The classical music canon is pretty big. This is why we get books called "The Essential Canon of Classical Music," which is odd on a couple of levels: The canon is already a restrictive construct and the "essential" canon is a distillation of a distillation of what is supposedly "good" classical musical. "Essential" also implies an indispensability which is a bit academically imperialistic for me. But whenever anybody asks "what are some good pieces in classical music," the canon is what the responder thinks of, sometimes peppered with his/her own experiences.

A lot of people have asked me what I think are great pieces from the classical repertoire. I feel compelled to not only give them my own personal preferences but pieces that they "should" listen to, whether for historical reasons or just by general concensus. For example, on one hand, "Pierrot Lunaire" is an influential and important piece everybody should listen to at least a few times. But it is not the nicest introduction to "classical" music and even I don't enjoy all of the movements. So what is a classical music nerd to do?

The answer: ignore everything and just put down pieces I find either important or great to listen to. Here is my own canon, to be continually revised. I am missing a lot of "important" pieces but who cares. This is what I've decided on for now. A lot of these works I have yet to become familiar with but at least I will want to become familiar with all of these works at some point. So here goes. It's long. Feel free to recommend some of your own!

Luke's Canon:

Monteverdi
	L'Orfeo

Handel
	Messiah
	Music for the Royal Fireworks

Bach
	Brandenburg Concertos
	Well-Tempered Clavier Bk. 1 and 2
	6 Suites for cello
	Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor
	Goldberg Variations
	Mass in B Minor
	Cantata No. 140: Wachet Auf
	Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
	French and English Suites for the Keyboard

Haydn:
	London Symphonies No. 93 - 104

Mozart:
	Piano Concerto No. 21
	Piano Concerto No. 24
	Le Nozze di Figaro
	Don Giovanni
	Cosi fan Tutte
	Die Zauberflote
	Symphony No. 38-41
	Requiem
	Sonata No. 11 in A Major

Beethoven:
	Complete Piano Sonatas
	Five Piano Concertos
	Violin Sonata No. 7
	Violin Concert in D Major
	Nine Symphonies (mainly 3, 5, 6, 7, 9)
	String Quartets

Paganini:
	Concertos No. 1 and 2
	24 Caprices
	
Rossini:
	Barber of Seville
	Overture to William Tell

Schubert:
	Unfinished Symphony (No. 8)
	Fantasy in C Major for Piano (Wanderer)
	Die Winterreise
	Lieder:
		Auf dem Wasser zum singen
		Die Schone Mullerin
		Gretchen am spinnrade
	Trio No. 1 in Bb Major
	Quartet No. 14 (Death and the Maiden)

Berlioz:
	Symphonie Fantastique

Mendelssohn:
	Midsummer Night's Dream Overture
	Rondo Capriccioso (Piano)
	Piano Concerto No. 1
	Italian Symphony (No. 4)
	Violin Concert in E Minor

Chopin:
	24 Etudes op. 10 and op. 25
	Concertos NO. 1 and 2 (e and f minor) for piano
	Nocturnes
	Polonaises
	Scherzos
	Preludes
	Ballades
	Waltzes
	Bacarolle in F Sharp Major
	Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brilliante
	Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor

Schumann:
	Dichterliebe
	Piano Concerto No. 1 in a minor
	Carnaval for Piano
	Symphony No. 2 in C Major

Liszt:
	Hungarian Rhapsodies (for piano)
	Les Preludes for Orchestra
	12 Etudes d'execution transcendante
	Sonata in B Minor for Piano
	Faust Symphony
	Mephisto Waltz No. 1
	La Campanella
	Variations on THemes of Bach: "Crucifixus"
		of the B Minor Mass and Cantata no. 12
		"Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen."
	Libestraum
	"Un Sospiro"

Wagner:
	Prelude and Liebestod of Tristan
	Overture to Dies Mesitersinger von Nurnberg

Verdi:
	Rigoletto
	La Traviata
	Aida
	Requiem
	OVerture to La Forza del destino

Franck:
	Sonata in A Major for violin
	
Smetana:
	Overture to the Bartered Bride
	The Molda from Ma Vlast
	
Brahms:
	Four Symphonies
	PIano Concerto No. 1
	Variations on a Theme by Paganini

Saint-Saens:
	Danse Macabre
	The Carnival fo the Animals
	Symphony No. 3 (Organ)
	Piano Concerto (THe Egyptian)

Bizet:
	L'Arlesienne Suites 1 and 2
	Carmen
	Variations on a Theme from Carmen
		arranged by Vladimir Horowitz

Mussorgsky:
	Pictures at an Exhibition
	A Night on Bald Mountain
	
Tchaikobsky:
	Overture to Romeo and Juliet
	First Piano Concerto
	Concerto in D Major for violin
	Symphonies 4-6
	1812 Overture
	The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty

Dvorak:
	Symphony No. 9 (New World)
	Violin Concerto in A Minor

Grieg:
	Piano Concerto in A Minor
	Peer Gynt Suite

Rimsky-Korsakov:
	Sheherazade

Faure:
	Pelleas et Melissande Suite
	Requiem

Elgar:
	Enigma Variations
	Pomp and Circumstance Marches
	Concerto in E Minor for Cello and Orchestra

Puccini:
	La Boheme
	Madame Butterfly
	Turandot

Mahler:
	Symphonies:
		1,2,4,8,9
	Das Lied von der Erde
	Kindertotenlieder
	Lider eines fahrenden Gesellen

Debussy:
	Suite Bergamasque
	Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
	String Quartet
	Nocturnes (for orchestra)
	24 Preludes for Piano
	Children's Corner Suite
	Estampes
	12 Etudes

Strauss:
	Don Juan
	Tod und Verklarung
	Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
	Also Sprach Zarathustra
	Don Quixote

Sibelius:
	Finlandia
	Violin Concerto in D Minor

Sousa:
	"The Stars and Stripes Forever"
		arranged for piano by Vladimir Horowitz

Dukas:
	The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Scriabin:
	Etudes and Preludes
	Sonata No. 1, 4, 5, 9
	Symphony No. 4

Vaughn-Williams:
	Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

Rachmaninoff:
	Piano Concertos No. 2 and 3
	Symphony No. 2
	Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
	Etude-Tableaux
	Songs
	Italian Polka
	Vocalise in E Minor

Schoenberg:
	Verklarte Nacht
	Pierrot Lunaire
	String Quartet No. 1

Ravel:
	Pavane pour une infante defunte for Piano
	Quartet in F Major
	Sonatine for piano
	Gaspard de la Nuit
	Daphnis et Chloe suites NO. 1 and 2
	Bolero
	Concerto in G Major
	Jeux d'eau (for piano)
	Tzigane (for violin)

Bartok:
	6 Quartets
	Music for Strings, Percussion, and CElesta
	Concerto for Orchestra

Stravinsky:
	Firebird
	Petrouchka
	Rite of Spring
	Symphony of Psalms
	L'histoire du soldat
	Octet for Wind Instruments

Berg:
	Wozzeck

Prokofiev:
	Piano Concerto No. 3
	PEter and the Wolf
	Toccata
	The Love for Three Oranges suite
	Sonata No. 6

Hindemith:
	Ludus Tonalis

Gershwin:
	Rhapsody in Blue
	Piano Concerto in F Major
	An American in Paris

Poulenc:
	Flute Sonata
	Songs

Copland:
	Billy the Kid suite
	Fanfare for the Common Man
	Appalachian Spring Suite
	Rodeo (ballet music)

Shostakovich:
	Piano Concerto No. 1
	Symphonies:
		1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15
	24 Preludes and Fugues for piano
	Quartet No. 8
	Concerto NO. 1 for cello
	Concerto NO. 1 for violin
	Three Fantastic Dances

Britten:
	The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
	The Turn of the Screw
	War Requiem

Satie:
	Various piano works

Holst:
	The planets

Respighi:
	Fountains of Rome
	Festivals of Rome
	Pines of Rome

Webern:
	Orchestration of Bach's Musical Offering
	Variations for Piano Op. 27

Villa-Lobos:
	Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra

Orff:
	Carmina Burana

Khachaturian:
	Toccata
	Piano Concerto in F-flat Major

Barber:
	Adagio for Strings

Cage:
	Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano

Bernstein:
	West Side Story

Ligeti:
	Atmospheres
	Etudes
	Music Ricercata
	Piano Concerto

George Crumb:
	Black Angels