This is the first of what will become a series of articles by List contributor Alex Johnston that provides a personal history of classical music. Streaming music technologies has transformed how we read about music, and this series will run in parallel with Spotify playlists containing many of the pieces of music mentioned. Do you like the odd piece of classical music, but you also feel like you can’t tell one composer from another, and you don’t know who wrote your favourite bits, and you’re finding it all it a bit intimidating, but you’d like to know more?

This is the first in a series of articles in which we aim to give you a guided tour of what’s known as ‘classical music’.