Mozart's Clarinet Concerto

Mozart portrait Mozart's Clarinet Concerto is one of the most famous wind concertos, and it has been used in numerous films most notably in "Out of Africa". Here are mp3 files of the serene slow movement in two alternative arrangements:

Bach's P&F No.7 from Book 2

Johann Sebastian Bach picture (head) Bach's keyboard works continue to fascinate people, particularly the 48 preludes and fugues known as The Well-Tempered Clavier. The 7th Prelude from Book 2 appeared on the soundtrack to "Milk" so here are both the prelude and fugue in MP3 format:

We have also updated and improved our version of Bach's famous "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" for Organ. It is now available in the following versions:

Ragtime works by Scott Joplin :

Scott Joplin is the undisputed King of Ragtime, and we have added another of his famous Rags to our catalogue called "Elite Syncopations". Our complete catalogue of mp3 music by Scott Joplin now consists of the following works:

Classical Music
Download and listen to the best classical music. The variety is huge.

Bach Air
Listen to the famous "Air on a G-string" from Bach's Suite for Orchestra no. 3. It is so beautiful!

Music to welcome the New Year

Scotland is known for its New Year celebrations and is also the home of mfiles. Here are some mp3 files of music associated with Scotland and the New Year.

Mozart's Symphony No.40 in G minor

Mozart portrait Mozart's last 3 Symphonies are among the finest in the repertoire and, through their influence on later composers, helped to bring about a revolution in the art form. His Symphony No.40 is one of very few he composed in a minor key, and the stark single-minded mood of its opening movement with its relentless momentum was a particular influence on Beethoven and music scholars over the past 200 years. We present MP3 files of this movement in its original orchestral format and also as a piano transcription:

Grieg's "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen"

Troldhaugen Museum - Edvard Grieg's House The composer Edvard Grieg had a house built for him near Bergen in Norway. Though this is now a museum dedicated to Grieg, he and his family lived there for many years and they called the house "Troldhaugen" which means "Troll's Hill". Among his "Lyric Pieces" for piano there is a popular piece called "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen" whose happy mood seems to suggest the Grieg family enjoyed life to the full in this house. At mfiles we now have 3 Lyric Pieces and one arrangement available as mp3 files to download:

Camille Saint-Saens - The Elephant

Camille Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals CD cover Regular visitors to mfiles will know that we cover both Classical and Film Music. The French Composer Camille Saint-Saens is the first well-known composer to compose music in both these camps. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the film "L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise" which is considered to be the first film for which music was specially commissioned. Among the composer's most famous concert pieces is "The Carnival of the Animals" which is a fun suite which depicts (and sometimes caricatures) various members of the animal kingdom. One of its movements is called "The Elephant" where a double-bass plays a ponderous but witty waltz. More...

Frederic Chopin - Etude Op.10 No.4

It is fair to say that Frederic Chopin revolutionised the art of piano composition and playing in many ways. As the name suggests, the Etudes were "Studies" intended to stretch and develop the piano student, each study having a focus on particular techniques or technical challenges. However more than any other composer, Chopin's studies were also very musical, melodic and structurally sound so that they are also pleasant to listen to. Because of the often dazzling virtuosity required to play them, they can be played as encores at piano recitals, so you can readily assume that they are very difficult pieces to master. Here is an MP3 file of Chopin's Etude Op.10 No.4 in C-sharp minor:

More from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier

Bach Portrait Centuries after its composition, Bach's music continues to be an endless source of fascination, providing inspiration to music lovers, piano students and both serious and popular composers. Of all his works it is the collection known as the "Well-Tempered Clavier" that exemplifies this the most. Otherwise known as the "48 preludes and fugues", this collection of works is split over two books of 24 where each book has a prelude and a fugue in each major and minor key. Here is the final Prelude and Fugue from Book 1 (in the key of B minor) including a special arrangement of the Fugue for String Quartet:

Download Electronic Classical Music

Moog - soundtrack CD cover As part of our Electronic Music article, we have made available the following electronic versions of pieces from our classical catalogue:

Claude Debussy - Clair de Lune

Claude Debussy - oil painting "Clair de Lune" is on the play list of most piano students reaching a certain standard. It is also very familiar from its use as evovative mood music on advertising or programmes for film, television and radio. It comes the "Suite Bergamasque" by French composer Claude Debussy. Here is our mp3 file of this delightful piece:

Helping Haiti - Everybody Hurts

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Frederic Chopin - Preludes Op.28

Frederic Chopin sketch Chopin's 24 Preludes make great study pieces for pianists of all abilities. But many of these pieces are quite flexible, and (along with the original for piano) here is an arrangement of Chopin's Prelude No.6 for Woodwind Quartet, where the Bassoon plays the main theme (with a little help from the Clarinet) while the Flute and the Oboe have supporting roles:

Brahms' Intermezzo in A Op.118 No.2

Johannes Brahms old photo We have to admit that we weren't familiar with this gem for piano by Brahms until it appeared on the audition playlist for the Youtube Symphony. Now that we've discovered it, we've completely fallen in love with the piece, and here is an MP3 file of the Brahms' Intermezzo in A (Op.118 No.2) for our visitors.

Luigi Boccherini and his famous Minuet :

Luigi Boccherini portrait Luigi Boccherini was an Italian-born composer who toured Europe before settling in Spain. He was a contemporary of Haydn and wrote lots of works for String Quartet and String Quintet. His most famous piece of music is the Minuet from his String Quintet Op.13 No.5. Although there are many arrangements of this work available, here is an mp3 file of the original version for String Quintet.

Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

mozart portrait One of Mozart's most popular pieces of music is his "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (or "A Little Night Music"), the more memorable title of his Seranade No.13 for Strings. Even if you don't normally listen to classical music, you have almost certainly heard this before on films or television. Here is an mp3 file of the first movement of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in its original form for string orchestra.

Tchaikovsky: Piano Music

tchaikovsky photograph The Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky is best known for his ballet music and large scale orchestral works including six Symphonies and several Concertos. He also composed quite a large number of smaller works for the piano and many of these are good practice pieces for piano students. The "Album for the Young" is a set of 24 short pieces and, since Tchaikovsky is well-known for some of his Waltzes in his Ballet music and other works, we've chosen to provide No. 8 Waltz as a sample. Although much of Tchaikovsky's ballet music is very happy in mood, the composer suffered from bouts of depression and some of his shorter piano works seem to reflect that. Here is his "Sad Song" or Chanson Triste.

Music for Recorder:

The recorder is an instrument with a long history. Traditionally made from wood, modern practice recorders are made of plastic and very cheap compared with other musical instruments. The recorder is frequently taught in schools, not just for cost reasons but because it is relatively easy to play a range of notes reliably. Since recorders come in a range of sizes, it is also possible to form recorder ensembles. The Soprano (or Descant) recorder is the most common, but the full range goes from the small Sopranino to the large Contra-Bass. We have arranged a number of pieces from the mfiles catalogue for recorder groupings. Here are the mp3 files:

Mozart's & the film "Elvira Madigan":

elvira madigan DVD cover Among Mozart's great legacy of classical music are a total of 27 Piano Concertos. The slow movement of his Piano Concerto No. 21 in C may be familiar from its use on television and its regular inclusion in albums of classical favourites. This movement is often called "Elvira Madigan" because it was used on a Swedish film of that name. This film and its music captured the public imagination and made the music even more famous. As a reminder of how this music goes, here is a realisation of it in MP3 file format. For other formats (e.g. midi) and the sheet music for all the instruments including the conductor's score, please refer to the online sheet music page.

Franz Schubert - Moments Musicals

picture of Franz Schubert Among the many piano works by Franz Schubert are several collections of shorter pieces, such as the Impromptus and the Moments Musicals or "Musical Moments". There are six Moments Musicals altogether and we present here Number 5 from the set. Typical of Schubert No. 5 has some sharp contrasts between alternating loud and soft sections and, as the fastest of these pieces, present some challenges to a player of moderate ability. If you can play the piano then check out the sheet music version of this piece: the online Scorch page and the PDF page which you can download to print. Here is the MP3 file if all you want to do is listen to it.

Sugar Plum Fairy - from The Nutcracker

tchaikovsky photograph Just in time for Christmas, we introduce the composer Peter Tchaikovsky and his wealth of melodic music in the form of Symphonies and Overtures. More than any other classical composer though, Tchaikovsky is particularly known for his ballet music, including "Swan Lake", "The Sleeping Beauty" and "The Nutcracker". The Nutcracker is a story set at Christmas Time and uses loads of tunes which are familiar to everyone across the world from Television and Adverts as well as the ballets themselves. The perennial favourite among all these tunes must be that of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Tchaikovsky is well know for his inventive orchestration and in this piece he uses the Celesta, an instrument that was relatively new at the time. Its tinkly little bell-like sound is ideal for fairy music, fairy tales and Christmas songs. A celesta just looks like a small upright piano, but the part can also be played on a piano.

Schubert's "Death and the Maiden"

Although Franz Schubert is now widely recognised as one the great composers, this wasn't always the case. In fact during his short lifetime only a small proportion of his music was published, and there were only a few public performances featuring his music. Over the years, the importance of his skill and innovations became acknowledged, and he is now famous for his songs, symphonies, piano works and chamber music. This last category includes 15 string quartets and one of these is called "Death and the Maiden" because it shares a theme with a song he had previously written. We present the Scherzo from this work, and remind you of our existing piano music by Schubert:

Johannes Brahms - Cello Sonata in Em

Johannes Brahms photo Johannes Brahms was a master at crafting works at many different scales. His craftmanship is readily apparent in his chamber music for a small number of instruments, where he generally strove to ensure that the first movement of these works conformed to the accepted "Sonata Form" yet laying the foundation for a degree of novelty and experimentation in later movements which was true to the spirit of the Romantic Period. Among his chamber music, Brahms wrote two sonatas for Cello and Piano and this is the first movement of his first such Cello Sonata Op.38 in MP3 format.


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