Classical music

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Fri, 2011-01-21 21:38

Classical music

Hello everyone!
I was just wondering if anyone could recommend some classical pieces to me? I have been listening to Camille Saint-Saens, Handel, Dvorak and Mozart but want something else.... preferably something with a relatively simple melody, but passionate, perhaps melancholy or haunting in its nature...... Any suggestions much appreciated!
Thanks in advance,

Lem :D

Fri, 2011-01-21 22:19

well-wisher

My favourites are "Pictures From An Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky (If you like Saint-Saens then I think you'll like Mussorgsky) and Scheherezade by Rimsky Korsakov. Also, The Masquerade Waltz by Khachaturian is lovely. Also Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is amazing (You mentioned haunting and passionate in your post and the Moonlight Sonata is both of these things). Also Samuel Barbers Adagio for strings is great and try the piano works of Erik Satie (haunting and floaty)

Oh look, a link. I wonder where it leads.

JoHn

Fri, 2011-01-21 22:34

Lem

OH MY GOODNESS! :D I have been trying to find out who played Satie's Gymnopedie and Samuel Barber's Adagio for years. I never catch the names when I hear them played on the radio. I adore them both! :D I'm also very glad you reminded me of 'Pictures At An Exhibition', I had entirely forgotten about it. Moonlight Sonata is an old favourite of mine, and it holds additional poignancy for me now as it was played at my grandmother's funeral service. Thank you again for all the suggestions.

Sat, 2011-01-22 14:15

fatboy74

Hi Lem, If you are after melancholy and haunting then Vaughn Williams is a really good listen, obviously Lark Ascending and the Tallis Fantasia are very popular (for good reason) but other works like Dives and Lazarus, Flos Campi, Oboe Concerto and the wonderful 5th Symphony possess that very 'English' musical style of sad and beautiful. I attended a concert at Gloucester Cathedral during the anniversary celebrations a few years ago and listened in awe to the Tallis Fantasia being performed in the same place it had its first ever public performance in 1910 and i don't think I will ever forget the experience. Butterworth is also very good but there is so little of it. ATB

Sat, 2011-01-22 11:10

Geertje Jong

Chopin has written some incredibly haunting pieces for piano and I also like Pergolessies Stabat Mater, very moving. Geertje

Sat, 2011-01-22 13:05

rjnewlyn

Slightly out of the mainstream, but good (I find) if you need to summon up an effective pre-writing mood at the end of a busy day (and have 30min to spare), is Rachmaninov's Isle of the Dead. Not as morbid or gothic as the title sounds - I think it's just a description of a boat journey to an actual island of that name. But still very brooding and atmospheric. Very much in the mainstream, there's not much that can beat the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th symphony although this has surged to prominence with its use at the climax of The King's Speech. Which is a pain because it's going to make it difficult to listen to now without thinking of the film. Rob

Sat, 2011-01-22 16:19

brooosh

Beethoven's 6th symphony (Pastarol) is in my opinion definitely worth a listen, as is Rachmaninov's prelude in C sharp minor. If you can cope with cheesy, then Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini is pretty good as are his second and third piano concertos. Ravel and Debussy did a lot of good stuff as did Erik Satie. And don't forget the Planets Suite by Gustav Holst, particularly Mars and Jupiter.

Mon, 2011-01-24 09:32

Lem

Thanks very much for all the suggestions! I like everything! :D

Fri, 2011-01-28 15:00

brooosh

Don't get me wrong Biggus, I love it, but the famous variation which is basically the Paginini melody upside down is pretty cheesy.

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