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This is kinda inspired by the "can our little world be saved thread"
If you wanted to get someone to like classical music, and they agreed to listen to 1 piece, which piece would you get them listen to?
I think I'd chose Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto

I suppose it's contrary to the spirit of the question to suggest Procol Harum's renowned 1967 hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale"?

I only half-jest. The distinctive organ obbligato is not only reminiscent of well known classical works but the overall piece could be compared to a baroque aria.

Less facetiously, I would probably go with something like Canon de Pachelbel.

"The Lads in their Hundreds" by George Butterworth. Text from "A Shropshire Lad" by A.E. Housman.

Sung by Bryn Terfel.

I played this for a class of 40 music appreciation students at a community college. This was in the late 90's, and many of them had known people who had fought in the Gulf War.

It made perfect sense to them.

http://www.bartleby.com/123/23.html

We then moved on to Mozart's Nozze di Figaro. I asked them two questions:

1) What is he doing? (Finding a Place for the Bed)
2) What is she doing? (Trying on Clothes)

Then I said "see why they call it a soap opera."

The entire class demanded we watch the rest of the opera the next day.

I also have another presentation that I've used several times where I use German expressionist art to introduce the music of Schoenberg (Verklaerte Nacht) and Berg (Violin Concerto.)

With the introduction and slide show I wrote, I had a class of 72 students, none of whom were music majors, listen intently to the whole 20 minutes of Schoenberg.

The short version of the introduction was this - Freud believed that much of what you do and feel is motivated by things beneath your conscious mind. German expressionism sought to explore the subconscious by playing with the surface images of things. So if a person is sad, you capture it by painting them blue instead of flesh-colored. If music expresses a difficult or tortured emotion, you make it sound difficult or tortured. These composers wanted to capture something about a person's inner feelings. If you've never felt conflicted or strong emotions, none of this music will make sense to you, and you're free to leave.

None did.

Beethoven Appassionata Sonata

It is a great piece that is relatively easier to understand and the third movement is spectacular. Of course, this is only a guess at a piece I would hope would work.

A problem with picking the piece is it has to speak to the listener and, of course, every listener will have different taste in what appeals to him/her.

Barber's Adagio for Strings is somewhat transcendent for 'quiet' listeners

I've given virginal a recital at the local community college for their music appreciation course. I used the music from a volume called "English Passe Tyme Musick", which was music that was jotted down quickly by the musicians when they visited the local watering hole.

I went on to explain that many of the popular songs in the day were then transcribed for various instruments including the keyboard instrument that I was playing.

After that I moved into the later periods up to Scarlatti since my instrument has a range of 4-1/2 octaves (C/E-f''') with a short octave in the bass, and discussed the structure of suites and sonatas. They actually had a quiz on it, and all did very well.

Long after the demonstration I did, the instructor informed me that the students couldn't stop talking about it for the rest of the semester.

This shows that if "classical" music is introduced to people, they can enjoy it.

John

Something fun. I think that many people who are against classical music have a preconceived notion that it is just all about being serious. Sure, there's that, but there's the fun stuff too. I'd probably have them listen to Gilbert & Sullivan's "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General" or something. If we're talking piano rep, Bartok's Dances in Bulgarian Rhythms from Mikrokosmos 6 is usually a great hit.

I would have said Beethoven's Appassionata sonata, but recently I was listening to it with a couple of friends who did not like it at all. I thought no one could possibly not like such a beautiful piece, but I guess I was wrong.

Pachelbel's Canon in D always seems to appeal to people, as well as Fur Elise. For the latter, I simply heard (and played) it way too many times to really appreciate it anymore but there's a reason why it's such a popular piece.

But if it comes down to one, I would pick Fantasie Impromptu.

No wait, I changed my mind. I would definitely get them to see that "Rachmaninoff had big hands" video on youtube or something by those two guys, at least. They are hilarious.

I have to confess that this Mendelssohn Caprice (Scherzo) was one of the first pieces that captivated my attention (at age 6 or 7).

It was on a little 45 record, and I played it over and over. It worked for me!

In any event, I would choose a short piece (not a Concerto), and something that is fast and rhythmic.

Watching my uncle play Fantasie Impromptu was what made me want to play piano - so my vote goes to that!

C H O P I N

Shouldn't this depend on the individual one is exposing classical music to? I mean, a carefree youth of seven might respond to Mozart's Turkish Rondo, while an uber-angsty sixteen year old might go for, oh, Beethoven's Appassionata, or even Schoenberg's First Quartet (gasp!). Age, personality, and intelligence must all be taken into account, methinks.
Kreisler, your methods are wonderful and show a great understanding of pedagogy. You won't mind if I use these methods someday, do you Kappelmeister?

Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, maybe? Everybody's heard No.2 from somewhere or another.

I would let them listen to No.2. It's been in cartoons since who knows when.

I'd start with Tschaikowsky--even if I have no idea how to spell his name--the obvious ones, Nutcracker, Swan Lake.

The newbie might be suspicious though, as Tschaikowsky is so beautiful and so approachable, that even some of us who have loved classical for our whole lives can't quite believe it's not Montavani. You'll just have to reassure them that it really is classical.

Then send them on their way to something like The Moldau, or Dvorak opus 96, the American Quintet.

Tomasino

The last movement of Beethoven's D minor piano sonata. That would be one piece to them. If the person played bass guitar, my choice might be different, probably the prelude from the C minor cello suite (Bach). I'd say he could try to play it with his bass, as indeed I have done, and as indeed he has done (with laudable results, notwithstanding the loss of nuance).

I'd start with the Aria of the Goldberg Variations, however far back it is. It sounds simple enough to the uninitiated, and in its apparently simplistic beauty sleeps the sublime. I think that's a pretty good start!

EDIT: Actually, I'm thinking more of a short Scarlatti sonata; perhaps the K. 350. It's very beautiful! I remember the first classical piece ever given to us at age 7 (or so) in a music room at school was the overture to the Magic Flute. That might be a good start for the younger ones!

The easily digestible pieces I have exhibited to classical novices (a concept akin to musical novices), which received immediate good feedback, were: Chopin Preludes, Handel's Water Music, Mozart's Requiem in D minor, Edelmenn's First Clavichord Sonata, Brahm's German Requiem (the second movement), Vivaldi's Four Seasons (ugh), Debussy's Claire De Lune (which sparked my interest in classical music as a child), Schubert's Impromptu's Opus 90, D 899 (especially in A flat major), Mozart's Fantasie in D minor (I usually perform this one), etc.

Whomever suggested Pachabel's Canon in D is committing an atrocious musical crime. This piece is a monstrosity which does not even deserve the slightest bit of attention from classical connoisseurs. It serves no good musical purpose. It is MUSAK, sinful.

I hope I do not offend too many people with that previous comment.