WHAM! Songs that catch the non-classical listener's ear.

May 21, 2006 at 11:26 AM · If you can play them, some of the faster short pieces by Sarasate and Paganini are definitely crowd pleasers (that's why they were written).

Or any encore piece that alternates a technical and flashy passage with something melodic, and ends in a flourish.

Good luck.

Sandy

May 21, 2006 at 01:18 PM · Pop audiences like to hear three things: a singable (hummable) melody, an insistent rhythm that they can feel, and a reasonable chord structure.

My experience playing for such audiences is that they would rather hear and dance to a simple "Twinkle" played with a steady beat than a concert hall rendition of the cadenza from the Tchaikovsky Concerto. I will often simplify songs so that pop audiences can grasp them, particularly if I'm doing a strolling gig and there's no harmony behind me.

The trick is to find songs that aren't so complex that audiences can't grasp them but not so simple that you're rolling you eyeballs in boredom. In general, things like Elgar's "Salut d'Amor" and Rimsky Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" or Pachelbel's "Kanon" go over really well.

May 21, 2006 at 02:11 PM · Schubert's arpeggione sonata.

May 21, 2006 at 02:18 PM · 2nd movmt of Shostakovich's 8th Quartet will always get peoples attention.

May 21, 2006 at 02:53 PM · Sydney:

The "MARCH" from Prokofieff's opera, Love of Three Oranges (1.5 minutes) has always been a "wake -up" WHAM piece for Mr. Skowronski and his audiences. Listeners always quizically remark, "I've heard that someplace before!" There is an audio clip of it (almost its entirety) which you can link to from Mr. Skowronski's NEW CD, Avec et Sans.

Try the CD BABY link at

http://www.cdbaby.com/skowronski3

Mr. Skowronski is also a v.com contributor/member so the Prokofieff clip should be like 'music from home.'

Let us hear from you, Sydney.

Skowronski: Classical Recordings

http://www.skowronskiplays.com

May 21, 2006 at 03:32 PM · Mitchell, are you serious about the Arpeggione?? I heard it on cello once and I found it rather boring!

Maybe it wasn't the world's best performance of it, and I'm sure it is a great piece that I just need to get used to, but as far as "first impression" whams go, this piece is definitely not on my list!!

Maybe Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate, or one of the Kreisler Viennese dances (Liebeslied, Liebesfreud, Schon Rosmarin) or Bach Partita no 3 Prelude. Also Dvorak's New World Symphony (no. 9 or 5, same thing) or Tchaikovsky's March Slave.

Those are just off the top of my head.

May 21, 2006 at 03:52 PM · I just got a copy of Hubay's "Scene de la Csarda #1" (actually xeroxed Joska Szigeti's copy at the library at Illinois!) and while it's rather cheesy, it's a heck of a lot of fun and definitely appealing. :) When in doubt, play a csárdás.

May 21, 2006 at 04:16 PM · The Four Seasons by Vivaldi are usually quite pleasing, the Prokofieff March that someone mentioned is GREAT. Sabre Dance by Khachaturian, some of the short Gershwin pieces are good (Summertime, It Ain't Necessarily So), Novacek Perpetumm Mobile, almost anything Kreisler, Stravinsky Suite Italienne (the individual movements are all quite catchy and short). Beethoven Symphony No.5, 1st mvt as done by PDQ Bach and then in it's original form is fun. The possibilities are endless!

May 21, 2006 at 06:03 PM · Larry, I respect your musical opinion and also I recognize from my own listening that the arpeggione sonata is repetitious and the melodies are not the most original Schubert composed by any stretch. Nor does it represent my current taste in music.

However, Sydney is asking what will appeal to the masses and in effect convert them to classical music. In this regard, I may be able to offer some insight, since I'm one of the masses myself. I can remember back to when I first started listening to classical. Arpeggione is by no means a great work but 1. the melodies are very easy to grasp; and 2. they go straight to the heart.

Kids or adults not used to classical need not just to hear but to feel the music, in order to justify the effort of delving into it further. Of course there's plenty of room for different points of view on just what pieces are best at doing this.

Thanks, though, for the feedback and opportunity to clarify.

Sydney, I'll be interested to hear about the results of your efforts, whichever pieces you decide to recommend to your friends.

May 21, 2006 at 07:00 PM · The majority of forum participants on violinist.com seem to be "classical violinists" in the Western European sense, and that's great.

On the other hand, there are plenty of fiddle tunes from outside Western European classical music that audiences love even if they weren't familar with them. I didn't feel that my "classical" training was complete until I started studying the fiddle tradition, since so much of classical violin music is based on the ethnic stuff going on in composers' home countries. More and more, you're starting to see "classical" violinists go fiddle and vice versa.

For example, "Jesuscita in Chihuahua" is a fabulous polka that I've heard covered in zillions of formats. "Ashokan Farewell" or "Orange Blossom Special" are crowd favorites, as is the most overasked song of all time "Devil Came Down To Georgia". Even things like "The Lark" (wonderfully done in an antique recording by a fabulous classically trained gypsy fiddler who had his own restaurant) appeal to audiences that aren't familiar with ethnic music. That's because these tunes have memorable melodies and are extremely catchy.

Darius Milhaud said to his student Burt Bacharach "Never let anything get in the way of a good melody".

May 21, 2006 at 07:35 PM · Thanks for your suggestions everyone! I'll certainly preview as many of the songs as possible and go from there. All the suggestions are wonderful, keep them coming!

May 21, 2006 at 07:47 PM · I would probably stay away from the repertoire typically found on CD's like, "Best of Classical Music," things like Eine Keline Nacht Musik etc. I think the more contemporary side of classical music (R. Strauss and onward) would open people's ears more. It's easy to get lost or bored in Mozart, Haydn etc. (it takes a more trained ear to hear what's great about those). Shostakovich has some really great attention grabbing pieces, someone mentioned the 8th quartet, that's a great one. I would maybe add the 2nd movement of his 10th or 11th symphony, as well as the 2nd movement of the 2nd piano concerto. Prokofiev's classical symphony has some great moments. I would think people would really like the many colors of Debussy and Ravel, so anything by them would be great. Also Sprach Zarathustra is great, especially the part AFTER the famous opening. Respighi's Pines of Rome is also very interesting. From Beethoven I could recommend the 3rd symphony, op. 18 #6 quartet, and the op. 95 quartet (very attention grabbing!). I think Ysaye would be very intriguing, especially the 2nd or 3rd sonata. Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra is another amazing piece (maybe not the first movment, but the other movements, esp. the last, are very exciting), as well as the first quartet, or the second movement of the 2nd quartet. The choir version of Barber's adagio is absolutely heart wrenching, so that would be something very special. Mahler's 2nd symphony would be a great one, it even sounds like Star Wars at that huge climactic point in the first movment (rather, Star Wars sounds like Mahler). These are just a few of the pieces I thought of. I think pieces like this will make people realize that classical music isn't all about elegant fluff, that it's got balls and heart.

May 21, 2006 at 08:24 PM · Copland - Hoe Down from Rodeo

Bizet - Les Toreadores

Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture (w/cannons, of course ;)

May 21, 2006 at 10:30 PM · Very good post David. :) I agree completely.

May 21, 2006 at 10:38 PM · Bach partita movements?

How about classical guitar--transcriptions of Fantasia X by Alonso da Mudarra or Couperin's Mysterious Barricades, or Parkening's version of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring are quite accessible.

May 25, 2006 at 01:40 AM · I find that stuff written in minor keys usually caters more to non-musician listeners.

May 25, 2006 at 03:15 AM · I'm telling you, a good csárdás can work wonders. That or Bartók Rhapsody #1, but Hungarian stuff in general always did the trick for me when I was younger. :)

May 25, 2006 at 03:27 AM · How about some pretty heavy piano stuff? I really like Rachmaninov Prelude in G minor, and some of the beethoven sonatas are really cool, like No. 32 Op. 111 both I and II (II is really long but if you get about 7 1/2 minutes into there is a really cool excerpt about 2 min long that is almost jazzy and almost sounds like it has swung eighth notes. Doesn't sound like Beethoven at all) Cool symphony music might be Orpheus in the underworld cause towards the end, everyone knows that excerpt. The Dvorak slavonic dances are pretty nice, Tchaikovsky symphony no. 4, movement 4, Sibelius symphony no. 2, movement 4, most people would recognize Bacchanale from Sampson and Delilah, Liszt hungarian rhapsody no. 2 is good either symphonic or piano, Capriccio Espagnol (Rimsky-Korsakov) is really energetic, Mussorgsky: A night on bald mountain, Prokofiev: Montagues and Capulets, etc. Other than that, I'd second those mentioned before that were Beethoven symphony No. 5 (I'd go with movements 1 or 4) Dvorak New World, Tchaikovsky 1812 or Marche Slave.

May 25, 2006 at 03:25 AM · and yes, Also Sprach Zarathustra is really good a few minutes after the famous part (after it picks up again because it sort of slows down)

May 25, 2006 at 05:47 AM · Brahm`s Hungarian Dunces?

May 25, 2006 at 06:26 AM · If we're talking possibly orchestral music, i.e. you playing recordings for them:

opening of "Carmina Burana" by Orff

"Mars"

Ride of the Valkyries

opening of Brahms piano concerto #2

opening of Bruckner #4

(opening of Mahler #7 sounds like Star Trek)

Something that works for me when I am trying to get people interested, is to create kind of a scenario before playing them the music. For example, Bruckner #4 always makes me think of just before dawn in a mist-shrouded river valley, and the horns in the distance tell you something's out there... then the sun comes up and clears away the mist, and you see this big glorious castle with banners flying and so on... and it's like the beginning of a grand King Arthur-type romantic adventure epic...

OK, I know that's really cheesy. But it gets the idea through to people that music can stimulate story-generation in the mind of the listener, and that's what makes it such a neat experience.

Just my $.02--

May 25, 2006 at 03:40 PM · Bartok Romanian Dances. My daughter played the first last year at her high school's Music Dept. new student / parent orientation -- made up mostly of folks not real familiar with classical music -- and it is definitely a big crowd pleaser.

May 25, 2006 at 03:45 PM · I second the Bartok dances. I played a recording of those a few years ago for my boyfriend and he loved them right off (the guy definately wasn't a fan of classical music). The next stuff I played for him was Prokofiev "Montagues and Capulets" from Romeo and Juliet, the entire Heifetz "Showpieces" CD (listened to that in the car) and Tchaikovsky violin concerto.

May 25, 2006 at 04:25 PM · The Romanian Dances are really fun to play too. Lately I've been ripping through them at every chance I get. :)

June 20, 2006 at 09:19 PM · Too, there are some that have already been adopted by nonclassical listeners through Hollywood, some that make listeners laugh, and some that are inside jokes. E.g.: Gounod's Funeral March for a Marionette; Saint Saens' Danse Macabre; Nocturne from Midsummer Night's Dream; Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; Dukas' Sorcerer's Apprentice; Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours.

June 20, 2006 at 09:49 PM · The first piece to truly grab my attention was Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture. That, and Sibelius' Finlandia.

June 20, 2006 at 11:22 PM · off the top of my head:

peter and the wolf - prokofiev

overture to don giovanni - mozart

caprice no.14 - paganini

harmonic labyrinth/caprice no.25 - locatelli

string quartet in gmin, mvt 2 - debussy

sabre dance - khatchaturian

pomp and circumstance marches - elgar

romeo and juliet overture - tchaikovsky (from the b minor part on)

yankee doodle variations - vieuxtemps

the four seasons, esp. spring and autumn - vivaldi

brandenburg 3, 4, and 6 - js. bach

danse macabre - saint saens

rondo in g major for violin and orchestra - mozart

fanfare for the common man - copland (former theme song for the summer olympics)

an american in paris - gershwin

violin concerto in emin, mvt3 - mendelssohn

mars, bringer of war - holst

surprise symphony - haydn

unfinished symphony, 1st mvt - schubert (people recognize this from the smurfs cartoon)

ride of the valkyries - wagner (memorex commercial used this)

orpheus in the underworld - offenbach

symphony no.9 in dmin, mvt4 (ode to joy) - beethoven

carmen suite - bizet

three cornered hat - de falla

anvil chorus - verdi

hungarian dances - brahms

slavonic dances - dvorak

June 20, 2006 at 11:30 PM · In my AP Theory class at my HS, we had listening Fridays. Usually people brought in what they liked most to listen to - Frank Zappa, emo bands, show tunes, and then usually we also listened to things our teacher brought.

I brought for them Shostakovich No. 8 (quartet) and played the 2nd movement, and afterwards the general consensus was "WHOA THATS COOL!!"...So it may be a good one.

June 21, 2006 at 01:04 AM · Carl Orff-"O fortuna" from Carmina Burana

Shostakovich-Movements III-IV of the violin concerto #1 (or the Scherzo, mvt. II for that matter)

Khachaturian-any movement from the Masquerade suite

Debussy-Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Prokofiev-March from "Love for Three Oranges"

Glass-Violin Concerto, especially the 2nd mvt.

Rimsky Korsakov-Scheherezade

If I'm introducing a friend to "classical" music (that is, a friend who doesn't normally listen to "classical"), I usually use pieces from the Romantic era, or more modern compositions.

I find that often, people assume that "classical music" (whatever that ridiculously general term means in the first place) is limited to the confines of "nice-sounding" background music. Of course, musicians don't hear it that way; but for a first-time listener, the music of Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven has already, through pop-culture, been ingrained/stereotyped in their minds as "classical."

More modern, dissonant, and extroverted compositions I find are more easily accessible; and open up a new world of sorts/a different side of classical to a first-time listener. The dissonant and passionate sounds of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khachaturian, and Glass are in many ways similar to musical groups today. (for example, if someone listens to Bjork or Radiohead, they may find themselves relating to Shostakovich's music faster than they would to Mozart)

Just an idea.

June 21, 2006 at 01:23 AM · Bacewicz's Polish caprice is a good flashy violin piece for non classical listeners

June 21, 2006 at 01:30 AM · I agree with the person above who said Shostakovich Quartet 8, 2nd mvmt.

Its an awesome piece.

June 21, 2006 at 02:31 AM · For a lot of non-classical listeners, probably something with a stong rhythmic pulse, like baroque. A lot of what you find exotically appealing might come across as just corny to a non.

June 21, 2006 at 04:09 AM · If you are going to play a recording I think the perfect piece for that would be the 3rd movement of the Korngold concerto (I like Shaham's recording.)

If you are going to play something live maybe play Tzigane. Also try La Campanella (the Kochanski arrangement is my favorite). A couple of pieces that aren't terribly difficult to play are the Kreisler arrangment of Danse Espagnole by Manuel de Falla and the Porgy and Bess transcriptions.

June 22, 2006 at 05:24 AM · Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue

Joplin, any rags, but especially "the Entertaner" and "Maple Leaf"

Holtz, the Planets, especially "Mars, the bringer of war"

Rimsky-Korsakov Shaharazade and Capprecio Espagnol

Lecuona, Malaguena (and the rest of the Andalucia suite for that matter)

Copland Apalacian spring, and Hoe down from Rodeo

Tchaicovsky 1812 Overture

That's all I can think of off the top of my head right now.

Kelsey W.

June 22, 2006 at 05:33 AM · In general any spanish music is good for non-classical listeners-- It has a definite style and is usually rather rhythmic. Also if your audience is up for it, try some solo Bach, especially the E+ and D min partitas.

June 24, 2006 at 06:48 AM · I agree with most of what Kelsey suggested (I'd add "Jupitor" to the list from "the Planets") but I don't know about the Bach stuff. The Sonatas and Partitas (I think) are for more of an audience that already appreciates classical music, not for dragging people in. They aren't overly flashy or catchy and I can see how people might get bored listening to them. I really like them, but that's because I listen to a lot of classical music... That's the stuff you have to ease into though.

June 24, 2006 at 06:58 AM · And how about the Gershwin 3 preludes either for piano or the Heifetz transcriptions for violin?

June 26, 2006 at 03:54 AM · There's always Edvard Grieg, too - "Peer Gynt" and "Lyric" suites come to mind... I've always had great success with "March of the Dwarfs" (from the Lyric Suite). Such a fun, qwirky piece! :)

June 26, 2006 at 04:04 AM · March of the Dwarves...

Goes -down= well?

Cheers,

Buri

June 27, 2006 at 06:39 AM · A list that I got from a friend, of which I use to play most of them.

sonata no.12 paganini

schindler's list

libesfreud

lebesleid

sicilienne

Praeludiun and allegro Kriesler

theme from "il postiono"

adante cantabile

Pur ti miro/monteverdi

Nessum Dorma

Songs my mother taught me/dvorak

dance of the blessed spirits/gluck

Malaguena/sarasate

cantabile

4 romantic pieces op.75/dvorak

Spanish dance granados/kreisler

the girl with the flaxen har/debussy

por una cabaza

Largo/vivaldi four seasons

Romanza andaluza op 22/ Saraste

Cavatina/Raff

Amnumblatt/wagner

Theme to the color purple

Guitarre op.45 Mozkowski

on wings of song mendelson

Standchen/ shcubert

its peaceful here/rachmaninov

string quartet no 2 in D Bordin

O Mio Bambino/ puccini

Banjo fiddle/kroll

sweet remebrance/mendelssohn

Romance in A mjor/ schumann

Time to say goodbye/ quarantotto

song of India/ rimsky

vieuxtemps, concerto 5 in A m op 31

melodie/ tchilovsky

Romanza ansaluza op 22 Saraste

Balck Orphus/ Williams

August 18, 2006 at 05:35 AM · I agree with the Rachmaninov Prelude in G minor. it is an excellent, excellent piece

other suggestions: Heifetz-Dinicu Hora Staccato

FANDANGO! a foot-tapper of a movement from one of Boccherini's guitar quintets and even uses spanish cassenets

In the new music vein: John Adams' Phrygian Gates seems to be popular

Piano music:

Debussy's Clair de Lune and Golliwog's Calk Walk,

Elgar piano concerto

choral music:

Fauré pavane (S club 7 used the melody in a song of theirs a while back...and completely butchered it may I add)

Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Allegri's Miserere Mei will turn even the hardest hearts into puddles

orchestral:

the planets by Gustav Mahler (jupiter and mars)

2nd movement of Beethoven symphony 7

Beethoven's Egmont Overture

Mahler symphony 5, especially the adagietto

and someone's gonna have a fit when i say this, but vanessa mae's version of the 3rd mvmt of Summer from Vivald's Four Seasons (complete with thunder sound effects)

Prokofiev romeo and juliet

Dvorak and Elgar cello concertos

Charles de Beriot "Scene de Ballet" and Concerto no. 9

#44 of bartok's 44 duets for violins

Vaughn Williams' the Lark Ascending

and last on my very incomplete list:

CLASSICAL GAS! the guitar piece from the 70s (?)

oh, and the diamond song from the DeBeer's commercials ;-)

August 18, 2006 at 09:39 AM · Kreisler's Praeludium and Allegro is fairly flashy (final variation played as fast a possible) and has a great ending.

August 18, 2006 at 01:06 PM · Bazzini Round of the Goblins

August 18, 2006 at 01:11 PM · With my public school students I normally get them listening to "classical" music by having thenm listen to soundtracks from movies. There are many movie scores out there that are very good. Most of the John Williams stuff they will recognize but there are others as well. The soundtrack from "Kingdom of Heaven" is quite good. One of my favorite composers who wrote for the big screen was Miklos Rosza. The music he wrote for film is always epic in proportion as can be heard in his soundtrack for "Ben Hur" and then you could use those to jump to his more concert hall genre music, such as his concertos for violin or piano or cello. The film music of Shostakovitch is the same way.

Since most non musicians go to movies more than they go to classical concerts, I've found that the soundtrack route is a good bridge between the two.

August 18, 2006 at 01:47 PM · YES MIKLOS ROZSA!! Fantastic composer! His violin concerto is delightful. :)

August 18, 2006 at 02:09 PM · This is a great list. I'm printing it out!

A couple more:

Tambourin Chinois (my kids love that one)

Pineapple Rag (is that the name?) Itzhak Perlman's crowd pleasing piece

Banjo and Fiddle

AND . . . my electric guitarist brother actually bought a CD that is Led Zepplin's music set for solo violin! "Stairway to Heaven" is pretty funky!

August 18, 2006 at 04:41 PM · These classical works, arranged for solo violin, impress ANY audience:

Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

Bizet: Toreador March and Habanera from Carmen

Gershwin: Summertime

Massenet: Meditation from Thais

Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusic 1st movement

Pachelbel: Kanon

Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee

Strauss: Blue Danube Waltz

Tchaikovsky: Trepak from Nutcracker

Traditional: Amazing Grace

August 19, 2006 at 05:44 AM · Disney songs and the theme from Titanic seem to be pretty popular

August 20, 2006 at 05:09 AM · CD, Classical Gas...LOL! I can't remember the last time I heard that one.

BTW, the diamond commercial music is Palladio by Karl Jenkins. We played it at music camp a few weeks ago. It was kinda fun.

August 25, 2006 at 04:21 AM · That's right Jennifer, old school revival, here we come. Sorta like those leggings everyone's been wearing.

August 25, 2006 at 08:52 AM · Hi,

Mozart: Rondo alla Turca (piano)

And Haydn: Trio (violin, cello, piano) A L'Ongarese

Beethoven: Für Elise

Others have already been named, as Bartok's Hungarian Folk Danses, or Orff's Carmina Burana.

Anne

August 25, 2006 at 11:44 AM · When playing Carmina Burana in an unaccompanied violin situation, the 1st movement works great.

Most people who know that piece at all only recognize the 1st movement. Sometimes I'll play the later movements if somebody actually recognizes the 1st movement, but that usually leaves a blank look on their faces.

August 25, 2006 at 01:27 PM · Use something they're familiar with:

*anything by John Phillip Sousa (Stars and Stripes Forever, The Thunderer March)

*major themes from movies (2001, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean)

*certain classical pieces they don't know which are quite unusual (for example, the end of the 1812 Overture, Flight of the Bumble Bee)

*songs they will somehow already know for some unknown reason (Entry of the Gladiators, Can-Can)

Don't do anything slow, kids have a hard time sitting still...and make it short and to the point-- leave out any part that isn't exciting.

Also, try Hooked on Classics.

August 25, 2006 at 02:33 PM · Uh-oh! Has anyone mentioned the Brahms-Joachim Hungarian Dances?!

December 19, 2011 at 05:45 AM · @ David Ormai,

I'm sorry but I think most non-classical listeners will say "WTF is this?" to most of the pieces you've listed.

Non-classical listeners like to listen to tunes that are familiar, virtuostic, or melodic.

My non-exhaustive list:

-Waltz by Strauss II

-Canon in D

-Thais Mediation

-Czardas

-Love's Greeting

-Swan Lake

-Gypsy Air

-Carmen Theme or Carmen fantasy

-Flight of the Bumble Bee

-Any major hollywood soundtracks

December 19, 2011 at 02:23 PM · I would definitely say Yankee Doodle Variations by Vieuxtemps. I've played it many times for audiences composed of average listeners, and I've always gotten a good response. People like themes that they have either heard before or can easily relate to. Yankee Doodle in Vieuxtemps's rendition is both and such variations on a simple, almost silly tune are unexpected and very fun.

December 19, 2011 at 03:48 PM · I agree with Brahms' Hungarian Dances, esp #5. In fact, anything Gyspy-ish.

I second movie scores. Throw in cartoon music. You can find classic cartoons on YouTube, to show first, then follow up with the entire piece. I'm thinking Poet & Peasant, Hebrides, Donna-Diana, Russlan & Ludmilla, and other overtures.

Folks who liked Master & Commander will enjoy Bach Cello Suite #1 prelude and the last movement of the Mozart 3. (Yes, that's violin concerto -- this IS v.com!).

December 19, 2011 at 04:40 PM · Video games music are great too. Just remember to choose the popular ones like Super Mario.

You will look like a god if you can do this: Super Mario Violin

December 19, 2011 at 08:09 PM · anything by Yngwie Malmsteen: his entire career as a heavy metal guitar virtuoso is based on emulating Paganinni.

December 19, 2011 at 08:44 PM · A few of ideas:

Copland's Appalachian Spring

Bach's Air on a G String

Ravel's Bolero

December 19, 2011 at 08:55 PM · ...emulating Paganinni...

The better word would be "imitating"

Malmsteen is a fast guitarist with a decent technique. Concerning musical substance, he's only a joke compared to paganini (or whatever classical composer).

Have fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5bJOvIYov0

(The funny thing is, he and is fans take that seriously ;-)

I'm still having trouble to find out what this could have to do with "classical music"

December 20, 2011 at 04:00 AM · Most attention catching thing I can think of off the top of my head

And the second most attention catching

December 20, 2011 at 04:20 AM · C'mon guys, she said they had to be SHORT and catchy. She's not going to play the third movement of some famous concerto for her teenage pals.

Look at Kevin Huang's list (scroll back). He read your question, and he nailed it. Most of those are one- or two-pagers.

December 20, 2011 at 04:37 AM · Pachelbel in D, and here is the proof LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM

December 20, 2011 at 05:25 AM · 5-10 minutes is pretty short...Not much longer than a pop song.

Long is Brahms Concerto, Beethoven Concerto, etc.

Edit: There are recordings by the Fine Arts Quartet and Shanghai Quartet on youtube of the Schubert that I think are somewhat more gripping in the normal romantic way.