Music

The following table lists the 50 most-frequently referenced works of music in NAQT questions as of November 1, 2007. While you //really// gotta know their creators, these are also some of the works about which more substantive questions are written, so teams should be prepared for questions on their style, instrumentation, performance, lyrics, key, program, and circumstances of creation. This is an update of an [|earlier You Gotta Know article]. William S. __Gilbert__ (words) || 1885 || 48 ||
 * You Gotta Know These Musical Works**
 * **Rank** || **Title** || **Genre** || **Creator** || **Date** || **Freq.** ||
 * 1 || Carmen || Opera || Georges __Bizet__ || 1845 || 147 ||
 * 2 || Aida || Opera || Giuseppe __Verdi__ || 1871 || 146 ||
 * 3 || The Ring of the Nibelung || Opera || (Wilhelm) Richard __Wagner__ || 1876 || 122 ||
 * 4 || Messiah || Oratorio || George Frideric __Handel__ || 1741 || 102 ||
 * 5 || Symphony No. 9, "Choral" || Symphony || Ludwig van __Beethoven__ || 1823 || 100 ||
 * 6 || Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral" || Symphony || Ludwig van __Beethoven__ || 1808 || 97 ||
 * 7 || Symphonie fantastique || Symphony || (Louis-)Hector __Berlioz__ || 1830 || 92 ||
 * 8 || The Nutcracker || Ballet || Pyotr Ilyich __Tchaikovsky__ || 1892 || 91 ||
 * 9 || The Rite of Spring || Ballet || Igor (Fyodorovich) __Stravinsky__ || 1913 || 90 ||
 * 10 || Madama Butterfly || Opera || Giacomo __Puccini__ || 1904 || 89 ||
 * 11 || Symphony No. 3, "Eroica" || Symphony || Ludwig van __Beethoven__ || 1804 || 86 ||
 * 12 || The Barber of Seville || Opera || Gioacchino (Antonio) __Rossini__ || 1816 || 85 ||
 * 13 || The Magic Flute || Opera || Wolfgang Amadeus __Mozart__ || 1791 || 84 ||
 * 14 || Appalachian Spring || Ballet || Aaron __Copland__ || 1944 || 83 ||
 * 15 || Rigoletto || Opera || Giuseppe __Verdi__ || 1851 || 82 ||
 * 16 || Don Giovanni || Opera || Wolfgang Amadeus __Mozart__ || 1787 || 79 ||
 * 17 || La Bohème || Opera || Giacomo __Puccini__ || 1896 || 78 ||
 * 18 || Fidelio || Opera || Ludwig van __Beethoven__ || 1805 || 77 ||
 * 19 || The Four Seasons || Concerto || Antonio __Vivaldi__ || 1725 || 73 ||
 * 20 || Rhapsody in Blue || Composition || George __Gershwin__ || 1924 || 72 ||
 * 21 || The Marriage of Figaro || Opera || Wolfgang Amadeus __Mozart__ || 1784 || 72 ||
 * 22 || West Side Story || Musical || Leonard __Bernstein__ || 1957 || 68 ||
 * 23 || Siegfried || Opera || (Wilhelm) Richard __Wagner__ || 1876 || 66 ||
 * 24 || Moonlight Sonata || Sonata || Ludwig van __Beethoven__ || 1801 || 63 ||
 * 25 || The Planets || Suite || Gustav(us Theodore von) __Holst__ || 1918 || 61 ||
 * 26 || Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique" || Symphony || Pyotr Ilyich __Tchaikovsky__ || 1893 || 60 ||
 * 27 || Porgy and Bess || Opera || George __Gershwin__ || 1935 || 60 ||
 * 28 || William Tell || Opera || Gioacchino __Rossini__ || 1804 || 59 ||
 * 29 || Peter and the Wolf || Composition || Sergei (Sergeyevich) __Prokofiev__ || 1936 || 59 ||
 * 30 || The Song of the Earth || Symphony || Gustav __Mahler__ || 1909 || 59 ||
 * 31 || Swan Lake || Ballet || Pyotr Ilyich __Tchaikovsky__ || 1877 || 58 ||
 * 32 || The Flying Dutchman || Opera || (Wilhelm) Richard __Wagner__ || 1843 || 58 ||
 * 33 || Lohengrin || Opera || (Wilhelm) Richard __Wagner__ || 1850 || 57 ||
 * 34 || Boléro || Composition || (Joseph) Maurice __Ravel__ || 1928 || 55 ||
 * 35 || The Phantom of the Opera || Musical || Andrew __Lloyd Webber__ || 1910 || 54 ||
 * 36 || Tosca || Opera || Giacomo __Puccini__ || 1900 || 54 ||
 * 37 || Turandot || Opera || Giacomo __Puccini__ || 1762 || 53 ||
 * 38 || La Traviata || Opera || Giuseppe __Verdi__ || 1853 || 53 ||
 * 39 || Pictures at an Exhibition || Composition || Modest (Petrovich) __Mussorgsky__ || 1874 || 53 ||
 * 40 || A German Requiem || Sacred Choral Work || Johannes __Brahms__ || 1868 || 51 ||
 * 41 || Symphony No. 94, "Surprise" || Symphony || (Franz) Joseph __Haydn__ || 1791 || 50 ||
 * 42 || Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter" || Symphony || Wolfgang Amadeus __Mozart__ || 1788 || 50 ||
 * 43 || Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" || Symphony || Antonín (Leopold) Dvorák || 1893 || 49 ||
 * 44 || The Mikado || Musical || Arthur __Sullivan__ (music)
 * 45 || My Fair Lady || Musical || Frederick __Loewe__ || 1956 || 47 ||
 * 46 || Falstaff || Opera || Giuseppe __Verdi__ || 1893 || 47 ||
 * 47 || Boris Godunov || Opera || Modest (Petrovich) __Mussorgsky__ || 1869 || 47 ||
 * 48 || Cats || Musical || Andrew __Lloyd Webber__ || 1982 || 46 ||
 * 49 || Enigma Variations || Composition || Edward (William) __Elgar__ || 1899 || 46 ||
 * 50 || Salome || Opera || __R__ichard (Georg) __Strauss__ || 1905 || 45 ||