We are often told to relax while listening to classical music, but these works will help you do the opposite. Yes, these are the perfect pieces of classical music for running.
A racing beat, fast tempos and heightened drama make for the perfect running soundtrack. What’s more, it’s a lot harder to do the dreaded ‘countdown to the next song’ thing with classical music. Movements differ in lengths depending on the conductor or performer, and it’s less structured and formulaic as a pop song.
If you’re in the pits of exhaustion halfway round a marathon and need a pick-me-up, we suggest switching over from Taylor Swift to Gustav Holst and seeing what happens. You might be surprised…
What are the best pieces of classical music for running?
Gustav Holst – Mars, the Bringer of War
The first and most famous movement from Gustav Holst‘s cosmic symphonic suite The Planets opens with a menacing rhythm, played by the string sections with the wooden backs of their bow (a technique called col legno, or ‘with wood’). This dramatic ostinato is present for almost the entire piece, making it the perfect music to raise your heartbeat and find your pace.
Holst The Planets best recording
Philharmonia Orchestra/Simon Rattle EMI 575 8672
Johannes Brahms – Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor
This is one of Brahms’s most recognisable works, based on a traditional Hungarian theme. It was originally written for piano four hands, then later orchestrated by Martin Schmeling. Moments of calm occasionally interrupt the flow of this energetically whirling music – a good time to take a breather, perhaps?
Brahms Hungarian Dances best recording
Vienna Philharmonic/Claudio Abbado DG E4106152
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – The Nutcracker: March
The dignified horn theme that opens this moment in Tchaikovsky’s ballet is in stark contrast to the excitable strings that gradually take over in this party piece. If you are looking for more music to add to your running playlist, The Nutcracker is full of energetic moments, such as the fight between the Nutcracker and King Rat, or the jumping Russian ‘Trepak’ dance that is performed for Clara and her Prince Charming.
Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker best recording
London Symphony Orchestra / André Previn
Antonín Dvořák – Symphony No.6: III. Scherzo (Furiant)
Undoubtedly the greatest Czech composer and also one of the very finest Romantic composers, Antonín Dvořák wrote nine symphonies that progress from impressive (no. 1) to masterful examples of the genre (numbers 7 to 9, the ‘New World’).
One of many distinguishing features is a series of brilliant Scherzos that often draw from Czech folk music themes. Most exicting of these is the Scherzo from the Sizth Symphony, which adopts the furiant, a rapid, hot-blooded Czech dance that will have you hurtling along (at a safe speed to yourself and others, of course).
Dvořák Symphony No.6 best recording
Vienna Philharmonic / Myung-Whun Chung
Górecki – Harpsichord Concerto: I. Allegro molto
Make sure your headphones aren’t at their highest volume when you switch over to this during your run, or it’ll blow your head off. The racing beat with relentless, repetitive rhythms on the harpsichord are backed by chord-like textures in the strings. You’d be forgiven for thinking there was just one instrument playing: the organ. It’s truly epic – and rather demonic.
We’d recommend Mahan Esfahani’s recording of this piece. He really tells that harpsichord who’s boss.
Górecki Harpsichord Concerto best recording
Mahan Esfahani Time Present and Past DG 479 4481
More best classical music for running
Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 7: IV. Allegro con brio
No moment of Beethoven packs a better (and more rhythmic) punch than the final movement of his Symphony No. 7. Full of Bacchic fury and a whirling, dance-like energy, Beethoven’s Seventh zips along at such a pace that you’ll need to work hard to keep up, and things come to a suitably feverish head in the Finale.
The great music writer Sir George Grove wrote that, “The force that reigns throughout this movement is literally prodigious, and reminds one of Thomas Carlyle’s hero Ram Dass, who has ‘fire enough in his belly to burn up the entire world.'” Should be enough to get you around your daily 5k loop, then…
Beethoven Symphony No. 7 best recording
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra/Riccardo Chailly Decca 478 3496
Leonard Bernstein – Candide: Overture
Leonard Bernstein’s comic operetta opens with a bang. Such a brilliant bang in fact, that it is more commonly performed in its own right. Listen out for quotes from songs ‘The Best of all possible worlds’, ‘Battle music’, ‘Oh, happy we’ and (of course) ‘Glitter and be Gay’.
Leonard Bernstein Candide best recording
London Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein DG 4744722
John Adams – Short Ride in a Fast Machine
This fanfare by the great American composer John Adams has just the right amount of irresistible energy and an inevitable forward motion to keep you motivated right to the end of your run. Keep pace with the wood block ostinato, which falls in and out of time with the rest of the orchestra.
John Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine: best recording
Berlin Philharmonic/Alan GilbertThe John Adams EditionBerliner Philharmoniker BPHR170141
Dmitri Shostakovich – Festival Overture
Composed at something of a running pace in just three days, Shostakovich‘s celebratory overture should keep you on similarly speedy toes. The organisers of the 1980 Olympics must have agreed – it featured in the opening ceremony in Moscow.
Shostakovich Festival Overture best recording
USSR Symphony Orchestra/Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Rachmaninov – Symphony No. 3: Finale
Fast-paced, celebratory and with regular climaxes: the finale of Rachmaninov‘s third and final symphony makes the perfect piece of classical music for running. Actually, we could pretty much say the same for its predecessor, Symphony No. 2, so have a go at both and see which movement matches your pace the best!
Rachmaninov Symphony No. 3 best recording
Philadelphia Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Arturo Márquez – Conga del Fuego
There’s no better way to end a run than with a Latin American conga, especially one as full of fun as this. Born in Mexico, Márquez grew up surrounded by mariachi and folk music, and often uses traditional musical styles and forms in his orchestral works.
Arturo Márquez Conga del Fuego best recording
Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela/Gustavo DudamelFiestaDG 4777859
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