# Music


# Music

I started playing piano when I was 4, and clarinet when I was 11. Music has been
a constant in my life, especially classical music, since my parents first played
it to me as a child. I quite enjoy the camaraderie associated with making music
with others. There's something about the shared focus of both performance and
listening that, I believe, taps deeply into what it means to be human.

## Favorite Pieces

### Classical

I enjoy much of the Classical repertoire, but am particularly fond of
impressionistic and modern works. _Ravel_ is probably my favorite orchestral
composer, and on piano it's a close tie between _Chopin_ and _Liszt_.

Here are some of my favorite pieces with links to performances (in no particular
order):

#### Orchestral

- [_Daphnis et Chloé_ Suite No.2 (Ravel, Maurice)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amGl9Qmgu7E)
- [_Scheherazade_, Op. 35 (Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY4w4_W30aQ)
- [_The Firebird Suite_ (Stravinsky, Igor)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkw6CoGirdo)
- ["Polovtsian Dances" from _Prince Igor_ (Borodin, Alexander)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiexn6O9To4)
- [_Pictures at an Exhibition_ (Mussorgsky, Modest)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gexw3NUTVxk)
- [_Pines of Rome_ (Respighi, Ottorino)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgE7PUXTrlo)
- [_Schelomo_ (Bloch, Ernest)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRGMPCXS_yM)
- [_Boléro_ (Ravel, Maurice)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rukOXP3YcwQ)
- [_An American in Paris_ (Gershwin, George)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4I2OzMltM4)

##### Symphonies

- [Symphony No. 5 (Mahler, Gustav)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEGNNuEM3Fc)
- [Symphony No. 5, Op. 107 "Reformation" (Mendelssohn, Felix)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otcrnrQAwD8)
- [Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 "Choral" (Beethoven, Ludwig van)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT91esZK90I)
- [Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36 (Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7G5ithbFys)
- [Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43 (Sibelius, Jean)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXU8EXL7a_4)
- [Symphony No. 2 in D-flat Major, Op. 30 "Romantic" (Hanson, Howard)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkxBAaME-ag)

#### Piano

- [_Liebesträume_, S.541 No. 3 (Liszt, Franz)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpOtuoHL45Y)
- [Étude in A-flat major, Op. 25, No. 1 "Aeolian Harp" (Chopin, Frédéric)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSQjZj_9txE)
- [Étude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 11 "Winter Wind" (Chopin, Frédéric)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHlqEvAwdVc)
- [_Fantaisie-impromptu_ in C-sharp Minor, Op. 66 (Chopin, Frédéric)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvm2ZsRv3C8)
- [Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 (Chopin, Frédéric)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E6b3swbnWg)
- [_Trois études de concert_, S. 144, No. 3 - "Un sospiro" (Liszt, Franz)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSHwX2O7j2w)
- [_Ständchen_, S. 560 (Schubert/Liszt)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJf-XXTBEqs)
- [Impromptu in G flat Op. 90 No. 3 (Schubert, Franz)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_z9oSn-eIM)
- [_Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini_ (Rachmaninoff, Sergei)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD4dhTJk6bs)

#### Clarinet

- [Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 (Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_gm0NCabPs)
- [Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 73 (Weber, Carl Maria von)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37kaymgFkUI)
- [_Solo de concours_ (Messager, André)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSIDbFX8XVk)

#### Choral

- [_Miserere mei, Deus_ (Allegri, Gregorio)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm593SYT-_E)
- [Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 (Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp2SJN4UiE4)
- [_The Planets_, Op. 32: VII. "Neptune, the Mystic" (Holst, Gustav)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFMXNUHuWug)
- [_Lux Aurumque_ (Whitacre, Eric)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5_LSBuPwXs)

#### Miscellaneous

- [Introduction et Allegro (Ravel, Maurice)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBm1w8J63mg)
- [The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)](https://open.spotify.com/album/6RvWgIlI35Uj6AMjfCDuPt?si=E0ekCdXlSu6D1E5rKdlMZg)

### Contemporary

See [2025 Favorites](/blog/2025/12/19/My-Favorite-Music-of-2025/).