Great Classical Music that Doesn't Sound Like Church?

[Rev. Rye]

I do listen to a lot of classical, and I think I can give a few pieces that aren't particularly church-related. Needless to say, I am leaving out quite a bit; indeed, a few favourites have had to be trimmed.

Here's Rye's relatively short guide to non-Churchy Classical music (with exceptionally recommended pieces in parentheses)

Renaissance:

• John Dowland (Airs)
  
• Carlo Gesualdo (Madrigals Books 5 and 6; motherfucker was INSANE)
  
• Monteverdi (L'Orfeo, the first opera)
  

Baroque:

• J.S. Bach (Cello Suites, Violin Sonatas and Partitas, Brandenburgs, Goldberg Variations, Well-Tempered Clavier)
  
• Corelli (Op. 6 Concertos)
  
• Purcell (Dido and Aeneas, Queen Mary's Funeral March)
  
• Vivaldi (Four Seasons)
  

Classical:

• Beethoven (Piano Sonatas esp. 8, 14, 23, 29; Late Quartets [Esp. No. 14, and Grosse Fugue], Symphonies Nos. 5-7 and 9)
  
• Mozart (Horn Concerti, String Quintets, Da Ponte Operas, Magic Flute, Serenades 9-13, Sinfonia Concertante, LAst three symphonies)
  
• Rossini (Overtures)
  

Romantic:

• Borodin (Polovetsian Dances, String Quartet No. 2)
  
• Bruch (Kol Nidrei)
  
• Chopin (Etudes, Nocturnes)
  
• Debussy (La Mer, Suite Bergamasque)
  
• Dvorak (Symphony 9)
  
• Elgar (Cello Concerto, Pomp and Circumstance Marches)
  
• Grieg (Piano Concerto, Peer Gynt suites)
  
• Holst (Planets Suite)
  
• Liszt (Hungarian Rhapsodies, Concerti, Etudes, Liebestraum)
  
• Mussorgsky (Night on Bald Mountain, Pictures at an Exhibition, Boris Godunov)
  
• Satie (Gymnopedies)
  
• Schubert (Lieder, Winterreise, Death and the Maiden, Trout, Unfinished Symphony)
  
• Tchaikovsky (Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Violin and Piano Concerti, Symphony No. 6)
  
• Wagner (Any of his operas from Lohengrin on)
  

Fence-Straddlers:

• Korngold (Sea Hawk)
  
• Mahler (Everything, but especially Symphony 8 and Ruckert Lieder)
  
• Ravel (Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, String Quartet, Valse, Bolero)
  
• Rachmaninoff (Piano Concerti)
  

Modern:

• Alban Berg (Wozzeck)
  
• Bela Bartok (Piano Concerti, Music for Celesta Percussion and Strings, Out of Doors)
  
• Pierre Boulez (Marteau sans Mairte) RIP.
  
• Henry Cowell (Piano Pieces)
  
• Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue, American in Paris, Porgy and Bess)
  
• Philip Glass (The entire Portrait Trilogy, Koyaanisqatsi, Music in 12 Parts, Glassworks)
  
• Lang (Little Match Girl Passion)
  
• Ligeti (Etudes, Musica Ricerata)
  
• Messiaen (20 Meditations on the Baby Jesus; don't be turned off by the name)
  
• Orff (Carmina Burana)
  
• Part (Fratres)
  
• Harry Partch (whatever you can find)
  
• Prokofiev (Lt. Kije Suite)
  
• Reich (Music for 18 Instruments, Drumming, Different Trains)
  
• Schoenberg (Pierrot Lunaire)
  
• Shostakovich (Symphonies Nos. 5,7,and 9; String Quartet 8)
  
• Stravinsky (Soldier's Tale, Petrouchka, Firebird, Rite of Spring)
  
• Strauss (Rosenkavalier, Salome, Don Juan, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Tod und Verklarkung, Metamorphosen)
  
• Varese (Everything)
  

Honorary Mention: Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Some may argue whether or not it's classical, but I say it sounds close enough.

Needless to say, this is not even close to comprehensive.