Want to help your kids experience classical music, but don’t know what to play? These are some of my favorites:

• What’s good for bedtime/wind-down/cleanup?
  • Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, 2nd Movement. (Pro-tip: The second movements are always the soft, pretty ones.)
• What’s good for morning wakeup?
  • Shostakovich’s Prelude and Fugue No. 7 from Opus 87
• But aren’t they supposed to listen to Baroque/polyphonic music?
  • Scarlatti’s sonatas, played by Vladimir Horowitz
  • Bach’s Goldberg Variations, played by Glenn Gould
  • Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suites, played by Yo-Yo Ma
• What about modern/minimalist music?
  • Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports

This is heavy on piano music (what I know the most about). It’s missing big symphonic moments, but I’ve found that those can be a little much to have on in the house.