Your favourite classical pieces

[Evan]

I have been listening to classical music again lately. I had forgotten how beautiful and powerful experience this is.

My current repertoire:

Gustav Holst - The Planets
Rimski Korsakov - Scheherazade

Absolutely wonderful music. Sends shivers all over. You also get to see where most of modern hollywood soundtracks get their ideas from. You may be surprised by the similarities. Lots of Horner, Williams etc in there.

If you are into classical music I'd like to know what your favourite classical works are to see what I am missing.

Thanks!

[bluedad]

I always seem to enjoy clasical music in the car when I'm driving, especially at night.
Got out of astronomy class one night, hopped in my suzuki sidekick with the top open and the stars out, flicked on the radio and I was treated to bachs' brandenburg concerto #3; and that has been my favorite ever since. A very uplifting piece.
Upon first listen to many classical recordings, the first thing that strikes me is the fact that these f**kers can play!

[clueless]

"f**kers"?

as in "Berlin Symphony f**kers"?

[skipscada]

Hi Evan. I see you go for orchestral stuff. Judging from your tastes, Chaikovsky must be a logical next step. If you want a change of style, you should check out the Concertgebouw's recordings of Mozart's last handful of symphonies (38-41). Oh, and some quality recordings of Beethoven's symphonies is a must, especially the latest ones. As for stuff that have inspired movie music, check out Alban Berg's opera Wozzeck for an early version of violin stabs accompanying knife stabs. Hitchcock must have heard it.

[skipscada]

Berlin Symphony f**kers would be a good choice for Beethoven.

[Warmonger]

My favorite piece is Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor. I particularly like Itzhak Perlman's performance of the first movement, and Heifetz's of the third. After I downloaded an untagged MP3 of the Heifetz, I spent an incredible amount of time listening to samples online in order to find the CD. It's funny how even with a 32kbps MP3, I could tell within the first 5 seconds that it was the one I was looking for.

/end going-off-on-a-tangent

[Hovmod]

I go through periods...

One typical period will be Piano Concertos. Favourites:
Prokofiev no 3
Rachmaninoff no 3
Mozart 6, 21, 23
Beethoven 4
Chopin both
Bartok (anything)
Britten (!)

Want me to go on?

Other typical periods include religious baroque music (I don't like opera, but I like singing, so the churchy stuff is excellent. The singers usually believe in that crap, and think god's listening or something. Anyway, it takes the ego out of the singers to a certain extent...: )

Other periods I listen to only string quartets. Beethoven and Grieg and Debussy. String quartets are extremely personal and must be enjoyed alone. The big moments are private and secret. Don't share string quartets. Go to concerts alone. Listen to CDs alone.

You definately want to check out:
Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht
Brahms' first piano concerto
Mahler's symphonies (4 and 5 and 10 for starters, 1, 2 and 9 later on)
Bartok's concerto for orchestra
Anything by Prokofiev


If you're into logic at all, study Bach. Get the Well Tempered Clavier. Get the sheet music. Get books about it. You won't believe the density of that music, which basically is so easy to listen to. Perfect music, perfect math.

Suddenly one day, you'll realize the genius of Mozart. Maurerische Trauermusik, for instance...

I'll shut up now.


Edit: If you like violin and modern sounds, get the 4 CD box with Anne Sophie Mutter called Back to the futue (sic). it's excellent, and has, among other (less immediately accessible) stuff, one of the best Sibelius recordings.

[dx-9]

moonlite sonata

[Sepheritoh]

My current repertoire:

Gustav Holst - The Planets
Rimski Korsakov - Scheherazade

Your current choice is excellent Those are my favourites too, plus concerto aranjues from Rodrique (whatever the correct spelling is). These are all from the late 19th cetury early 20th.

[rockin1]

Debussy, Bach, and Mozart will take you a very long way. Debussy is still the most modern composer of all. We have mostly stepped backwards since he was around...

mm

[Meffy]

[Can't pick a pawful of favorites, so I'll just give some favorites instead. Note that some of what's being discussed isn't strictly "classical," but in common usage that incorporates romantic, baroque, etc. so I'll comply.]

For orchestral lushness, I'd go for...

Pictures at an Exhibition -- Modest Mussorgsky

Grand Canyon suite -- Ferdinand Grofé

the Brandenburg Concerti -- J. S. Bach

You already mentioned...

Scheherazade -- Rimsky-Korsakov

... maybe you'd also enjoy the music from:

the Gayne ballet -- Aram Katchaturian

If you enjoy musical jokes, try any of Professor Peter Schickele's records containing his painstakingly (miraculously, even) rediscovered music of P.D.Q. Bach.

Finally, if you like synthesizers playing classical music, you could do worse than picking up some stuff by good old W. Carlos and Isao Tomita.

Have fun!

Meffy

P.S.: rockn1, it's a matter of opinion of course, but I'd rank Charles Ives as more "modern" than Debussy even. :-) Though in a completely different way.

[MaxxBass]

Not a big classical music listener but i really like romantic classical pieces such as concertos by rachmaninov or brahms. Remind me of 'laurence of arabia' athmospheres. I also like Debussy and ravel (who composed the first piece of repetitive music, with the bolero)

[Cabinfever]

how about some opera ? the pilgrims chorus from wagner, or perhaps 'au fond du temple saint' by bizet from the pearl fishers. edited out my unkind comparison to some other genres

[stefancrs]

Grieg - Hall Of The Mountain King

[Rangtangtang]

Springtime in Germany.