Classic 100: The Music You Can't Live Without

In 2021, the Australian radio station ABC Classic FM held its annual Classic 100 Countdowns on the theme of "The Music You Can't Live Without". 2021 marked the 20th anniversary of the Classic 100, with voting open to any piece of classical music.

The results of the countdown were broadcast on ABC Classic FM over Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 June 2021.

Voting

A total of 127,557 votes were cast for 5,278 different works.

Countdown results

The results of the countdown were as follows:

Rank	Composer	Work
1	Ludwig van Beethoven	Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major Emperor
2	Ludwig van Beethoven	Symphony No. 9 in D minor Choral
3	Ralph Vaughan Williams	The Lark Ascending
4	Antonio Vivaldi	The Four Seasons
5	Edward Elgar	Enigma Variations
6	George Frideric Handel	Messiah
7	Antonín Dvořák	Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World"
8	Johann Sebastian Bach	Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012
9	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Clarinet Concerto in A major
10	Gustav Holst	The Planets
11	Sergei Rachmaninoff	Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
12	Ennio Morricone	The Mission (original motion picture score)
13	Ludwig van Beethoven	Symphony No. 7 in A major
14	Edward Elgar	Cello Concerto in E minor
15	Arvo Pärt	Spiegel im Spiegel
16	Ludwig van Beethoven	Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Moonlight
17	Ludwig van Beethoven	Symphony No. 6 in F major, Pastoral
18	Johann Sebastian Bach	Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051
19	Gregorio Allegri	Miserere
20	Camille Saint-Saëns	Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Organ Symphony
21	Samuel Barber	Adagio for Strings / Agnus Dei
22	Georges Bizet	The Pearl Fishers
23	Karl Jenkins	The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
24	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	The Nutcracker
25	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Requiem
26	Gabriel Fauré	Requiem
27	Frédéric Chopin	Nocturnes
28	Erik Satie	Gymnopédies
29	George Gershwin	Rhapsody in Blue
30	Ralph Vaughan Williams	Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
31	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Swan Lake
32	Claude Debussy	Suite bergamasque
33	Max Bruch	Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
34	Elena Kats-Chernin	Wild Swans
35	Richard Strauss	Four Last Songs
36	Joaquín Rodrigo	Concierto de Aranjuez
37	John Williams	Star Wars series (original motion picture score)
38	Johann Sebastian Bach	St Matthew Passion, BWV 244
39	Ludwig van Beethoven	Symphony No. 5 in C minor
40	Jean Sibelius	Finlandia
41	Ludwig van Beethoven	Violin Concerto in D major
42	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	1812 Overture
43	Maurice Ravel	Boléro
44	Sergei Prokofiev	Romeo and Juliet
45	Edvard Grieg	Peer Gynt
46	Giacomo Puccini	Turandot
47	Johann Pachelbel	Canon and Gigue in D major
48	Giacomo Puccini	Madama Butterfly
49	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Violin Concerto in D major
50	Johann Sebastian Bach	Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
51	Johann Sebastian Bach	Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
52	Giacomo Puccini	La bohème
53	Sergei Rachmaninoff	Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
54	George Frideric Handel	"Zadok the Priest"
55	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, Elvira Madigan
56	Aram Khachaturian	Spartacus
57	Léo Delibes	Lakmé
58	Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov	Scheherazade
59	Carl Orff	Carmina Burana
60	Georges Bizet	Carmen
61	Giuseppe Verdi	Nabucco
62	Peter Sculthorpe	Small Town
63	Camille Saint-Saëns	The Carnival of the Animals
64	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor
65	Richard Wagner	Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle)
66	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	The Magic Flute
67	Felix Mendelssohn	Violin Concerto in E minor
68	Bedřich Smetana	Má vlast
69	Ludwig van Beethoven	Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Pathétique
70	Johann Sebastian Bach	Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor, BWV 1043
71	Howard Shore	The Lord of the Rings trilogy (original motion picture score)
72	Jules Massenet	Thaïs
73	Max Richter	Four Seasons Recomposed
74	Gustav Mahler	Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor
75	Tomaso Albinoni, Remo Giazotto	Adagio in G minor
76	Johann Sebastian Bach	'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147
77	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Ave verum corpus
78	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	The Marriage of Figaro
79	Franz Schubert	Piano Quintet in A major, Trout
80	Felix Mendelssohn	The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave)
81	Edward Elgar	Pomp and Circumstance Marches
82	Ludwig van Beethoven	"Für Elise"
83	Dmitri Shostakovich	The Gadfly Suite
84	Franz Schubert	Notturno (Nocturne) in E-flat major
85	Pietro Mascagni	Cavalleria rusticana
86	John Williams	Schindler's List (original motion picture score)
87	George Frideric Handel	Water Music
88	Sergei Rachmaninoff	Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor
89	Edvard Grieg	Piano Concerto in A minor
90	Nigel Westlake	Antarctica (original motion picture score)
91	Thomas Tallis	Spem in alium
92	Ross Edwards	Dawn Mantras
93	Nigel Westlake, Lior	Compassion
94	Gustav Mahler	Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Resurrection
95	Erik Satie	Gnossiennes
96	Aaron Copland	Appalachian Spring
97	John Barry	Out of Africa (original motion picture score)
98	Ludwig van Beethoven	Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Eroica
99	Ludovico Einaudi	I Giorni
100	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Pathétique

By composer

The following 59 composers appeared in the countdown:

Composer	Works
Ludwig van Beethoven	10
Johann Sebastian Bach	7
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	6
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	6
Edward Elgar	3
George Frideric Handel	3
Giacomo Puccini	3
Sergei Rachmaninoff	3
Camille Saint-Saëns	2
Edvard Grieg	2
Erik Satie	2
Felix Mendelssohn	2
Franz Schubert	2
Georges Bizet	2
Gustav Mahler	2
John Williams	2
Nigel Westlake	2
Ralph Vaughan Williams	2
Aaron Copland	1
Antonín Dvořák	1
Antonio Vivaldi	1
Aram Khachaturian	1
Arvo Pärt	1
Bedřich Smetana	1
Carl Orff	1
Claude Debussy	1
Dmitri Shostakovich	1
Elena Kats-Chernin	1
Ennio Morricone	1
Frédéric Chopin	1
Gabriel Fauré	1
George Gershwin	1
Giuseppe Verdi	1
Gregorio Allegri	1
Gustav Holst	1
Howard Shore	1
Jean Sibelius	1
Joaquín Rodrigo	1
Johann Pachelbel	1
John Barry	1
Jules Massenet	1
Karl Jenkins	1
Léo Delibes	1
Ludovico Einaudi	1
Maurice Ravel	1
Max Bruch	1
Max Richter	1
Lior	1
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov	1
Peter Sculthorpe	1
Pietro Mascagni	1
Remo Giazotto	1
Richard Strauss	1
Richard Wagner	1
Ross Edwards	1
Samuel Barber	1
Sergei Prokofiev	1
Thomas Tallis	1
Tomaso Albinoni	1

External links

• Official website
• "Beethoven tops the Classic 100 with his 'Emperor' Piano Concerto", ABC Classic, 13 June 2021

Others articles of the Topic Classical music : List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, List of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Classic 100 Composer
• List of 2021 This American Life episodes

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