Classical Music
Rinzler
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I've been wanting to explore the great composers of the past, none of this silly "20th and 21st century" business.
Question is, where do I start? I'm very loosely familiar with Beethoven (5th and 9th symphonies), Mozart (Requiem), and Chopin. And I've heard the usual classical music they put in commercials when they need to (Eine kleine Nachtmusik, et al). Out of those composers I'd say I like Beethoven the best, but again, I've only heard their most popular pieces. I haven't plunged the depths of their catalogues, if you will.
Recommendations? Thanks in advance.
Question is, where do I start? I'm very loosely familiar with Beethoven (5th and 9th symphonies), Mozart (Requiem), and Chopin. And I've heard the usual classical music they put in commercials when they need to (Eine kleine Nachtmusik, et al). Out of those composers I'd say I like Beethoven the best, but again, I've only heard their most popular pieces. I haven't plunged the depths of their catalogues, if you will.
Recommendations? Thanks in advance.
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J.S. Bach basically started (I'm not even sure how to say this) the form of music as we hear it today. Of course, it is nothing like the music of today, but he basically put laws into place in the same way Newton did for physics. What Bach did is still done today, for the most part. I'd say get familiar with Bach. Start with his "Well Tempered Clavier." Those give an extremely good foundation for fugues. Then try out his cello suites. I'm more than positive you've heard some of them, but they are so good to just listen to with headphones and closed eyes.
After getting more Bach, and more Beethoven, try out some Mozart. He was immensely important for "Classical" music, where Bach was the Baroque musician. Then comes Classical/Romantic which is where Beethoven is great.
Also I'd strongly recommend getting a music history book, and just finding pieces online as they come up in the book.
This all might be more in-depth than you want, but if you want a good understanding of "classic" music, I'd say start there.
EDIT: I'm going to second the Debussy, even though his music is more impressionistic than I think the OP is looking for, but he makes such good use of the tradition and mixes it with his own style and methods that it comes out being absolutely gorgeous. Debussy is definitely a favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PipHtumoiL0
And Disney World is nowhere in sight.
These are two posts by Khavall from back in 11/09 that are a pretty good overview of music history, with several good recommendations:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showpost.php?p=12308055&postcount=30
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showpost.php?p=12308065&postcount=31
I have yet to hear anything by Beethoven I didn't like. I'm not familiar with all the symphony names and movements and so forth (though I should be), but my favorite piece by him is Violin Romance.
There's nothing like a well-played violin... and nothing like a poorly-played one.
With classical music, you'll never run out of stuff to listen to. Even if you think you've heard everything by a certain composer, try a different performance, performer, or conductor. Everything changes.
Also, don't write off the new stuff. Try listening to, say, "I was looking at the Ceiling and then I saw the sky". It's probably not going to sound like what you think a 21st-century Opera will sound like.
Oh and Beethoven. Listen to everything he's done. He's the awesomest.
http://www.classicalcdguide.com/
He just started going through the list. The thing about a lot of classical music is that there's the Big Pieces, and then there's lots of other parts of those pieces that we never hear. Having some sort of guide as to what to expect can help tremendously, especially when these things are 40-60 minutes long.
This same friend also had a lot of luck checking out these CDs from the library.
More modern stuff?
I love Gershwin, and I'm a huge fan of Copeland. But the composer i've been listening to repeatedly lately has been Korngold.
You might not know the name, but I promise you, you know the music. His 2 most famous sets were the soundtracks for Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood (with Erroll Flynn and Basil Rathbone).
But yeah, I will sometimes just turn on my classical music station (i wonder if I can get it online now that i'm not in the states) and just go with that.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0sDt7OwfFc
...I sometimes do this when dressing.
I also like Holst's Planets. Classical music aficionados give me a hard time about this. I don't understand why. Funny thing, Holst actually came to hate the planets, because it overshadowed all of this other works.
Seconding all these, especially Dvorak (Symphony 9, Songs from the New world is pretty recognizable). Also Rimskey-Korsakov has some absolutely stunning works (Scheherezade, Russian Easter Festival overture).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c3XvNZ3ns4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUgoBb8m1eE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moL4MkJ-aLk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZn_VBgkPNY
but yes, bach's Cello Sonata's. A few of them have bits and pieces of music where if you're not careful, you will attribute to other things. There is one of the sarabrande's (i think the 4th sonata) that sounds at times eerily similar to the song "You Must Love Me" from the movie version of "Evita".
That could also just be me being crazy.
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Bach wrote some great stuff for lute, much of which is translated to guitar, thanks to John Williams, the guitarist, not the movie score composer.
Then again, everything Bach wrote was great.
If you want something that's a little different, I would recommend checking out music from the late 19th to early 20th century, my favorite period of classical music. Here's a list of composers and pieces. I would listen to anything by these guys, but these are just highlights.
Stravinsky - Rite of Spring; Petrushka; Firebird
Ravel - Daphnes and Cloe, Suite No. 2
Debussy - La Mer; Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Sibelius - Symphony No. 2 & 5
Mahler - Symphony No. 2 (really, any of his symphonies are great)
That list gives you a little bit of everything. There's so much more than what I just wrote, but I would start there.
I would also suggest taking the time to really sit down and listen to this music. You get so much more out of it by paying attention than by just having it on in the background. Some of the stuff is pretty long (Mahler's symphonies usually run around an hour or even longer), but it's amazing.
Mozart's best stuff is his [vidurl=
Everything Beethoven did is good, but his best works are his [vidurl=
There is some fantastic late Romantic stuff. Specifically [vidurl=
Ok so now we go to later eras. We've got [vidurl=
[vidurl=
Also there are a lot of little known composers who are still great. My two favs are [vidurl=
Ok back to it, so you said something about "none of this silly 20th and 21st century business". Well, it is an acquired taste (I actually hated Stravinsky the first time I listened to him, now I own ~15 recordings of The Rite of Spring and have written two papers on him), but seriously, give it a chance.
In more modern music you've got 12 tone [vidurl=
Then we've got the minimalists. I'm not incredibly educated on the subject so I'll just name my two favorites, [vidurl=
However, there are two whole worlds I haven't touched on, and that's the world of song and choir music. If I get around to it my next post will be about that. Now there are hours of music in that post, so go listen.
Though when I said none of the 20th and 21st century, that was more of a tongue-in-cheek dig at pop/rock music.
I also quite like Erik Satie. He was a pianist, and his work is more . . . minimal, I suppose, but it is lovely. I recommend the Gymnopiedes and the Gnossiennes.
If you like classical guitar, check out stuff written by Fernando Sor.