* Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring:
The piece that redefined classical music for a new century, The Rite of Spring caused a riot when it was first performed. The recommended version: the 1960 one with Stravinsky conducting the musicians of the New York Philharmonic (calling themselves the Columbia Symphony Orchestra).
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* Duke Ellington, Mood Indigo:
From the Duke's days playing at The Cotton Club in Harlem, Mood Indigo was a piece composed specifically for broadcast. Initially titled Dreamy Blues, the song was renamed after a rapturous response to its first performance, broadcast over the radio. Recommended recording: The 1931 version on the internet archive, with Ellington and his Cotton Club orchestra.
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* Jelly Roll Morton, Jelly Roll Blues:
Ferdinand LaMothe was disowned by his great-grandmother for playing piano in a brothel. He changed his name to Morton to protect the family name from the sin of the "devil music" that he loved. Originally recorded as a piano solo in 1924, this was one of the first published pieces of jazz music.
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* Cole Porter, Night and Day:
One of the greatest entries in the Great American Songbook, Cole Porter's Night and Day was recorded in 1932. Recommended Version: The one above, a clip from the 1934 movie The Gay Divorcee, in which Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers play out an entire relationship to the song, and dance.
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* Sergei Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf:
Prokofiev wrote better pieces, but this one is probably, along with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the most famous piece written for children. Recommended recordings? Take your pick from a range of narrators: Basil Rathbone, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, David Bowie (above), or the superstar team of Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton and Sophia Loren.
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