "Roman Carnival," "Benvenuto Cellini" - Romeo and Juliet (excerpts) - Symphonie Fantastique

Bizet

L'Arlesienne, Suites 1 and 2 - Carmen (opera) selections

Borodin

Quartet No. 2 in D

Brahms

Academic Festival Overture - Hungarian Dances - Concerto (violin) in D - Variations on a theme by Haydn - Trio in E Flat for Horn, Violin, Piano

Britten

Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

Chabrier

"Espana"

Chopin

Preludes (selections) - Polonaises (selections, particularly "Military")

Copland

Ballets: "Appalachian Spring," " Billy the Kid," "Rodeo," " El Salon Mexico"

Debussy

"Claire de lune" (either piano or orchestra) - Iberia (orchestra) - Nocturnes (particularly "Fetes") - Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune ("The Afternoon of a Faun")

Delius

Brigg Fair - Walk to the Paradise Garden

Donizetti

Lucia di Lammermoor (Opera) excerpts, particularly the sextet

Dvorak

Quartet No. 6 in F ("American") - Slavonic Dances - Symphony No. 5 in E Minor ("New World")

Enesco

Roumanian Rhapsodies No. 1 and No. 2

de Falla

"El Amor Brujo" - "La Vida Breve" (dance)

Frank

Sonata in A for Violin and Piano

Gershwin

"American in Paris" - Porgy and Bess (opera) selections

Glinka

Overture "Russlan and Ludmilla"

Grieg

Concerto in A Minor (piano and orchestra) - Peer Gynt (excerpts)

Handel

Messiah (oratorio) excerpts - Water Music Suite

Haydn

Concerto in E Flat for Trumpet - Quartet in C,  Op. 33,  No. 3 ("Bird") - Symphonies: No. 94 in G ("Surprise"), No. 100 in G ("Military")

Kodaly

"Harry Janos" Suite

Liszt

Hungarian Rhapsodies - Les Preludes (orchestra)

Mahler

Youth's Magic Horn (songs in German)

Mendelssohn

Concerto in E Minor (violin) - Midsummer Night's Dream - Symphony No. 4 in A ("Italian")

Mozart

Requiem - Concerto No. 4, K. 495 for Horn - Concerto No. 27 in B Flat, K. 595 (piano) - Overtures: "Marriage of Figaro," " Cosi fan tutti" - Serenade No. 10 in B Flat for 13 Wind Instruments - Serenade in G, K. 525 "Eine Kleine Nachtmusil" - Symphony No. 29 in A, K. 201 - Piano Concerto No. 9

Offenbach

Gaite Parisienne

Poulenc

Concerto in G Minor for Organ, Strings, and Tympani

Prokofiev

Alexander Nevsky - Lieutenant Kije Suite - Love for Three Oranges Suite

Puccini

Madame Butterfly (opera)

 Rachmaninoff

Concerto No. 2 in C Minor - Rhapsody of a theme of Paganini

Ravel

Bolero - Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2 - Pavane pour une infante defunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) - La Valse

Resphighi

Fountains of Rome

Rimsky-Korsakov

Capriccio Espagnol - Russian Easter Overture - Scheherazade

Rossini

Overtures: "William Tell," "Barber of Seville," "Semiramide"

Saint-Saens

Danse Macabre - Introduction to Rondo Capriccioso - Samson and Delila (opera) selection

Sarasate

Zigeunerweisen (violin)

Schubert

Quintet in A ("Trout") - Rosamunde: Incidental Music - Symphony No. 8 in B Minor ("Unfinished")

Sibelius

Finlandia - Swan of Tuonela - Valse Triste

Smetana

Bartered Bride Dances - The Moldau (orchestra)

Strauss, Johann

Die Fledermaus selections

Strauss, Richard

Don Juan (orchestra) - Rosendavalier suite - Til Eulenspeigel (orchestra)

Stravinsky

Le Baiser de la Fee (The Fairy Firebird Suite) - L'histoire du Soldat Suite (The Soldier's Tale) - Petrouchka Suite

Suppe

Overtures: "Poet and Peasant," "Light Cavalry"

Tchaikovsky

Capriccio Italien (orchestra) - Concerto in D Flat Minor (piano) - Concerto in D (piano) - Nutcracker Suite - Overture 1812 - Romeo and Juliet Overture - Swan Lake (excerpts) - Symphony No. 6 in B Minor ("Pathetique")

Vaughan Williams

Fantasia on a theme of Tallis

Verdi

Operas: Aida (excerpts), Rigoletto (excerpts), La Traviata (excerpts), La Trovatore (excerpts)

Wagner

Lohengrin Preludes to Acts I & III - Die Meistersinger Prelude - Tannhauser Overture and Venusberg Music - Die Walkure Ride of the Valkyries and Magic Fire Music

Weber

Invitation to the Dance - Overtures: Die Freischutz, Eurvanthe