Classical Countdown

An annual WETA Classical tradition. Listeners vote for their favorite classical music pieces and we play back the top 100 pieces during Thanksgiving week.

A Thanksgiving Tradition on WETA Classical

WETA Classical's annual listeners' choice competition lets YOU determine the most popular classical pieces in the DC area. The power is in your hands to curate an exciting Classical Countdown that represents your favorite works. Here's to an exciting race this year, and be sure to tune in Thanksgiving week to hear the results!

The 2024 Classical Countdown

  1. Alexander Borodin | Prince Igor Overture
  2. Florence Price | Symphony #3
  3. Igor Stravinsky | The Firebird
  4. Frédéric Chopin | Piano Sonata #2
  5. Frédéric Chopin | Ballade #1
  6. Frédéric Chopin | Fantasie-Impromptu
  7. Sergei Rachmaninoff | Symphonic Dances
  8. Ralph Vaughan Williams | Fantasia on Greensleeves
  9. Joaquín Rodrigo | Concerto de Aranjuez
  10. Gustav Mahler | Symphony #5
  11. Felix Mendelssohn | Symphony #4 "Italian"
  12. Johannes Brahms | Piano Concerto #2
  13. Felix Mendelssohn | Symphony #3 "Scottish"
  14. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Violin Concerto
  15. Johann Sebastian Bach | Sheep May Safely Graze
  16. Johann Sebastian Bach | Oboe Concerto, BWV 1053
  17. Johann Sebastian Bach | Violin Concerto, BWV 1043
  18. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | The Flight of the Bumblebee
  19. Johannes Brahms | Symphony #2
  20. Amy Beach | Piano Quintet
  21. Gustav Mahler | Symphony #2 "Resurrection"
  22. Florence Price | Symphony #1
  23. Johannes Brahms | Symphony #4
  24. Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov | Symphony #1
  25. George Frideric Handel | Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
  26. Antonín Dvořák | Slavonic Dances
  27. Georges Bizet | Carmen Suite
  28. Leonard Bernstein | Candide Overture
  29. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Symphony #41 "Jupiter"
  30. Ludwig van Beethoven | Für Elise
  31. Richard Wagner | Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
  32. Ludwig van Beethoven | Violin Concerto
  33. Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano Concerto #3
  34. Hector Berlioz | Symphonie fantastique
  35. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Symphony #40
  36. Johannes Brahms | Symphony #3
  37. Sir Edward Elgar | Enigma Variations
  38. Marin Marais | The Bells of St. Geneviève
  39. Franz Schubert | Symphony #9 "Great"
  40. Max Bruch | Violin Concerto #1
  41. Sergei Rachmaninoff | Vocalise
  42. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Clarinet Concerto
  43. Alexander Borodin | Nocturne
  44. Remo Giazotto | Adagio
  45. Sergei Rachmaninoff | Symphony #2
  46. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Sleeping Beauty Suite
  47. Camille Saint-Saëns | The Swan from Carnival of the Animals
  48. Aaron Copland | Hoe Down
  49. Richard Addinsell | Warsaw Concerto
  50. Sergei Prokofiev | Romeo and Juliet
  51. Johann Sebastian Bach | Brandenburg Concerto #5
  52. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Symphony #5
  53. Gioachino Rossini | William Tell Overture
  54. Antonín Dvořák | Symphony #8
  55. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Piano Concerto #1
  56. Ludwig van Beethoven | Symphony #3 "Eroica"
  57. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Eine kleine Nachtmusik
  58. Alexander Borodin | Polovtsian Dances
  59. Ludwig van Beethoven | Piano Sonata #14 "Moonlight"
  60. Ludwig van Beethoven | Symphony #5
  61. Richard Wagner | Ride of the Valkyries
  62. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Swan Lake Suite
  63. Maurice Ravel | Bolero
  64. Edvard Grieg | Piano Concerto
  65. Max Bruch | Scottish Fantasy
  66. Modest Mussorgsky | Night on Bald Mountain
  67. Felix Mendelssohn | Violin Concerto
  68. Ottorino Respighi | The Pines of Rome
  69. Aaron Copland | Fanfare for the Common Man
  70. Johannes Brahms | Symphony #1
  71. Frédéric Chopin | Piano Concerto #2
  72. George Frideric Handel | Water Music
  73. Ralph Vaughan Williams | Fantasia on a Theme by Tallis
  74. Johann Pachelbel | Canon
  75. Frédéric Chopin | Piano Concerto #1
  76. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | 1812 Overture
  77. Aaron Copland | Appalachian Spring
  78. Bedřich Smetana | The Moldau
  79. Claude Debussy | Clair de lune
  80. Ludwig van Beethoven | Symphony #6 "Pastoral"
  81. Frédéric Chopin | Ballade #3
  82. Gustav Holst | The Planets
  83. Johann Sebastian Bach | Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
  84. Camille Saint-Saëns | Symphony #3 "Organ"
  85. Samuel Barber | Adagio for Strings
  86. Ralph Vaughan Williams | The Lark Ascending
  87. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Nutcracker Suite
  88. Frédéric Chopin | Polonaise in A-flat Major "Heroic"
  89. Ludwig van Beethoven | Symphony #7
  90. Sergei Rachmaninoff | Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
  91. Jean Sibelius | Finlandia
  92. Ludwig van Beethoven | Piano Concerto #5 "Emperor"
  93. George Gershwin | Rhapsody in Blue
  94. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | Scheherazade
  95. Antonín Dvořák | Cello Concerto
  96. Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano Concerto #2
  97. Antonio Vivaldi | The Four Seasons
  98. Ludwig van Beethoven | Symphony #9 "Choral"
  99. Antonín Dvořák | Symphony #9 in E Minor "From the New World"
  100. Modest Mussorgsky | Pictures at an Exhibition