I posed a deceptively simple question to our writers and editors, as well as some artists we admire: What are the five minutes or so — longer than a moment, shorter than a symphony — that you’d play for a friend to convince them to fall in love with classical music?

A bit of agonizing later, here are our selections. It’s an astonishing array: the very old and the very new; some favorites, as well as things I’d never heard before and am delighted to now have.

Enjoy the listening, and please leave your picks in the comments. We’ll publish an assortment of them. — ZACHARY WOOLFE, Times classical music editor