Violin Concertos!!!!
 

Hey everyone..
I was wondering if anyone could give me the names of any violin concertos that are fast paced and sortta intense sounding. THX for the help!

My favorite Violin Concerto is Mozart's first in B flat. K 207 I think. Vivaldi's 1-6 are also quite good. Beethoven's String Quartets area all signifigantly better than any Violin Concertos IMO.

looking to expand my library some
 

Hi guys and gals

im looking to expand my classical library some but im looking for a style of classical music. im not sure of the name or if there really is one but i would describe it as being "mischievous" or "playful". by that i mean the instruments in the piece move up and down the scale in a playful manner. i suppose what i would consider a good example of this "style" would be Sergei Prokofiev "peter and the wolf" but im sure there are more. i have peter and the wolf but i want more departing from that exact type while staying in the style. thanks in advance for your help in this and i look forward to many more posts on this site

the man with the dour hand

What about Edvard Grieg's music for Peer Gynt? :)

I find some of it playful at least. Here's Anitras Dans or Anitra's Dance in english.



The most famous piece (but less mischievous or playful?) is morning mood.

looking to expand my library some
 

thats a perfect example what im referring to. thanks so much for the recommendation. i hope i can get more like that as well as more contemporary composers. as an aside, did he compose "the hall of the mountain king" as well?

Great! Glad you like it :)

And indeed he did, The Hall of the Mountain King is also one of the songs made for the play Peer Gynt, a play by famous dramatist Henrik Ibsen. The music really is lovely.

Rossini's thieving magpie overture.

another good example. theses are great i hope more keep coming. i didnt know this piece, or at least movement from it, was used in a clockwork orange although its been years since ive seen the movie.

The Classical Music Recommendation Thread
 

Contemporary classical music recommendation
 

This is a classical song recommendation for our member, pmusic, who recently asked for a music suggestion in a thread that was closed. I also thought I'd test out Freebase's new sticky, since he has gone to all this work of making sure there is a song recommendation sticky at the top of each section! ;)

My recommendation, pmusic, is to listen to classical music pieces representing the different time periods, so that you can better trace how composers were influenced by each other. Here is a recommendation for a classical piece from the (European) Contemporary Classical Period (1975–present):

Eric Ewazen (a modern composer from the United States): "Down a River of Time," Movement II (1999).

Eric Ewazen's music is subtle but beautiful, I feel. I would never have heard of him except our orchestra is playing his contemporary "Down a River of Time" concerto for oboe. Our oboe player said he feels the second movement is the saddest oboe piece of all time!!!

I don't know if this piece is the saddest ever, but I do feel it manages to sound contemporary yet still contain emotion, which I sometimes feel contemporary classical music lacks. I hope you'll enjoy it:

try the really well-known stuff

Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata (notably the first movement)
Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

hi can someone suggest a decent compilation outlining some of the giants of the classical genre so i can get to grips with it?

Looking for some really dark music to listen to.
 

By dark I'm referring to stuff like Daniel Bukvich' piece Symphony #1 (In Memoriam Dresden, 1945) is very WWII themed and its very depressing, but the sudden thrills of the music make you curious to continue listening and by the end of the song you want to find out more about what the song is about.... music like this is what I find "dark' and I was wondering if anyone knew of some dark music? Also, the percussion ensemble piece by Jim Casella entitled, "Dystopia", is also an excellent piece.

i would love a compilation as well. haven't noticed one popping up ever.

I might have to do another Beginners Guide... sometime soon.

Hi

Does a random collection of pieces count as a compilation??

megaupload(dot)com/?d=2FQZ13YM (can't post links till 15?)

It was made some time back for a friend, but might as well spread it around! Included are:

Joaquín Rodrigo - Fantasia para un gentilhombre (Andres Segovia on guitar/Symphony of the Air (orchestra))
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Clarinet Concerto (performed by London Mozart Players)
George Gershwin - "I Got Rhythm" Variations for Piano and Orchestra (Performed by Harmonie Ensemble/New York)
George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue (Performed by Leonard Bernstein/Columbia Symphony Orchestra)
Jean Sibelius - En Saga (Performed by Paavo Berglund/Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra)

I do not know why I chose these composers/works - just random I suppose. There aren't any 19th century compositions. (on purpose, although its my favorite time period!)
All are mp3 (320) rips for convenience sake (tagging classical music seems like a nightmare).

Hi

For anyone interested, here's a list of Japanese composers.

megaupload.com/?d=S5PLNUJV

The track listing is as follows:

Yuzo Toyama - Rhapsody for Orchestra (1960)
Hidemaro Konoye - Etenraku (1931)
Akira Ifukube - Japanese Rhapsody (1935) (Two parts: I. Nocturne II. Fetes)
Yasushi Akutagawa - Music for Orchestra (1950) - (Two parts: I. Andantino II. Allegro)
Kiyoshige Koyama - Kobiki-Uta for Orchestra (1957)
Takashi Yoshimatsu - Threnody to Toki, op.12 (1980)

All are recordings by the label Naxos (naxos.com)
Also a note that: It's not the most accessible music, since there's quite a bit of 20th century European influences. It can get a bit abstract at times!

here are just a few pieces that everyone getting into classical music should listen to:

vivaldi: the four seasons
tchaikovsky: 1812 overture, marche slave op. 31
dvorak: new world symphony
beethoven: piano concerto no. 3
mozart: symphony 40 in g minor
schubert: symphony no. 8 unfinished.

i love arvo part.

i'm looking for some modern classical album recommendations.

You could call Mario Diaz De Leon's Enter Houses Of modern classical, but it's much noiser and more of a headfuck than you'd expect. Worth a go though.

i enjoy those from time to time, thanks.

No problemo.

Another port of call you could do worse than stopping at would be good old Yann Tiersen.

Philip Glass - Solo Piano
Steve Reich - Music For 18 Musicians
Meredith Monk - Dolmen Music (this is vocal music, but very interesting and listenable)

Modern classical & minimalism, similar to Part & Glass I suppose :) (this is a more tonal piece).


I like Morton Feldman's 'Triadic Memories', but its a lot more challenging.

look at most of the 20th century composer if your looking for innovative classical
a good place to start would be:
Morton Feldman
Steve Reich
Krzysztof Penderecki
John Cage

I love eminence symphony orchestra:love:

Was looking for recommendations that are not so much similar to their sound, I also love variety in genres of music but complimentary. As in other classical artists that would go well with listening to this group.

For piano classical with a modern touch, check out volodus. He's a beast!

Gorecki, Rota, Preisner, Morricone(the later 3 are known as film composers, but they all have concert pieces as well), also Glass, Reich, Arvo Part and John Adams are prolific, with many operas, orchestral works and choral works among them.

Could anyone recommend some deeply tragic, sad, and emotional music? most of this kind tends to be classical so I ask here.

Something that sounds kind of like "The Incurable Tragedy I" by Into Eternity
(Due to the fact that I have <15 posts, I can't post URLs sorry)

There's so many pieces that fit into that category, but nothing tops these ones for me:

Liszt - Totentanz (the main theme of this piece is this: Dies Irae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)



Chopin - Funeral March



Mozart - Lacrymosa

Oh these are just brilliant, thanks

Glad I was able to help you!

Oh what the duck, I was responding to someone in this thread and apparently his post was deleted or something. I swear I'm not one of those re-re's who randomly dumps (insert specific sub-forum genre here) music recommendations into the "(Insert specific sub-forum genre here) Recommendation Thread"s.

Some good suggestions here I will check out.

When I wanted to start getting into classical music a few months ago I found this album on iTunes, it is 24 hours of Classical music. All of it well known stuff. And it was 10 bucks. I usually dl my music, rarely do I buy from iTunes but this seemed worth it, if just for the convenience.

24 Hours of Classical Music

That's one of the best collections out there. And it's so cheap! The entire Handel Messiah is on there, plus a whole load of other excellent selections. I highly recommend that album to anyone who wants to start getting into classical music.

looking for some classical classical(essential bits).

thanks a bunch.

Can you be more specific? Are you looking for stuff like Mozart and Beethoven?

I would appreciate it if you could name particular releases as there are oodles of them for this stuff.

I will name some composers:

Chopin
Schubert
Shostakovich
Borodin
Mozart
Brahms
Dvorak
Mendelssohn
Tchaikovsky

and anything else you think I should hear. I'm basically just starting.

Shostakovich - go for his 15th Symphony. It references the William Tell Overture theme & is just generally a venomous and taxing piece - he really didn't like Stalin.

I suggest the following (with examples):

Chopin: Start with the Mazurkas and Nocturnes

Mazurka in b minor, Op. 33, No. 4


Nocturne Op. 9, No. 2 (you may already be familiar with this one)


Schubert: Winterreise song cycle
Der Lindenbaum


Shostakovich: What clutnuckle suggested, and also the Jazz Suite
Jazz Suite No. 2, VI. Waltz No. 2 (this is easily the most famous movement)


His string quartets are also excellent

Mozart: to get into Mozart, I always suggest listening to his Sonatas and Fantasias (Fantasies) for solo piano, and I also suggest his Requiem.
Lacrimosa from Requiem


Piano Sonata in C Major, K. 545, and Fantasia No. 3 in d minor, K. 397


Brahms: Brahms is so extensive, but this is one of my personal favourites and a good one to start with:
Symphony No. 4 in e minor, Op. 98, I.


Mendelssohn: His violin concertos are beautiful. Also his Wedding March, which you probably know already.


Tchaikovsky: Of course there are his ballets The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, but he has other works too! I suggest starting with the 1812 Overture.


Unfortunately, I'm not as familiar with the works of Borodin or Dvorak, but if you like what I've posted here I can recommend you other, similar composers :)