Works
English folk songs: 11 beautiful, memorable folk melodies from our past
Are these the best English folk songs?
Songs about death: 11 of the most powerful melodies on mortality
Our round-up of the most powerful songs about death
From Bach to Gershwin, 17 pieces to get you hooked on classical music
Back in 2014, we asked BBC Music Magazine readers to tell us about the pieces that first drew them into the wonderful world of classical music. Here are some of the many responses we received...
Paddling dogs, cuckoo clocks, coffee addiction: ten classical masterpieces about the joys of everyday life
Whether it be coffee houses, tax returns or AGMs, composers have wrought remarkable music from the unremarkable. Geoff Brown goes in search of works that celebrate life in its most mundane forms
Stars, brain waves and atom bombs: 9 great pieces of classical music inspired by science
Alec Evans explores the sound of science in 9 fascinating classical works
Mahler style guide: ten musical fingerprints scattered across his symphonies
As distinctive as they are groundbreaking, Mahler’s symphonies are characterised by themes that have their own story to tell, as Stephen Johnson explains
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique: the pathetic tale of a composer desperately seeking a girlfriend
Why are lovestruck composers quite so pathetic? How Berlioz's infatuation with actress Harriet Smithson led him to compose his monumental Symphonie fantastique – only to be distracted by another woman
Little known Beethoven works: 11 overlooked gems from the revolutionary composer
Think you know Beethoven? Think again with our tour of 11 little known Beethoven gems, from Wellington's Victory to the Andante favori
Lesser known piano concertos: 11 great works for soloist and orchestra you might not know
Today's top performers recommend piano concertos that have been undeservedly overlooked
Relaxing piano music: 12 beautiful works to bring you inner calm and tranquillity
Need to de-stress? Here's a selection of piano music's most relaxing pieces
Punch-ups, walkouts and headbangers: seven riotous musical premieres
Just over a century on from the fiery premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, Sam Mason-Jones explores six other works that have caused something of a stir
Beethoven late quartets: five profound, valedictory masterpieces
Though deaf and in declining health, the ageing Beethoven remained inventive to the end, as his astonishing late quartets prove
Playing chamber music can make you a more empathetic person... here's how
Violinist Eva Zavaro discusses the importance of playing chamber music to build listening skills, teamwork and human understanding
Best violin concertos - 15 of the finest works ever composed for violin and orchestra
Here is our selection of the greatest pieces ever written for violin and orchestra. Do you agree?
Best classical music for New Year's Eve - 7 wonderful works to celebrate the New Year in style
The pieces of classical music to help you bring in the new year in style
Gods, kings and valkyries: 7 epic Wagner opera characters you should know
British soprano Susan Bullock selects the juiciest Wagner roles for singers to get their teeth into
Best of Tchaikovsky: 11 great works that show the Russian Romantic at his irresistible best
Romeo and Juliet, the Nutcracker, the Pathétique... Tchaikovsky's repertoire is stuffed full of melodic and emotional masterpieces. Here are 11 of the greatest
Oldest Christmas carol: a guide to the dawn of a much-loved tradition
The first - and oldest - Christmas carol was written in the fourth century, says Jeremy Pound
Amahl and the Night Visitors: an iconic US Christmas TV tradition
'A complete failure': 15 works that their composers bitterly regretted
The sorry tales of pieces that, for one reason or another, would go on to haunt their own composers
Schumann Violin Concerto: a bizarre tale of ouija boards, witch-hunts and Nazi propaganda
Jessica Duchen tells the extraordinary story of how a message from beyond the grave led to a race to resurrect and perform an important 19th-century work
In the Bleak Midwinter - the world's favourite Christmas carol
Ashutosh Khandekar heads back to a particularly bleak midwinter in the early 20th century, as he traces the chilly history of one of today’s most beloved carols
Best national anthems: 15 of the most uplifting national hymns
We pick out the best national anthems from around the world, and analyse the little bit of magic that each one brings
'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' lyrics: how the much-loved Christmas song goes
Did you know the song 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' dates back to the 16th century? But its tune is much newer? Hare are its lyrics