I want anything really dramatic and expressive.

Like, Mozart Lacrimosa dramatic. Well, not all like that. I'm just not a huge fan of stuff that sounds like it would be played in a foyer for arriving guests. I'm all for things that are considered "essential" too though. So maybe just a mix, with an emphasis on music that's expressive.

The double violin concerto by Henk Badings!

I gather that the composer was denigrated, and his career hurt for awhile, because of alleged Nazi sympathies.

But if you're looking for fast pace and intensity-- wow. I caught it on the radio in the 1960s, when I was in high school (performed by the Concertgebouw), and fortunately the tape recorder was running. Pity, that capture has not survived the years. Lotsa luck finding it now.

Three favorites come to mind:

Symphonic Dances, by Rachmaninoff. My favorite movement is the second. The image it suggests to me: imagine that someone you're madly in love with has recently died, and one night returns as a ghost to dance with you. The combination of voluptuousness and spookiness is unique.

Symphony "Ilya Mourometz", by Reinhold Gliere. Inspired by a Russian epic or legend, it's a showpiece of heart-on-sleeve emotion and orchestration. In places I'm reminded of Wagner's Liebestod. Of the two LP recordings I have, you might expect that the Philadelphia Orchestra would be unrivaled for this music, but the sweep of the Russian recording makes them sound like a toy by comparison.

Symphony no. 6, by Vaughan Williams. Oh, that gentle pastoral composer, you're probably thinking. But it was composed in the wake of World War II. After having given audiences a bit of a jolt with his fourth symphony, his fifth had been more back to normal. When the premiere of the sixth approached, people speculated whether it would be in his typical style like the fifth, or more violent like the fourth. Well, in short, at the conclusion of the performance even the latter group sat stunned. Deryck Cook in The Language of Music described the effect before devoting a chapter to a detailed analysis. Clearly this scholar/critic considered it a really important piece of music. I'll just have to promise you that the first three movements kick butt-- the second is downright terrifying-- while the last is an evocation of sheer bleakness in a pianissimo whisper, dying away to "niente" (nothing). It's war followed by nuclear winter, or so many people continue to believe even though the composer denied it. Can't fathom why this symphony isn't better known.

Thank you! :D I will definitely check all of these out.

well i will recommend you guy to listen to Roop Kumar Rathod the famous ghazal song and sufi singer

You should try Bach's second in E Major, my fav. :D

Still haven't delved into this genre yet. Something a little weird and dark. Hit me.

New to Classical and need Suggestions To broaden my Horizons
 

I am reading a book by Aaron Copeland called, "What to listen for in Music" and am also currently taking piano lessons on the side. I am finally finding classical music fascinating to me, and was wondering if anyone could help me "broaden my horizons" so to speak. I started listening to a couple of artists, but I am more into the cheerful and "adventurous side of classical" like "The Pastoral symphony 6" by Beethoven and other artists like "Adagio for Strings" by Leonard Bernstein and "Water Music - Air" By George Fredrick Handel. Can anyone throw me some more suggestions!? I really want to find music that soothes the soul and helps me understand music better! Thanks guys!

Well, you are reading Copland's book. Have you ever listened to his music?

Hoedown


Fanfare for the Common Man