NationStates Jolt Archive

I was thinking to get a bit into classical music, but don't know where to start.

I like stuff like Arvo Pärt's Cantus, Tabula Rasa and Fratres, Mozart's Requiem or Orff's Carmina Burana.

I'm not really impressed by Beethoven or Wagner from what I've listened to so far.

Any recommendations?

Evangelion - Partita III fur Violin Solo in E No by Bach.

Or Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet

You don't like Beethoven and Wagner! Gasp! Oh well, maybe the classical era composers would be more your thing. Mozart and Haydn would be good places to start.

Mozart's the king... try these:

Piano Concerto in A (K488)

Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik (the whole thing)

Clarinet Concerto in A

Symphony #40 (think that's right... you should recognize the tune)

Requiem


other good stuff (not all of it is classical, per se):

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons

Handel - Water Music

Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake

Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata

Bach - Air

Schubert - Unfinished Symphony

Chopin - Prelude in E minor (Em)

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor as played by Vanessa-Mae.
Pure class if not quite classical.

I'm a sucker for any classics that have been in the movies
Beethoven's 5th

Rachmaninov - Piano concerto 3 (Shine)
Debussy - claire de lune (When Harry Met Sally)
Vivaldi - 4 seasons
Dvorak - Symphony no. 9 (then watch the movie Divorcing Jack", then read Chris Brookmyre's books)
Orff - Carmina Burana (Excalibur)

Part -- that's 20th century; Mozart -- 18th, Orff -- really a late romantic of the more moderate school.

Beethoven and Wagner (both of whom I also dislike, btw) -- the "heavier" romantic school. That means, by extension, no Liszt, no Mahler, no Rachmaninoff or Sibelius or any of that.

You might like Brahms and Grieg, who are more classically inspired romantics, although you might not.

Erik Satie: This kind of depends on whether you can play an instrument. He has some charming little pieces for piano that it's best to play through to get an idea of the music itself.
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet should be fine, as should the G Minor Violin Concerto, Third Piano Concerto, or anything else. Go from there.
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms, Octet, A Soldier's Tale or similar works.
Penderecki: Viola Concerto, or similar.
Bartok: The string quartets, or similar. (Pick one and go from there.)
Messiaen: Start with the Quartet for the End of Time; that pretty much summarises him. Like what you hear, then go on to other works.
J.S. Bach.
Mozart's Sturm und Drang period -- C and D Minor Piano Concerti, Symphony #40, Piano Sonata K.574 or something like that.

I'm thinking out loud here, but meh.

Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner. Very powerful piece of music, just ignore the history of it.

EDIT: Oh right, not liking Wagner. Then I'm out of ideas. I like to listen to classical music, but I can never remember the name of pieces...

Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner. Very powerful piece of music, just ignore the history of it.

EDIT: Oh right, not liking Wagner. Then I'm out of ideas. I like to listen to classical music, but I can never remember the name of pieces...
If you sing them to me, and they're reasonably well-known, I can probably tell you what they are and why I hate them. ;)

If you sing them to me, and they're reasonably well-known, I can probably tell you what they are and why I hate them. ;)

I'm humming into the speakers as loud as I can a tune I can't remember but I like. For the love of god tell me what it is!

Erm... I have 2.1 days of classical music on my machine XD... but here are a few highlights:

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 -- Chopin
Dido's Lament -- Purcell
Gnossienne No. 1 -- Satie
Viens, Mallika...Dôme épais (also known as the Flower Duet) -- Delibes
Gloria in Excelsis deo from Gloria in D, RV 589 -- Vivaldi

Au fond du temple saint -- Bizet
Libera Me -- Fauré
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra -- Britten
Anything from Tim Wiedenkeller's Milagros
Voi che sapete -- Mozart

Adagio in G Minor -- Giazotto, comm. attrib. Albinoni
Vesperae solemnes de confessore K339: Laudate Dominum -- Mozart
Art Thou with Me? -- J.S. Bach
The Four Seasons: Winter -- Vivaldi

I'm humming into the speakers as loud as I can a tune I can't remember but I like. For the love of god tell me what it is!
It's probably something by Ludwig van Beethoven.

It would be that giftless, sneaking bastard, that spawn of Satan.... Corrupting the pure minds of young Englishmen into thinking they like his music! You must rebel against the forces of evil by listening to at least six hours of Philip Glass, which will surely drive the demons from your brain!

;)

KoRn
Godsmack
System of a Down
Disturbed

cool bands. cool music.

It's probably something by Ludwig van Beethoven.

It would be that giftless, sneaking bastard, that spawn of Satan.... Corrupting the pure minds of young Englishmen into thinking they like his music! You must rebel against the forces of evil by listening to at least six hours of Philip Glass, which will surely drive the demons from your brain!

;)

I listen to Greenday and Kaiser Chiefs. My brain is probably already dead...

KoRn
Godsmack
System of a Down
Disturbed

cool bands. cool music.

Since when are they considered Classical?

I listen to Greenday and Kaiser Chiefs. My brain is probably already dead...
Oh damn. Too late.

/flees/

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Klaviermusik zu vier Händen (~"piano for four hands")

Vivaldi's---> 4 seasons
Handel's --->watermusic
Haydn..pretty much everything
Puccini

left out one of my other favs...
Bernstein----Chichester Psalms..

very ethereal..of course..if you are an atheist or something..you might not appreciate the theme much..yet..makes for good listening...:)

i'm going to ignore your current preferences and tell you what you ought to be listening to.


Arnold Schoenberg- Pierrot Lunaire
Igor Stravinsky- Le Sacre du Printemps
Henry Cowell- Dynamic Motion, The Aeolian Harp, The Banshee
George Antheil- Ballet Mecanique
Edgard Varese- Ameriques, Ionisation, Deserts, Poeme Electronique
John Cage- First Construction in Metal, Imaginary Landscapes No. 1-5, 4'33"
Pierre Schaeffer- Etude aux Chemins de Fer, Symphonie pour un Homme Seul
Karlheinz Stockhausen- Kontakte, Gesang der Junglinge, Mikrophonie I
Iannis Xenakis- Metastasis, Pithoprakta, Concret PH, Persepolis
Olivier Messiaen- Turangalila Symphonie
Morton Subotnick- Silver Apples of the Moon, The Wild Bull

yeah, have fun with those.

John Cage- 4'33"
Best. Piece. Ever.

;)

I'm not really impressed by Beethoven or Wagner from what I've listened to so far

You heard Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner? Thats possibly my favourite piece (I'm torn between that and Bach's Toccata and Fugue in Dm).

Otherwise I'd recommed (off the top of my head)...
Nessun Dorma - Puccini
Adiemus - Karl Jenkins apparently (I had to google that one :s)

In fact, if you're trying to "get into" classical music, buy a copy of Fantasia. Decent music and cartoons to keep the interest going ;) (thats not quite what I meant to say but I'm very tired so I don't care)

Best. Piece. Ever.

;)

That's not just the four minutes thirty three seconds of silence is it? Or am I thinking of something else?

As for recommendations, the two that would immediately spring to mind would be Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata - realising that you said you don't like him but even so, this is something special :) And Debussy's Claire de Lune, but that's already been suggested (I gotta different film reference though - Ocean's Eleven. Do I get points for that?)

it isn't actually silent, you know. it consists of whatever chaotic sounds are present in the place of performance.

it isn't actually silent, you know. it consists of whatever chaotic sounds are present in the place of performance.

Oh yeah I know that, but the score itself...

My favorite classical songs are:

Vivaldi - 4 Seasons
Mozart - The Impresario
Verdi - Nabucco
Puccini - Nessun Dorma
Mascagni - Intermezzo

This is modern music, but anything by Shirl Jae Atwell is great, too.