Best classical composers

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:12:05

Anyone here feel like I do about classical music? If you're down in the dumps and humanity seems a lost cause, Tchaikovsy, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Vivaldi, Bartok et al can all give you a much needed lift.

by **Ayoob** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:19:31

Also Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky, Scriabin, Brahms (the last couple of piano concertos are haunting), Liszt... and any of the Grand Masters (Perlman, Horowitz, Brendel)

I'm a metalhead at heart but these guys are great.

Oh oh oh and don't forget Prokofiev! :twisted:

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:22:02

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', '
')Oh oh oh and don't forget Prokofiev!

by **Bedevere** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:26:23

Any favourite pieces? I'm looking for somewhere to start...

by **Permanently_Baffled** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:30:39

Beethovens Emperor , or Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto in D minor (no 3 ) are my favourites.

I also love Chopins Waltzes and Nocturnes for Piano.

Also Beethovens "Appassionata" in F minor is up there somewhere.

PB

by **Jack** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:31:14

Mozart 40 is my favorite! Rachmaninoff is very good too...

by **lateStarter** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:33:42

If you are just starting out in the genre, I would suggest anything from Mozart. Vivaldi and Bach are also safe. I prefer the earlier stuff. Modern classical is just too dissonant for me.

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:33:57

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bedevere', 'A')ny favourite pieces? I'm looking for somewhere to start...

by **lateStarter** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:41:39

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', 'M')ozart 40 is my favorite! Rachmaninoff is very good too...

by **OldSprocket** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:48:53

Bach. Then all the little Bachs. And PDQ Bach for fun.

Then Handel, Hayden, Vivaldi, Telemann, and Albinoni.

My collection is mostly baroque. I need to add some romantic-period: Mendelssohn, Stravinsky, Dvorak. I started with late classical and the big romantics and have some of those on vinyl, but don't have the turntable hooked up. For cheering up, Mendelssohn's symphonies work wonders if I recall that far back.

I've been making my mandolin stumble through Bach's first Cello suite and a snippet of Mozart's 24th symphony. But now I have this tune in my head that is probably Faure or some other airy-cerebral late-romantic. I could look up the sheet music if I could find out the title.

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:49:52

The grandeur and subtlety of Mozart's Jupiter Symphony is astonishing. Such a deeply realized work of art. I liked that movie, Amadeus and thought Tom Hulce did a marvelous job of bringing the character of Mozart to the screen. Hollywood fiction, no doubt, but the music speaks for itself.

by **Ayoob** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:50:15

If you're just getting into classical, try picking up the NPR guide to building a classical music collection. Then, hit your local library and see what they have. People donate huge amounts of classical music to the library for some reason. Fire up your CD burner and have at it. IMO, this is the best way to go. You find out what you like before you spend a lot of money.

Or, do it the lazy man's way and head out to Costco and pick up one of those monster classical CD box sets for $50 or so and see what you like. I do NOT like Mozart for some reason, he seems a little... frilly... for me. I like the dissonant Russians, the ballsy in-your-face Germans, the unbelievably athletic piano virtuosos, the soft string quartets and even the more mellow brass quartets/quintets, and the piano/violin combo is great, too.

Everyone's taste is different, though. Classical music spans hundreds of years and more than one continent, there's an enormous wealth of music out there. Take your time.

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 18:56:34

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', ' ') I do NOT like Mozart for some reason, he seems a little... frilly... for me. I like the dissonant Russians

by **Clouseau2** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 19:10:06

You can't really go wrong by picking up Beethoven's 9 symphonies ... Get the one from the 1960s with Karajan as the conductor. Deutche Grammophon ...

I like the 5th, 6th and 9th the best, with the 2nd and 4th movements of the 9th being some of the best music ever made, IMHO.

by **Jack** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 19:13:52

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lateStarter', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', 'M')ozart 40 is my favorite! Rachmaninoff is very good too...

by **OldSprocket** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 19:39:58

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Clouseau2', 'Y')ou can't really go wrong by picking up Beethoven's 9 symphonies ... Get the one from the 1960s with Karajan as the conductor. Deutche Grammophon ...

by **Kent** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 19:50:14

A VERY short list of my all-time personal favorites:

SYMPHONIC:

Symphony Fantastique by Hector Berlioz
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Symphonie Fantastique has no equivalent in the repertoire: this work must be regarded as the most amazing bombshell in 19th century French music, whose boldness is quite as remarkable as that of another 'scandalous' piece of the following century, [Stravinsky's] The Rite of Spring. The fact that [Symphony Fantastique] is firmly rooted in Viennese classicism does not prevent this iconoclastic work of genius from being at the same time a veritable manifesto of French Romanticism. With this symphony built on the famous 'idée fixe' motif (among others), the young Hector Berlioz ensured his place in history.
--Castle Classics Recordings

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 20:00:54

Now Berlioz finally did get that woman that inspired his heroic creativity. She dissed him when he offered the great creative work, presumably because he was ugly and creepy, but she aged and eventually found it all to be quite a tribute.

by **Ayoob** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 20:05:31

Horowitz' 1957 recording of Rachy's Piano Concerto #3 is amazing and is considered to be the definitive recording of that piece. He studied directly under Rachy himself.

Do yourself a favor and check it out.

My GF thought there were at least two pianists playing, if not three.

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Mon 18 Jul 2005, 20:25:39

Tom gets one CD of jazz and Dylan, one CD of Bach, one of Haydn, one of Tchaikovski, one of Bach, one of Mozart. My boy loves music and I love my boy. Many sixteen year olds are nihilists, not mine.

Best classical composers

Best classical composers

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