A. Vivaldi
The Four seasons(and more)

Leonard Bernstein
Barber/Gershwin/Mahler/Ravel

W.A. Mozart
Symphony no 41/ Symphony no 29

 

Antonio Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons," a set of four violin concertos that, in the 20th century, seem as pervasive as any other musical work.

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was perhaps the most influential figure in classical music in the last half of the twentieth century. Composer, conductor, author, lecturer and often controversial media personality, the American-born Bernstein had a dramatic impact on the popular audience's acceptance and appreciation of classical music. His own work as a composer, particularly his scores for such Broadway musicals as West Side Story and On the Town, helped forge a new relationship between classical and popular music.

Symphony No. 40 in g, K550 Bour, Ernest/SWF Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden +Symphony No. 39
The second of Mozart's two symphonies in G minor (indeed, the second of his two symphonies in any minor key, discounting one doubtfully attributed work and the symphonic prelude to an oratorio) may be the most widely recognized of any of his symphonies. Composed in the summer of 1788, at a moment when his popularity with the Viennese public was beginning to fade (the recent premiere of Don Giovanni had been rather coolly received), the symphony's minor-mode turbulence has invited all sorts of speculation about Mozart's supposedly autobiographical intent. But given the exploratory character of much of his composition in this period, it seems more reasonable to attribute the G minor symphony's distinctiveness to an artist's efforts to open up new creative possibilities rather than to see it as his expression of mourning over his declining fortunes.