http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~werdna/repertoire.html (World Wide Web Directory, 06/1995)
Medieval & Renaissance
Baroque
Classical
Romantic
20th Century
This list was compiled in the hope that it will help and encourage many people in the exploration of the abundance of recorded music that is now available.
Much more music is offered here than one would expect in a basic library. This is done to have available to you more suggestions in those areas where you find the music more congenial and interesting. At times, however, I suggest you sample some other composers or periods - a year or two from now you may find you have been missing some fine music! As a general rule, the music from the Classical and Romantic periods are the most accessible. Works from these periods are probably the best place for a novice to start.
Almost anyone will think of pieces of music which "must" be in a basic library but are missing here. He will also find some which he feels should not be in at all! And he may be perfectly right - for himself. Personal favorites and dislikes are bound to influence anyone's choices, including mine.
The compositions I have marked with a star (in bold for HTML) are those I feel are really basic; a good starting point for getting acquainted with more music by a particular composer or historic period.
Since there has been much interest in historic periods - Baroque, Renaissance, etc. - this recommendation list is arranged that way. Although any such grouping is at best arbitrary, it can more easily help you find music that you will like. Please bear in mind that the placement of a composer in any one specific period is an arbitrary choice based on flexible definitions. For this reason, dates of certain composers overlap boundaries on the list.
At the time this list was prepared at least one recording was listed in the quarterly Schwann Opus for each piece selected. I hope this list will help you in collecting your own library of records and to become acquainted with the music of different composers, thus leading to the greatest possible enjoyment of music.