The 2023 Classical California Ultimate Playlist is coming! This is where the spirit of California meets the wonder of classical music, and thousands of classical fans from across California and beyond voted for their classical favorites and the music that captures the spirit of the Golden State. Tune in all week long as we count down the top 250!
If you’re hungry for more, we’re taking you behind-the-music with a series of fun and informative blogs about the music you picked — and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok,and Twitter!
See what made the list below.
1. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #9
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony #41 “Jupiter”
3. George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
4. Antonín Dvořák: Symphony #9 “From the New World”
5. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #6 “Pastoral”
6. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #7
7. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #5
8. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 “Emperor”
9. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #2
10. Peter Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
11. Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
12. Claude Debussy: Clair de lune
13. Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
14. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata #14 “Moonlight”
15. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #3 “Eroica”
16. Maurice Ravel: Boléro
17. Johannes Brahms: Symphony #3
18. William Grant Still: Summerland
19. Bedřich Smetana: Ma Vlast: The Moldau
20. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons: Summer
21. Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony #3 “Organ”
22. George Frideric Handel: Water Music
23. Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag
24. John Williams: Raiders of the Lost Ark
25. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3
26. Arturo Márquez: Danzón #2
27. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem
28. Igor Stravinsky: Firebird
29. Clara Schumann: Piano Concerto
30. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
31. John Williams: Harry Potter
32. Scott Joplin: The Entertainer
33. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
34. Howard Shore: Lord of the Rings
35. George Frideric Handel: Messiah
36. John Williams: Star Wars
37. Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata & Fugue in d minor
38. Hans Zimmer: Pirates of the Caribbean
39. Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto #1
40. Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings
41. Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
42. José Pablo Moncayo: Huapango
43. Johann Pachelbel: Canon in D
44. Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Concerto
45. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
46. Felix Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
47. Aaron Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
48. Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto
49. George Frideric Handel: Music for Royal Fireworks
50. Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
51. Michael Giacchino: Up
52. Fanny Mendelssohn: May: Spring Song
53. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Eine kleine nachtmusik
54. Ferde Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite
55. Edvard Grieg: Peer Gynt
56. John Williams: Jurassic Park
57. Gustav Holst: The Planets: Jupiter
58. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Clarinet Concerto
59. Peter Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1
60. Léo Delibes: Lakme: Flower Duet
61. John Barry: Out of Africa
62. Claude Debussy: La Mer
63. Ludwig van Beethoven: Choral Fantasy
64. Peter Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
65. Florence Price: Symphony #1
66. Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhbition
67. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Magic Flute
68. Reena Esmail: Saans
69. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto #21
70. Ludwig van Beethoven: Für Elise
71. Jean Sibelius: Finlandia
72. Juventino Rosas: Sobre las Olas
73. Erik Satie: Gymnopedies
74. Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
75. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #4
76. Morten Lauridsen: Les Chansons des Roses: Dirait-on
77. Margaret Bonds: Troubled Water
78. Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
79. Cecile Chaminade: Scarf Dance
80. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony #40
81. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #8
82. Ennio Morricone: The Mission: Gabriel’s Oboe
83. Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story
84. Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto
85. Alexander Borodin: In the Steppes of Cental Asia
86. Georges Bizet: Carmen
87. Koji Kondo: Legend of Zelda
88. Max Bruch: Violin Concerto
89. Teresa Carreño: Mi Teresita Waltz
90. Peter Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture
91. John Williams: E.T.
92. Johann Sebastian Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
93. Carlos Chávez: Symphony #2 “Sinfonía India”
94. John Williams: Schindler’s List
95. Gioachino Rossini: William Tell Overture
96. Joe Hisaishi: Spirited Away
97. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata #8 “Pathetique”
98. Astor Piazzolla: Libertango
99. Joseph Haydn: Trumpet Concerto
100. Michael Giacchino: Ratatouille
101. Franz Schubert: Piano Quintet “Trout”
102. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons: Spring
103. Ludovico Einaudi: Two Sunsets
104. Johann Sebastian Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze
105. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #3
106. Gabriel Fauré: Butterfly
107. Aaron Copland: Rodeo
108. Camille Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals: The Swan
109. Peter Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
110. Luigi Boccherini: Guitar Quintet #4 “Fandango Quintet”
111. Ludovico Einaudi: Primavera
112. Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves
113. Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations
114. Joe Hisaishi: Howl’s Moving Castle: Merry-Go-Round of Life
115. Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins
116. Jeremy Soule: Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
117. Felix Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture
118. Peter Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings
119. Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Sinfonie concertante for 2 Violins
120. Franz Liszt: Les Preludes
121. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphony #2
122. Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
123. Johann Strauss II: Blue Danube Waltz
124. Carl Orff: Carmina Burana
125. Gabriel Fauré: Pavane
126. Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra
127. Helen Jane Long: Echo
128. Richard Wagner: Tannhäuser: Overture
129. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons: Winter
130. Antonín Dvořák: Rusalka: Song to the Moon
131. Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto
132. Claude Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
133. Jean Sibelius: Symphony #2
134. Yoko Shimomura: Kingdom Hearts: Dearly Beloved
135. Peter Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty
136. George Gershwin: Concerto in F
137. Gustav Holst: The Planets: Mars
138. Jerry Goldsmith: Star Trek
139. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto for Flute and Harp
140. Edward Elgar: Cello Concerto
141. George Gershwin: An American in Paris
142. Yann Tiersen: Amelie
143. Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome
144. Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont Overture
145. Gabriel Fauré: Requiem
146. Elmer Bernstein: The Magnificent Seven
147. Johann Sebastian Bach: Air on the G String
148. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #4
149. Igor Stravinsky: Rite of Spring
150. Gustav Mahler: Symphony #5: Adagietto
151. Joseph Haydn: Piano Trio #39 in G HOB 15:25
152. Tomaso Albinoni: Adagio in g minor
153. Johannes Brahms: Symphony #1
154. Maria Theresia von Paradis: Sicilienne
155. Franz Schubert: Symphony #8 “Unfinished”
156. Jules Massanet: Thais: Meditation
157. Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5
158. Morten Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium
159. Luigi Boccherini: Night Music of the Streets of Madrid
160. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #1
161. Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in b minor
162. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #2
163. Franz Schubert: Symphony #9 “Great”
164. Giacomo Puccini: Turandot: Nessun dorma
165. Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dances
166. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #3
167. Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony #6
168. Aram Khachaturian: Spartacus: Adagio
169. Max Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
170. Frederick Delius: Florida Suite
171. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #2
172. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Vocalise
173. Ennio Morricone: Cinema Paradiso
174. Edward Elgar: Salut d’Amour
175. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro
176. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata #21
177. Maurice Ravel: Pavane for a Dead Princess
178. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony #39
179. Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Matthew Passion
180. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #1
181. Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto
182. Gustav Mahler: Symphony #1
183. Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
184. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #5
185. Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet #12 “American”
186. William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony
187. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons: Autumn
188. Heitor Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasilieras #5: Aria
189. Johannes Brahms: Symphony #4
190. Frédéric Chopin: Piano Concerto #1
191. Gioachino Rossini: Barber of Seville Overture
192. Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto #2
193. Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #2
194. Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto
195. Lawrence Mumford: Of Times and Seasons
196. Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
197. George Frideric Handel: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
198. Clara Schumann: Piano Trio
199. Peter Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet
200. Johann Sebastian Bach: Cello Suite #1
201. Alexander Borodin: Polovtsian Dances
202. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto #20
203. Ludwig van Beethoven: Romance for the Violin No. 2
204. Erich Korngold: Adventures of Robin Hood
205. Alexandra Streliski: The Breach
206. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #2
207. Frédéric Chopin: Fantaisie Impromptu in c # minor
208. Howard Shore: The Hobbit
209. Gustav Mahler: Symphony #2
210. Ennio Morricone: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
211. Lawrence Mumford: Hope and a Future
212. Francisco Tárrega: Recuerdos de Alhambra
213. Tan Dun: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
214. Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
215. Frédéric Chopin: Piano Concerto #2
216. Edvard Grieg: Holberg Suite
217. George Frideric Handel: Xerxes: Largo
218. Florence Price: Symphony #3
219. Manuel Ponce: Estrellita
220. Ludwig Göransson: Oppenheimer: Can You Hear the Music
221. Joseph Haydn: Cello Concerto #2
222. Alberto Ginastera: Dance of the Graceful Maiden
223. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music
224. Isaac Albéniz: Mallorca
225. R. Nathaniel Dett: Juba Dance
226. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #6
227. Karl Jenkins: Paladio
228. Leonard Bernstein: Candide
229. Joaquín Rodrigo: Fantasia para un gentihombre
230. Johannes Brahms: German Requiem
231. Peter Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien
232. Isaac Albéniz: Asturias
233. Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony #4 “Italian”
234. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus
235. Antonín Dvořák: Symphony #8
236. Cécile Chaminade: Concertino for Flute in D
237. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Deep River
238. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni
239. Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto
240. Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
241. Morten Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna
242. John Williams: Superman
243. Richard Wagner: Die Walkure: Ride of the Valkyries
244. Bear McCreary: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
245. Jacques Offenbach: Tales of Hoffmann
246. Florence Price: Fantasie Negre #2
247. Dmitri Shostakovich: Jazz Suite
248. Johannes Brahms: Symphony #2
249. Mahito Yokota: Gusty Garden Galaxy
250. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #4
