Classical Music Recommendations

[tcadam]

As I get older, I find I enjoy classical music more than ever (much like I aquired a taste for scotch in my mid-30's). Anyway, I have two classical cd's: Aaron Copland and something by Vivaldi.

I'm wondering what might be out there in a similar vein with good dynamic range and enjoyable soft passages ( War of 1812? By who?).

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

TC

[trag-o-caster]

I enjoy classical music in small doses occasionally. However, I think that to fully appreciate it takes some knowledge about the idiom - much like jazz. I don't really have that kind of knowledge. Several years ago a good friend of mine sat me down and made me listen to Ravel's "Bolero" in it's entirety over a few drinks. I highly recommend that! Should go well with the aforementioned scotch....

[Larry F]

Are you thinking of 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky?

If you like churchish-sounding music, you'll find a lot of that written by Bach and his forebears. If you like numble keyboard music, try Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Lizst. The earlier composers listed have a drier, more straight-forward sound than the later ones, who are more melodic and moody. Classical music excels in the chamber mediums, such as string quartet. For those, try Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven--in the 20th century, Bartok wrote 6 great quartets. Orchestral music covers a lot of emotional territory. Mozart, Beethoven for symphonies, Liszt and Tchaikovsky for tone poems (more story-telling through music). For opera, try Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner. For 20th century music, you might like Debussy, Bartok, and Copland for the not-too-esoteric side of things. For the really beautiful, far-out stuff, then Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Stravinsky, Boulez, Babbitt, Carter, Berio, and Stockhausen are great.

[casterway]

Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky is fun.

I like Prokofiev too.

[blacklinefish]

Well, you could look at classical music as a series of compositions written by composers - most of which are no longer with us. This is the way that many are initially exposed to it. However, remember that all those great works were once performed for the first time. Also remember that the best works have several performances that are considered to be ageless. Finally, with youtube, you can search for some of those yourself.

To me, the most sublime and awe inspiring composition -ever- is Beethoven's fifth piano concerto. I can listen to this over and over and over again (and when CDs first came out in college, this is what me and my roommate did with the repeat feature).

Just go to youtube, and type: "beethoven emperor"

You will be impressed with the wondrous performances. I wish there was a youtube of Serkin/Bernstein for this piece (well, there is, but not a performance, just a recording). That is what I consider to be the best modern recording. But watching Glenn Gould hammering away (maybe a little too heavy handed) really let's you see that genius is not just in the composition, it is also in the performance.

A while ago I was searching for a youtube upload of anyone performing Schubert's Trout quintet. I came across the wonderful documentary of a brilliant performance in the 1970s with Jacqueline Du Pre. (Just search "trout du pre")

But you have to check out this part. In the beginning, Jacqueline Du Pre and Itzhak Perlman switch instruments (and I think both are Strads). But watch forward, at the 2:30 mark, just as Perlman is playing a beautiful part of a theme/variation, Du Pre gives this absolutely magnificent smile. That's when you realize what classical music is all about. Basically, these are rock stars (both are 24 years old in this performance), cranking out a piece that is about 150 years old. And, in that one smile, your heart melts. I don't think anything beyond music is going on between Perlman and Du Pre (because I think her husband is playing piano here).

I think I have watched that one clip 20 times:


--gh

[pengipete]

Try Holst's Planet Suite - you'll recognise a lot of it because it's been used for hymns, film scores etc. Also look for some Bach guitar music - some pieces were written to be played on 48 string guitar.

Tchaikovsky's music is amazing for it's light and shade. Beethoven can be heavy going but Piano Concerto No1 is a must. Ravel is pretty much easy listening but Daphnis and Cloe is a wonderful choral piece that almost sounds like it could be a Mike Oldfield composition. (I mean that as a compliment)

The ultimate in terms of the range that you are looking must be Mozart with the added advantage that you will have heard so much of his work without ever realising it.

Generally anything that is classed as "popular classics" will be accessible but if you're not sure where to begin there are tons of compliation disks with well known and easily digested pieces.

Do you have any classical music radio stations in your part of the World? If not then there is always internet radio. It's a good way to "window shop" before spending.

When you do buy a CD you should spend a bit extra to get a decent recording such as those from Deutsche Grammophon. They are beautiful recordings of the Worlds greatest orchestras under the great conductors and give the finest quality in every respect. After you've heard these, everything else sounds like a ropey cover band. If you can find a proper music store you'll find that the staff will be more than happy to help in guiding you or making suggestions.

If you want a really easy entry into orchestral music - which is actually what most people mean when they say "classical" then you could even look to buying a couple of good film score CDs by the likes of John Williams or Maurice Jarre (Jean-Michel's father).

[Robin Nahum]

Radio allows you to listen to lots of classical music at no charge while you work out what you like.

If you Google, "delaware classical music radio":

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=e...e+Search&meta=

you will see at the third entry down:

".... Believe it or not, I love good classical music and often listen to WFLN...."

95.7 FM.

[singlecoilheaven]

I have a 3 CD set called "Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music".
It's some of the most famous, yet not known to the average listener by name or composer. You can listen to it and every track makes everyone think "Oh, I've heard this before".
Kind of like the game I still play with my wife when a Beatles song comes on, she claims not to know the Beatles, so she'll recognize a song and I'll say "You know who this is?" However after 22 years, she's catching on.

[skyboltone]

I tend to be a baroque fan. I.E. Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, etc. Get the boxed set of "The Academy of Ancient Music" doing Vivaldi's "L'estro Armonico". In many ways it's where our system of harmony came from. It's a series of Concertos with very wide dynamic and tempo range. I guess I've been listening to it for almost 40 years now. Never gets tiresome.

[klasaine]

Mahler's 5th
Samuel Barber's "adagio for strings"
Resphigi - Pines of Rome or Fountains of Rome
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris
Mozart - syms 40 or 41
Beethoven's 6th sym
Bach - Brandenburg Concerto #2
Rimsky/Korsakov - Scheherazade
Brahams' 1st sym

[Daniil]

There were some good recommendations and insights in another thread some time ago:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/bad-dog-c...ight=classical

[urizen]

Paul Hindemith, Die Trauermusik---Elegy for George VI (at least I think that's the right king) in three movements. HIGHLY recommended. Gorgeous and powerfully moving, scored so that the lead/solo parts can be played by either a violin or a cello. It's worth hearing both ways just to see how the dif in color and timbre affects the overall tone (and your mood).

[tboy]

Beethoven's piano sonatas. Samples here.
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/beeth...o_sonatas.html

[Charlie Bernstein]

Most classical is too busy for me. String quartets are the big exception - I can actually pay attention to what everyone is doing. I don't know much about classical music (or anything, now that I think of it!), but I can say that one bundle of string quartets I've heard several times and like a lot are Beethoven's Razumovski Quartets, also know as Quartets op. 59.

There's plenty of great stuff going on, but there aren't 76 trombones and a hundred clarinets to constantly sort out. (That drives me out of my mind: okay, the basoon is going wonk-wooonk-wonk, and the tympany's doing it's bwowmp thing, and some of the strings are going eeeeeee while some others are going wheedly-deedly-dee - but what's that dinka-dinka behind the yagga-dagga?...and so one, with something different every minute.

I generally can't stand it.)

[gibsonjunkie]

My favorite piece is Berlioz's "Harold in Italy", although most of his music is on my list of favorites. The viola solos and lyrical aspect of the music are awe inspiring, as well as the story behind it!

Graduating from school with a degree in music, I also love lBaroque, too; including Telemann, Bach and Vivaldi... early music, etc... I'm not a huge fan of opera, but some pieces are pretty interesting, including Monteverdi.

Classical actually only defines a period of music that started long before and ended early; but let's not get too technical... just enjoy!

[superchicken_VI]

I think I've erased my thoughts a dozen times before this reply...

I would caution you from thinking about "classical music" as the composers, unless you know exactly who you really like. Why? We tend to listen to performers, not songwriters, in this day and age. I find a connection with Alison Krauss' voice, Brad Paisley's guitar playing, or Victor Wooten's bass playing. I don't know who wrote the song they're singing, but I love their performance of it. I would recommend that you find some performers you really enjoy, and then find the music through them. Kathleen Battle (soprano), YoYo Ma(cello), Wynton Marsalis(trumpet), Andres Segovia(guitar), Itzakh Perlman(violin)...Start with these names in YouTube, and find where they take you.

Is your Vivaldi the Four Seasons? I've heard probably 200 versions of Spring from the Four Seasons, and 150 of them were insipid and boring, 45 were okay, and 5 were brilliant. It's about the performance more than just the notes on the page. Find some performers you love, and stay out of the "Laserlight Classics" kind of CDs. A bad performance of something could sway you forever. Find the best performers, and you'll get more than the sum of the parts.

[gibsonjunkie]

That is true (certain conductors also know how to get the best out of certain composers better than others).. I have 6 versions of "Harold" and the ones conducted by Charles Dutoit and Sir Colin Davis are by far the best. There are a couple I couldn't listen to ever again...

For some fun, listen to Seiji Ozowa conducting Janacek's "Symphonietta" and try and figure out where you've heard that before - hint - a very popular band covered the melody on one of their albums.

[argent]

Haydn is slightly underrated IMO. I would recommend him to anyone.

[surfoverb]

I like the smaller 'bands' stuff like chamber, 3, 4, 5 piece orchestras. Even within this simple arrangement there can be so much stuff going on it gets difficult (for me) to process and appreciate everything. People like JS Bach, Haydn, Mozart et al can take a 3 piece and create very dynamic music.

[<jbc>]

Originally Posted by superchicken_VI

150 of them were insipid and boring, 45 were okay, and 5 were brilliant. It's about the performance more than just the notes

Yeah... I hate that!

Just some listening ideas:

Chopin -- Etudes -- Ivo Pogorelich
Bach -- Goldberg Varitaions -- Gould
Beethoven -- Violin Sonata Dm Op. 108 -- Heifetz
Copland -- Appalachian Spring

and for viewing:

Disney's Fantasia
Bozzetto's Allegro non Troppo

.

[Chance]

Mozart - Clarinet Concerto In A major, K622

The second movement is the most beautiful piece of music ever written.

This was the last major work he wrote before his death.

Chance

[aunchaki]

I love Mad About Bach, a CD of many diverse Bach pieces for the masses (of which I am one).



It's got piano music, harpsicord, oboe, violin, full orchestra, etc... After that, I branched into more specific pieces. If you like Bach and Piano (I do), anything out of the Glenn Gould collection will do. The Goldberg Variations are a classic. I like the English Suites and One and Two Part Inventions (all Bach, all piano).

Think about Opera, specifically Mozart's The Magic Flute. It's awesome!! Don Giovanni is also great. A good version of La Boheme is also hard to beat.

To be honest, I've never given Beethoven a chance. More modern guys like Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky are great. It's a wide, wide classical music world out there!

[jjlinus]

rossini.guglielmo tell ouverture

[Fendrcaster]

I grew up listening to classical music and still love it. I'm mostly fond of full orchestral works, primarily by Russian composers (Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky et al). When I was young, my father ran an extension speaker from his stereo to my bedroom and I fell asleep many nights to Copland's "Rodeo", Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite" and Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra".
On a side note, when I was about 19, I went to a music store and bought an 8 track (yeah, I'm old!) of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons". While I was checking out, the very highbrow clerk said, "You know, this isn't the rock group the Four Seasons". Umm, yeah, I know. It was tough being a teenager in the '60's!

[pengipete]

Fendrcaster...

Rimsky-Korsakov - I wished I'd thought of that; good choice.

[garytelecastor]

Here's a taste of what classical players are capable of.

Pig in a Pen


Uncle Pen

[gibsonjunkie]

One way to get a good taste of what is out there is to take a Classical Music course at a community college (or music history). Not only will you be presented with a plethora (wow - I can't remember the last time I used that word) of interesting things to listen to, but you might find some interesting chicks in the class, as well...

[garytelecastor]

GibsonJunkie-
I think you should watch this.
The guy on the ground and not on the horse is my response.

[Teleblooz]

I'm surprised, since this is a guitar forum, that nobody's mentioned Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez". Very accessible for the untrained ear, but it holds up to repeated listening. Christopher Parkening and John Williams (no, not THAT John Williams) have done great performances of it.

The middle Adagio movement will rip your heart out.

[Unseen]

Originally Posted by tcadam

As I get older, I find I enjoy classical music more than ever (much like I aquired a taste for scotch in my mid-30's). Anyway, I have two classical cd's: Aaron Copland and something by Vivaldi.

I'm wondering what might be out there in a similar vein with good dynamic range and enjoyable soft passages ( War of 1812? By who?).

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

TC

Dynamic range? Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra (you must listen to it all the way through to really appreciate why many regard Bartok as the best composer for the string section, bar none). You won't be disappointed by the dynamic range, I assure you.

You may have heard the opening of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (for full concert organ) without knowing what it was. Get a good copy of it. You'll be listening to it over and over.

One of the most fascinating pieces of music I know is one where Bach took a concerto for four violins and orchestra by Vivaldi (yawn) and substituted four harpsichords (yes: FOUR harpsichords). So, look for Bach's Concerto for Four Harpsichords and Orchestra. Short on dynamic range, but mind-blowing nonetheless.

[JayFreddy]

http://www.classical.net/music/rep/method.html

I'll second the vote for Concierto de Aranjuez too.

[tcadam]

I guess there isn't a way to print out the whole thread so I can take it as a shopping list. I really appreciate all the responses.

TC

[surfoverb]

Originally Posted by Teleblooz

John Williams (no, not THAT John Williams)

+1...'John Williams Plays Bach' is a great CD. I've had that since high school and I still listen to it.