Elements of Classical Music

[Kalinuial]

Classical works by composers for all 12 elements.  Feel free to suggest other composers or specific works.

   Alexander Scriabin  
Music sample - Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53
The first 10 seconds suggests the big bang - the beginning of the universe.  The sounds that follow conjure thoughts of cataclysmic planet creation, quiet vastness, and the tender wisdom of stars.

   Erik Satie  
Music sample - Gymnopedie No. 1
A breeze.  Gently floating, soaring.  Easygoing, but eager to arrive at its next destination.   

   J.S. Bach  
Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068: Air 
(suggested by Manuel)

   Alban Berg 
Music sample - Opera: Wozzeck, Act 3, Scene 4
A knife in the dark.  Blood.  A murder.  A blood red moon.  Dread.  These all sound like attributes of darkness.  Operas are often dramatic and dark, and a good thematic fit with darkness.

  Franz Schubert 
Music sample - String Quartet No. 14 "Death and the Maiden"
The Maiden:
"Oh! leave me! Prithee, leave me! thou grisly man of bone!
For life is sweet, is pleasant.
Go! leave me now alone!
Go! leave me now alone!"

Death:
"Give me thy hand, oh! maiden fair to see,
For I'm a friend, hath ne'er distress'd thee.
Take courage now, and very soon
Within mine arms shalt softly rest thee!"

   Aaron Copland 
Music Sample: 4 Dance Episodes from Rodeo: IV- Hoe-Down
Where's the beef?  Why, in the Wild West (USA) of course..the place of earthen monuments like the Grand Canyon.  Strong, rugged, and fun -  the place where the buffalo roam.

   John Cage   
Music Sample: Mysterious Adventure for prepared Piano
John Cage wrote music of indeterminancy, in which "some aspects of a musical work are left open to chance..."  Sounds very entropy-like!  The sounds you hear are all from a piano.  Doesn't sound like a piano, right?  Kind of a mutated piano.

   Igor Stravinsky  
 Music Sample: "Infernal Dance" from the Firebird Suite
Imagine a phoenix soaring, dancing, maybe immolated, and then bursting back to life.

   Gustav Mahler   
Music Sample: Symphony No. 5, movement 1
Mahler symphonies are long, heavy, dense, dramatic.  Full of gravitas.  Imagine the conductor using Titan instead of a cork baton.

   Franz Josef Haydn   
Music Sample: Cello Concerto in C major, III - Molto Allegro
Brisk, exhuberant, joyous, fleeting.  Dancing frogs.  Yeah, it's life.

   Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart   
Music Sample: Symphony No. 29, I - Allegro Moderato
This is what rays of light being fractalled sound like.

   Philip Glass   
Musical Work: Einstein on the Beach (Opera)
Sample 1, "Slow time": Knee 1
Sample 2, "Fast time": Knee Play 3
Who's counting eternal time?  And at what metronomic pace?  Is it slow or fast?

   Claude Debussy 
Music Sample: La Mer "The Sea" - Movement 1
Splish splash nymph was taking a bath.

[InsignificantWeeaboo]

Imagine the conductor using Titan instead of a cork baton.

That's a really buff conductor.

[Wyand]

This is a great thread! It is awesome that you chose Philip Glass for Time!

[Manuel]

it was also used for a famous neon genesis evangelion scene no spoiler

[Kalinuial]

A great tune for  .  Overall, Bach doesn't fit air as his music is so wide-ranging and beyond any single element.  I'll add the tune to the list though!  If others want to suggest a different composer or specific music example to fit an element, I will include it in the original post.

Edit:  I was originally thinking of this as a more definitive list, but I think it will be better if it is interactive.  Anyone that wishes to suggest a work or composer that fits an element may do so.