Does anyone here love Classical music /
Me.
I love Bach, Beethoven, Mozart & Vivaldi.
But I also love to hear relatively modern composers such as Vaughan Williams..variations on Tellemann still send a shiver down my spine. Then there is Faure and Philip Glass whom I consider something close to genius.
Missed anyone ? I am sure I have.
Please fill in my ignorance gaps.
.I am willing to broaden my horizons.
Aqua
I love Bach, Beethoven, Mozart & Vivaldi.
But I also love to hear relatively modern composers such as Vaughan Williams..variations on Tellemann still send a shiver down my spine. Then there is Faure and Philip Glass whom I consider something close to genius.
Missed anyone ? I am sure I have.
Please fill in my ignorance gaps.
.I am willing to broaden my horizons.
Aqua
Comments
I just acquired the entire set of Herbert Von Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmonic doing the complete Beethoven catalog on Deutsche Grammophone. About 70 slabs of vinyl perfection. Mmmm. I also found a now kind of hard to find CD of Einojuhani Rautavaara's "Angel Of Light" symphony. Leif Segerstam conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Absolutly astounding!
Just a couple of suggestions.
Originally posted by hardhead
I just acquired the entire set of Herbert Von Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmonic doing the complete Beethoven catalog on Deutsche Grammophone.
Yes, Old Herb sure put the "Awe back into Orchestra music.
"
I also found a now kind of hard to find CD of Einojuhani Rautavaara's "Angel Of Light" symphony. Leif Segerstam conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Absolutly astounding!
"
Never heard of it.. But it does sound fascinating though.
Thankyou for the tip, I shall be checking it out soon.
Aqua.
Originally posted by Wrong Robot
My favorite composer is Stravinsky
Didn't old Igor shake hands with Mickey Mouskey in the opening scenes of Fantasia?
So in classical there are all sorts of compositions from A-Z that fit the bill. Most notably I like Bach's organ stuff and Operas.
Well this one is my area. Maybe giant will show up to mock me and we can turn this thread into flame war
There are so many composers, I'm not sure where to begin.
Pre-classical/Baroque: Bach, Handel
Classical (1750's to early 1800's): Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven
19th Century:
Berlioz, Wagner, Brahms (check out some of his choral pieces), Mendelssohn, Verdi, Rossini, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner
Post-romantic/impressionist:
Debussy, Rachmaninoff (my favorite),
Modern: Stravinsky, Shostakovich (I think you'd like him)
Atonal: Webern, Berg, Schoenberg (probably not your thing...I'm no fan).
Others: Rimsky-Korsakov, Aaron Copland, Prokofiev, Mussorgsky.
I'm too lazy to go on. Some googling will help. Feel free to PM or e-mail with any questions or whatever.
You might also enjoy just concertos for a while...I was hooked on violin concertos for a while, like Sarah Chang on the Paganini, Heifeitz on Brahms, Tchaikovsky, other showpieces; Anna Sophie-Mutter with von Karajan on Vivaldi's 4 Seasons, Perlman on Mendelssohn and Bruch. It's all great!!
Then, there's quartet music! About one of the best purchases you can make is on iTunes (I had it on CD before iTunes came about) -- a Deutsche Grammophon recording with Emerson Quartet on Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, and Borodin quartets (these are trademark pieces, you'll recognize them when you hear them).
It's an exciting listening experience that I wish more people were interested in; and it turns out sometimes that more are that I just don't know about (kind of a "closeted" thing among people my age -- 20/younger). And listening to classical doesn't exclude one from any of the other genres, but if anything it lets you discern more clearly the musicianship in them.
I've been a fan of classical music for most of my 22 years, although I don't explore new material or composers as often as I'd like to.
I've got a thing for 20th century Russian composers right now: Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and such. I always liked Sibelius, too.
I like pretty much anything post-baroque.
I heard a piece a few years ago on NPR and had to order it. It is "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" by Henryk Gorecki. Very different. Solo female over very thick stings. It is on iTMS.
I agree with Aquafire that Philip Glass is amazing. I picked up his 2-CD Symphony #5 and while at first it took a little getting used to, it was truly an amazing piece. When I saw "The Fog of War", I smiled when I saw that Philip Glass did the soundtrack. A beautiful effort.
I also have to vouch for Shostakovich. His "Leningrad Symphony" is incredible, as is his Symphony #6, "The Year 1917". As you're listening to it, you can almost feel as if you're in the trenches with the Russians, fighting back the hordes of German soldiers.
The list is incredibely long. I will limit it to great experiences
The piano concerto by chopin (honey in hear)
The nocturnes of Chopin ( i love the one with Anton Rubisnstein : must be heard late in the evening of course)
The carmina burana (in live not in CD) by Karl Orf (excalibur music)
Lizt piano music sonata by Martha Argerich
2nd concerto of Rachmaninov by Martha Argerich (better than Horowitz) absolutely brilliant live recorded performance (philips)
Haydn quators
Bach (lot of stuff there : piano concertos, sonatas, viola, Brandebourgeois ..;
Requiem of Mozart (the music who make me cry)
concertos for clarinet
Requieme of Faure ( a good alternative to the previous one)
Concerto for Harp from Boieldieu
concertino for Trombon par Ferdinand David (wonderfull performance by Christian Lindberg, the best trombonist i know)
Grieg : Peer gynt suites
Sibelius : the swan of Tuolala, the violin concerto (wonderful performance with Oistrach)
Debussy piano music and symphonia : impressionist music
Satie, fun light hearted piano music
Gershwin : unique style (for the record Gershwin, asked one day an advice about music to Ravel, Ravel replied i have nothing to teach at you, continue your way, dont change anything)
Ravel : Dapnis and Chloe, concerto for the left hand (the best transposer of piano music to symphonic music)
Shubert : the eight , the trout, piano music
Beethoven the giant : piano, symphonia, concerto, quartet ...( a gold mine like bach)
Holst : the planets
Vivaldi : 4 seasons
Aranjuez concerto for guitar
Saint saens : concerto for animals
Tchaikowski, Moussorgski, Rachmaninov ....
The list is long, long , long
Originally posted by SDW2001
-snip-
I'm too lazy to go on. Some iTunes Music Store browsing will help. Feel free to PM or e-mail with any questions or whatever.
Great post....I just wanted to modify this one bit
So, to correct myself, Wagner AND Satie are my favorites.
Any other composers of merit from the 1980's and onward. ?
Mahler wrote the best symphonies I think, the 6th and 8th in particular. Strangely, I've never been really interested by Bach and Mozart. It might be due in part to their work being so massive that I don't know where to start. I don't like the sound of organ, so a major part of Bach is not for me . But his Cello Suites are amazing, among others.
I do love classical music but I'm first and foremost a rock lover, therefore I don't know as much as I would like about it. Also It's not easy choosing the right CDs the buy. The same piece can be available in 20 versions from 15 different performers on 5 labels. Which of these is/are worth a listen? There are magazines, comments on amazon and other sources but still, it's easy to get lost.
I haven't played piano in 9 years, and I really miss it... Though I'm getting a piano within the next 2 month!! The artistic section of my brain needs to wake up.
Originally posted by Ganondorf
Successful composers of the modern era go on to compose soundtracks for movies, games, etc.
Actually, that's not really true. Film composing is an entirely different thing from "new music" composing. Film composers often don't even do their own orchestrations. Williams doesn't, for example. I'm working on my Masters in Music and I've taken two composition classes with a successful composer. Today's composers often survive through University teaching posts and comissioned works.