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Good classical stuff?

Thaspian	Date: February 4, 2004 @ 7:08 PM I started liking classical music(stuff like fantasia, and winding long symphonies), and I was getting around to dling some, yet I got postponed by a Tool discography. After hearing Clint Mansell - Lux Aeterna, I was reminded how pleasent a good classical track is to relax. Well, I want to get into stuff like that.. what should I dl?
Woof	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 4:29 AM My personal fave is Bach. It's all so precise, it might even qualify as early techno... for keyboards, at least. And as hokey as it sounds, I'm a complete sucker for Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker", and not just at Christmastime, either... But my all time favorite, you'll probably never, ever find: Joseph Kuhn's "Symphony For Blues"... I like to call it "Big City Music", and it's a truly awesome piece of work! The closest thing I've ever heard to it, that's popular, is "Rhapsody In Blue", but I don't like that one nearly as much...
SoulBeats	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 8:38 AM Bach. All those harpsichord compositions from Bach just get me every time.
mawcs	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 10:57 AM My absolute "classical" piece (well its actually, technically from the neo-classical/romantic period and not from the classical period, but we'll call it classic) is Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. The London Philharmonic recording from 1994 is excellent. Get a good quality CD, if you can and read the story behind the piece, you will really get a sense of emotion when you listen to it. Another piece that I adore (again, not classical technically, but in essence) is Henryk Gorecki - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. The best recording is with Dawn Upshaw as the soprano soloist. I believe it is the London Symphonietta with David Zinman conducting. Another emotional piece and worth reading the history of the composer. Have fun.
dkeifer	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 11:28 AM I'll heartily second the Gorecki. It's a beautiful piece--extremely dark, but ultimately trancendent. Also--one really good thing about classical music is that most public libraries have fairly good collections.
Gatherer	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 2:40 PM Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition - A fantastic musical interpretation of different paintings at an art exhibit. More impact if you have the liner notes. Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf - Yes, the popular children's story set to music. Each character is represented by an instrument or instrumental family. (There's probably a gaggle of CD & book sets available; I think even David Bowie has narrated this.) Vivaldi, La Cetra - Beautiful relaxing music. Perlman, Beethoven Violin Concerto, OP 61 - Dramatic violin. Takes you through all the emotions. This is the stuff dreams are made of! Enjoy!
mawcs	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 3:21 PM I totally agree with: Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition Prokofiev and add to that A Night on Bald Mountain Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf and add to that Love for Three Oranges I thought of some more: Orff, Carmina Burana. You might recognize parts (NFL stole it) but the whole piece is magnificent. Strawinsky (Stravinsky), Rite of Spring. So unique it started a riot.
Gatherer	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 8:54 PM Yes, Rite of Spring....a ballet considered very risque in those days. Created a furor sort of like the Janet Jackson thing but with no tutu's being ripped off.
Apertome	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 9:29 PM Great thread! Being a violinist myself, I'm mostly into string-oriented pieces. I'm a big fan of stuff from the romantic era (i.e. Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky). As Gatherer said, Beethoven's violin concerto is awesome. If you dig that, check out the Bruch, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn violin concertos, they are all awesome! I like Joshua Bell's recordings, though many of them are sadly out of print since he switched record labels. Also, I highly recommend checking out all kinds of chamber music, trios, quartets, quintets, etc. Since there are fewer musicians, you can really tell what all of the parts are doing at any given moment. For instance, Chausson's concerto for violin, piano, and string quartet. All of the stuff I have mentioned tends to be from the romantic era or thereabouts, pretty serious/dramatic stuff. For a lighter note you may want to check out some Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi.
Gatherer	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 9:53 PM mux, mux, mux! Do you have any of your classical pieces on the site? I'd love to hear them. I really envy your being able to play the violin. To me, violin music is the most emotion-evoking sound there is. Hard to explain, but you probably understand. Btw, I love how you used it on your track, Ballast. That's why I playlisted it!
Apertome	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 10:19 PM Thank you, Gatherer! No, I don't have any classical pieces up. Actually I haven't played my violin much recently, but I am hoping to find time to practice. And yes, I agree, the violin can be a very expressive, emotional instrument. Anyone who disagrees should listen to a good recording of Massenet's Meditation de Thais and then tell me they still don't agree. Amazing, beautiful piece!
Svensta	Date: February 6, 2004 @ 10:32 PM Some ideas people haven't mentioned: Edmund Grieg: Peer Gynt Gustav Holst: The Planets (more rousing than relaxing) George Gershwin: Preludes and of course Rhaspody in Blue Bach, as people have mentioned, is great. Prokofiev as well. Steer clear of all marches and whatnot or you will end up looking for a fight, rather than relaxing
dsch	Date: February 8, 2004 @ 7:26 PM It really irritates me that people automatically associate classical music with "relaxing." Composers don't write this stuff to be ambient noise, they don't write it to calm down, they don't write it to make you feel better at the end of your day. True, some of it has that effect, but the notion that classical is relaxing is utterly false. Classical composers write music to express emotions, to evoke certain moods, to fit certain texts or storylines, to convey various ideas. The same reasons that other people write in other genres (though now it seems to be just as much for money...). Classical music--in the broad sense, not just in the 1750 to 1820 sense--is not just entertainment and historically wasn't just so either. It's an expression of the composer's emotion, often an actual outlet for the composer, and the best classical music should stir the listener's emotions as well. Yes, sometimes it's intended to be relaxing, but more often music is deeper than that, and if it relaxes you, you're probably not really paying attention to its intricacies. Go listen to Dmitri Shostakovich's 15th String Quartet. It's slow and quiet, but surely not relaxing. Go listen to Gustav Mahler's 6th Symphony. Tell me how it makes you feel by the end. Go consider the emotional journey in Richard Strauss' Death and Transfiguration. Heck, even the overplayed things. Beethoven symphonies, all brilliant, almost never relaxing. Classical radio stations tend to water things down to what is relaxing because they know that's the image people have of that sort of music. They leave out so much.
Thaspian	Date: February 8, 2004 @ 7:30 PM Even the most loud and destructive sounding classical pieces, are nicer than hearing blasting drums and electric guitars. I find it a lot easier to relax, while still recognizing what's happening, when the artist's expressimg themselves with those instruments, I guess.
Apertome	Date: February 8, 2004 @ 7:50 PM dsch, I agree with you to a point. Sure, not all classical music is meant to be relaxing, and a lot of it isn't. Hell, it can be adrenaline-pumping mayhem. And sure, a lot of people put classical music in a smaller role than it's really capable of filling. However, in my mind Thasp listening to classical music while relaxing is likely going to lead to him listening to more classical music in general. A lot of people's interests get sparked in this way. This kind of music isn't too popular right now, especially among young people, so any kind of exposure it gets is a good thing.
Gatherer	Date: February 8, 2004 @ 9:27 PM dsch, I think we all agree that classical music is very expressive and emotional, and I agree that many people categorize classical music as relaxing “background” music. However, to say that classical music is NOT relaxing may be disregarding what relaxation means to an individual. My most “relaxing” time has been sitting outside a cabin in the mountains at sunset, neither phone nor neighbors, listening to a beautiful piece of classical music. Emotional, definitely. But the emotions centered more on inner peace and well-being, my definition of relaxation. I would think the composer of that piece would have been happy knowing that his/her composition elicited such feelings in this listener. On the other hand, that same piece can stir my emotions so handily that it’s downright difficult to even categorize what emotion I’m feeling because of its depth. Even the dramatically sad emotions seem beautiful because the music itself is so beautiful. (And watch out if I’m driving on those mountain roads while listening to a particular rousing piece!) I really do understand where Thasp is coming from. He’s discovered the beauty of classical music and has experienced a very different set of emotions than he’s experienced before. I’m very happy for his discovery.
dsch	Date: February 8, 2004 @ 10:34 PM I'm not saying I'm unhappy for anyone's discovery, or that people coming upon classical in certain ways is bad. I'm just sick of "classical is relaxing." Not only here. It's just a common generalization, and people need to reach out from it.
kyodylee	Date: February 8, 2004 @ 10:46 PM Geez, and I thought it was only good for making love to.
Gatherer	Date: February 8, 2004 @ 11:13 PM dsch, I apologize if you thought I was implying that you were unhappy with anyone's discovery of classical music. I thought nothing of the kind. I was only trying say that even the emotional pieces can be very relaxing in my opinion. I wholeheartedly agree that the common generalization is irksome and must especially be so to someone like you who puts all their emotions into composing a piece. Maybe if more people read this thread, they'll start to understand. And kyodylee...just be careful when those staccato notes start up!
Slurgi	Date: February 8, 2004 @ 11:58 PM My favorite classical composition, of all that i have heard is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. That song just... get me... And being a classical guitarist, all the classical music transcribed to the guitar is great fun to play.
MikeGruz	Date: February 9, 2004 @ 12:03 AM Even though it was way back up the post, I'll definately second Orf's Carmina Burana (spelling?). While in college the last few years, I had the opportunity to play the entire piece along with a full ensemble choir and dancers doing associated coreographies (or something...). Talk about a powerful piece, full of range and emotion, especially played with a choral group. I'd recommend anybody and everybody to check out this piece. Another one is 'Celebrations' but I can't remember what composer...It is a twentieth century composition. A lot of huge, lush chords and little specs of dissonance scattered throughout-just thinking of it makes me wish I had 10 more hands and 50 more strings on the guitar.... Oh, and one more-Prophecy of the Earth (can't remember that composer either). Talk about a piece that paints a picture, it deals with the destruction of the earth and has so many themes it'll make your head spin-it's played along with pipe organ (which is just unbelievable).. Boy, sure miss the ol tbone......
Gmonk	Date: February 14, 2004 @ 4:54 PM Def Gorecki.... But also The rite of spring (Stravinsky). and just about anything by Stockhausen G