At WNED Classical, we’re looking for the perfect musical get away, a piece of music that carries you to your fantasy island paradise.

Feeling stressed? We’d like to land you on that island fantasy where you can breathe deeply and feel the soothing breeze against your skin. You ask: how will we get you there? Music will transport you. If you think about it, you already know what music will get you to your own special island. Just let us know what 3 pieces of music will take you there, so we can schedule your trip during our Fall Membership Drive. 

If you cannot access the submission form, please click here.

Having trouble deciding on your three pieces? Here are some suggestions of great “get-away” pieces you hear regularly on WNED Classical:

Beethoven: Calm Sea & Prosperous Voyage

Debussy: La Mer/En bateau

Delius: By The River from Florida Suite

Grofe: Mississippi Suite/Niagara Falls Suite/Hudson River Suite

Handel: Water Music

Offenbach: Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffmann

Schubert: The Trout (Think peaceful fishing trip)

Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia

Coates: A London Suite

Copland: El Salon Mexico/Appalachian Spring

Debussy: L’isle Joyeuse/Iberia

De Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain

Dvorak: New World Symphony/ “Goin’ Home”

Gershwin: An American in Paris/Cuban Overture

Glass: “The Island” from Glassworks

Gottschalk: A Night in the Tropics

Grofe: The Grand Canyon Suite

Hovhaness: Symphony No. 2 “Mysterious Mountain”

Ibert: Escales (Ports of Call)

Mendelssohn: Italian Symphony/Herbrides Overture

Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain

Respighi: The Roma Triptych (Pines, Fountains, Festivals)/Brazilian Impressions

Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnol

Saint-Saens: Havanaise

Sibelius: Finlandia/Karelia

Strauss, J. Jr.: Blue Danube Waltz

Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien

Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata

Debussy: Clair de lune

Delius: A Walk to the Paradise Garden

Dvorak: “O Silver Moon” from Rusalka

Holst: The Planets

Mozart: “Jupiter” Symphony No 41 

Neilson: Helios Overture

Offenbach: Le voyage dans la lune (Overture)

RVW: The Lark Ascending & Serenade to Music 

Strauss, R.: Sunrise from Also sprach Zarathustra

Williams: Star Wars/Close Encounters

1. Rachmaninoff's 3rd Concerto (Kissin/Ozawa)
2. Charles Valentin Alkan's Grande Sonata (Marc-Andre Hamelin)
3. Schubert's A Minor Piano Sonata D.784 (Radu Lupu)

1. The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky
2. Horn Trio in E-flat by Brahms
3. Dvorak String Quartet No. 12 "American”

1. Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie’s and Gnossiennes, specifically Gymnopedie 1.  Soothing, relaxing, takes me away from the stressors of life.
2. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, the Young Prince and Young Princess. Feels outside of time and space, whisks me away to a different place. Was also my wedding party’s entrance music.
3. Respighi’s Fountains of Rome.

1. Schubert: String Quintet in C
2. Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
3. Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty

1. Kronos Quartet plays Philip Glass
2. “Ahn-Plugged” from the Ahn Trio
3. “Ola Gjeilo – Voices-Piano-Strings”, Gjeilo’s Decca label debut including Tenebrae and Voces8

1. Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4  (Grimaud/Masur)
2. Mussorgsky/Ravel  Pictures at an Exhibition (Slatkin/Lyon)
3. Copland  Appalachian Spring  (complete version)  MTT/Santa Francisco

1. Mozart’s Requiem
2. Handel’s “Where'er you walk…”
3. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

1. Claude Debussy Images (Paul Jacobs, piano)
   1. Images (1894)
   2. Images, Series 1
   3. Images, Series 2
2. Gabriel Faure: Pelleas et Melisande Suite, op. 80 (Seiji Ozawa conducting)
3. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 (Adrian Boult conducting)

1. Holst: The Planets [Jupiter, specifically] (Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Williams
2. Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre (Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy)
3. Tchaikovsky: Marche Slave (Berlin Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado)

1. Toby Fox: Undertale
2. Joe Hisashi and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: One Summer’s Day (The Name of Life)
3. Nicolas Britell: Agape