Piccolo: Tchaikovsky’s 4th, Mvt 3, letter F to G. Or Stars and Stripes Forever, the solo at the trio.

Flute: opening bars of Debussy’s L’apres midi d’un faune
Or Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, square 2

The measure at rehearsal mark 4 of the Walton viola concerto

The opening measure of Hindemith's Der Schwanendreher

Nobody makes things for violists though, so we all have our own Cricut lololol

Trumpet: the opening of Promenade from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (saying this as a non-trumpet who has heard this excerpt a million times from one room over)

Looks cool! My nominations for cello are bach suite no. 1 prelude and maybe the beginning of the Elgar concerto.

French horn: Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony, Mvt 2, solo about 8 bars in

For bassoon: the opening solo to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring is probably the most recognizable bit of sheet music to a non-bassoonist. The 1st movement of the Mozart bassoon concerto is definitely the most recognizable to bassoonists.

Trombone: The opening phrase (or measure) of "ride of the valkyries"

Opening measures of the David Concertino (op. 4)

Opening measures of the Grøhndahl Concerto

Opening measures of the Bolero solo

Cor anglais: New World Symphony (slow mvt) or Rodrigo guitar Concerto (slow mvt). Or Ravel piano concerto (slow Mvt). Massive cor anglais market out there for mugs too, so.

For any instrument, any section of Don Juan, with the text “Never good enough” at the top, all caps. Alternatively “welp, guess there’s always next audition”

Violin: opening of the chaconne.

First two solo measures of the Mozart clarinet concerto

Timpani: Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Scherzo; Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra
Glockenspiel: Mozart magic flute
Xylophone: Gershwin Porgy and Bess
Snare Drum: Shostakovich Symphony 10
Cannon: Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Bassoon: opening of Mozart’s Overture to Marriage of Figaro. Or Dukas’ the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, square 7 to 8

How about the DSCH motive

I play double bass. The Ode to Joy from Beethoven 9 for orchestral, and the Bottesini concerto.

Mandolin:

Vivaldi: Concerto C-Major for 1 mandolin & Orchestra (but I would take the part with the 1/32ths, not the beginning, or the 2nd movement.

Vivaldi: Concerto G-Major for 2 mandolins & orchester (beginning any movement is fine)

J. N. Hummel: concerto G-Major for mandolin & orchster (start of the mandolin part of any movement is fine)

Raffaele Calace: Bolero

O sole mio (Napolitan folk song)

Oboe: swan lake, le tombeau de couperin, Strauss oboe concerto, Mozart oboe concerto, Handel sonatas, new world symphony (English horn, but still)

Might be interesting visually to put the Bb 3 octave jump from Sibelius violin concerto. The bach E major preludio is very recognizable, also maybe the opening of Mendelssohn concerto?

So uh, I'm really new to classical music (and to be honest music stuff in general) but I love the oboe and I personally think that Concerto in D major for Oboe (lol copy pasta from wikipedia) by Richard Strauss is considered pretty important for that instrument.

However I am a total noob at all this so I could be wrong.

Classical Guitar - Need the works of Villa-Lobos and Leo Brouwer, Andrew York

French horn - Til Eulespiegel opening

Snare drum: Ravel's Bolero

Classical Guitar: "Caprichio Arabe"

Electric Guitar: Opening lick to "Johnny B. Goode"

EDIT: actually, for the classical guitar, perhaps a quote from some version of a "Malaguena" would be more iconic, more likely to jump off of the staff like you are wanting.

I dont play these instruments except for rhe one at the very bottom but i thought id leave some unique ones!

Tromba marina: Vivaldi Molti Strumenti RV 558

Typewriter: typewriter concerto

Pullhorn: Bach Cantatas Bwv 46 and 162

Sopranino Recorder (aka Piccolo Recorder or Flautino): Bach Cantata Bwv 96, Chorus

Another oboist here. I'd second the Mozart oboe concerto (which has a very recognizable first measure where the oboe comes in). The Strauss is also a good contender.

Haven't seen trombone yet so here goes. For solos: Bluebells of Scotland David concertino Rimsky-Korsakov concerto Saint-Saëns Cavatine Guilhaud Morceau Symphonique

Orchestral excerpts: Ravel Bolero William Tell Overture (storm section) Wagner Tannhäuser Overture

Probably the most recognizable would be Bolero, followed by probably Bluebells of Scotland.

Edit: I see now someone already did trombone, but I think I made some good additions.

Harp: cadenza from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker

Guitar: nominating Recuerdos de la Alhambra, Tango en Skaï, Bourrée in Em ;)

The two bars where the Count sings “Perdono! Perdono!” would be money. Nozze di Figaro, Scena ultima, bar 423-424.

saxophone: the chromatic section of the Glazunov Concerto or any part of Paule Maurice’s Tableaux de Provence

Glockenspiel:

Sorcerer's Apprentice

Handel Saul Sinfonia / Carillon Dance

Handel Welcome Welcome Mighty King

Mozart Glockenspiel from the Magic Flute

Soprano Recorder:

Vivaldi RV 443 Concerto for Piccolo Recorder

Handel Minuet II or Passipied from Water Music 3 HWV 350

How much do these go for? I play trumpet and would strongly consider buying one that’s the first two bars (not counting the rest) of the Arutiunian concerto

Clarinet: First measure of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Cappricio Espagnol clarinet solo. First measure of Brahms’s 3rd symphony mvt 2. Beginning of the clarinet solo from Mendelssohn’s 3rd, movement 2. Also the scherzo from midsummer nights dream. Rhapsody in Blue. All of these probably have recognizable first measures.

Baritone voice, the opening measure of “Largo al factotum”

Gosh, I’m trying to think about what would work for voice.

For choral folks, probably the opening motif to the Hallelujah chorus would qualify. Choral music is such a wide genre that it’s hard to think of anything that is anywhere near universal, and also would translate well to this context. It’s almost Holy Week so I’ve got Sicut Cervus on the mind which might be close, but it’s also contrapuntal so there’s no one measure but that will be uniformly recognizable for all four parts. Same goes for Bach. Maybe some really famous opera chorus numbers like Libiamo?

And then solo rep is even more stratified because of fach. I guess we might all be equally traumatized by something like Caro Mio Ben or Lasciatemi morire, but outside of high school recitals those pieces are basically unheard of.

Maybe the iconic arpeggios from Der Hölle Rache? Still not my fach though LOL.

Already some good classic viola recommendations in this thread so I’ll add some more experimental pieces. They’re essential to my heart at least

Schnittke concerto, second movement, first measure

Xenakis - Embellie, first measure (a lot of cool measures in that piece but this one’s the most normal-looking, notation-wise)

Ligeti sonata; first movement, measure one and first note of measure 2; second movement, first two or three measures; and if you want a good challenge, the first or last measure of the fourth movement (or last note w/ notation included)

Violin: second subject of Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

Piano: I think the Liszt 2nd Piano Concerto would be nice. It’s not the most popular, but very beautiful.

Saxophone: first entrance of the Ibert Concertino da Camera, probably

For violin: Probably the first measure(s) of Paganini Caprice 24 is probably the most well-known. For concertos, I would say the first measure (perhaps with the half-bar pickup) of the Mendelssohn violin concerto is the most well-known. For sonatas, perhaps the first measure of the Beethoven Spring sonata?

Siegfried's Horn Call

Have you checked OrchestralExcerpts.com? You’ll probably find excerpts that every musician knows well

Here’s a short, NOT all encompassing list for Viola (just some of my favorites out of the popular stuff.)

Walton: Viola Concerto

Both Brahms Viola Sonatas

Reger: Suites for Solo Viola

Hindemith: Der Schwanendreher or Viola Sonata no. 4 in F Major

Shostakovich Viola Sonata

Clarke Viola Sonata

Essential for Horn: The Mozart Concertos and Strauss

My favorite: Nocturno and the solo in the finale of Stravinsky’s Firebird

piano: opening measures of schumann's concerto, opening measures of chopins 1st ballade, beethoven hammerklavier fugue (allegro resoluto) first 4 measures

those are all multiple measures, but I think they would fit on a mug

Piano: Opening measures of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata 14 in C# minor, Op. 27, No. 2: I. Adagio Sustenuto

Edit: Opening measures of Rhapsody in Blue would be very cool, lots of notes.

Just thought of another one- Debussy’s The Girl with the Flaxen Hair opening. One of the more recognizable ones

And!

For flute- opening of Concerning Hobbits.

Euphonium/Baritone - Holst Planets Suite - Mars. Euphonium solo about 2 minutes in.

The greatest five seconds of music is from Chopin’s Ballade in Fm, which is also the greatest piano piece ever written. It’s measures 175-176 at 9:03 in the video. Out of context it sounds incredible; in context, it’s unbelievable. This may not be well known but it is an ultimate moment in all of music.

If this piques your interest also check out this thread where the measures are discussed.

As a trumpet player, I might suggest Dvorak Symphony no. 9 opening brass part, Lieutenant Kije suite (Romance) by Prokofiev, Pines of Rome trumpet solo, Petroushka (Stravinsky) solo

For bassoon, the Rite of Spring is instantly recognizable, and there's also the Mozart bassoon concerto and the Scheherazade solo!

Violin: any bach solo violin sonata really, but sonata 1 adagio first bar would be the most recognizable (and pretty!)

This thread really blew up! Thank you all so much for your input; I'm so very appreciative. Saying thanks here since I doubt I can reply to everyone.

I don't want to violate any self-promotion rules with my shop link, but maybe do a search on Etsy in around a month and see what pops up if you're interested lol.

Harp, do the solo from Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

I would ABSOLUTELY buy a decal with the first four bars of Tristan. In a heartbeat.

Cello: Bach Suites, Saint-Saens the Swan, Saint-Saens Concerto in A Minor, Elgar Cello Concerto, and my underdog fav, Hindemith Cello Sonata.

Some percussion ones

​

• Timpani
  • Bars 7-9 of the opening to Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra
  • The rhythm from Holst's Mars, the very beginning
  • The part in the bginning of Holst's Jupiter where the two timpani sets play the theme
  • The one-bar solo from the beginning of Beethoven's 9th symphony, 2nd movement
• Snare
  • The rhythm from Ravel's Bolero
  • The rhythm from the repeating section of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony
  • The rhythm from Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, third movement (Letter D)
• Glockenspiel
  • Paul Dukas' Socerer's Apprentice, rehearsal number 22
• Xylophone
  • Introduction to Porgy and Bess by Gershwin (this one)

Liszt - Piano Sonata in B Minor

For tuba:

Probably the first two bars of the vaugham williams tuba concerto

Not too well versed in the repertoire but I reckon its a safe bet

I'm bothered by the fact that there's only 3 beats in the treble clef, and 5 in the bass clef in the photo, despite the fact that it's 6/4 time.

Saxophone: Creston Sonata & Creston Concerto Concertino de Camera - Jacques Ibert Prelude Cadence and Finale - Alfred Desenclos Tableaux de Provence -Paule Maurice Glazunov Concerto

So much more.

Organ: Bach's Toccata in D, BWV 565. Instantly recognizable as the "organ Halloween/haunted mansion song" by pretty much everyone on the planet.

The opening motif is short and would fit nicely on a decal.

How did Beethoven 5 not show up till late?

Tuba: Probably some excerpt from Wagner like the Die Miestersinger solo or Ride of the Valkyries. Some more jokey excepts like Jabba the Hutt or Monti's Czardas might be funny, though

For trombone I’d say Trombone Concerto by Rimsky-Korsakov. (Or Serocki’s Sonata, but that’s just me being biased because I like that one).

Viola: Harold in Italy

You could maybe do the first 4 measures of the 3rd mvt of the Hummel Trumpet Concerto, or (and this probably works for other instruments too) the first measure of Carnival of Venice (introduction or theme would work here)

Bach Ciaccona opening for Violin or the first couple of measures from the Mendelssohn violin concerto would be good!

Recorder: Brandenburg concertos 2 or 4.

string bass - solo at beginning of mahler symphony 1 mvt 3

Violin: Opening bar or two of the Kreutzer sonata.

Clarinet: First solo measures of the Mozart Clarinet concerto, either mvm.1 or 2. Also Rhapsody in Blue is pretty recognisable. Tchaikovsky 6, Beethoven 6 are also very recognisable excerpts

For double bass the first few bars of the trio section of Beethoven's fifth, or rehearsal #9 of Ein Heldenleben.

Clarinet: The Mozart Clarinet Concerto, The Weber Concertos, The Brahmas Clarinet sonatas, The Bernstein Clarinet sonata, The Copland Clarinet sonata

Percussion: Varese’s Ionisation. Among the first chamber percussion works ever written 😁

Either that or John Cage’s constructions (my preference is the 3rd)

Cello: Dvorak Concerto, Bass: Bottesini 2, Tuba: Vaughan Williams concerto

Organ: Bach Trio Sonata in Eb, BWV 525, or, more famously, BWV 565.

The opening of the elgar cello concerto would be cool

And maybe the Xylophone solo in porgy and bess or the snare pattern in bolero

Oboe - the beginning of R.Schumann 1st Romance (in addition to the previous posters).

For the pipe organ, somebody already mentioned BWV 565. It is indeed very famous and so on, but if you were looking for something less cliché ('sacrilegious') I'd suggest Charles-Marie Widor's Allegro from Organ symphony no. 6 op. 42 no. 2 instead. It may be a little less obvious for an average musical 'muggle', but for anyone interested in organ in any means it's very recognisable. You can pick like 4 initial bars

Alto Saxophone: Solo in Prokofiev’s Lieutenan’t Kije Suite Movement 2, Glazunov Concerto