Written by leading music journalists from around the world, this book offers colourful insights into, and detailed information about, more than 700 years of musical endeavor. It covers the Gregorian chants of the Medieval age (pre-1400), the madrigals and more secular music of the Renaissance (1400-1600), and the ornamentation of the Baroque era.

"1001 Classical Recordings" is a guide concerned with excellence in every field of classical music. The reader becomes familiar with the Gregorian chants of the Medieval age (pre-1400), the madrigals and more secular music of the Renaissance (1400-1600), the intricate ornamentation of the Baroque era (1600-1750), the structured pieces of the Classic period (1750-1820), and the emotionally charged Romantic works (1820-1900), right through to the innovative and sometimes challenging composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. From the great and inspiring Masses, choral works, symphonies, concertos, and operas, to the intimacies and subtleties of chamber music and pieces written for small ensembles and soloists, the reader builds up a full understanding of the variety of music in the classical genre, and is guided to the most outstanding recordings of each masterpiece. Each entry is potentially a gateway to exciting new territories of music for the reader to explore.

A selection of the finest recordings of the greatest works in the classical music genre from Medieval and Baroque to the most up to date compositions, including:

Johann Sebestian Bach: St John Passion
Netherlands Chamber Choir/Franz Bruggen. Philips.
Johannes Brahms: Viola Sonatas Nos. 1 in F minor
2 in E flat, Op. 120/1-2
Lars Anders Tomter, Leif Ove Andsnes.
Virgin/EMI.
Claude Debussy: Images: Iberia, coupled with Ravel's Alborada etc
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner. BMG/RCA.
George Frideric Handel: Messiah (complete, orch. Sir Eugene Goossens)
Vyvyan, Sinclair, Vickers, Tozzi, Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra Choir and Orchestra/Sir Thomas Beecham. BMG/RCA
Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
Ein Heldenleben
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner. BMG/RCA.
Igor Stravinsky: (i) Apollo
(ii) The Firebird
Petrushka (1911 score)
The Rite of Spring (complete ballets)
(i) London Symphony Orchestra, Markevitch
(ii) London Philharmonic Orchestra/Haitink. Ph. Duo.
Guiseppe Verdi: Il Trovatore (complete)
Leontyne Price, Domingo, Milnes, Cossotto, Ambrosian Operatic Choir, New Philharmonic Orchestra/Mehta. BMG/RCA.
George Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (complete)
Willard White, Cynthia Haymon, Harolyn Blackwell, Cynthia Clarey,
Damon Evans, Glyndebourne Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra/Simon Rattle. EMI.