Tough choice, but nothing really shook me to the core like Mahler's "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen", here sung by Fischer-Dieskau:
Definitely makes it on a list of things I'm thankful for.
Where do I start?
I’m a huge financial nerd, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time talking to people about their money habits.
Here are the biggest mistakes people are making and how to fix them:
Not having a separate high interest savings account
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Here is a list of the top savings accounts available today. Deposit $5 before moving on because this is one of th
Where do I start?
I’m a huge financial nerd, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time talking to people about their money habits.
Here are the biggest mistakes people are making and how to fix them:
Not having a separate high interest savings account
Having a separate account allows you to see the results of all your hard work and keep your money separate so you're less tempted to spend it.
Plus with rates above 5.00%, the interest you can earn compared to most banks really adds up.
Here is a list of the top savings accounts available today. Deposit $5 before moving on because this is one of the biggest mistakes and easiest ones to fix.
Overpaying on car insurance
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Consistently being in debt
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Missing out on free money to invest
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Having bad credit
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Hope this helps! Here are the links to get started:
Have a separate savings account
Stop overpaying for car insurance
Finally get out of debt
Start investing with a free bonus
Fix your credit
Van Cliburn's performance of Tchaikovsky's piano concerto #1 B flat minor opus 23. It has always been my Mom's favourite ( she was a piano major at university) and she played the LP record for us as children way back..
The grand, triumphant feel of the music is without equal - a fitting "statement" to Van Cliburn's victory in Moscow 1958!
( sadly Mr Cliburn is now battling bone cancer..)
Next month (December 2012) is my mother's 92 nd birthday and my surprise gift for her will be my rendition of that piano concerto on classical guitar..Happy birthday Mom!
http://youtu.be/-M7M4UoqBpA
My absolute favorite musical work of all time is Sibelius's Symphony No. 7. The piece is in one movement, about half an hour long.
People who know me and my tastes in classical music know that I have a fondness for the avant-garde. Sibelius, for much of the 20th century, was thought of as a musical conservative, even a reactionary, who just wrote pretty but insubstantial salon music. The famous philosopher Theodor Adorno hated him for it, criticizing his "lack of organic unity."
Which is odd, because Sibelius's symphonies are among the most formally organic works of classical music ever written.
My absolute favorite musical work of all time is Sibelius's Symphony No. 7. The piece is in one movement, about half an hour long.
People who know me and my tastes in classical music know that I have a fondness for the avant-garde. Sibelius, for much of the 20th century, was thought of as a musical conservative, even a reactionary, who just wrote pretty but insubstantial salon music. The famous philosopher Theodor Adorno hated him for it, criticizing his "lack of organic unity."
Which is odd, because Sibelius's symphonies are among the most formally organic works of classical music ever written. The 7th Symphony, in particular, is built entirely of motivic fragments which come together, drift apart, weave in and out. The central theme isn't even introduced until almost the seven-minute mark, although it's foreshadowed before then.
Anyway, enough talk. Here it is:
My favorite composer ever is actually Samuel Barber, and I would be remiss not to mention his Piano Sonata as an honorable mention. See if you can find the Horowitz recording.
Chopin's Tristesse (Étude Op 10, No 3) is an emotional roller coaster of a piece. No music better evokes the sadness of love as this.
Valentina Igoshina does, in my opinion, a breathtaking rendition of it.
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Smetana - The Moldau
It was used quite brilliantly in Malick's Tree of Life.
Mozart - Requiem Mass in D Minor
Quite amazing in it's highs and lows. Hauntingly beautiful music.
>
> The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in Vienna in 1791 and left unfinished at the composer's death on December 5. A completion by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who had anonymously commi
Mozart - Requiem Mass in D Minor
Quite amazing in it's highs and lows. Hauntingly beautiful music.
>
> The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in Vienna in 1791 and left unfinished at the composer's death on December 5. A completion by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who had anonymously commissioned the piece for a ...
Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis". I fell in love with this hauntingly beautiful music as a teenager, and then was thrilled to hear it while watching "Master and Commander".
Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis". I fell in love with this hauntingly beautiful music as a teenager, and then was thrilled to hear it while watching "Master and Commander".
I have mostly picked up classical pieces from tunes used in famous advertisement campaigns, and sincerely fallen in love with two of them -
1. Traumerei (Robert Schumann)
2. Grand Vals (Francisco Tarrega)
Not so classical per se, but I love Mediterranean Sundance by the trio - Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin
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Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.14 in C-sharp minor ''Quasi una fantasia'', Op.27, No.2
Better known as the 'Moonlight Sonata'.
My Dad totally loved George Frideric Handel - I also fell inlove with His most famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its "Hallelujah" chorus. But a piece that could dig deep into your soul and possibly bring out the tears is Samuel Barber's Master piece - Adagio for Strings - need to listen to this with your eyes closed.
Anton Dvorak's New World Symphony did a great deal to help me understand the power and expressive potential of classical music.
Clair de Lune, by Claude Debussy, 1905
This piece was a true love of mine as a teen studying piano; it grew into a lifelong affair. It was so beautiful and emotional. I would play it over and over, trying to do it justice. I certainly never sounded like Chihiro!
The third and most famous movement of Suite bergamasque is "Clair de lune," meaning "moonlight" in French. Its name comes from Paul Verlaine's poem of the same name which also refers to 'bergamasques' in its opening stanza: Votre âme est un paysage choisi / Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques / Jouant du luth et dansant et
Clair de Lune, by Claude Debussy, 1905
This piece was a true love of mine as a teen studying piano; it grew into a lifelong affair. It was so beautiful and emotional. I would play it over and over, trying to do it justice. I certainly never sounded like Chihiro!
The third and most famous movement of Suite bergamasque is "Clair de lune," meaning "moonlight" in French. Its name comes from Paul Verlaine's poem of the same name which also refers to 'bergamasques' in its opening stanza: Votre âme est un paysage choisi / Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques / Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi / Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques.
(Your soul is like a landscape / What are charming masks and bergamasques / Playing the lute and dancing and almost / Sad beneath their fantastic disguises.
Chihiro plays Clair de Lune from Suite Bergamasque composed by Debussy in Salon Concert, 7th November , 2004
► 5:10
The Suite bergamasque was first composed by Debussy around 1890, but was significantly revised just before its publication in 1905. It seems that by the time a publisher came to Debussy in order to cash in on his fame and have these pieces published, Debussy loathed the earlier piano style in which these pieces were written.[2] While it is not known how much of the Suite was written in 1890 and how much was written in 1905, we do know that Debussy changed the names of at least two of the pieces.
"Passepied" was called "Pavane", and "Clair de lune" was originally titled "Promenade Sentimentale."[Wikipedia]
Chopin's "Heroic" Polonaise (Op 53, A-flat) - by Arthur Rubenstein (1887 - 1982):
In the hall of the mountain king
In the hall of the mountian king (Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross version)
Vivaldi's Four Seasons: Summer
I'm really having a tough time deciding between:
Vivaldi - Summer
...and something I've already shared: My answer to: What is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's greatest work and why?
The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss. Can never forget how brilliantly this piece was used in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968 movie) by Stanley Kubrick (director)
Every year the classical radio station of New York, WQXR, conducts a survey of their listeners for the best musical composition (in their opinion). Understand that NYC is the home of some of the greatest classical music venues in the US, and this is their radio station. This is a musically sophisticated audience. Every year, more or less, the top 10 remain the same. Beethoven’s 9th is always #1. N
Every year the classical radio station of New York, WQXR, conducts a survey of their listeners for the best musical composition (in their opinion). Understand that NYC is the home of some of the greatest classical music venues in the US, and this is their radio station. This is a musically sophisticated audience. Every year, more or less, the top 10 remain the same. Beethoven’s 9th is always #1. Note that 5 of the 10 are by Beethoven. Personally, I don’t know how Holst got in there, but here they are:
10. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 73, "Emperor"
9. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18
8. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, "Resurrection"
7. J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos
6. Holst: The Planets
5. Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastoral"
4. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
3. Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, "F...
As a concert recitalist, I have to answer in the following way:
(a). It is the piece I play best (at least at this period of my life).
(b) Also it is the piece that affects the listeners the most (at least in this period of my life).
With those two severe restrictions, there are very few pieces at any one time of my life that manage to meet both requirements.
I would say at present it would be Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor which I have just performed , and Beethoven’s last piano sonata , Op.111 which I play very often. Each is a demanding piece. I enjoy them because the audience enjoys the music
As a concert recitalist, I have to answer in the following way:
(a). It is the piece I play best (at least at this period of my life).
(b) Also it is the piece that affects the listeners the most (at least in this period of my life).
With those two severe restrictions, there are very few pieces at any one time of my life that manage to meet both requirements.
I would say at present it would be Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor which I have just performed , and Beethoven’s last piano sonata , Op.111 which I play very often. Each is a demanding piece. I enjoy them because the audience enjoys the music in them. Each is like a stage ply, with a dramatic plot unfurling and resolving. No need for any programmatic details - the music says it all. These two compositions keep me in top form. If I am not in top form, it is courting disaster in a very big way if I were to program them. By top form, I mean both mental and physical.
As far as LISTENING is concerned, my favorite pieces this month are ones I do not play: Bach’s Chaconee in Busoni’s transcription, and Schubert’s A major Sonata (from the last three he composed). I listen to both, and learn a great deal about life, music, piano, and myself.
Dear Christ, Quora User. What a question!
Inevitably there are plenty of pieces that I shall miss and some excellent ones that I haven’t heard at all. Suggestions are always welcome.
Here goes.
- Beethoven:
- Symphonies 3, 6, & 9
- Piano Sonata No. 29
- Piano Concertos 4 & 5
- Cello Sonata No. 3
- Violin Concerto
- String Quartet Nos. 12, 13, 14, 15, & 16
- Mozart:
- Requiem
- Piano Concertos 20 & 21
- Symphonies 40 & 41
- Piano Sonata No. 16
- Brahms:
- Symphony No. 1
- Violin Concerto
- Clarinet Quintet
- Cello Sonata No. 2
- Tchaikovsky:
- Violin Concerto
- Piano Concerto No. 1
- Schubert:
- Piano Sonata No. 21 D960
- Piano Trio Op. 100
- Symphonies 5, 8 (unfinis
Dear Christ, Quora User. What a question!
Inevitably there are plenty of pieces that I shall miss and some excellent ones that I haven’t heard at all. Suggestions are always welcome.
Here goes.
- Beethoven:
- Symphonies 3, 6, & 9
- Piano Sonata No. 29
- Piano Concertos 4 & 5
- Cello Sonata No. 3
- Violin Concerto
- String Quartet Nos. 12, 13, 14, 15, & 16
- Mozart:
- Requiem
- Piano Concertos 20 & 21
- Symphonies 40 & 41
- Piano Sonata No. 16
- Brahms:
- Symphony No. 1
- Violin Concerto
- Clarinet Quintet
- Cello Sonata No. 2
- Tchaikovsky:
- Violin Concerto
- Piano Concerto No. 1
- Schubert:
- Piano Sonata No. 21 D960
- Piano Trio Op. 100
- Symphonies 5, 8 (unfinished), & 9
- Der Doppelganger from Schwanengesang
- Octet
- String Quintet
- String Quartet Nos. 13, 14, & 15
- Bach:
- Toccata and Fugue in D minor
- Partita for Violin No. 2
- Violin Sonata No. 2
- Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 3, 4, & 5
- Concerto for 2 Two Violins
- Cello Suite No. 1
- Bruch:
- Violin Concerto No. 1
- Mendelssohn:
- Violin Concerto
- The Hebrides (Overture)
- Berlioz:
- Symphonie Fantastique
- Sibelius:
- Symphony No. 5
- Prokofiev:
- Symphony No. 1
- Dvorak:
- Symphony No. 9
- Cello Concerto
- Elgar:
- Cello Concerto
I think that’s probably enough. I may have missed the odd piece but, by and large, these are my favourite pieces of classical music.
Mozarts Six German Dances K571
Sorry for the cheesy graphics. I love waltzes
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
(Prelude - Boulez, Berlin Philharmonic attached). This work of six movements was completed in 1917, and memorialized Ravel's friends who gave their lives in World War I.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLg8TbfeM7E&sns=em
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2, especially Richter's recording with Wislocki
I think I was 4 or 5 years old when my Mom took me to the symphony for the first time. It was the Los Angeles Philharmonic - they played Brahms Symphony no. 4. My mother was a very brave woman to take a 4 or 5 year old to symphony - and I was never the same again. My world became music after that.
Now I'm a Brahms woman from beginning to end.
The entirety of Bach's St. Matthew Passion for me approaches a level perfection that nothing thus far has exceeded.
I assume here, of course, that by "classical music," it is the umbrella term of historical instrumental music. Bach was a baroque composer, not a classical one.
Beethoven's Für Elise (Piano version):
Not sure if this counts as ‘classical music’ actually… but I will still give it a try.
Rhapsody in blue by Gershwin is one of my favorite classical music. I say it might not count as a ‘classical music’ since it is from 1924, which is pretty recent (in terms of classical music).
I didn’t think about the music that seriously before I watched this video (an excerpt f
Not sure if this counts as ‘classical music’ actually… but I will still give it a try.
Rhapsody in blue by Gershwin is one of my favorite classical music. I say it might not count as a ‘classical music’ since it is from 1924, which is pretty recent (in terms of classical music).
I didn’t think about the music that seriously before I watched this video (an excerpt from Disney’s Fantasia 2000):
After watching this video, looking at 4 different lives in the 1920’s the Great Depression, I realized that this music has such an emotional build up and climax as it proceeds. I have never felt chills on my skins after listening to any song, but I first had that experience with ‘Rhapsody In Blue.’
My another favorite piece is…
Franz Liszt’s Liebestraum, which can translate into ‘dream of love.’ As the title says, it is pretty self-explanatory. This song is about ‘dream of love.’ As I listened to this song, I did not even know the meaning of the title ‘Liebestraum’ and I just thought, “Hey, this is a pretty romantic...
The Klazz Brothers & Cuba Percussion's rendition of Bach's Air on a G String is incredible:
My selection - only because it was among the first pieces of classical music that literally blew me away. The Russians - Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovitch and Rimsky-Korsakov were always there - but as a single piece - I still remember Emmanuel Chabrier's Espana.
Don't be fooled by the timid intro - the full majesty and sweep isn't apparent until around 0:45 of this 6:30 rendition:
Greatest and most important are two different answers.
Greatest might be the 9th symphony (Beethoven - usually doesn’t need the identifying name - just, the 9th), Carmina Burana (Orff), Verdi Requiem, Mahler 2nd symphony, Porgy and Bess (Gershwin), Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Alban Berg violin concerto, Copeland 3rd symphony, Mendelssohn Octet (only chamber music I put here), and countless others.
As for most important, there are three that stand out to me:
L’Orfeo - Monteverdi - one of the first operas ever composed (1600-ish) and the only one of its time still performed today.
Beethoven Symph
Greatest and most important are two different answers.
Greatest might be the 9th symphony (Beethoven - usually doesn’t need the identifying name - just, the 9th), Carmina Burana (Orff), Verdi Requiem, Mahler 2nd symphony, Porgy and Bess (Gershwin), Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Alban Berg violin concerto, Copeland 3rd symphony, Mendelssohn Octet (only chamber music I put here), and countless others.
As for most important, there are three that stand out to me:
L’Orfeo - Monteverdi - one of the first operas ever composed (1600-ish) and the only one of its time still performed today.
Beethoven Symphony #3 ‘Eroica’ - This symphony signaled the beginning of the romantic period in music. The first movement is longer than almost any entire symphony written before it.
Wagner - Tristan & Isolde - Signaled the beginning of quasi-tonal and then completly atonal music. Tristan extended tonality like no other piece before it and influenced composers like Schoenberg and Webern.
Here are some of my favorites:
Bach, Johann Sebastian: St. Matthew Passion
Beethoven, Ludwig van: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major (2nd Movement)
Beethoven, Ludwig van: Symphony No. 5 in C minor (2nd Movement)
Beethoven, Ludwig van: Symphony No. 8 in F Major (2nd Movement)
Brahms, Johannes: Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor
Brahms, Johannes: Symphony No. 2 in D Major
Brahms, Johannes: Symphony No. 3 in F Major
Bruch, Max: Romance for Viola and Orchestra
Bruch, Max: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Debussy, Claude: Images pour orchestre No 2. Ibéria (3rd Movement)
Dvořák, Antonín: Sym
Here are some of my favorites:
Bach, Johann Sebastian: St. Matthew Passion
Beethoven, Ludwig van: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major (2nd Movement)
Beethoven, Ludwig van: Symphony No. 5 in C minor (2nd Movement)
Beethoven, Ludwig van: Symphony No. 8 in F Major (2nd Movement)
Brahms, Johannes: Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor
Brahms, Johannes: Symphony No. 2 in D Major
Brahms, Johannes: Symphony No. 3 in F Major
Bruch, Max: Romance for Viola and Orchestra
Bruch, Max: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Debussy, Claude: Images pour orchestre No 2. Ibéria (3rd Movement)
Dvořák, Antonín: Symphony No. 8 in G Major
Glass, Philip: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
Holst, Gustav: The Planets (Jupiter)
Mahler, Gustav: Symphony No. 6 in A minor
Massanet, Jules: Méditation from Thaïs
Mendelssohn, Felix: Concerto for Violin in E minor
Mendelssohn, Felix: Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra in D minor (2nd Movement)
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Requiem Mass in D minor
Rachmaninoff, Sergei: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor
Shostakovich, Dmitri: Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major
Sibelius, Jean: Finlandia
Stravinsky, Igor: Le sacre du printemps
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich: The Year 1812, Festival Overture in E-Flat Major
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich: Symphony No. 4 in F minor (4th Movement)
This is sort of like asking. “What are some of the best restaurants in New York ? “ . There are more restaurants in New York than in any other city on the planet .and so many outstanding ones .
Well, for example you could start with the “Mass in B minor “, the “ St. Matthew Passion “ , the sixBrandenburg concertos by Bach , the 9 symphonies of Beethoven , plus his five piano concertos, the violin concertos , the 16 string quartets , the 32 piano sonatas and his one opera “Fidelio “. The four symphonies of Johannes Brahms, his violin concerto and. his. two piano concertos , the “German Requiem “
This is sort of like asking. “What are some of the best restaurants in New York ? “ . There are more restaurants in New York than in any other city on the planet .and so many outstanding ones .
Well, for example you could start with the “Mass in B minor “, the “ St. Matthew Passion “ , the sixBrandenburg concertos by Bach , the 9 symphonies of Beethoven , plus his five piano concertos, the violin concertos , the 16 string quartets , the 32 piano sonatas and his one opera “Fidelio “. The four symphonies of Johannes Brahms, his violin concerto and. his. two piano concertos , the “German Requiem “ .
By Mozart you should try his symphonies 35,36,38,39, 40 and 41 . His operas “Don Giovanni “, “Le Nozze di Figaro “(The Marriage of Figaro ), “Cosi Fan Tutte “ ( so do all women ) , Die Zauberflote “ ( the magic flute ) , the piano concertos ,20 through 27 , The Requiem , his masses for orchestra chorus and. vocal soloists , the clarinet concerto .
Franz Schubert : Symphonies 5,8 ( the famous unfinished ) and 9 . The String quintet . The so-called. “Trout quintet “. Assorted lieder “ (German art songs. for voice and piano ). The last three piano sonatas . Assorted string quartets .
George Frideric Handel . “Messiah “. Water music . Concerti Grossi . the opera “Giulio Cesare “ ( Julius Caesar ) . Robert Schumann . His four symphonies . Piano concerto . Assorted lieder . Hector Berlioz : “Symphonie Fantastique “ (. Fantastical symphony ) . “Harold in Italy “, for orchestra and solo viola . The oratorio “Romeo & Juliette “ , or. orchestral. excerpts thereof . The Requiem .
Claude Debussy : Orchestral works : “La Mer” ( the sea ) . “Nocturnes “, “Iberia “ , “Afternoon of a fawn. “ Maurice Ravel : Orchestral works : Bolero ,” Pavane for a. dead princess “. “Alborada Del Gracioso “ . “La Valse “. Suite no 2 from the ballet score “Daphnis & Chloe “.
Tchaikovsky : Symphonies. 4,5,6 . Violin concerto . Piano concerto no 1 . Orchestral works. “ Romeo & Juliet “, “Francesca Da Rimini “, Suites from the ballet scores “ Thye Nutcracker . “, Swan Lake “ and. Sleeping Beauty “. Opera : “Eugene Onegin “. Modest Mussorgsky . Opera : “Boris Godunov “. “Pictures at an Exhibition ( either original for piano or the orchestration by Ravel ) . “Night on Bald Mountain “ .
Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov -” “Capriccio Espagnol “ Scheherazade “ . Richard Wagner : Operas : Der Fliegende Hollander “ ( the flying Dutchman ) . Tannhauser “, “Lohengrin “ ( Der Rong des Nibelungen “ ( the ring of the Nibelung. ). operatic tetralogy consisting of the operas “Das Rheingold “ “Die Walkure “, “Siegfriend “ and Gotterdammerung “ ( the twilight of the gods ) ,”Tristan & Isolde “, “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg “ ( the master singers of Nurnburg , “, Parsifal “. Siegfried Idyll . Or individual. overtures and preludes from the operas .
Chopin : Piano sonatas 2,3 . Piano concertos 1,2 . Individual piano works : Nocturnes . Preludes . Mazurkas . Polonaises . Franz Joseph Haydn : Symphonies no 88 , 94 , 99, 100, 102, 103, 104 . Trumpet concerto . Oratorio : Die Schopfung “ ( the creation ) . Felix Mendelssohn : Symphonies 3 and 4 . Violin concerto. Piano concertos 1,2 . Incidental. music to. the Shakespeare play. “ A. mId summer Night’s Dream “. Overture “Th Hebrides “.
Anton Bruckner : Symphonies 1–9 . Te Deum. for orchestra and chorus . Gustav Mahler : symphonies 1–9 . “ Das Lied von der Erde “, for two vocal soloists and. orchestra . ”Songs of a wayfarer” for voice and orchestra .
Igor Stravinsky : Suite from the ballet “ The Firebird “ or complete ballet. score .Ballet : “Petrushka “, Ballet. “The Rite of Spring “. Symphony of Psalms “ , for chorus and orchestra . Violin concerto . Oratorio : Oedipus Rex . Sergei Prokofiev : Symphonies 1 and 5 . Suites from the ballet. “Romeo & Juliet “. Violin concertos 1,2 . Piano concerto no 3 . Piano sonatas 7, 8 . Suites from the Ballet “Cinderella “.
Giuseppe Verdi : Operas. “Rigoletto “, Il Trovatore “, “La Traviata “ , “Aida “, “Otello” and “ Falstaff “ Requiem . Gustav Holst : Suits for oprchestra “The Planets “. Sir Edward Elgar : “Enigma Variations for orchestra . Cello concerto . Symphonies 1,2 . Aaron Copland : Ballet score “Billy the Kid “ or suite from . Ballet “Appalachian Spring . Ballet “Rodeo “ or suite from .
Antonin Dvorak : Symphonies 7,8,9. Cello concerto . Slavonic Dances . Carnival. overture . Opera; “Rusalka “. Bedrich Smetana : “The Moldau “ , from his. cycle of six symphonic poems. “Ma Vlast “ ( my fatherland ) , also complete cycle . Opera “ The Bartered Bride “, or just the overture .
Cesar Franck : Symphony in D minor . Sergei Rachmaninov . Piano concertos 2,3 . Symphony no 2 , Variations on a theme by Paganini for piano and orchestra . Symphonic poem “ The Isle of the Dead “.
This is just a beginning . Take your time getting to knows these famous works . If you don’t “get “ something on first hearing. , they should make a lot more sense with repeated. hearings . All of these works have achieved a lasting place in the repertoire because audiences love them. , pianists, violinists , cellists and conductors etc. love to perform them. .
Examples? If you mean pieces or compositions then yes, I can provide plenty of examples. However as a short disclaimer here, most pieces will be piano, as I listen predominantly to classical piano as opposed to more orchestral pieces. Also keep in mind that I’ll be putting up collections of pieces sometimes as opposed to individual listings of each piece. There’s no way I’m going to individually write out the name of every Chopin Mazurka etc.
So without further ado…
- Chopin Waltzes
- Danse Macabre - Camille Saint Säens
- Gymnopedie no. 1 by Erik Satie
- Chopin Mazurkas
- Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no.1
- Beetho
Examples? If you mean pieces or compositions then yes, I can provide plenty of examples. However as a short disclaimer here, most pieces will be piano, as I listen predominantly to classical piano as opposed to more orchestral pieces. Also keep in mind that I’ll be putting up collections of pieces sometimes as opposed to individual listings of each piece. There’s no way I’m going to individually write out the name of every Chopin Mazurka etc.
So without further ado…
- Chopin Waltzes
- Danse Macabre - Camille Saint Säens
- Gymnopedie no. 1 by Erik Satie
- Chopin Mazurkas
- Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no.1
- Beethoven Sonata Op. 2 no. 1 (all movements)
- Beethoven’s Moonlight sonata (all movements)
- The Swan by Camille Saint Säens
- Bach Inventions
- The Coucou by Daquin
- Puck by Grieg
- In the Hall of the Mountain King and Morning mood by Grieg (these are 2 separate pieces)
- Revolutionary Etude by Chopin
- Kuhlau sonatina opus 20 no. 2
- Winter Wind by Concone
- The Hunt by Gurlitt
- Turkish March - Mozart
- Sonata in D Major - Mozart
- Tcherepnin Bagatelle op. 5 no. 1
- Piano Concerto no. 3 by Kabelevsky
- Spiegal im Spiegal by Arvo Pärt
These pieces are in no particular order. They are all great pieces to listen to! Most of these pieces do fall into the Romantic era category of classical pieces, but I think I’ve produced quite a variety of classical music through the ages! If there’s any pieces I should add, please tell me!
OP, and I’ll go first.
Havergal Brian’s Symphony No. 1 "The Gothic".
I first heard of Brian from the Guinness Book of Records, back before it became a picture book. My curiosity was reawakened this past year through some random link taking me to the Havergal Brian Society’s pages. His life story is cool; his early work sounds like Mahler on steroids—as do the criticisms of his early work; his late stuff sounds enigmatic, but still full of awesome marches.
I borrowed everything on him I could find from the Melbourne Uni Music library. Biographies, analyses, appreciations. And I sat down to listen
OP, and I’ll go first.
Havergal Brian’s Symphony No. 1 "The Gothic".
I first heard of Brian from the Guinness Book of Records, back before it became a picture book. My curiosity was reawakened this past year through some random link taking me to the Havergal Brian Society’s pages. His life story is cool; his early work sounds like Mahler on steroids—as do the criticisms of his early work; his late stuff sounds enigmatic, but still full of awesome marches.
I borrowed everything on him I could find from the Melbourne Uni Music library. Biographies, analyses, appreciations. And I sat down to listen to the Gothic on Youtube. Several times.
I wanted to like it. I really really wanted to like it. And it does have some amazing moments.
But I have to agree with most critics. It’s just too incoherent to love or even get into. And the whole “it ends anticlimactically, on purpose” thing, which people trot out as a defence, works for Mahler’s 5th, and it may (if you’re being charitable) even work for Mahler’s 7th (a damn good symphony, but I don’t buy the finale either).
But in this case, sometimes a cigar really is just a cigar.
Bethoven’s 5th and 9th. I can listen to any classical version of them.
However, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra made me love all classical music like I do those two just as much. I like classical music. I love them when the TSO does them. Except for Bethoven’s 5th and 9th, I am really disappointed if the TSO is not doing it now. Don’t underestimate the TSO. I hate Christmas. I hate Christmas music. I love the Christmas music when done by the TSO. Don’t flame me, I don’t have a normal mind that acclimates to being more positive to repeated things… I tend to get sick of it if its asinine.
“Bacarolle (June)” from Tchaikovsky's “The Seasons”.
Also “Solace” by Scott Joplin.
In my opinion, this YouTube video has managed to introduce classical music to millions of viewers around the world. I encountered a comment per this video stating that the music helped ignite his or her interest regarding Baroque music and classical music in general:
Four Seasons Vivaldi 234M views
Therefore, if you aspire to become a violinist, the four violin concertos that make up The Four Seasons are good to start practicing. To find the sheet music, simply go to YouTube and type:
Vivaldi The Four Seasons Sheet Music
If you would like to play the music on piano, here is a suggestion on YouTube
In my opinion, this YouTube video has managed to introduce classical music to millions of viewers around the world. I encountered a comment per this video stating that the music helped ignite his or her interest regarding Baroque music and classical music in general:
Four Seasons Vivaldi 234M views
Therefore, if you aspire to become a violinist, the four violin concertos that make up The Four Seasons are good to start practicing. To find the sheet music, simply go to YouTube and type:
Vivaldi The Four Seasons Sheet Music
If you would like to play the music on piano, here is a suggestion on YouTube:
Vivaldi Winter The Four Seasons Rousseau 11M views
If you would like to play the music on flute, here is a suggestion on YouTube:
Vivaldi Winter The Four Seasons The Flute Channel
Whatever you decide to do, I wish you all the best with your musical endeavors!
The Four Seasons by Vivaldi
EXTREMELY popular! Simply go to YouTube and type:
Vivaldi The Four Seasons
A long list of videos should appear. Select which videos you want to watch!
By the way, four violin concertos make up The Four Seasons, but many people regard these four concertos as one work due to the fact that Vivaldi started with Spring and then Summer and so on, covering all the seasons of the year.
But ii you insist on one concerto or even one movement, then I would recommend “Storm" which is the last movement from Summer. Simply go to YouTube and type:
Vivaldi Storm
A long list of videos shou
The Four Seasons by Vivaldi
EXTREMELY popular! Simply go to YouTube and type:
Vivaldi The Four Seasons
A long list of videos should appear. Select which videos you want to watch!
By the way, four violin concertos make up The Four Seasons, but many people regard these four concertos as one work due to the fact that Vivaldi started with Spring and then Summer and so on, covering all the seasons of the year.
But ii you insist on one concerto or even one movement, then I would recommend “Storm" which is the last movement from Summer. Simply go to YouTube and type:
Vivaldi Storm
A long list of videos should appear. Select which videos you want to watch!
For a classically trained musician, my music library is woefully under-stocked. I answer this question with just a hint of shame - As a musician, I really should know more music!
My shortcomings as a musician notwithstanding, I do indeed have some favorites I would love to share with you.
They are all great works of music, to which I have some personal connection - either I’ve personally performed it, or it somehow touched me deeply.
- Dvořák - Symphony No. 8 in G Major - I was first exposed to this work when I performed it as a member of a youth symphony in high school. I feel like this symphony d
For a classically trained musician, my music library is woefully under-stocked. I answer this question with just a hint of shame - As a musician, I really should know more music!
My shortcomings as a musician notwithstanding, I do indeed have some favorites I would love to share with you.
They are all great works of music, to which I have some personal connection - either I’ve personally performed it, or it somehow touched me deeply.
- Dvořák - Symphony No. 8 in G Major - I was first exposed to this work when I performed it as a member of a youth symphony in high school. I feel like this symphony doesn’t get its due recognition because of its successor, Dvořák’s most well-known Symphony, No. 9, “New World”. Which is a shame, because No. 8 is damn near perfection.
Each of the movements is infused with a frenetic energy, powered by melodies filled with an unmistakably Czech character. Through it all, Dvořák doesn’t fail to find his lyrical voice, with particularly gorgeous lines to be found in the Adagio (second movement).
The result is a symphony that, while paying homage to the formal conventions of the Classical and Romantic periods, is very much organically composed. It is a deeply satisfying composition, and I very much recommend it if you’re not yet familiar. - Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 (Pathétique) - Apparently I like my number eights. This is a great sonata, but I’m particularly in love with the second movement.
I’ve heard it said among some colleagues that Beethoven, for all his prodigious musical strengths, could never quite wrap his head around a memorable melody. While Beethoven did thrive on writing expansive developments of short, simple motifs, the second movement of this piece is proof to me that Beethoven’s perceived melodic shortcomings were a matter of choice, not ability.
It’s a wonderful little tune. As a child, I used to fall asleep listening to my father play it; thus my personal subtitle for this movement is “Lullaby.” - Bach - St. Matthew Passion - When your musical education exposes you to only the pedagogical works of Bach, you might get the idea that his musical sensibilities, while brilliant, were a bit dry. I remember hearing his famous Air on a G String from his third orchestral suite and saying “Well, here’s proof Bach had a soul.”
If only I knew.
The St. Matthew Passion is the real proof. Well, that and his hundreds of other sacred/liturgical works.
I had the distinct pleasure of hearing this performed for free, as an intern for the Handel & Haydn Society. As a sacred work, it just doesn’t get any better than this. The work is contemplative, soulful, and above all, unmistakably human.
I remember reaching an emotional climax at the end of the chorale immediately following Jesus’ death on the cross - I haven’t had a musical performance move me in the same way ever since. Here’s the chorale, in all its forms. Note the final version in particular, in which Bach peppers in some additional pathos to emphasize the sorrow of Jesus’ passing, but ends on a major chord to symbolize his triumph over death:
Gives me shivers every time.
Like Quora User, I could never do this — just one? Impossible. I can tell you what a handful of my favorites are today. It goes without saying that this will cause me to omit 99.999999999999999999999999% of the music I love by my favorite composers, and that it will not really name any single favorite piece of classical music, but it might give interested parties things to look into.
There are bewildering mental and emotional transactions that determine what I gravitate toward on a given day. Sometimes I'll be perfectly happy and listen to sad music, without loss of happiness. Sometimes uplifti
Like Quora User, I could never do this — just one? Impossible. I can tell you what a handful of my favorites are today. It goes without saying that this will cause me to omit 99.999999999999999999999999% of the music I love by my favorite composers, and that it will not really name any single favorite piece of classical music, but it might give interested parties things to look into.
There are bewildering mental and emotional transactions that determine what I gravitate toward on a given day. Sometimes I'll be perfectly happy and listen to sad music, without loss of happiness. Sometimes uplifting music can reach me in a bourbon mood. Sometimes a day feels pensive and sad, and what I listen to or think about listening to reflects that. But that's crude. There are more exquisite nerves connecting pieces and states of feeling.
So I'll list a few titanically great classical pieces that speak to me, in different tongues, for different and hopelessly tangled reasons, always, but hit the spot especially just now. I almost regret that none of these pieces is anything like an obscurity — the list seems more “high canon” than my tastes are.
- Wagner. From Parsifal: “Vom bade kehrt der könig heim”/Verwandlungsmusik → “Zum letzten Liebesmahle” (Act I) and “Du siehst, das ist nicht so” → “Nur eine Waffe taugt” (Act III) Really, though, it’s the whole thing. Put a gun to my head and this opera might be my “favorite piece of classical music.”
- Puccini. From La Bohème: “Che gelida manina” - “Si. Mi chiamano Mimì” - “O soave fanciulla” (Act I) and “Quando me’n vo’” (Act II)
- Beethoven. Piano Sonata no. 29, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier,” esp. 3. Adagio sostenuto
- J. S. Bach. Keyboard Concerto in F minor, BWV1056, esp. 2. Largo; Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (BWV51), sung by Malin Hartelius; “Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen” (I.i) and “Erbarme dich” (II.39) from the St. Matthew Passion, BWV244
- Brahms. Op. 117, esp. no. 1, Intermezzo; String Quintet no. 1, op. 88 (unspeakably beautiful); Ein deutsches Requiem, op. 45 (the whole thing). The aforementioned Curtis Lindsay has gotten me on a Brahms kick.
- Chopin. Nocturne Op. 48 no. 1
- Byrd. The Carman’s Whistle
- Sanz. Marionas
- Albéniz. La Vega
- Verdi. “Ingemisco,” from Messa da Requiem
- Josquin. Miserere mei (motet)
- Sheppard. Media vita
- Liszt. La lugubre gondola II, S. 200/2
- Gesualdo. Madrigali, Book V. “Tu m’uccidi, o crudele”
- Vaughan Williams. Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis (of which M. A. Steinberger made me think recently)
They don’t make a whole lot of sense together. And yet I’ve listened to all of these in the past 24 hours or so.
That said, my son is obsessed with The Kinks right now, so when I’m in the car with him, it’s an awful lot of that instead. And to be honest, “Days” remains one of the most affecting songs I know.
This list will be different next week. It would be different tomorrow. I already know I want to hear Beethoven’s A minor string quartet at some point tonight. I sense that more Renaissance polyphony is in the mail.
EDIT: It is now the day after, and what I listened to this morning was Mahler’s Lied von der Erde, that magnificent Klemperer recording with Fritz Wunderlich and Christa Ludwig. Today the Abschied would have made the list. Seeking one favorite amid such an embarrassment of riches is a mug’s game.
As a child, I disliked naps.
Thinking back, my mother made me rest for an hour. The hour probably gave her a much needed break from her little screaming kid running in and out of the house slamming the screened door.
She played a lot of classical music while I laid flat on my back in bed at nap time. I am guessing my mother hoped this music would calm my restless mind. In 2019 I would have been labeled as an ADD child and most likely had all sorts of other ticks and lice in my young mind. She was ahead of her time thinking about the positive effects of listening to classical music.
One of my favo
As a child, I disliked naps.
Thinking back, my mother made me rest for an hour. The hour probably gave her a much needed break from her little screaming kid running in and out of the house slamming the screened door.
She played a lot of classical music while I laid flat on my back in bed at nap time. I am guessing my mother hoped this music would calm my restless mind. In 2019 I would have been labeled as an ADD child and most likely had all sorts of other ticks and lice in my young mind. She was ahead of her time thinking about the positive effects of listening to classical music.
One of my favorites was Beethoven’s symphony number 7, 2nd movement. I stared up at the ceiling trying to imagine what the composer looked like. I drifted off to sleep wondering if he had kids, and if he was a good dad.
Edit: The older version sounds so much better to me. And that is what I remember listening to.