Classical Music

[dragonboy]

Classical music is the one genre in my collection that I'm not happy with.
I love classical music but know very little about it.

I have a few CDs (Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker & Swan Lake, Moussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition, Prokofiev's Peter & The Wolf, Saint-Saens's Carnival Of The Animals etc & the usual 'Bach for relaxation' sort of thing)

I just recently discovered contemporary composers Henryk Gorecki & Arvo Part (whose music could be my greatest find of the year)

I would love to broaden my horizons, have a wider knowledge & (money permitting!) collection.
Anyone else love classical music? Who are your favourite composers/works?
Know any good books/websites/places to start etc?  :)

[ycartrob]

I really got into classical about 10 years ago and started a pretty good collection, so I know the basics (for an old fart brought up on Zeppelin and Aerosmith). Here are some of my favs: (keep in mind, I'm a sucker for the violin)

Any of Bach's violin concertos or Brandenburg Concertos
Haydn's string quartets
Paganini's violin concertos
Mozart and Beethoven are obvious choices (for a reason)

[dragonboy]

Thanks very much for the suggestions Tracy.
To be honest, I haven't even heard of Haydn or Paganini  :-[
I shall definitely check them out.
I have a couple of Bach & Beethoven CDs but they're compilations, which are fine but for starters but I want more.  
I don't have anything by Mozart.

I'm a sucker for the flute. I know they're obvious choices but I love pieces like Grieg's Morning & Boulanger's Nocturne.
I can't listen to Pan & The Birds by Jules Mouquet without thinking of my family & how much I miss them. It also makes me want to get in touch with every ex-girlfriend I've ever broken-up with & apologise, not quite sure why that is  :-/

[FarmerYoda]

Haydn, for real.
Virtuoso, no, not the rap superstar from Cambridge.
Bach's concerto's are fucking rad...

i'll have more responses tomorrow, once i get all my shit together and remember long french names.

just wait. it's too late here... tomorrow i'll have answers.

[dragonboy]

just wait. it's too late here... tomorrow i'll have answers.

Haha, I look forward to being educated  ;D

[ali]

i grew up as a self-confessed classical music nerd....

my favourite is beethoven - i love how emotional this music is... moonlight sonata & the "emperor" piano concerto

chopin - fantastic piano
prokofiev - romeo & juliet
tchaikovsky....
schubert.....
mozart....
andres segovia - if you're into great classical spanish geetah
handel - i've played in the messiah, which is huge, but great music
elgar - jerusalem
ravel - bolero

dvorak, mendelssohn, grieg, liszt, brahms.... god the list is endless!

paganini is fantastic - a brilliant violinist... in his day, they used to say he'd sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his talent!

[dragonboy]

Sounds like you know your stuff Ali, do you have any favourite CDs/works by the composers that you're mentioned?

[Jaimoe]

Check out some Glen Gould. One of classical music's greatest pianists.

[ratsprayer]

philip glass has some really good modern classical stuff.  try EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH.

[Dorothy_Mantooth]

Man, try Aaron Copland. You've probably heard some of his stuff before in movies without realizing it. He gives me the shivers.

There's this guy who goes by Eluvium and recorded a piano album in just one take called An Accidental Memory In Case of Death. It's nice n' simple.

Some might find it lame/odd/strange but Philip Glass made a soundtrack to a set of moves called Koyaanisqatsi. It's more of a ride into the trippy, minimalist side of classical music.

Have you ever tried using the site allmusic.com? I thought it might be lame but it is actually very thorough. You can search an artist and it will list their influences, bands they've covered, similar artists, etc. might be worth a look. it's how i first read about jacket, harhar.

[Dorothy_Mantooth]

Check out some Glen Gould. One of classical music's greatest pianists.

his Bach albums are tasty.

[dragonboy]

Man, try Aaron Copland. You've probably heard some of his stuff before in movies without realizing it. He gives me the shivers.

There's this guy who goes by Eluvium and recorded a piano album in just one take called An Accidental Memory In Case of Death. It's nice n' simple.

Some might find it lame/odd/strange but Philip Glass made a soundtrack to a set of moves called Koyaanisqatsi. It's more of a ride into the trippy, minimalist side of classical music.

Have you ever tried using the site allmusic.com? I thought it might be lame but it is actually very thorough. You can search an artist and it will list their influences, bands they've covered, similar artists, etc. might be worth a look. it's how i first read about jacket, harhar.

I've not seen Koyaanisqatsi but it's on my list. I had forgotten that Philip Glass had done the soundtrack, thanks for that.

I use allmusic all the time for 'regular' music. I had a quick look at their classical site, I'll have to dig deeper.

I love movie soundtracks too. John Barry, James Horner etc. Some Hans Zimmer's pieces for Thin Red Line are amazing.

[mmj37]

My friend Rob writes some wonderful music. It blows my mind anytime I see him play. He's my favorite pianist of all time. Listen to "Daisy Girl" and "clown1" here http://www.myspace.com/robhardie

[ali]

hans zimmer does some fantastic film scores...

db i'll check at home & get back to you re the albums etc. for beethoven, to get a really good album i'd suggest the immortal beloved soundtrack.

as i say, i was a classical music nerd!  ;)

[dragonboy]

Ali, if you like Classical/Spanish guitar & movie soundtracks you should def check out Ronroco by Gustavo Santaolalla:



He wrote the soundtrack for Motorcycle Diaries & BrokeBack Mountain etc. His solo album is excellent.

[fitzcarraldo]

 ;)

I grew up listening to 96.3 QXR. They have a great show weeknights called Symphony Hall that starts at 9 AM (Japan Time) Linky to streamy:

http://www.wqxr.com/cgi-bin/iowa/index.html

Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in D Major  & Piano Concerto No. 5 in In E Flat Major might be my favorite pieces of music.

The Amadeus soundtrack is worth getting!

[Tree]

Bolero by Maurice Ravel is the best piece of music ever written! (...ok one of the best... ::))

Right now I´m listening to some Mozart. Last winter my parents to Vienna to watch an orchestra playing some Mozartstuff. They said it was amazing.

[dragonboy]

Thanks for all the posts & recommendations!  :)

Looks like I need to tackle some Mozart.
I shall pop to the DVD store tomorrow & see if they have Amadeus, one of those movies I've just never got round to watching. You never know in Japan, I couldn't find A Christmas Story or Elf this week, 20 odd copies of MI3, one copy of Brokeback Mountain, that sort of thing  :-/

Anyone seen/like Shine? I read that that the truth has been very twisted but I still think it's an excellent movie...

[Tree]

Don´t you know any Mozart? "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"?

[Mr. T.]

I have a weak spot for Beethoven's Mondscheinsonate.

And I like the cello player Rostropovitch alot. I heard some of his stuff from my fathers impressive classical cd collection and I was pretty, euh,  impressed. So you might want to check him out.

Beware DB: I'm not suggesting, in any whay whatsover, that you should consider buying one of his discs.  ;)