# Classical Music listeners...?



## Roland Khan (May 10, 2009)

just got into classical music couple weeks ago. i find it helps me get thru the night at work with less stress and less getting pissed off at stupid shit typical of work.

really liking tchaikovsky, especially his 4th.

what do you guys like, and are you able to really understand the music at a somewhat higher level. i have a bit difficulty gettin to that point but i still just enjoy the music. its just real music without all the antics and commercialism thats in mainstream media today.


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## progBOT (May 4, 2011)

I don't really listen to classical music (although I do like piano quite a bit). There are many bands out there that are kind of like a current day classical (if that even makes sense).
Some of these bands are:
-Arms and Sleepers
-American Dollar
-The Album Leaf
-Yndi Halda
-Flying Lotus
-Tristeza

You may like those bands (I put them in order of how much I like them). Nearly all of them are very under the radar, although some are up and coming. You can find Arms and Sleepers on bandcamp and I'm sure some of their songs are on youtube.

You'd probably like Arms and Sleepers - Cinemas For Marseille (I want to learn to play that on piano before I die)


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## Valdyr (May 25, 2010)

I really like classical music, and consider it one of my main genres of listening. However, I have no pretenses about understanding the music on a higher level, avoiding commercialism etc. - I simply enjoy it in the most basic sense. Making a favorite composer list is an agonizing exercise to say the least, but if I had to:

Beethoven
Bach*
Mozart
Debussy
Brahms
Stravinsky
Bartók
Ligeti
Schubert
Verdi

*J.S.

I'd consider Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven to be the absolute core essentials, as one might guess from how well known the are.

Also, what composers I'd recommend depend on your tastes, both stylistically and instrumentally. For example, someone who had a more acute preference (I'm mostly a generalist) for busy symphonies with LOTS of instruments might want to check out Mahler or Shostakovich. Piano enthusiasts should look at Chopin and Liszt. Those who like very experimental music should look at Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Krysztof Penderecki, in addition to Ligeti and maybe Stravinsky (if he counts), who were both already listed. You get the picture.

Welcome to classical.


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## Paragon (Mar 15, 2011)

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra puts a pretty cool spin on classical music. Listen to their album "Hooked on Classics."


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## TaylorP (Mar 22, 2011)

Andre Rieu has some nice music to listen to beside the generic famous composers.


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## Emerson (Mar 13, 2011)

Richard Wagner. The whole ring cycle. I don't care if its nearly 72 hours long.


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## Siggy (May 25, 2009)

@Emerson. I saw Tristan and Isolde and Lohengrin at the metropolitan opera in New York. 2 intermissions for both, and totally awesome


Handel 
Beethoven, especially his overtures
Richards Wagner and Strauss
Aaron Copeland.


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## saynomore (Feb 27, 2010)

All of Valdyr's mentions, with the addition of Arvo Pärt and (experimental) Max Richter.


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## Valdyr (May 25, 2010)

saynomore said:


> All of Valdyr's mentions, with the addition of Arvo Pärt and (experimental) Max Richter.


I was so tempted to list Pärt as well, but was afraid my examples section was getting bloated. :tongue:


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## Moon Pix (Sep 19, 2009)

It's good music for relaxing. I live in the UK and sometimes listen to classic fm to get my brain to shut up before I go to bed. There are some really nice melodies out there in the world of classical music.


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## L'Empereur (Jun 7, 2010)

Some of meh favorite classical pieces:

*Aaron Copeland* - Rodeo Hoe Down
*Antonio Vivaldi* - "La primavera" (Spring): Allegro
*Aram Khachaturian* - Sabre Dance
- Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia
*Carl Orff* - O Fortuna
- Circa mea pectora
- Charmer, gip die varwe pir
*Claude Debussy* - Clair de Lune
- Arabesque
- The Girl with Flaxen Hair
*Edvard Grieg* - Lyric Pieces
- Peer Gynt: Arabian Dance
*Erik Satie* - Gnossienne No.1
*Felix Mendelssohn* - Spring Song
*George Gershwin* - Rhapsody in blue
*Georges Bizet* - Carmen: Habanera
- L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1: Prelude
*Gustav Holst* - Mars, the Bringer of War
*Johann Sebastian Bach* - Goldberg Variations: Aria
- Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
*Johann Strauss I* - Radetzky March
*Johannes Brahms* - Hungarian Dance No. 5
*Ludwig van Beethoven* - Ode To Joy
- Fur Elise
- Piano Sonata No. 8
- Piano Sonata No. 17
- Piano Sonata No. 23
- Turkish March
*Maurice Ravel* - Bolero
- Valses nobles et sentimentales
*Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky* - Les Saisons
- Nutcracker: March
- Nutcracker: Dance of the Reed Pipes
- Piano Concerto No. 1
- 1812 Overture :dry:
*Robert Schumann* - Arabesque
*Sergei Prokofiev*: Montagues and Catuplets
*Sergei Rachmaninoff* - Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganani (Op. 43 - Variation 18)
*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart* - Lacrimosa
- Fantasia in D Minor
- The Marriage of Figaro: Overture
- Piano Sonata No. 11
- Piano Sonata No. 16



Dear Sigmund said:


> Handel
> Beethoven, especially his overtures
> Richards Wagner and Strauss
> Aaron Copeland.


Which Strauss?


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## Siggy (May 25, 2009)

Richard, though I am fond of Johanns Die Fledermaus


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## Donkey D Kong (Feb 14, 2011)

I enjoy classical music from time to time. I enjoy it more when it's remade in 8-bit.


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## mynameisanh (May 23, 2011)

I've always loved classical music (I suspect because I started playing violin at a young age) but I wouldn't consider myself an aficionado. I don't usually listen to it in order to relax since it actually makes me tense, just whenever I'm in the mood. Mozart is probably my favorite composer and Bach would be a close second. 

I have a huge affinity for Mozart; usually if I hear a random classical piece that I'm immediately drawn to, it's Mozart. Favorites: K183, K545, K620-Act 2. On the other hand, I _really _dislike Beethoven. Symphony #5 gives me anxiety and I absolutely cannot listen to Moonlight Sonata. I freaking hate that piece.. it scares the crap out of me. 

As for more contemporary composers, I really like Astor Piazzolla. This piece gives me chills:


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## Roland Khan (May 10, 2009)

thanks guys for some of the suggestions. ill def download few different ones next time in the mood to go thru a bunch of music. for now im going thru a lot of tchaikovsky, borodin, dvorak, and some othere dude i forget name is somthin like birikenev, i dk these damn russians have hard to spell names. tchaikovsky is def my favorite though so far. his fourth symphony is brilliant, with the 2nd movement being the best. he was quoted to say that the second movement is about how you feel when you're lonely.

im hit n miss with beethoven. i really like his 7th for some reason, and 6th. as for the rest theyre kinda eh, and i really dont see the big deal with his 9th...but then again i havent really listened to it that much and with this music you normally have to listen to a piece atleast four times thru before really appreciating it. except for a few, like mozart for you, and tchaikovsky for me, theres an immediate appreciation and acceptance.

for a truly beautiful masterpiece, i thought id share for you guys....enjoy...


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## Tucken (Dec 13, 2009)

Yeah, I listen more and more to classical music, it's something I never really appreciated before but it's growing on me. Never played any instrument and never had a good ear for music but lately...it's like there is more to every sound than I noticed before and normal music is so noisy while classical is so beautiful. There is a classical music channel on youtube that I listen to. This is my favourite piece by Rachmaninoff. It has a great sound to it... like it catches the uncatchable. A life going by, sadness, beauty, longing, memories... :crying:





Also listen to Gurdjieff music on youtube, very mysterious, very interesting.


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## Erudis (Jan 23, 2011)

I'm too lazy to post my favorites, so here's my playlist at Grooveshark: Grooveshark - Classical playlist by Erudis


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## Van (Dec 28, 2009)

I'm not sure about the higher-level understanding, I just enjoy it too. I like baroque but I'm not huge on classical classical, while my favourites are mostly 20th century or romantic.
Recent favourites, hugely biased towards violin pieces because I happen to play the violin:
Vaughan-Williams, The Lark Ascending - pretty much sounds like a lark ascending
Shostakovich, Symphony no. 11 - tells an awful story but is amazing
Tchaikovsky, Symphony no. 6 - last movement is tragedy
Bach, BWV 1001
Arvo Part, Fratres - comes in lots of different versions with different instruments
Sibelius, violin concerto
Prokofiev, piano concerto no. 3


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## Ubuntu (Jun 17, 2011)

Gluck-Dance of the Blessed Spirits
J.S Bach-Air on the G String
Albinoni-Adagio for Organ and Strings in G minor
Pachelbel-Canon in D Major
Rachmaninoff-Piano Concerto No. 2 Second Movement
Debussy-Clair de Lune
Telemann-Wasermusik
Handel-Air
Vivaldi-Summer (and all the 4 seasons)
Haydn-'Surprise' symphony (all movements, I can't remember the 'technical' name)
Vivaldi-Oboe concerto in d major

etc.

The first 6 especially.


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## KINGoftheAMAZONS (Jun 21, 2011)

@Tucken, I love Rachmaninoff's Vocalise (for voice though). How do you feel about this piece:







Other great classical music:











This is a beautiful orchestral score for the Land Before Time (Composer: James Horner), so I'm not sure it counts as classical.

One of the most playful cellist ever!


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