Classical Music

[Tamachan319]

Who here loves classical music? I know I do! What are some of your favorite composers? Pieces of music?

As for me, here are some of mine:
Composers: Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Bach,.... the list goes on and on.
Tristesse (Op.10 No. 3 in E Major) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikBD3DcSGFM by Chopin. It's so sad and beautiful.
Dance of the Swans from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iLSuTpVODY

I'll just leave it at that for my favorite pieces.
By the way, this is in the "Jam Session" section, but who has ever "jammed" to classical music? It made me laugh.
On another note (musical note... There's a bad pun there!), here's my original title for this thread: Classical Music Rocks. (The bad pun returns!)

[Cadence]

Yay! *high fives Tama* I love classical music!! It is pretty much my life. I spend most of my time practicing/performing it, and I refused to listen to anything else when I was younger. =)

My favorite composers are too numerous to list here, but probably my very, very favorite composer (if I had to pick one) would be Felix Mendelssohn. I connect with his compositions on a deep spiritual level, and some of the most spiritual experiences and times I have drawn near to God in my life have involved his music in some way.

My other favorites include Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, of course. I also love Tchaikovsky! I just played his violin concerto at an audition today, and have been listening to his music ever since! I love all of his symphonies, and this piece is one of my favorites!

Dvorak is another of my favorites. His Symphonies 7-9 are among my favorite symphonies...the 9th especially is a piece everyone is familiar with without realizing they are, and for good reason. It is gorgeous. The cello concerto is also one of my favorite pieces by him.

I also really love Debussy. His Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn never fails to give me chills in live performance.

Hmm...there are way too many others I love to mention them all. =) I guess I will list a few of my favorite pieces.

Vaughn Williams: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
This piece is one of the most amazing, haunting, beautiful things I have ever heard. The writing for double string orchestra and solo quartet is pretty awesome.

Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2
Especially this second movement. Despite being somewhat musically simple (relatively speaking), it is absolutely ethereal. Seriously, listen to it. The string introduction is beautiful enough, but the piano entrance about a minute in takes it to a whole new level.

Brahms: Tragic Overture
I don't know what to say about this one, other than it is amazing!!

So yeah, I just really, really love classical music. =)

[Sheenar]

Holst's The Planets is one of my favorite classical albums. I also enjoy the FMA soundtrack (vol. 3 from the first series) because of the gorgeous instrumental pieces.

[Strafe]

I play a little bit of classical literature on the piano. Simple stuff like Debussy, Chopin's easier waltzes and nocturnes and whatnot. Nothing crazy like Fantasie impromptu, but stuff that I think is pretty. My favorite piece to Play is Arabesque No. 1, but... Everybody knows that, so it's incredibly unspecial.

It's a funny story really. I practiced Arabesque on my own, without my Piano teacher, knowing that it most likely was very steeped in Pagan influences. For example, Pentatonic scale, Pentagram etc. Claude Debussy was alleged to be a Priory of Sion Grandmaster, so the Piece could have meant anything. Regardless, somehow, I felt that I could take the piece and tell my own story through it, minus the paganism. The story is a bit different every time I played it, but I never play it unless I know what I'm trying to say.

[KagayakiWashi]

Oh man.
Richard Wagner - The Ring Cycle.....most important piece of musical art ever. 4 operas, 14-17 hours...over 200 lietmotifs I believe....25 years to complete..brilliant.
Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird, Petrouchka, A Soldier's Tale, and many various chamber works.
Bach - The Goldberg Variations, Concerto fr Two Violins
Beethoven - The 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th Symphonies, "Rage over a Lost Penny", and various piano sonatas
Mozart - Don Giovanni, The Abduction from the Seraglio, various piano concertos, the 25th and 40th symphonies, various wind concertos
Elfman - Serenada Schizophrana
Zappa - Bogus Pomp, Strictly Genteel, *-**** Tornado, Pedro's Dowery (LSO version), Uncle Meat/Dog Breath Variations
Glass - The "Glassworks" album
Weber - Der Freischutz
Shostakovich - 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57, Symphony No. 4 and 7, String Quartet No. 8
Debussy - La Mer, Clair de Lune (especially orchestrated), Children's Suite (especially Dr. Gradus ad Parnassus)
Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky

How in the world did I forget Mahler? ALL of his symphonies are amazing, but I especially like the 1st and 2nd

[the_wolfs_howl]

I noticed that no one's mentioned Vivaldi yet. This makes me sad, but not surprised. I loooooooooooooove Vivaldi, probably mostly due to my best friend, who is a violinist and my classical music teacher, you might say. (I don't play an instrument, but I am very interested in being a good member of the audience and becoming much more familiar with classical music in general, so she steadily introduces famous and exceptional pieces to me.) Vivaldi has this sound to every piece he wrote that I just don't hear in composers like Beethoven or Tchaikovsky. It's like in every piece that seems happy on the surface, if you listen a little deeper you'll hear this strain of melancholy, and vice versa. Vivaldi's music is also very smooth and easy to listen to.

So my favorite Vivaldi pieces? Well, I'm in love with his Four Seasons - especially the Summer Presto.
I also love this one concerto in A for violin that for the life of me I can't find a link to (will have to ask my friend about that), and many more of his violin concertos. The ones for four violins are particularly pretty, I think.

Oh, and I agree with Kagayaki - Bach's "Double" Concerto for Two Violins, Beethoven's 5th Symphony, and Shostakovich's 8th Quartet (all movements) are some of my favorites.

Let's see, what else? Oh, duh! Bach's Chaconne from Partita 2 in D is possibly my favorite piece of music ever. (That link goes to the professional recording that I think sounds the closest to the way my friend plays it, and she plays it with more heart and feeling than most professionals I've heard - including the oh-so-famous Hilary Hahn, who almost put me to sleep with her recording of it.)
And a close second of Bach's would be his Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G Major.

So...yeah, I think it's safe to say I'm a fan of classical music XD I'm trying to expand my recognition of composers and famous pieces and that kind of thing, and I like pieces all across the board, but as you can tell I greatly prefer Baroque music, and especially chamber music. And no matter what, I like the fast and exciting ones the best. If it's got "allegro" in it, I'll probably like it. I firmly believe you can rock out to classical music, and intend to have Vivaldi blaring out my windows if I ever own a car

...And I'll get around to listening to those other songs soon.

[Tamachan319]

I noticed that no one's mentioned Vivaldi yet. This makes me sad, but not surprised. I loooooooooooooove Vivaldi, probably mostly due to my best friend, who is a violinist and my classical music teacher, you might say. (I don't play an instrument, but I am very interested in being a good member of the audience and becoming much more familiar with classical music in general, so she steadily introduces famous and exceptional pieces to me.)

So my favorite Vivaldi pieces? Well, I'm in love with his Four Seasons - especially the Summer Presto.
I also love this one concerto in A for violin that for the life of me I can't find a link to (will have to ask my friend about that), and many more of his violin concertos. The ones for four violins are particularly pretty, I think.

...And I'll get around to listening to those other songs soon.

I. Forgot. Vivaldi. I adoooooooooore his "Four Seasons" too....
I forgot something - Pachbel's Canon in D. It's the typical wedding song, I guess, but I just looooove it. Especially with a flute choir playing it- but piano's awesome too.

[Tamachan319]

Yay! *high fives Tama* I love classical music!! It is pretty much my life. I spend most of my time practicing/performing it, and I refused to listen to anything else when I was younger. =)

I also really love Debussy. His Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn never fails to give me chills in live performance.

*high fives back* I wish classical music was my life. That would be awesome.
I listened to the Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn. It's gorgeous. Especially as a flutist listening to this, it is simply magical.

[rocklobster]

Beethoven. I hate the fact that he never got to hear how good his music was.
I also like Muzio Clementi and all the music in the Fantasia movies. Especially Night on Bald Mountain.

[KagayakiWashi]

Beethoven didn't need to hear how good his music was, he knew how good his music was. I just wonder how a mind like his worked.....such a genius.....but also quite the business man....no sir, he wasn't letting himself go broke like Mozart!

[Kaori]

I have quite a few favorite composers:

First, of course, there are the really famous composers like Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky. Out of all composers of all time, I would say that J.S. Bach is my favorite. He has an enormous output, but everything he wrote is excellent; none of his works is subpar.

I also have several favorite composers from the nineteenth century. Mendelssohn is excellent; I certainly haven’t listened to everything he composed, but probably my favorite is his Reformation symphony (no. 5). I also like Dvorak and Saint-Saens (the latter wrote a cello concerto that I just heard for the first time recently, and it was amazing). Berlioz gets an honorable mention for writing the Symphonie Fantastique, a wonderfully imaginative programmatic piece in which the use of tone color is spot-on.

Despite not being a vocalist, I do love choral music, particularly Palestrina, a Renaissance composer who is probably not quite as well-known as most of the composers above. His style is very consistent, which means his pieces mostly sound pretty similar to one another, but the Missa Papae Marcelli is a good place to start.

Finally, another favorite of mine who is perhaps not quite so well known is Henry Purcell, whose text-setting (making the music and words match) is possibly the best out of anything composed in English. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrsiJBFrdo0 ]“Music for a Whileâ€

[the_wolfs_howl]

Finally listened to all those great songs people posted! @_@

Chopin
Tristesse - Ooooh, I think I know this one! I've heard it a few times, at least. It's so beautiful. It's rather similar to the music they used in the newest Pride & Prejudice movie, which is gorgeous.

Tchaikovsky
Dance of the Swans - This one is quite well-known, and for good reason. Absolutely gorgeous. Somehow, I always end up forgetting Tchaikovsky wrote such beautifully sad music when I listen to his 1812 Overture (whose ending I think is far too long).

Romeo and Juliet - Unfortunately, I can never take this thing seriously, because a tiny snippet was used in the first Sims game whenever you'd make your Sims kiss each other XD Guess that goes to show you what a big impact it's made, though, huh?

Vaughn Williams
Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis - Wow, I'd never heard this before, but it's almost painful with the amount of emotion in it. It makes my heart constrict in some parts.

Shostakovich
Piano Concerto 2 - Hmm, never heard this one before. As always with Shostakovich, he's got that downtrodden, depressed emotion down pat. It's interesting how the piano makes it sound less out-and-out depressing, and more like...having a good cry, I guess. A quiet sort of sadness. Dude, I love Shostakovich!

Debussy
Arabesque No. 1 - Who cares if it's simple or overplayed or whatever. Pretty is pretty, no matter how many times you hear it.

probably my favorite is his Reformation symphony (no. 5).

Me too! Kyaaaa, I love that one! My friend just sent a recording to me this year, and it brings out that "Reformation" feeling very well ^_^

Finally, another favorite of mine who is perhaps not quite so well known is Henry Purcell

Hmm, I'm not too familiar with him, but I always wondered about the track on the Pride and Prejudice movie soundtrack called "A Postcard to Henry Purcell." Maybe someone more knowledgeable about the composer would understand.

In response to vocal stuff, ohmygoodness there are some pieces I just love to death!

For one thing, I love the vocal elements of Mozart's famous unfinished Requiem. Some of my favorite movements are Rex Tremendae, Confutatis Maledictis, and Lux Aeterna.

And of course Vivaldi XD I love his Gloria in Excelsis Deo (and even managed to find the exact recording I love the best! It has children for the sopranos, which makes it sound even prettier, in my opinion).
And his "Dixit Dominus" in D major is also really good.

@ the_wolfs_howl: Those are some great pieces that you posted, and I agree about Vivaldi. Some of his concertos can be a bit showy in their technicality--one gets the sense that they were written to show off the player's virtuosity--but still, he's very enjoyable.

Hmm, I dunno, maybe. But at least it sounds pretty, even if that's the case. This horror, on the other hand, requires great skill to play, but is referred to by my friend and me as "a cat being run over by a steamroller": Paganini - Caprice no. 22 in F Major

[Kaori]

I always wondered about the track on the Pride and Prejudice movie soundtrack called "A Postcard to Henry Purcell." Maybe someone more knowledgeable about the composer would understand.

Hm, the tune sounded vaguely familiar but I wasn’t really able to place it. Wikipedia says that it’s taken from Purcell’s Abdelazar theme (not something I have heard).

Hmm, I dunno, maybe. But at least it sounds pretty, even if that's the case. This horror, on the other hand, requires great skill to play, but is referred to by my friend and me as "a cat being run over by a steamroller": Paganini - Caprice no. 22 in F Major

If I recall correctly, Vivaldi wrote something like 200 concertos. There isn’t a lot of showy virtuosity in his more well-known pieces, like the Four Seasons (which I love, especially the first movement from Spring)]first[/url] and third movements of this oboe concerto, RV 447. Don’t get me wrong—I love Vivaldi, and I like this particular oboe concerto quite a bit, too (the second movement is particularly beautiful). I also agree that it still sounds good even while being showy. But if those outer movements aren’t showy virtuosity, I don’t know what is.

And for the record, I do agree that Paganini is much worse about that.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Hmm, I guess I see what you mean. Still, I have no problems with showiness, if that's what it is, because Vivaldi just makes it sound so good.

Has anyone else gotten really annoyed about these old Classical composers who wrote hundreds of pieces of music? @_@ There's no way you can listen to them all and be familiar with them!

[KagayakiWashi]

All the time Wolf, all the time!

[QtheQreater]

Rachmaninoff. Symphonies or piano compositions, it's all amazing. Hurts like crazy to play some of his stuff, though. I always had to work a few months just to get my hands in shape for those...

[the_wolfs_howl]

^ Rachmaninoff had big hands

[KagayakiWashi]

I'm not big fan of his stuff, but my grandfather's piano teacher was a student of Rachmaninoff's.

[samurai10]

Bach's tocatta in D minor is AMAZING! i can play it, and it's probably my favorite classical music piece.

[Edward]

I like classical music, but don't know much about composers or their works, but I do have all of Beethoven's symphonies on VINYL. It was recorded by the Vienna Phillharmonic, or the Wiener Phillharmoniker, as it says on the box. It even came with a booklet about Beethoven and some of his symphonies, written in German, English, and I believe French, as well as Freidrich Schiller's Ode to Joy in the aforementioned languages.

[KagayakiWashi]

I've been getting alot....and I mean ALOT of classical music from Amazon.com. They offer 99 tracks of various composers for 2.95-7.99. Incredible prices. Not the best recordings, but nothing to scare the consumer away. This is a great way to get familiar with composers and works you might not be familiar with. I've really enjoyed getting to know Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Grieg a little better!

[the_wolfs_howl]

I finally found that one Vivaldi piece I was talking about before:

Concerto "In due Cori" RV 585 - II. Adagio

Unfortunately, it cuts off at the end This is far from my favorite recording, and I think the soloist sounds a bit lackluster (not as bad as another clip I found), but this is one of my absolute favorite pieces.