Classical Countdown

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

A Thanksgiving Tradition on Classical WETA 90.9 FM

It's that time of year again! Limber up your voting fingers and get ready to take part in Classical WETA's annual listeners' choice competition — which lets YOU determine the most popular classical pieces in the DC area. 

Classical Countdown voting is open November 8 through November 14, and we’ll play back the top 100 picks during Thanksgiving week, counting down to the top piece, which will air on Thanksgiving night.  

The 2021 Classical Countdown

  1. Felix Mendelssohn|Symphony #4 "Italian": I
  2. Camille Saint-Saëns|Piano Concerto #2 in G Minor, Op. 22
  3. Hector Berlioz|Symphonie fantastique: IV & V (March & Dream)
  4. Johann Sebastian Bach|Brandenburg Concerto #1
  5. Sergei Rachmaninoff|Symphonic Dances
  6. Johann Strauss II|Blue Danube
  7. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Symphony #4
  8. Gabriel Fauré|Pavane, Op. 50
  9. Johannes Brahms|Piano Concerto #2
  10. Ralph Vaughan Williams|Fantasia on Greensleeves
  11. Antonín Dvorák|Symphony #8
  12. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Piano Concerto #20 in D Minor, K 466
  13. Sergei Prokofiev|Symphony #1 "Classical"
  14. Ludwig van Beethoven|Triple Concerto in C Major, Op. 56
  15. Edvard Grieg|Holberg Suite
  16. Franz Schubert|String Quintet in C Major
  17. Camille Saint-Saëns|Carnival of the Animals: The Swan
  18. Remo Giazotto|Adagio (after Tomaso Albinoni)
  19. Johannes Brahms|Symphony #4
  20. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Symphony #40
  21. Aaron Copland|Hoe-Down (from "Rodeo")
  22. Ludwig van Beethoven|Piano Sonata #8 in C Minor, Op. 13 "Pathétique"
  23. Johann Sebastian Bach|Toccata and Fugue D Minor (BWV 565)
  24. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Nutcracker Suite
  25. Georg Philipp Telemann|Banquet Music, Part 3: Concerto in E-flat Major
  26. Georges Bizet|Carmen Suite
  27. Johann Sebastian Bach|Brandenburg Concerto #3
  28. Igor Stravinsky|Firebird: Lullaby & Finale
  29. Gustav Mahler|Symphony #1 "Titan"
  30. Gioachino Rossini|The Barber of Seville: Overture
  31. Antonín Dvorák|Slavonic Dance, Op. 46 #1
  32. Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov|Symphony #1: IV
  33. Johann Sebastian Bach|Orchestral Suite #3 in D Major, BWV 1068
  34. Frédéric Chopin|Polonaise A-flat Major "Heroic" (Op. 53)
  35. Joaquín Rodrigo|Concierto de Aranjuez
  36. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Piano Concerto #21 in C Major, K 467
  37. Florence Price|Symphony #1 in E Minor
  38. Gustav Mahler|Symphony #5 in C-sharp Minor
  39. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
  40. Max Bruch|Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46
  41. Marin Marais|The Bells of St. Geneviève
  42. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Symphony #5
  43. Ottorino Respighi|The Pines of Rome
  44. Leonard Bernstein|Candide: Overture
  45. George Frideric Handel|Music for the Royal Fireworks
  46. Richard Wagner|Die Walküre: Ride of the Valkyries
  47. Johann Sebastian Bach|Concerto, BWV 1043
  48. Johann Sebastian Bach|Sheep May Safely Graze (from Cantata #208)
  49. Claude Debussy|Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
  50. Gustav Mahler|Symphony #2 "Resurrection"
  51. Clara Wieck Schumann|Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7
  52. Johann Sebastian Bach|Brandenburg Concerto #5 in D Major, BWV 1050
  53. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Swan Lake Suite
  54. Johannes Brahms|Violin Concerto: III
  55. Ludwig van Beethoven|Piano Sonata #14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27 #2 "Moonlight"
  56. Franz Schubert|Symphony #9 "Great": III
  57. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35
  58. Johannes Brahms|Symphony #1
  59. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Piano Concerto #1
  60. Sergei Rachmaninoff|Symphony #2 in E Minor, Op. 27
  61. Frédéric Chopin|Piano Concerto #1
  62. Ludwig van Beethoven|Violin Concerto
  63. Sergei Rachmaninoff|Piano Concerto #3 in D Minor, Op. 30
  64. Jean Sibelius|Finlandia
  65. Sir Edward Elgar|Enigma Variations: Nimrod
  66. Richard Addinsell|Warsaw Concerto
  67. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Clarinet Concerto A Major (K. 622)
  68. Sergei Prokofiev|Romeo and Juliet: Dance of the Knights
  69. Felix Mendelssohn|Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64
  70. Antonín Dvorák|String Quartet #12 "American"
  71. Maurice Ravel|Bolero
  72. Ludwig van Beethoven|Symphony #3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 "Eroica"
  73. Sergei Rachmaninoff|Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
  74. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|1812 Overture
  75. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Symphony #41 "Jupiter"
  76. Claude Debussy|Clair de lune
  77. George Frideric Handel|Water Music
  78. Ludwig van Beethoven|Symphony #5 in C Minor, Op. 67
  79. Bedrich Smetana|Ma Vlast: The Moldau
  80. Ralph Vaughan Williams|Fantasia on a Theme by Tallis
  81. Johann Sebastian Bach|Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (from Cantata #147)
  82. Johann Pachelbel|Canon and Gigue
  83. Edvard Grieg|Piano Concerto A Minor
  84. Aaron Copland|Fanfare for the Common Man
  85. Samuel Barber|Adagio for Strings
  86. Gustav Holst|The Planets
  87. Modest Mussorgsky|Pictures at an Exhibition
  88. Ludwig van Beethoven|Piano Concerto #5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 "Emperor"
  89. Camille Saint-Saëns|Symphony #3 in C Minor, Op. 78 "Organ"
  90. Aaron Copland|Appalachian Spring
  91. Ralph Vaughan Williams|The Lark Ascending
  92. Antonín Dvorák|Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104
  93. Antonio Vivaldi|The Four Seasons, Op. 8/1-4
  94. Ludwig van Beethoven|Symphony #6 "Pastoral"
  95. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Scheherazade
  96. Sergei Rachmaninoff|Piano Concerto #2
  97. Ludwig van Beethoven|Symphony #7 in A Major, Op. 92
  98. George Gershwin|Rhapsody in Blue
  99. Antonín Dvorák|Symphony #9 "From the New World"
  100. Ludwig van Beethoven|Symphony #9 in D Minor, Op. 125 "Choral"