Top 95 Countdown
In August of 1922, WKAR-AM was granted a federal license and took to the airwaves with an exciting new technology: Radio! We're thrilled to celebrate 95 years of WKAR broadcasts with the WKAR Top 95 Countdown.
We asked listeners to tell us their favorite classical music works and a story or two about the greatest works in classical music. Oh boy, did you come through!
Weekdays 9am-4pm throughout August, Jody Knoland Jamie Paisleyare sharing your stories and counting down the works which made the Top 95.
Support for the WKAR Top 95 Countdown comes from listeners like you and from Horizon Bank.
Come back every afternoon and find out which pieces made the cut from our list below:
No.95 — The Mikado (Gilbert and Sullivan)
No.94 — Tannhauser Overture(Wagner)
No.93 — Lieutenant Kijé(Prokofiev)
No.92 — Piano Sonata No.8 in c, "Pathétique" (Beethoven)
No.91 — Emperor Waltz (Strauss Jr.)
No.90 — Symphony No.3 in E-flat, "Eroica" (Beethoven)
No.89 — Violin Concerto in D (Tchaikovsky)
No.88 — A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture (Mendelssohn)
No.87 — Olympic Fanfare and Theme (J.Williams)
No.86 — Symphony No.41 in C, "Jupiter" (Mozart)
No.85 — Symphony No.7 in A(Beethoven)
No.84 — Brandenburg Concerto No.1 (J.S. Bach)
No.83 — Capriccio Italien (Tchaikovsky)
No.82 — Symphony No.2, "Resurrection" (Mahler)
No.81 — Danse Macabre (Saint-Saens)
No.80 — The Thieving Magpie Overture (Rossini)
No.79 — Fur Elise(Beethoven)
No.78 — Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (J.S. Bach)
No.77 — Piano Concerto #5 in E-flat, "Emperor" (Beethoven)
No.76 — Sheep May Safely Graze(J.S. Bach)
No.75 — Sleeping Beauty (Tchaikovsky)
No.74 — Brandenburg Concerto #4 (J.S. Bach)
No.73 — Triumphal March from "Aida" (Verdi)
No.72 — Gloria in D (Vivaldi)
No.71 — Brandenburg Concerto #2 (J.S. Bach)
No.70 — Fantasy Overture on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet(Tchaikovsky)
No.69 — Rodeo (Copland)
No.68 — Enigma Variations (Elgar)
No.67 — Brandenburg Concerto #6 (J.S. Bach)
No.66 — Trois Gymnopedies (Satie)
No.65 — The Lark Ascending (Vaughan Williams)
No.64 — Tales from the Vienna Woods (Strauss, Jr.)
No.63 — Romeo and Juliet(Prokofiev)
No.62 — La Boheme (Puccini)
No.61 — Brandenburg Concerto #5 (J.S. Bach)
No.60 — English Folk Song Suite(Vaughan Williams)
No.59 — Piano Concerto #2 (Rachmaninoff)
No.58 — The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
No.57 — Symphony #5 (Beethoven)
No.56 — Brandenburg Concerto #3 (J.S. Bach)
No.55 — Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Mozart)
No.54 —"Nessun dorma" from Turandot (Puccini)
No.53 — Fantastia on Greensleeves (Vaughan Williams)
No.52 — Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (Bernstein)
No.51 — The Magic Flute (Mozart)
No.50 — Music for the Royal Fireworks(Handel)
No.49 — Symphony #6, "Pathetique" (Tchaikovsky)
No.48 — Ave Maria (Schubert)
No.47 — Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saens)
No.46 — Hungarian Rhapsodies (Liszt)
No.45 — 'Blue Danube' Waltz (Strauss, Jr.)
No.44 — Symphony No.3, 'Organ'(Saint-Saens)
No.43 — Toccata and Fugue in d (J.S. Bach)
No.42 — Porgy and Bess (Gershwin)
No.41 — Requiem in d (Mozart)
No.40 — A Night on Bald Mountain (Mussorgsky)
No.39 — Carmen (Bizet)
No.38 — Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev)
No.37 — The Pines of Rome (Respighi)
No.36 — The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
No.35 — Carmina Burana (Orff)
No.34 — Requiem (Verdi)
No.33 — Piano Sonata #14, "Moonlight" (Beethoven)
No.32 — Adagio for Strings (Barber)
No.31 — Ride of the Valkyries (Wagner)
No.30 — Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky)
No.29 — Star Wars (Williams)
No.28 — The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky)
No.27 — Clair de Lune (Debussy)
No.26 — Peer Gynt (Grieg)
No.25 — An American in Paris (Gershwin)
No.24 — Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Rachmaninoff)
No.23 — "The Moldau" from "Ma Vlast" (Smetana)
No.22 — "William Tell" Overture (Rossini)
No.21 — Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (Vaughan Williams)
No.20 — Water Music (Handel)
No.19 — The Rite of Spring (Stravsinky)
No.18 — Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)
No.17 — Bolero (Ravel)
No.16 — Symphony #9, "Choral" (Beethoven)
No.15 — The Firebird (Stravinsky)
No.14 — 1812 Overture (Tchaikovsky)
No.13 — Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
No.12 — Autumn from "The Four Seasons" (Vivaldi)
No.11 — Symphony #9, "From the New World" (Dvorak)
No.10 — Summer from "The Four Seasons" (Vivaldi)
No.9 — Canon in D (Pachelbel)
No.8 — Fanfare for the Common Man (Copland)
No.7 — Spring from "The Four Seasons" (Vivaldi)
No.6 — Messiah (Handel)
No.5 — Winter from "The Four Seasons" (Vivaldi)
No.4 — Finlandia (Sibelius)
No.3 — The Planets (Holst)
No.2 — Appalachian Spring (Copland)
No.1 — Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin)