music Classical Music Appreciation and Trading Thread

[Hawk Moth 390]

I have loved classical music since I was a little kid. I played classical violin for around twelve years, and I still find that listening to a great classical piece moves me in a way nothing else can. This thread is for anyone like myself who appreciates the classics. I find this to be especially important given the current trend of music that's become more and more synthesized and more of a mass-produced assembly line industry if it hasn't already become as bad as it can get.

 

Post your favorite pieces and discuss your favorite eras, composers, styles, and performers. Let's broaden each others' horizons!

[MaestroNep9997 26]

As a musical classicist myself, I enjoy classical music a lot(, perhaps to the extent that it could be considered second nature to me). I especially love the music of Mozart and other Classical Era masters, like Joseph and Michael Haydn, Beethoven, Clementi and Salieri, just to name a few. I also love opera a lot, especially those by Mozart and the so-called 'bel canto' composers. (More of Rossini and Bellini though. Haven't listened to much Donizetti yet though.  And since 'bel canto' is more of a technique used in singing, there's technically no such thing as a 'bel canto' composer or opera, hence 'so-called'.) I also love quite a lot of music from Baroque and Romantic composers like Bach, Vivaldi, Strauss Jr., Chopin, Liszt, etc. 

 

I also like the interpretations of performers like Maria Callas (soprano), Diana Damrau (soprano), Natalie Dessay (soprano), Dorothea Röschmann (soprano), Pavarotti (tenor), William Bennett (flautist), Rudolf Serkin (pianist). (This list is not exhaustive though.) 
 

Glad to know that there're quite a number of classical music lovers here.

[Stallion Hoovrick 16]

My favorite classical composer has to be Edvard Grieg, You can hear the passion he had for music when listening to all his works, especially Aase's Death from Peer Gynt. Or Ingrid Lament.

[Guest]

Is this thread also good with videogame music? If so then I really liked the Sonic CD japanesse version of the music. Especially Stardust Speedway, all versions but the good future one.

[Linzx 5]

As a piano player, I've really only played classical music. There are times where I wish I would have learned Jazz piano because it's full of unlimited opportunity of creativity. In the end, I always go back to Classical.

 

With classical music, it's more than following the score the way that the composer writes it.

- When Bach creates a Fugue, he creates voices within his music. When you articulate them the way he wants you to, it's almost like he's telling a story.

 

Some of my favorite composers are: Chopin, Debussy, Bach, and Tchaikovsky.

 

I enjoy romantic pieces from the Baroque period. I feel as though I can relate and truly play each piece with depth and meaning.

[Hansel 1,512]

Honestly, their aren't a great deal of Classical composers other then Beethoven that I really listen to. However, I do listen to Baroque quite regularly, which is close enough. I especially like Bach and Vivaldi, amongst a few others.

 

I've recently been getting into the Romantics as well. Again, with Beethoven's later work, but I'm also starting to enjoy Chopin. 

 

I'll admit, sometimes I get muddled up with my eras.

So I made this to help me if I get stuck.

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2013 by Hansel

[Hawk Moth 390]

Honestly, their aren't a great deal of Classical composers other then Beethoven that I really listen to. However, I do listen to Baroque quite regularly, which is close enough. I especially like Bach and Vivaldi, amongst a few others.

 

I've recently been getting into the Romantics as well. Again, with Beethoven's later work, but I'm also starting to enjoy Chopin. 

 

I'll admit, sometimes I get muddled up with my eras.

 

I adore Chopin. Beethoven is probably my favorite composer as well. What is your favorite of his works? Do you have a favorite symphony? I don't think any other composer can match him in terms of pure power.

[Passacaglia 6]

I have a giant soft spot for 20th century Russian composers.I also love Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi and a bunch of others but... not a huge Mozart fan.

[Hawk Moth 390]

I have a giant soft spot for 20th century Russian composers.I also love Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi and a bunch of others but... not a huge Mozart fan.

 

What about Tchaikovsky? I love his piano concerto. It's such a powerful piece and really shows the emotion you can get out of a piano.

 

I'm more into European music: German, Austrian, Russian, Polish, French as opposed to the Italian stuff. Of the contemporary era, I love Gershwin and Bernstein but not much else. Some of the current day composers like Phillip Glass and Steve Reich are terrible in my opinion.

[Passacaglia 6]

What about Tchaikovsky? I love his piano concerto. It's such a powerful piece and really shows the emotion you can get out of a piano.

 

I'm more into European music: German, Austrian, Russian, Polish, French as opposed to the Italian stuff. Of the contemporary era, I love Gershwin and Bernstein but not much else. Some of the current day composers like Phillip Glass and Steve Reich are terrible in my opinion.

Yeah, Tchaik rocks. And Gershwin and Bernstein, although I'm not much for contemporary composers.

 

My favorite composer at the moment is Shostakovich, with Stravinsky running a close second.

[Hawk Moth 390]

Yeah, Tchaik rocks. And Gershwin and Bernstein, although I'm not much for contemporary composers.

 

My favorite composer at the moment is Shostakovich, with Stravinsky running a close second.

 

I wish I could name some Shostakovich and Stravinsky off the top of my head, but I haven't listened to them in awhile. I tend to listen to one or two composers and then forget all about them. I'm not very learned when it comes to classical music.

[Passacaglia 6]

I wish I could name some Shostakovich and Stravinsky off the top of my head, but I haven't listened to them in awhile. I tend to listen to one or two composers and then forget all about them. I'm not very learned when it comes to classical music.

Pshaw.Yes you are, just not in that particular area. I wouldn't know either of them if I hadn't played their music.

 

I'm also fond of Rimsky-Korsakov, by the by. Probably the only famous Russian composer I actively dislike would be Glinka.

[Hawk Moth 390]

Pshaw.Yes you are, just not in that particular area. I wouldn't know either of them if I hadn't played their music.

 

I'm also fond of Rimsky-Korsakov, by the by. Probably the only famous Russian composer I actively dislike would be Glinka.

 

It's strange, but I feel like I know a fair deal about Wagner, but only because of the love-hate-shame relationship I have with his music. Classical music in general is a tough thing to study. When so many pieces don't have names but numbers instead, it doesn't really stick in my head.

[Passacaglia 6]

It's strange, but I feel like I know a fair deal about Wagner, but only because of the love-hate-shame relationship I have with his music. Classical music in general is a tough thing to study. When so many pieces don't have names but numbers instead, it doesn't really stick in my head.

I have the same problem. I do tend to feel a bit ignorant when in a room full of other musicians, because they often seem to know more than I do.

[Little Lizards 91]

I LOVE classical music. I play the clarinet and I just love classical music. It's so beautiful. Right now my current obsession is Tchaikovsky (1812 Overture, so beautifully written!). 

[Hansel 1,512]

I adore Chopin. Beethoven is probably my favorite composer as well. What is your favorite of his works? Do you have a favorite symphony? I don't think any other composer can match him in terms of pure power.

 

I don't actually listen to his symphonies too much if I'm honest, I'm more fond of his piano sonatas and I occasionally listen to his cello sonata's as well. Although, as far a cello pieces go, I'm much more fond of Bach and listen to his suits fairly regularly.

I will say that his symphonies are unique, and very well composed. Almost ugly... in a beautiful kind of way. Not really sure if that makes sense. 

 

As for my favorite Beethoven piece... kinda hard to choose, but I'm gonna have to be a bit boring and go for for Piano Sonata 14.

It's just completely perfect. 

[Hawk Moth 390]

I have the same problem. I do tend to feel a bit ignorant when in a room full of other musicians, because they often seem to know more than I do.

 

My rule of thumb is, "Everyone knows more about ____ than I do". It seems to be pretty accurate. I'd have to listen to pieces to remember what number they are.

[MaestroNep9997 26]

I adore Chopin. Beethoven is probably my favorite composer as well. What is your favorite of his works? Do you have a favorite symphony? I don't think any other composer can match him in terms of pure power.

 

Oh?... Perhaps Liszt hasn't come across your mind yet... 

Here's Liszt's Dante sonata, just for an easy reference. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeqfQCnMusE

 

Beethoven does have quite a lot of power too though... Same goes for most other composers heralding from the German school of music. 

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

I've been a classical pianist for 14 years now. But I love to fuse classical with other genres. 

 

Let me share with you a piano quartet of a well known brony tune I arranged:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5TF8J8As64

[Inactive01 5,299]

I've been a huge classical music person for all my life. I know of all sorts of classical pieces and composers. But here's one for you guys today. The Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla. Quite famous, and it's representative of Glinka, a composer who greatly influenced future Russian composers. Enjoy!

 

[Passacaglia 6]

I've been a huge classical music person for all my life. I know of all sorts of classical pieces and composers. But here's one for you guys today. The Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla. Quite famous, and it's representative of Glinka, a composer who greatly influenced future Russian composers. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjUijyeFMu0

Currently playing this piece in my school orchestra... a bit too simplistic for my taste. Again, not a giant Glinka fan. It's a fun read though.

[Inactive01 5,299]

Currently playing this piece in my school orchestra... a bit too simplistic for my taste. Again, not a giant Glinka fan. It's a fun read though.

Too simplistic? I think it's quite complex. It's got a lot of whole tone scales and other new features that made it special back in the 1800s. He was hailed as Russia's best of the time. Like I said, he exerted enormous influence to Rimsky Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and the rest of Russian music!

[King Sejong 859]

   I love classical and baroque music, I have played baroque recorders since I was ten, I have been listening to Ludwig Von Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach since I was six, and they were the first composers I knew by name, and both classical and baroque gave me an appreciation of music, and how it remains to this day, especially as film scores, My Little Pony friendship is magic uses a variety of musical genres modern rock, folk, classical and even baroque, if you pay attention to the score, you can hear the cacophony of music and how it changes based on the situation and the setting, any good composer can combine or splice different music together, and the talent on the show definitely has music talent.   

[Passacaglia 6]

Too simplistic? I think it's quite complex. It's got a lot of whole tone scales and other new features that made it special back in the 1800s. He was hailed as Russia's best of the time. Like I said, he exerted enormous influence to Rimsky Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and the rest of Russian music!

To each his own, I suppose. Glinka is not large on nuance, is what I guess I meant. I prefer composers like Shostakovich and Stravinsky.

[Hawk Moth 390]

To each his own, I suppose. Glinka is not large on nuance, is what I guess I meant. I prefer composers like Shostakovich and Stravinsky.

 

I'm partly in agreement. I don't enjoy playing very simple pieces, but I don't mind listening to them. If it sounds good, then it is good. Attaching worth to complexity is a dangerous road to go down as a composer. If a piece doesn't have a central theme or some logical series of motifs, then it has no soul; it would be the musical equivalent to modern art.

 

Has anyone heard of the Emerson Quartet, by the way? It's off topic, but I love their stringed renditions of non-string works. I have a CD where they perform 24 of Bach's 48 "Well-Tempered Clavier" fugues. The harpsichord can get a bit grating when I listen to it too much, but the dulcet tones of a string quartet never wear on me. Speaking of Bach too, I adore a good organ piece. As stereotypical as it is, I love Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. I remember when I thought "One-Winged Angel" from FFVII was a classical masterpiece and how surprised I was when I heard Toccata and Fugue for the first time in full. It borrows so much from that work (while borrowing lyrics from Carmina Burana); it's hard to say the piece is anywhere near original.

 

I'm not sure if it was you who didn't like choirs and orchestras mixed, S, but I love hearing things like that.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Hawk Moth