The Classical Music Thread

[davidraphael]

Also, "Jazz Suite #2" by Shostakovich is a joy, a frollicing, slightly menacing piece of carnival music; basically the soundtrack to my life.

Dvorak's "New World Symphony" basically, where John Williams lifted whole pasages from for Star Wars and Jaws.

I could not agree more with you regards Shostakovich's Jazz suites. Absolutely indispensable.

John Williams also stole outright from Stravinsky. Check out the introduction to the 2nd part of Strav's Rite of Spring and compare it with 'The Dune Sea of Tatooine - Jawa Sandcrawler' from the Star Wars soundtrack.

Some people here may also be interested in Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto that he first recorded with Benny Goodman.

 

[Vintage lover]

Some of my favorites by
Mozart
The Marriage of Figaro - non piu andrai

[YOUTUBE]LsmvqPOB3QA[/YOUTUBE]

Symphony No. 25

[YOUTUBE]7lC1lRz5Z_s[/YOUTUBE]

The Magic Flute - Queen of the Night

[YOUTUBE]OP9SX7V14Z4[/YOUTUBE]

Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 4 3rd Movement

[YOUTUBE]mMqX_0sODNI[/YOUTUBE]

Symphony No. 9 (Naturally)

[YOUTUBE]YAOTCtW9v0M[/YOUTUBE]

Piano Concerto No. 5 3rd Movement (The pic in the video seems to fit well despite Beethoven's later hatred for Napoleon)

[YOUTUBE]gn4kIjmXN4s[/YOUTUBE]

Rossini
La scala di seta - Vedro qual sommo incanto

[YOUTUBE]4clrsoCQ82g[/YOUTUBE]

L'italiana in Algeri -Ouverture

[YOUTUBE]7i8LE9fHlB4[/YOUTUBE]

Il viaggio a Reims - Sinfonia (Written for Charles X?)

[YOUTUBE]m_Iue1tPhnE[/YOUTUBE]

Semiramide -Ouverture

[YOUTUBE]Ruf28BLdCPk[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Sweet Caroline]

Tonight I get to see Verdi's Aida. I cannot begin to explain how excited I am about that.

Oh I am jealous! As a regular opera attendee, I am especially anxious to see Aida and Bizet's Carmen. Waiting patiently untill they come to an opera house near me. I'm seeing Pagliacci soon


A few of my favorite classical peices are:

Bach's Cello Suite Prelude~ Breath taking.

Carnival of the Animals- Saint-Saens~ Aquarium, in particular

Holst's The Planets

Anything from the biggies: Mozart, Bach, Beetoven

 

[davidraphael]

Here are some wonderful, quieter pieces for contemplation, relaxation, staring out of the window. My taste is often for the slightly melancholic, so there's some of that in there, too...

Arvo Paert - Spiegel im Spiegel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYypmgIYOVQ&feature=related

Stravinsky - Orpheus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ZI4SIAuMA

Holst - Neptune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaNuYvj-jcc

Dowland - Flow my Tears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7vLOjzG4no

Khachaturian - Gayane Ballet Suite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB3IokHelRk

Holst - Venus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og4-RqDgRO0

 

[Yeps]

Not the best recording, but here is me performing my aria in Die Zauberflote.
[video=youtube;wQW9-lmTOQ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQW9-lmTOQ0[/video]

 

[DesertDan]

Too many to list.

I took many years of classical piano lessons when I was a kid, played double bass in high school orchestra and during my first attempt at college music history was my "major" and pipe organ my instrument (boy what a mistake! ) So I have had much enjoyment from listening to and playing classical music throughout my life and there is very little of it I don't like.

I have to confess to loving all things Bach especially the Brandenburg Concertos and all his organ works.

The recordings of Virgil Fox are some faves of Bach organ music.

Cheers!
DD

 

[Mav]

Almost anything composed by Tarrega.

 

[martinsantos]

Love classical music... Instrumental and operistic. Like so many, I prefer romantic period composers, aside some modern like Debussy, Satie, Rachmaninoff (OK, his style is XIXth Century - but have some XXth Century feeling), Richard Strauss, etc.

And about conductors? My preferred are Hermann Scherchen and Toscanini, from old days. Abbado and Sinopoli from now.

 

[Magnus Pym]

Some pieces I quite like:

Mahler - Symphony Number 5 Mvt 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03nNDAqiwzg

Bach - Well Tempered Clavier Book 2 Prelude #3 In C Sharp (this is such a tiny snippet of a huge collection, but this piece... to me, it's perfection)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PFNX4dDYiM

Shostakovich - Symphony 11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6lYSvg6BUE

I haven't really paid much attention to opera, but a few months back heard this beautiful piece that really struck me and forced me to look;

Pur ti miro, pur ti godo - Poppea - Monteverdi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTFKRab7p60

Oh and I must add this because of my avatar - although I already loved the piece before I saw Brief Encounter:

Rachmaninov - Piano concerto No.2 (Adagio sostenuto)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY3W22uu0iM

 

[John in Covina]

I like some Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach. I Also like Pucccni operas a bunch.

Handels Water Music is big for me too.

 

[Son_of_Atropos]

Jean Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela

[video=youtube;zfBTiv3WGU0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfBTiv3WGU0[/video]

 

[MikePotts]

I was unaware that we had a Classical Music thread here in the Lounge:

this is a lot of fun:

C:\Users\User\Videos\YouTube - LAKME - Léo DELIBES.mht

I first saw and heard it on Dish Network's "Classic Arts Showcase" channel (9406) which I use as my 'go to' station when, as is oft the case, there is nothing else to capture my interest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbDL8nxW658 - this 'link' may work better


MP

 

[HadleyH]

From Satie I love everything (he also belonged to the 1920s crowd of artists in Paris)...this is a lovely little valse, not very well known, very parisienne, very beautiful in my opinion. "Je Te Veux"


[video=youtube;Cxa1ciP5Ht8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxa1ciP5Ht8[/video]

 

[Mark D]

Raised listening to Italian operas thanks to may father's passion for them. However, early in the day my preference is for Baroque....from Scarlatti to Handel and Hayden. At night I enjoy Chopin's nocturnes.

 

[Philip Adams]

early in the day my preference is for Baroque....from Scarlatti to Handel and Hayden.

I could listen to Scarlatti all day long!

 

[Yeps]

Raised listening to Italian operas thanks to may father's passion for them. However, early in the day my preference is for Baroque....from Scarlatti to Handel and Hayden. At night I enjoy Chopin's nocturnes.

Just to be clear, you are not referring to Haydn as Baroque, are you?

 

[davidraphael]

From Satie I love everything (he also belonged to the 1920s crowd of artists in Paris)...this is a lovely little valse, not very well known, very parisienne, very beautiful in my opinion. "Je Te Veux"

I really love the French composers: Satie, Ravel and Debussy, in particular. Faure, too.

Today I was listening to Ravel's "Miroirs". In it you can hear precursors of jazz; Gershwin, obviously, but also snippets that would appear in the various song books. Today I'm sure I heard a few wisps of My Funny Valentine (about 2/3-3/4 -ish of the way through)

You can listen to the piece on youtube. It has been split into 4. Here's pt1
[video=youtube;XHogSUlpbFo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHogSUlpbFo[/video]

 

[TCMfan25]

Chopin, Bach, and Tchaikovsky are my very favorite, but I have been trying to find some more "modern" golden era composers... any suggestions?

 

[Philip Adams]

Chopin, Bach, and Tchaikovsky are my very favorite, but I have been trying to find some more "modern" golden era composers... any suggestions?

Two composers that fall into the golden era I like are:

Dmitri Shostakovich, however his music isn't to everyone's taste. If you were interested, start with his Jazz Suites (which have been mentioned earlier in this discussion thread). They're fabulous.

I also like Samuel Barber. His work 'Knoxville: Summer of 1915' is worth a listen in my opinion. His best known work, 'Adagio for Strings', was finished in 1936 which is definitely in the golden era.

 

[davidraphael]

Chopin, Bach, and Tchaikovsky are my very favorite, but I have been trying to find some more "modern" golden era composers... any suggestions?

I think you couldn't go far wrong going to the Russians. The term genius is bandied about far too liberally nowadays, but Stravinsky really is one. If you're not familiar with him I'd start with something like the ballets, ie, The Firebird, Rite of Spring, Orpheus, etc. Also his 'miniature masterpieces'.
I'd also highly recommend both Prokofiev and Shostakovich, the latter of which can be less 'accessible' than the others. As suggested, start with the Jazz Suites.
Stravinsky also did some jazz work, incidentally.

If you want some nice, lush, beautiful music (in addition to S. Barber) I can highly recommend Vaughn Williams: The Lark Ascending, Oboe concerto, and his film scores are never far from my CD/mp3 player.
Holst and Delius also fall into this category for me.