The Proms start on July 19th. Every Prom will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds and many will also be broadcast on BBC TV and iPlayer.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5pydkxT0wJb5FB5Z3WwvTVs/proms-2024-your-guide-through-the-season
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Being organist I’d like to recommend Haydn, Handel or Carl Philippe Emmanuel Bachs organconcertos. Light stuff and it’s more concerto than organ.
Eg:
The assignment is to identify the cuckoo and nightingale …
The reason to recommend this period is that late barok or the pre classical era allows to develop your knowledge and taste to older (barock) or later (romantic) music.
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No overlong at all, a very helpful response. Thanks.
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Thanks for these suggestions, I will have a look at the pre-loved section in record stores and charity shops to see what I can find.
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Definitely worth further investigation, thanks.
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Good call, I can definitely gives the Proms a listen.
@Ardbeg10y Nice suggestion, thank you.
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I’d recommend buying Readers digest boxset Eric Robinson’s World Of Music.
You wouldn’t know from the title but it’s a classical music boxset. Each record contains popular classical music from a particular country or region. My father in law bought it in the 80s, as it was advertised as an investment. He didn’t actually play it as he didn’t have a record player, but he lent it me. Really enjoyable and education for the classical novice.
It didn’t turn out to be a good investment, there are three on sale on ebay at less than £4.00.
The link below is not to an item for sale, just a blog showing track listings.
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I can’t recall if anyone has mentioned YouTube, but there are countless classical music recordings available there.
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Search ebay for “classical records joblot” close to your postcode
There are over 1000 joblots for sale in the UK, prices are unbelievably low.
Local auction houses are also a good source. That’s were I buy most of my classical records.
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If you enjoy the thrill of the chase, then charity shops like Oxfam in middle class suburbs or market towns will have discarded collections when children have cleared their parents’ house. I don’t have a turntable, so I leave the LPs to you!
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I shall have to try some of these suggestions, as to date I don’t think I’ve heard any classical music past the first third or so of the 20th century that has been worth bothering with.
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Crikey… My family had that…!!
Bit like a Classical Greatest Hits collection.
Not sure I would recommend it… 
YMMV, etc…
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When I first started to listen to The Third Programme 12 Tone Serialism was in vogue and it was hard. Stockhausen was a relief. But contemporary classical music has evolved. Steve Reich, Arvo Pärt, John Tavener, Henryk Górecki - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs became a best seller. If you have open ears the Kronos Quartet are worth working through. Some of this is wonderful, but some is certainly not easy listening. We like different things. But I would hate to think that classical music ended in the first third of the 20c.
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Of course, there is opera and opera, some such a Bizet’s Carmen and Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffman are (to me at least) quite approachable.
For other options, how about some of the lyrical/descriptive/story telling pieces? Peter and the Wolf, Carnival of the Animals, Children’s Suite, Ma Vlast, Pictures at an Exhibition, the Toccata from Bachianas Brasilieras Nº2, Pacific 231.
Look for the HMV CD - Classic Advertisements and you might discover there is quite a bit of classical you recognise.
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I’d add An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise. A good one for surround sound as the piper is supposed to walk from the back of the hall to the orchestra. I have it on a CD: “A Celebration of Scotland” which also includes Farewell to Stromness. It’s sadly long out of the catalogue, I think.
Roger
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I listened to the Overture of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman last night, but didn’t progress to the singing as my family were about. It is ok to do this. There are collections of Wagner’s Overtures and Preludes. As well as the famous bits of singing.
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I’m going to throw out one YouTube video (although I’ve owned this on videocassette and DVD). Five young musicians, each of whom was on the verge of classical music superstardom, playing one of the most ingratiating pieces in all classical music.
I hope this is not a violation.
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Me too. That would eliminate later works by eg Vaughan Williams (5th symphony) and Richard Strauss (oboe concerto), both personal favourites. Not to mention most of Benjamin Britten’s output including War requiem and Ceremony of Carols which is a mandatory Christmas listen chez nous. And then there’s John Rutter’s Fauré-inspired exquisite setting of the Requiem.
I struggle with much of the highly atonal music from just after WW2 but enjoy the challenge of more recent output. I’m currently enjoying Thomas Adès’ Dante and Caroline Shaw’s Orange, for example.
Apologies to the OP for thread diversion.
Roger
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Thanks Roger. Scottish Chamber Orchestra play this on Qobuz. One to hear on headphones tomorrow. For @Oxfordian these pieces were written to engage a wide audience. Max’s work before he moved to Orkney take some getting used to and I would leave these for the moment!
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I sometimes find the video content can be very distracting. 
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