Hadn't listened to some classical music in awhile, so I fired up some stuff this weekend: "Piano Concerto in B-Flat Minor #1" - Tchaikovsky "La Mer" - Debussy "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" - Debussy "The Planets" - Holst "Adagio for Strings" - Barber "New World Symphony" - Dvorak "Carnival Overture" - Dvorak "Symphony #9" - Beethoven "Pictures at an Exhibition" - Mussorgsky (the Ravel orchestrated version) I will try to listen to before I go to bed tonight: "Piano Concerto in A Minor" - Grieg "Peer Gynt Suites 1 & 2" - Grieg Some Wagner including stuff from "Tannhauser" and The Ring cycle And maybe some various parts of the "Carmina Burana" by Orff Any other classical music fans here? What are some of your favorites?
I've loved "Pictures at an Exhibition" since I was a kid. It was originally written for piano, then posthumously re-worked by Rimsky-Korsakov because Mussorgsky hadn't, allegedly, used "correct" technique. Ravel's orchestration is the standard, though there are others. Mussorgsky was largely unschooled in composition, but he was damn imaginative, and more interesting than many of the trained composers of the time - probably why so many of them wanted a hand in "polishing" his compositions after he died in his forties from alcoholism. They probably would have offered to polish his knob too in exchange for some of his creativity. A fun version is Tomita's reorchestration using analog synthesizers from the 70's. Tomita also did an album of Debussy interpretations with the same equipment. Very cool in that "so cheesy it's cool" way. I don't care much for Baroque music - it's boring to me for the most part. Especially Mozart. Ick. Flutes and little cherubs prancing around and all that. Makes me want to listen to Slayer. And there's nothing wrong with Slayer. Here are some other favorites; Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra" - the Living Stereo CD w/ Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. (listening to this one right now actually). This CD sounds excellent, and also has "Hungarian Sketches" and "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta." - Bartok can get pretty dissonant at times, but unlike some of the more modern composers (who often sound like senseless junk because they're so desperate to do something different) Bartok's dissonance always makes sense. Sometimes Bartok writes in multiple tonalities, which can be confusing to anal-retentive music school students, and cause all sorts of Freudian anxieties about stools and cigars. Stravinksy's "Rite of Spring" - a Naxos CD (Naxos rules!) that also has "Jeu de cartes" on it. - Scary-good. Anyone who doesn't think "Rite of Spring" is amazing is probably too busy competing for Special Olympics try-outs to give it a proper listen. Any piece of music that starts a riot on its first public performance automatically gets 5 cool points. This may cause a bit of discomfort on the first listening (it did me - I actually had to turn it off a few times before I could listen all the way through) but by the 3rd or 4th listen, you've learned Stravinsky's language. Also good for terrorizing small fluffy animals, who seem to be terrorized by the savage percussion. Open your windows and watch the squirrels go into post-traumatic shock, then collect the corpses and eat them. Nummy num. Strauss "Also Sprach Zarathustra" - another Fritz Reiner/Chicago CD. Also has "Ein Heldenbleben" on it. Very good recording. RCA Victor Basic 100 collection. - Everyone knows the beginning of "This Spake Zarathustra" from the 2001 movie - the "Sunrise" song. I used to use it, turned up to 11, to wake up in the morning from setting the alarm on my stereo. Scared the hell out of my ex-girlfriend! The rest of the cycle is just as moving, if not moreso, than "Sunrise." Also great music to poop to. Something about it motivates those bowels to be extra productive. I've also been listening to a lot of pre-baroque music lately - particularly Henry Purcell and John Dowland, usually in between my Dead Kennedys and My Bloody Valentine CDs just to avoid getting too floofy in the pants and permanently transforming into a pretentious wine-drinking yuppie, though I don't think I'm in any serious danger. But it's good to be safe. And I'm going to stop here because I could go on forever.
Mostly high-baroque and classical period for me: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Albinoni, Rossini, Handel.
Im really new to classical music but my favorite so far is Dvorak's 9th symphony. Im hoping to pick up some others from this thread.
Mozart was not in the Baroque era but in the Classical with Haydn and Beethoven. Baroque ended pretty much with the death of Handel, which was 9 years after Bach or at least that is what I was always taught. Great call on "The Rite of Spring" - I will need to listen to that sometime soon as I have that along with "Petrushka" on CD. Kilgore, I think you would really like Tchaikovsky. Most of his stuff contains very melodic and romantic stuff plus there is a wealth of his material that has been used in movies, TV shows, and commercials. His Piano Concerto is still my favorite thing by him and maybe my all-time favorite classical piece. Top 10 favorite composers (at this moment): 1) Tchaikovsky 2) Beethoven 3) Bach 4) Debussy 5) Handel 6) Mozart 7) Dvorak (just for the New World Symphony aka Symphony #9 alone) 8) Mendelssohn 9) Stravinsky 10) Grieg Right now, I am listening to some Wagner, specifically the Festmarsch from "Tannhauser".
Eh, you were taught correctly - I, on the other hand, wasn't taught at all. Mixed my terms up. I also referred to Purcell as "pre-Baroque" but, according to a webpage I just looked at, he was part of the Baroque. That's what I get for thinking with my ears. Slayer still rocks though. They were part of the "Drunken Monkey Punch to the Genitals" period of the late 20th century. "Petrushka" is great too, though I don't like it as much as "Rite of Spring." I have a CBS masterworks CD of Petrushka with Bernstein conducting. It's strange how many subtleties of interpretation there are in each of these pieces, something I'm just now learning: I had another version of "Petrushka" that doesn't sound nearly as fiery as Bernstein's. I also have a second version of "Pictures at an Exhibition" that I can't even listen to - maybe because I'm so familiar with my Naxos version. Ever listen to Schoenberg? I don't care much for his twelve-tone stuff (some of it's okay), but "Transfigured Night" seems to be spending more time than usual in my CD player lately. On an ancillary note: The Bulgarian Women's Choir is godlike.
Everytime I try to coax something by Wagner into my head, all I hear is "kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit."
Hehe - you know that cartoon that has Elmer Fudd and Bugs that features music by Wagner not only has "The Ride of the Valkyries" aka Kill the Wabbit but "The Flying Dutchman Overture" (at the very beginning of the cartoon) and "Tannhauser Overture" (at the very end and also spliced throughout the cartoon). Schoenberg - never listened to anything by him but I know about his twelve tone system (remember that from Music Appreciation class). Bruckner and Mahler plus a little Shostakovich is about as dissonant I will get and even then I think they are like a Mozart or Tchaikovsky when it comes to melodious stuff compared to Arnold!
Im actually a casual classical fan(believe it or not)..so I dont really know alot of names of songs...but I know what composers I like.. Wagner is tops with me...I like some of the weirder stuff he did.. Stravinsky is cool Bach Debussy Mozart Handel.. are all ones I know the names of and have enjoyed I really would like to find the time to get into some more of the heavily symphonic stuff. While the small group ensemble stuff is ok, for some reason I prefer to hear the interactions in theme and composition between large groups of instruments. I keep stumbling across the virtuoso piano pieces, and while I admire the skill it took to play it...I want to hear more than just a single instrument with a few strings backing it up. I know I probably arent making much sense to yall that take this much more seriously....but I didnt pay that much attention in my music classes that covered this style of music.....years later, I regret that...I might be able to make more sense talking about this if I had. any suggestions guys? thadeus... good stuff! throw in Heathen, Exodus, Testament, Pantera, and Celtic Frost to that.
Rockets2K, Look at the piano concertos of Tchaikovsky, Grieg, and Beethoven. As you may know, a concerto is just like a symphony except there are 3 movements instead of 4 and one instrument is featured and is backed by a full orchestra. Also, I would recommend some violin concertos of Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn (he had the best one), Beethoven, and Jean Sibelius.
So who here plays/played a classical instrument? I played the violin for about 12 years, but stopped when I was 19. I could play several of the pieces mentioned here by heart (played in an orchestra). I never really liked it too much, though, would have preferred to play in a band (that impressed the chicks more at that age). Also had piano lessons for two years, but was lazy and never got anywhere.
Prokofiev is pretty good, in addition to all the others already mentioned. Though it is technically not Classical, Joe Schmo would probably consider it as such. Barber is another more modern composer that is worth a listen.
If you are going to correct someone, at least get it right. Beethoven, while trained in the Classical tradition, was really a Romantic composer. His first symphony is obviously his most classical, but by the third, he is pretty full blown Romantic. Then his most famous five and nine are obvious. Not to mention his best sonatas, piano concertos, etc.. Loser (and, yes, I am kidding). I am not really going to go into everything I like, but I certainly consider myself a fan of "Classical" music and my joint half-season tickets to both the opera and symphony would probably attest to that as well. So, a few highlights that have not been mentioned thusfar...in no particular order, with conductors in the (), if I have a general favorite: Mahler - Symphs 1, 2, 4, 5, & 9 & his lieders (mostly Karajan) Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique, Requiem, La Damnation de Faust (Previn is pretty good). Prokofiev- Symph 5 & Romeo & Juliet Fauré - piano quartets Beethoven - late sonatas (Rubinstein has some good recordings) Bizet - Carmen Dvorak - Slavonic Dances Shostakovich - Symp 9 All for now.
Hmm...it's a slow day and I keep gravitating back to this thread. Good thread Manny! Carl Stalling did great parodies of well-known music. If you get a chance, check out the Carl Stalling Project (there are two volumes) - listening to familiar cartoon music without watching a cartoon is a surreal experience. Stalling was quite a unique composer, and quite talented in my opinion. Also - Schoenberg's "Transfigured Night" pre-dates his twelve-tone period. It's still rather dissonant, but sort of like a more intense Wagner (if you can imagine that). I can definitely agree with this, although I like small ensemble music too. Solo instruments usually don't interest me much. I would say check out "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky for sure. Mussorgsky wrote it based on an exhibition of art by a friend of his who had recently died, and there's a short segment of music for each painting, as well as a segment of music based on the promenade between the paintings! Very cool. The promenade changes each time it's repeated, sort of changing with the mood of the exhibit I guess. "Night on Bald Mountain" by Mussorgsky is also gnarly - if you've seen Disney's "Fantasia" you've heard it - it's the music with the giant demon on the mountaintop. I took classical guitar lessons for a brief time, but ended up wandering off on my own. I'd like to learn to play contrabass, but they're expensive! I just play the usual rockstar instruments. I have known several women though who were virtuosos on the skin flute.
Uh, you are right about him being trained in the classical tradition, but all of the books that I have read and the class that I had in college said that the Classical Era was 1750-1820. So, Beethoven lived 7 years after it ended. By that time, he had already gravitated to more complex stuff like the 9th Symphony and the Missa Solemnis (sp?). So, you are right on a technicality; however, I was stating what I did because it is easier to group Beethoven in the Classical Era instead of the Romantic Era because he lived longer in the Classical Era instead of the Romantic Era. The same thing goes for Schubert. Although he only lived to be 31 (dying in 1828), he is sometimes mentioned in the Classical Era and also mentioned in the Romantic Era. Both he and Beethoven were massive influences on the Romantic composers, but I disagree with you on classifying them as full-fledged Romantic composers. If anything, they need to be in a separate category, sorta "Transition to Romantic". Normally, I would bow down to your omnipotent intelligence about these things, rimmy, but I have been following and listening to classical music for over 20 years, so I like to think I know what I am talking about.
I agree with Manny on where to classify Beethoven. Although he influenced many Romantics, the structure and development of his pieces was closer to the Classical style. These are some of my favorites: Beethoven: -Other than Symphonies 5 and 9, I also like 6 "The Pastoral", 3 "Eroica," and 7. -Piano Concertos 3, 4, and 5- especially 4. -Piano Sonatas- "Appasionata" and "Waldstein" (I forgot the numbers). -His Violin Concerto -Mozart's piano concertos and Bach's keyboard concertos. Other random pieces: - Brahms Violin Concerto - Bruch Violin Concerto - Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto - Mussorsgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" - Mahler's Symphony #1 (only one of his I've listened to) - Wagner overtures. Concertos in general are pretty cool. That's all I can think of right now. I'm glad I took "Appreciation of World Music" as an elective at U of H or I probably would have never gotten into classical music.
