ABC Classic 100: Greatest of All Time — by the numbers

Since 2001, we've invited you to vote for the classical music you love, guided by a different theme each year.

In 2026, as part of our 50th birthday celebrations, we asked a simple question: "What's the greatest classical piece of all time?"

Beethoven's colossal final symphony, Symphony No. 9 in D minor, has taken the number one spot for the fifth time.

The composer previously claimed top spot in 2024, 2020, 2016 and 2010. This marks a third consecutive number one finish for Beethoven in the ABC Classic 100.

While our love for the surly, fiercely passionate musical genius is clearly an enduring one, what else did we learn about Australia's taste in classical music in the nation's biggest classical music countdown?

Battle of the generations

Among those born between 1946 and 1964, a work by Beethoven took the top spot, but not his mighty Ninth Symphony. Instead, last year's number winner, Piano Concerto No. 5, the "Emperor", came out on top.

Gen X and Generation Alpha agreed on their top choice, with both voting for John Williams' epic soundtrack for Star Wars (Original Film Soundtrack) as their favourite work.

They weren't the only one aligned in looking to the stars for musical inspiration. Millennials and Gen Z both chose Holst's The Planets as their number one.

But beyond generational differences, what are we all agreed on? Rhapsody in Blue appeared in the top ten choices across the board, but only for those 16 and older. Perhaps Gershwin is an acquired taste!

Where in Australia were people voting?

Your favourite music also depends on where you're listening.

In Western Australia, Dvořák's New World Symphony soared to #8 when ranked locally, but in the Northern Territory, is dropped to #98. Nationally, it settled at #17.

Views on Beethoven varied wildly. Northern Territory voters placed Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 Pathétique at #20, while Western Australian listeners would have left it back at #80.

Opera proved divisive.

Northern Territory voters ranked Bizet's Carmen at #7, while audiences in Canberra placed it at #77.

Wagner's Ring Cycle just snuck in at #93 in Tasmania, but Western Australia fans had it at #37.

Movers and shakers

Two modern masterpieces continue to grow in popularity with each countdown.

Nigel Westlake and Lior's Compassion has climbed every time it has been eligible. It entered in 2021 at #93, rising to #84 in 2024, before scaling an impressive 30 places this year at #54.

Another powerful choral work, Karl Jenkin's The Armed Man, has reached its highest-ever placing at #6, surpassing its previous peak of #7 in Classic 100: Feel Good (2024).

First appearing in 2011 at #68 in Classic 100: 20th Century, The Armed Man climbed to #47 in 2025, and #23 in 2021.

This is the highest position achieved by a living composer.

It's all about the music

Four pieces in this year's countdown were written in 1791, but across the entire list, the average year of composition is 1883.

The countdown also highlights how much things have changed since the ABC Classic 100 began. Nine works in this year's top 100 hadn't even been written when the first poll launched in 2001.

In 2026, we saw 18 works by living composers take a place in the countdown, representing 17 composers.

John Williams accounted for five of these entries, placing him just behind Mozart and Beethoven, with five and eight works respectively.

The oldest piece on the list is Hildegard von Bingen's 'O Ecclesia', written in the year 1158.

The youngest composer is Piers Burbrook de Vere (born 1985), who, alongside William Barton and Richard Tognetti, composed the newest work on the list: River (2021).

Johann Sebastian Bach (Toccata and Fugue), Chopin (Nocturnes) and Satie (Gymnopedies) all finished their entries by the time they were 22 years old.

At the other end of the spectrum, Richard Strauss finished his Four Last Songs at the age of 84.

Seven composers finished an entry when they were aged 42: Bach, Beethoven, Copland, Elgar, Handel, Mahler, and Vaughan Williams.

We also had works from all over the globe: 12 German composers, 10 Australian, seven American, seven French, seven Italian and five Russian composers made the chart.

A little extra voting trivia

We analysed the data to see what piece came in at number one for the suburbs where these popular sporting clubs are based:

North Cowboys (Townsville) → Edvard Grieg (Peer Gynt)

Sydney Swans → WA Mozart, Requiem in D minor

Essendon Bombers → Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings

Fremantle Dockers & Canberra Raiders → Beethoven's Symphony No. 9

Port Adelaide Power → John Williams's Schindler's List

Brisbane Broncos → Gustav Holst The Planets

Collingwood FC → Igor Stravinsky, Rite of Spring

West Coast Eagles (Claremont) → Antonin Dvořák, Symphony No. 9

With nine of our composers from this year's top 100 born under the Chinese zodiac sign of the dog, this must be a musical time to be born!

Our Year of the Dog composers were: Samuel Barber, George Bizet, Max Bruch, Claude Debussy, George Gershwin, Gustav Holst, Howard Shore, Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire.

Honourable mentions go to the Year of the Horse, and the Year of the Goat, with seven composers each.

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