Niccolò Paganini

Wikipedia (1782-1840) [Italian. Classical.]
If you're just gonna listen to one: Sonata for Violin & Guitar (op. 2 no. 1)

Background

There's a lot of funky energy around Paganini - his story is the stuff of legends. Some accounts say that Paganini mutilated his hand in his youth, to give him a better reach when fingering on the violin. Other accounts of his life suggest that he might have had Marfan Syndrome, which can manifest in too-limber joints and very long limbs, and sometimes spider-like fingers.

However he came to them, he had fingers uniquely suited to playing the violin, and he was moved from teacher to teacher as a boy, searching for someone who could actually teach him something. He was a prodigy, and his technical abilities with stringed instruments eventually made him famous.

There was no music complicated enough to showcase his skills, though, so he composed his own music. His music is not thought of as highly interesting, but exists primarily to show of technical skills of the violinist.

Orchestral Music

Concerto No. 1 (Uto Ughi)
Concerto No. 2 (Ivry Gitlis)
Concerto No. 4 (Salvatore Accardo)

Caprices

Caprices 1, 5 & 24 (Itzhak Perlman)
Caprices 1-24 (Alexander Markov)

[The theme from Caprice 24 has been used by many composers to create other works, most notably: Variations on a Theme of Paganini (Brahms), Grandes études de Paganini (Liszt) & Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Rachmaninoff).]

Chamber Music

Paganini wrote lots of chamber music, in many different instrument combinations, all of which could highlight his virtuosic capabilities (as a violin, viola, and guitar player -- he excelled at all of these instruments). Some examples:

Nel cuor più non mi sento (usually violin with violin & cello accompanying)
Cantabile (violin & guitar)

Aaron Copland

Wikipedia (1900-1990) [US. Modern.]
If you're just gonna listen to one: Clarinet Concerto (Benny Goodman)

Background

Aaron Copland actually set out to create an authentic American sound as a composer. For a Russian Jewish kid who grew up in New York, it's pretty astounding that he pretty much accomplished just that. (Particularly since much of the music he's best known for has a distinct connection in people's mind to the "wild west.")

Orchestral Music

Most of us know some of Copland's music. From the "Beef, it's what's for dinner" commercial music (Hoedown from Rodeo) to the music from Appalachian Spring and Fanfare for the Common Man, his music is all around in popular culture... Lots of his well-known music is incidental music for ballet, but it has entered the standard orchestral repertoire. [Ballet works include Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Dance Panels, and Billy the Kid.]

Appalachian Spring, (original score; video of ballet)
Appalachian Spring (orchestral version)
Rodeo (the dance episodes)

Some of his lesser-known works are fantastic. Benny Goodman commissioned a Clarinet Concerto (Richard Stoltzman), which is kind of jazzy like Gershwin's piano concerto, but not overdone. He wrote one other concerto: Piano Concerto (Earl Wild).

Other interesting pieces


John Henry
Lincoln Portrait (orchestral music with spoken Lincoln quotes - here by Katherine Hepburn)
El Salón México

Chamber Music

Copland had a few distinct periods in the evolution of his composition style -- his chamber music tends to be more modern sounding. If you like that style of music, check out some of these:

Vitebsk (piano trio)
Sextet for Clarinet, Piano & Strings
Piano Quartet