THE GREATEST MUSIC

(by the editorial staff of arianuova.org)

«Höheres gibt es nichtes, als der Gottheit sich mehr als andere Menschen nähern und von hier aus die Strahlen der Gottheit unter das Menschengeschlecht verbeiten» L. van Beethoven

The origin of Music is inextricably linked with the origin of Man. In India, the first musical instruments date back to the Sama-Veda, which accompanied the chants of the sacred Hymns of the Rishis. In the pyramids there are still frescoes that show us which kind of musical instruments the Egyptians used to play: flutes, sistra, cymbals. There were also the ancient Hebrews, that sang the Psalms. The Greeks, like the Indians, cultivated the monody; when they sang, they were aware to begin from the proslambanomenos and they proceeds through the tethrachords which formed a kind of perfect system. The Romans imitated the Greeks, and the Christians created from there the eight Gregorian modes.
But only since the IX century began the habit of notation, thanks to Guido d’Arezzo who developed a system of notation. In Italy, land of the bel canto and of melody, in the XVII century Monteverdi created the Opera, and from there began the Barocco — withVivaldi at its centre —, that lasts with Bach, who is a great ocean in which all the rivers of musical tendencies of his time flow sublimely and find their magnificent rest. After the Barocco, we arrive at the classical period, and the most important representative of the classic temperament is, undoubtedly, Mozart, one of the most spontaneous and fascinating artist of the world. On the other side, Brahms is the romantic temperament par excellence. While Beethoven, with the force of his unparalleled genius, stands at the very core of the classical and romantic tendencies, and harmonizes them magically, soaring on the heaven of a great intensity of inspiration. Afterwards, the Italian Opera mingled with the German temperament flourished with Wagner and his Gesamtkunstwerk. We arrive then to the XIX century, in which we have to remember at least one fine composer: Debussy. And, from there, began a puissant period of transition in which we are still living. The Music of the Future, in which the objective and subjective view of life are not only sensually embraced but also exceeded in pure spiritual heights, has yet to come, along with the Man of the Future.
This is, extremely condensed, our History of Music. But what is most interesting for us, will be the finding of the greatest— in the sense of most inspired — musical compositions of the world. We find here to indicate at least some of them, those that we consider, paraphrasing Sri Aurobindo's terminology, belonging to the various realms of "OVERHEAD MUSIC".

Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751)
- Adagio in sol minore

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
- Le quattro stagioni

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
- Jesus bleibet meine Freude (BWV 147)
- Messe in h-moll (BWV 232)
- Erbame Dich, mein Gott (BWV 244)
- Toccata und Fuge d-moll (BWV 565)
- Goldberg-Variationen (BWV 988)
- Suite n. 5 c-moll für Violoncello solo (BWV 1011)
- “Air on the G string” - Orchestral Suite n. 3 (BWV 1068)
- Die Kunst der Fuge (BWV 1080)

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
- Ombra mai fu - Aria (Serse, I Act, scene 1)

Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart (1756-1791)
- Konzert für Klavier und Orchester n. 20 d-moll (K 466)
- Konzert für Klavier und Orchester C-dur (K 467)
- Symphonie n. 40 f-moll (K 550)
- Requiem d-moll (K 626)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
- Piano Sonata n. 14 “Mondschein” cis-moll op. 27
- Symphonie n. 3 F-dur op. 55
- Streichquartette n. 7-8-9 (“Rasumovsky”) op. 59
- Symphonie n. 4 B-dur op. 60
- Konzert für Violine und Orchester D-dur op. 61
- Symphonie n. 5 c-moll op. 67
- Symphonie n. 6 F-dur op. 68
- Konzert für Klavier und Orchester n. 5 Es-dur op. 73
- Symphonie n. 7 A-dur op. 92
- Symphonie n. 8 G-dur op. 93
- Symphonie n. 9 d-moll Op. 125
- Streichquartett n. 16 F-dur op. 135

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
- Ellens Gesang III op. 52 D839

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
- Symphonie fantastique op. 14

Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
- Nocturne n. 2 en mi bémol majeur op. 9
- Prélude n. 15 en re bémol majeur op. 28
- Valse n. 1 en la bémol majeur op. 69

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
- Tristan und Isolde: Preludio
- Walkürenritt (Die Walküre)

Aleksandr Porfirevic Borodin (1833-1887)
- Polovtsian Dance & Women’s Chorus (Prince Igor, II Act)

Piotr Ilic Caikovsky (1840-1893)
- Nutckracker Suite op. 71a
- Symphony n. 6 op. 74 Pathétique

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
- Sheherazade, suite symphonique op. 35

Aleksandr Skryabin (1872-1915)
- Mysterium

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
- Also Sprach Zarathustra op. 30

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
- Claire de lune (Suite Bergamasque)

Gustav Holst (1874-1915)
- The Planets op. 32

Maurice Ravel (1875-1934)
- Concerto pour piano et orchestre en sol majeur
- Boléro

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
- L’Oiseau de Feu
- Le Sacre du printemps

Carl Orff (1895-1982)
- Carmina Burana

György Ligeti (1923-2006)
- Lux æterna

Zbigniew Preisner (1955)
- Lacrimosa