By Connie Kim

A heartfelt classical playlist inspired by all forms of love! From composers’ dedications to their loved ones to pieces reminiscent of cherished moments, each selection captures beautiful emotions in even more beautiful music.

1. “Songs of Travel: IV. Youth and Love” (Ralph Vaughan Williams) – Songs of Holman: The Centered Passion
2. “Miscellanea, Op.16: IV. Nocturne in B-Flat Major” (Ignacy Jan Paderweski) – Night Music
3. “Romance of Hsiao and Ch’in” (Yi Chen) – Digital Mist
4. “Píseň lásky” (Josef Suk) – Tomáš Mach & Hiroko Matsumoto Play Dalibor C. Vačkář
5. “Africa: Land of Romance” (William Grant Still) – Still: Afro-American Symphony
6. “La bonne chanson, Op. 61: L’hiver a cessé” (Gabriel Faure) – Illuminations
7. “Liebermann: A Poet To His Beloved” (Lowell Liebermann) – Libermann: Five Pieces From Album of the Young
8. “Concert champêtre, FP 49: II. Andante” (Francis Poulenc )- Poulenc: Concerto pour deux piano et orchestre, Concert Champêtre & Suite Francais
9. “Canticle I, Op. 40: My Beloved is Mine” (Benjamin Britten) – Britten: Canticles Nos. 1-5 / The Heart of the Matter (English Song, Vol 9)
10. “Nessun dorma!” (Luciano Pavarotti) – Spirito Italiano
11.  “Serenade for Orchestra” (William Grant Still) – Still: Orchestral Works
12. “II. Andante amoroso” (Alban Berg) – Lyric Suite
13. “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed” (Margaret Bonds) – Phenomenal Women
14. “Piano Trio: 1. Pale Yellow” (Jennifer Higdon) – Higdon: Piano Trio
15.  “La corbeille des fleurs, Valse, Op. 9” (Teresa Carreño) – Clara Rodriguez Plays the Music of Teresa Carreño

When there’s a chill in the air that just won’t let go, there’s nothing better than coming home to the warmth and dancing light of a freshly prepared fireplace – except, perhaps, having the perfect classical playlist to go with it. Grab your favorite slippers, settle in, and enjoy our playlist of cozy classical picks for the winter season. 

1. “Snowberry” (Yukiko Nishimura) – Music for String Orchestra, Vol. 3 (Excelcia Chamber Orchestra)
2. Winterreise, D. 911: No. 5 Der Lindenbaum (Franz Schubert) – Schubert: Winterreise
3. “Northern Lights” (Karen Tanaka) – Crystalline: Piano Music by Karen Tanaka
4. Hungarian Dance No. 11 in D Minor (Johannes Brahms) – Brahms: 21 Hungarian Dances
5. “Your Hands in Mine” (Florence Price) – Florence Price Piano Discoveries
6. 3 Winter Poems: No. 3. Serenade, “Snow Showers” (William Alwyn) – Alwyn: Chamber Music and Songs
7. “Walking in the Air” (Excerpt “Lifecycle,” Op. 310) (Howard Blake) – Walking in the Air: The Music of Howard Blake
8. “Winter Moon” (Margaret Bonds) – Margaret Bonds: The Ballad of the Brown King & Selected Songs
9. “Elegy for the Arctic” (Ludovico Einaudi) – Ludivico Einaudi: Elegy for the Arctic
10. Sonata for Solo Harp: II. Lento (Germaine Tailleferre) – V – Chamber Music for Harp
11. “Song of the Birds” (Pablo Casals) – Sol Gabetta: Prayer
12. Pièce, Op. 189 (Mel Bonis) – Compositrices: À l’aube du XXe siècle
13. Lux aeterna: III. O nata lux (Morten Lauridsen) – Light Eternal: The Choral Music of Morten Lauridsen
14. “Nocturne” (Lili Boulanger) – Janine Jansen: Beau Soir

You can listen to these selections on our Cozy Classical playlist on Spotify.

When it comes to heavenly bodies, none has provided more musical inspiration than the moon. The most frequently celebrated element of the earth’s satellite is its light, an aspect captured by composers as diverse as Beethoven and Debussy.

Numerous selections evoke the calm of night, while others imagine fanciful travel to the moon, and the wonders that await there. The phases of the moon stir the musical imagination in some of these works, as do the places from where we see it.

Most striking about this list is the number of romantic songs, from opera arias and choruses, to lieder and vintage Americana. We’re pleased to offer this contemplative sampling to observe the anniversary of the adventurous lunar landing fifty years ago.

1. Beethoven – “Moonlight” Sonata
2. Daniel Elder – “Ballade to the Moon”
3. Elgar – In Moonlight
4. R. Strauss – Moonlight Music from “Capriccio”
5. Otto Nicolai – Moon Chorus from “The Merry Wives of Windsor”
6. Debussy – Claire de lune
7. Stella Sung – Dance of the White Lotus under the Silver Moon
8. Lu Wencheng – Autumn Moon on a Calm Lake
9. Dvorak – “Song to the Moon,” from “Rusalka”
10. Frank Bridge – “Moonlight,” from “The Sea”
11. Offenbach – Overture from “Voyage to the Moon”
12. Haydn – “What a Delightful World,” from “The World on the Moon”
13. John Williams – “Over the Moon,” from “E.T.”
14. Schubert – “An den Mond” (“To the Moon”)
15. Joe Burke/Benny Davis – “Carolina Moon”
16. Mili Balakirev – “The Crescent Moon”
17. Richard Rodgers (arr. André Previn) – “Blue Moon”
18. Eric Whitacre – “Goodnight Moon”
19. J. Strauss, Jr. – “From Earth to Moon: Blue Danube Waltz,” from “2001: A Space Odyssey”
20. Brahms – “The Moon Veils Its Face”
21. William Walton – “Moonlight,” from “As You Like It”
22. Nico Muhly – “Moondrunk,” from “Three Moon Songs”
23. Alexandre Desplat – “New Moon,” from “The Twilight Trilogy”