Simply listening to the composition and creativity of an instrumental track can be just as rewarding. Here are some of the great instrumental tracks listed in chronological order.

Below, a brief history of the best instrumental songs, and what made them memorable. Plus, stream a selection of the picks in our player.

it was touted as also being the best-selling instrumental of all time. That included the big-band era and all those Glenn Miller hits like “In The Mood” and ‘‘Pennsylvania 6-500.” ...