As the legend goes, Bach's Goldberg Variations were written for an insomniac diplomat patron who desired music to help cheer him on lonely, sleepless nights. But the real legend is how Bach was able to produce, for an apparently throwaway occasion, one of the crowning masterpieces not only of the Baroque, but of all Western music.

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:Mstislav Rostropovich

The best soundtracks are like movies for the ears, and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" joins the likes of "Saturday Night Fever" and "The Harder They Come" as cinematic pinnacles of song. The music from the Coen brothers' Depression-era film taps into the source from which the purest strains of country, blues, bluegrass, folk, and gospel music flow.