The Four Seasons - Antonio Vivaldi (1723)

About 200 years before Holst thought to marry symphonies to the planets, Italian baroque composer Vivaldi painted spring, summer, autumn and winter with a richly fitting symphonic palette. Spring and Autumn are instantly recognisable to even the most unlearned classical listener, but the real treasure lies in the aptness of each movement. Spring bursts with life, its violins flittering like butterflies across awakening meadows, Summer sighs as if worn down by the heat, the occasional buzzing of insects and the threat of the climactic thunderstorm, Autumn is festive then sleepy before enjoying one last burst of fine weather, while Winter has a bitter bite and an icy sharpness to it, juxtaposed by a tranquil middle section that is like lazing by a fire.

Symphon y No. 5 - Ludwig Van Beethoven (1808)

LIKE his equally popular final symphony (No. 9), Beethoven's Fifth is a masterful example of the German composer's ability to combine bombastic surges with beautiful subtlety. The Fifth's opening eight-note motif unifies the whole piece and is one of the most recognisable ``riffs'' in classical music. Beethoven reportedly told one contemporary that the opening was the sound of ``fate knocking on the door'' but the symphony is more than just it's iconic octet of foreboding notes. The Fifth is like a great boxer - it ducks in and out of the violence, and when it hits, it hits hard, but when it's not swinging knockout punches it dances around the ring with a light and graceful touch.

Canon In D Major - Johann Pachelbel (1680)

KNOWN more commonly as Pachelbel's Canon, this is to classical music as bubblegum pop is to rock 'n' roll. Despite this, the piece triggers some kind of pop-perfectness in the human brain that echoes on more than four centuries later. Californian punk band Green Day unwittingly lifted its eight chords for their song Basket Case, but the opening four chords have been a mainstay of mainstream modern music from The Beatles and U2 to The Smashing Pumpkins and Avril Lavigne - just check out comedian Rob Paravonian's Pachelbel rant on YouTube for more information. But Canon In D Major is a classic for a reason - it's a thing of beauty and wonder. There's a universal majesty to the piece that ensures it will live on for another four centuries at least.

181 2 Overture - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1882)

THE main thing you need to know about the 1812 Overture is that, if performed properly, it features cannons, which is awesome. Commissioned to commemorate the Russian resistance against Napoleon's army in the titular year, the piece perfectly documents the battle. The opening variation of Russian Orthodox hymn God Preserve Thy People serves as a calm before the storm of battle, while the piece's galloping military theme is mingled with taunting snippets of the French national anthem La Marseillaise during the attacks. Moments of peace dot the symphony's war-torn landscape, but the 1812 Overture is all about the violence and triumph of victory. Oh, and cannons.