Why this is in the nav, not buried in Resources. The listening paper only goes as well as your aural familiarity with the music — and aural familiarity comes from listening often. So this library is right here, where you won't miss it.
140 pieces across the seven Areas of Study. ★ marks pieces in the official Cambridge syllabus (focus works, wider listening, or starting points). The rest are deliberately wider — different periods, different recordings, different ensembles — so you build a broader ear than the syllabus minimum.
A continuous "listening radio" — plays straight through and auto-advances. For background listening; the per-Area buttons start from that period.
AoS 1 — Baroque music
Orchestral and Choral
1
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★Vivaldi Violin Concerto in E major, RV 269 'Spring' - I. Allegro
Programmatic solo violin concerto; ritornello form
2
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Handel — The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Sinfonia from Handel's oratorio Solomon; bright paired oboes
3
YouTube
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Bach J.S. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
Concerto for strings; fugal ritornello writing
4
YouTube
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★Vivaldi Violin Concerto in F major, RV 293 'Autumn' - I. Allegro
Programmatic solo concerto — harvest revels and the hunt
5
YouTube
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★Handel Concerto Grosso Op 6 No 5 in D Major
Concerto grosso; concertino against ripieno
6
YouTube
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Rameau — Les Sauvages (from Les Indes Galantes)
French Baroque dance, from Les Indes Galantes
7
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Bach J.S. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050 - I
Concerto with a virtuosic harpsichord obbligato
8
YouTube
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Albinoni Adagio Per Archi Ed Organo
String orchestra and organ; suspensions over a walking bass
9
YouTube
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A. Corelli Concerto Grosso Fatto per la Notte di Natale in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8
Concerto grosso; the gentle 'Christmas' pastorale finale
11
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Charpentier — Te Deum, H. 147
French Baroque sacred work; that famous fanfare prelude
13
YouTube
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Bach J.S. Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049 - I
Concerto for solo violin and two recorders
14
YouTube
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★Vivaldi Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 315 'Summer'
Programmatic solo concerto; the great storm finale
16
YouTube
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Handel – Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah
Chorus with trumpets and timpani, from Messiah
17
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Henry Purcell - Dido and Aeneas; Dido's Lament
Lament over a ground bass; descending chromatic tetrachord
18
YouTube
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Bach J.S. Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat major, BWV 1051
Concerto for violas and gambas — no violins at all
19
YouTube
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Tartini — Devil's Trill Sonata in G minor
Virtuoso violin sonata; the fearsome trill finale
Solo and Chamber Music
20
YouTube
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Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Organ; a dramatic toccata answered by a fugue
24
YouTube
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Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre - Trio Sonata No.3 in D major
Trio sonata; French Baroque
25
YouTube
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Bach — Siciliano (Flute Sonata in E-flat, BWV 1031)
Flute and harpsichord; a lilting Siciliano
26
YouTube
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Les Barricades Mystérieuses - François Couperin
Harpsichord; the rippling style brisé
Also on the syllabus — watch on YouTube (inline recording coming)
28
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Bach — Cello Suite No. 1 in G, BWV 1007 (Prélude)
Solo cello; the flowing arpeggiated Prelude (no clean full PD recording — watch on YouTube)
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AoS 2 — Classical music
Orchestral and Choral
1
YouTube
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Mozart - Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
Sonata form; restless, motivic first movement
2
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Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467 - II (Andante)
The serene 'Elvira Madigan' slow movement (Andante)
3
YouTube
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Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 - I
Mozart's late concerto; lyrical clarinet writing
4
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Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 - II (Adagio)
Mozart's late concerto; lyrical clarinet writing
5
YouTube
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Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro: Overture, K. 492
Opera buffa overture; a bustling Presto
6
YouTube
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Mozart - Requiem in D minor, K. 626 'Dies irae'
The dramatic 'Dies irae' from Mozart's last work
7
YouTube
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Haydn - Symphony No. 94 in G major 'Surprise' - I
A 'London' symphony — Classical orchestral writing
8
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Haydn - Symphony No. 94 in G major 'Surprise' - III
A 'London' symphony — Classical orchestral writing
9
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★Haydn - Symphony No. 95 in C minor, Hob. I.95
Sturm und Drang; Haydn's only C-minor London symphony
10
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Haydn - Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major, Hob. VIIe:1
Written for the new keyed trumpet; sonata-form Allegro
11
YouTube
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Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 - I
The iconic four-note motif; Classical reaching to Romantic
12
YouTube
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★Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 - I
Beethoven's published first concerto; late-Classical brilliance
Solo and Chamber Music
13
YouTube
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Mozart - Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525 - I
String serenade; balanced, periodic phrasing
14
YouTube
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★Mozart - String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat major, K. 458 'Hunt'
String quartet; the 'hunting-horn' 6/8 opening
15
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Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 'Pathétique' - I
Stormy C-minor sonata; the dramatic Grave introduction
16
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Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 'Moonlight' - I
The famous brooding triplet first movement
Also on the syllabus — watch on YouTube (inline recording coming)
17
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★Mozart — Quintet for Piano and Winds in E♭, K. 452
The focus work — Mozart's self-declared best; piano as an equal fifth 'wind'
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18
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★Haydn — Piano Trio No. 39 in G 'Gypsy', Hob. XV:25
Rondo all'Ongarese finale; early art-music use of the Hungarian 'gypsy' style
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19
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★Mozart — 9 Variations on a Minuet by Duport, K. 573
Theme and variations for solo piano; the finale turns 2/4 and Allegro
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AoS 3 — Romantic music
Orchestral and Choral
7
YouTube
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Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 - I
Romantic piano concerto; virtuoso soloist
8
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Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 - I
Romantic violin concerto; lyrical solo line
10
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Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 'From the New World' - II (Largo)
Nationalism; cor anglais melody
Solo and Chamber Music
17
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★Borodin - String Quartet No. 2 in D (Notturno)
Russian nationalism, lyrical chamber
Also on the syllabus — watch on YouTube (inline recording coming)
AoS 4 — Music and words
Art song
3
Vaughan Williams — Songs of Travel (cycle)
Stevenson texts, English art song
5
Strauss, R. — Four Last Songs (Im Abendrot)
Orchestral art song, late style
Music for choirs
7
★Jonathan Dove — The Passing of the Year
Cambridge starting point; SATB + piano cycle
Popular song / musicals
12
★Pasek & Paul — A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman
Cambridge starting point
13
Lin-Manuel Miranda — Yorktown from Hamilton
Modern musical; rap + ensemble
14
Andrew Lloyd Webber — Memory from Cats
Show ballad; verse-chorus structure
15
Stephen Sondheim — Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music
Sophisticated ballad
16
Harold Arlen — Somewhere Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz
Golden Age standard
AoS 5 — Music for dance
Tango
6
Gerardo Matos Rodríguez — La Cumparsita
The most-recorded tango; full orquesta típica
Salsa
EDM
AoS 6 — Music for small ensemble
Silk and bamboo
6
Guangdong music — Yǔ Dǎ Bājiāo (雨打芭蕉) "Rain on Banana Leaves"
Cantonese ensemble music
Hindustani classical
Arab takht
14
★Al-Kindî Ensemble — Waṣla en ṣabâ
Cambridge starting point; full suite on maqam Sabā
AoS 7 — Music for stage and screen
Ballet
5
Tchaikovsky — Nutcracker "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"
Celesta + chamber strings; Romantic ballet
Film
11
Howard Shore — Lord of the Rings "Fellowship Theme"
Programmatic; leitmotif system
13
Ennio Morricone — The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Western; vocal + electric guitar
Computer game
15
★Yoko Shimomura — Gran Saga soundtrack
Cambridge starting point; mobile game orchestral
17
Nobuo Uematsu — Final Fantasy VII "One-Winged Angel"
JRPG; orchestral + choir + rock
19
Marcin Przybyłowicz — Witcher 3 "Ladies of the Woods"
Slavic folk-influenced game music