Jump to content

Classical Music for newbies!


Meshugger

Recommended Posts

Well, recently listened to Gustav Holst's 'The Planets', conducted by Tadajiro Iimori, and i had a smaller revelation. No wonder that most music (especially metal and movie soundtracks) is influenced from this incredible piece of art. For me, it was like a whole new world has opened to me, call it maturity or the walls of ignorance beeing crushed, but it is really a sublime experience.

 

Now, i came to like the 'bombastic' (is that even a word?) undertone to the whole 'The Planets' composition, and i would like to find something alike, atleast to start with. From there, i would like to continue to expand my horizon into different types of sub-genres that exists.

 

At the moment, i am thinking about some Wagner, i recon that 'The flight of the Valkyries' in Apocalypse Now! was his composition, and maybe Mozart's 'Requiem'. The problem is, is that there are hundreds of different versions out there conducted under different orchestras. Anyone with some experience care to recommend any particular piece? It would be really appreciated.

"Some men see things as they are and say why?"
"I dream things that never were and say why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

"The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

- Some guy 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not an expert, just a layman who likes classical music.

 

So I won't say "try this, try that."

 

What I will say is that classical music is such a ridiculously large genre that you might think about what you like and why (which, with Holst, you're well on the way to doing). Holst is a fairly modern 'classical' composer. I like Pachebel and Vivaldi, find Wagner just a bit too hysterically muscular but love Mozart and Beethoven. OTOH, I find Russian classical music a bit too funereal.

 

And all of these composers span a massive swathe of history. The Renaissance to the turn of the 19th century.

 

My advice is to buy a classical compilation CD or two (they invariably cost pennies) of the classics and use it as a bit of a tasting course, like you'd get in an up-market restaurant. Use that as a recce to see where your taste takes you.

 

Enjoy, because I'm sure you will!

 

Cheers

MC

sonsofgygax.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First, I'd like to echo MC's post. Do that.

 

Also, if your looking for bombastic stuff, do a search for "Dies Irae" or "Requiem" on youtube, and you might find some stuff you'd like. Verdi's and Mozart's are particularly famous. Personnally, I have a special liking for Berlioz's Dies Irae, from the Fantastical Symphony. Anyway, everyone and their mother has done a Requiem, including your own Sibelius, so you just have to pick and choose.

"My hovercraft is full of eels!" - Hungarian tourist
I am Dan Quayle of the Romans.
I want to tattoo a map of the Netherlands on my nether lands.
Heja Sverige!!
Everyone should cuffawkle more.
The wrench is your friend. :bat:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wagner did a lot of this bombastic stuff. Me doesn't like this :shifty: I prefer the detailed, more subtle tones in classical music, but as the previous posters said: Buy a compliation, or better yet: Go to your local classical CD store (assuming there is indeed such a thing where you live), take your time and listen. You'll begin to notice that it's not only the piece but also the interpretation that makes a huge difference.

Citizen of a country with a racist, hypocritical majority

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OTOH, I find Russian classical music a bit too funereal.

Tchaikovsky as well? What do you even mean by funeral?

 

 

I personally find most (if not all) of those classical music collections absolutely awful, but I guess that they are in general well suited to finding composers that you like.

 

How much of The Planets did you listen to?

 

Edit: Tchaikovsky can be rather "bombastic" by the way.

 

Edit2: Emphasized can.

Edited by Moatilliatta
sporegif20080614235048aq1.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OTOH, I find Russian classical music a bit too funereal.

Tchaikovsky as well? What do you even mean by funeral?

 

 

I personally find most (if not all) of those classical music collections absolutely awful, but I guess that they are in general well suited to finding composers that you like.

 

How much of The Planets did you listen to?

 

Edit: Tchaikovsky can be rather "bombastic" by the way.

 

Edit2: Emphasized can.

 

I listened through the whole thing, it's on youtube after all. Judgning from the comments, I understand why many would choose "Jupiter" as their favourite. Mine however, is definately "Mars: The Bringer of War". Very cold, almost non-human rythm and with an incredible climax half-way through, Holst really knew what he was doing when he wanted to describe the epithome of war, IMO.

 

For the rest who replied, i have some difficulties on which compilation to pick, since there are like 5000 different compilations out there, and several are almost indentical. Is there a notable difference to be found there? Like the venue, orchestra, etc?

"Some men see things as they are and say why?"
"I dream things that never were and say why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

"The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

- Some guy 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I listened through the whole thing, it's on youtube after all. Judgning from the comments, I understand why many would choose "Jupiter" as their favourite. Mine however, is definately "Mars: The Bringer of War". Very cold, almost non-human rythm and with an incredible climax half-way through, Holst really knew what he was doing when he wanted to describe the epithome of war, IMO.

I had an inkling that you preffered mars. :lol: There are probably people who prefer Jupiter but I highly doubt that most people do as that is a very personal thing, I'm not too fond of it myself.

For the rest who replied, i have some difficulties on which compilation to pick, since there are like 5000 different compilations out there, and several are almost indentical. Is there a notable difference to be found there? Like the venue, orchestra, etc?

There are always differences and the differences are always important, but you're new to classical music and should start out small by finding something you like. Flip a coin.

 

fall in love first geek out later.

 

That's how I did it at least.

sporegif20080614235048aq1.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a great time of year to discover classical music, as the BBC Proms have just started. For those who don't know, the Proms is a series of concerts most nights for the next two months or so, all broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and all available to listen to again for the following 7 days. I notice tomorrow night (Monday) there's Saint-Saen's organ symphony, which has the odd moment of bombast. :)

 

Holst's Mars is interesting because it seems to depict the horrors of mechanised warfare of World War One, but was written before the war began. If you liked his depiction of war through music, you should probably check out the two great 'war' symphonies of the twentieth century, Carl Nielsen's 5th. Symphony and Dmitri Shostakovich's 7th. Symphony. I'd also strongly recommend Nielsen's 4th. Symphony because it's probably my favourite piece of music ever. :lol:

"An electric puddle is not what I need right now." (Nina Kalenkov)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Classical music is broken up in periods such as baroque, classical, romantic, early 20th century etc. Very difficult to recommend when you don't know what period you prefer, but here's some you should try:

 

 

-Saint-saens/ Danse Macabre.

-Grieg/ Pier Gynt Suites 1 and 2; piano concerto

-Borodin/ Symphony no.2

-Dvorak/ Slavonic Dances

-Mahler/ Symphony no.4

-Mozart/ Symphonyno.41

-Debussy/ La Mer; Prelude a l'Apres-midi d'un faune

-Tchaikovsky/ Piano Concerto no.1

-Prokofiev/ Romeo and Juliet suite 1-3

-Sibelius/ Finlandia Overture(He never wrote a requiem BTW)

-Rimsky-Korsakov/ Scheherazade, Capricco Espagnol

-Vivaldi/ 4 Seasons

Edited by Star Monkey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Classical music is broken up in periods such as baroque, classical, romantic, early 20th century etc. Very difficult to recommend when you don't know what period you prefer, but here's some you should try:

 

-Grieg/ Peer G

Edited by Musopticon?
kirottu said:
I was raised by polar bears. I had to fight against blood thirsty wolves and rabid penguins to get my food. Those who were too weak to survive were sent to Sweden.

 

It has made me the man I am today. A man who craves furry hentai.

So let us go and embrace the rustling smells of unseen worlds

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Classical music is broken up in periods such as baroque, classical, romantic, early 20th century etc. Very difficult to recommend when you don't know what period you prefer, but here's some you should try:

 

 

-Saint-saens/ Danse Macabre.

-Grieg/ Pier Gynt Suites 1 and 2; piano concerto

-Borodin/ Symphony no.2

-Dvorak/ Slavonic Dances

-Mahler/ Symphony no.4

-Mozart/ Symphonyno.41

-Debussy/ La Mer; Prelude a l'Apres-midi d'un faune

-Tchaikovsky/ Piano Concerto no.1

-Prokofiev/ Romeo and Juliet suite 1-3

-Sibelius/ Finlandia Overture(He never wrote a requiem BTW)

-Rimsky-Korsakov/ Scheherazade, Capricco Espagnol

-Vivaldi/ 4 Seasons

 

Arigato gozaimasu!

"Some men see things as they are and say why?"
"I dream things that never were and say why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

"The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

- Some guy 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you like classical with bags of energy you can do a lot worse than Verdi. My favourite opera is Nabucco. I recommend a German performance. For some reason they do Verdi better than any Italians.

 

I recommend Verdi because it is truly possible to enjoy a whole opera at one sitting, unlike others.

"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Classical music is broken up in periods such as baroque, classical, romantic, early 20th century etc. Very difficult to recommend when you don't know what period you prefer, but here's some you should try:

 

 

-Saint-saens/ Danse Macabre.

-Grieg/ Pier Gynt Suites 1 and 2; piano concerto

-Borodin/ Symphony no.2

-Dvorak/ Slavonic Dances

-Mahler/ Symphony no.4

-Mozart/ Symphonyno.41

-Debussy/ La Mer; Prelude a l'Apres-midi d'un faune

-Tchaikovsky/ Piano Concerto no.1

-Prokofiev/ Romeo and Juliet suite 1-3

-Sibelius/ Finlandia Overture(He never wrote a requiem BTW)

-Rimsky-Korsakov/ Scheherazade, Capricco Espagnol

-Vivaldi/ 4 Seasons

 

 

I was under the impression the Lemmink

"My hovercraft is full of eels!" - Hungarian tourist
I am Dan Quayle of the Romans.
I want to tattoo a map of the Netherlands on my nether lands.
Heja Sverige!!
Everyone should cuffawkle more.
The wrench is your friend. :bat:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, Verdi is indeed awesome.

 

Seriously though, great thread. Some of the pieces mentioned I knew, most I didn't. I'm going to have a lot of listening to do! :(

 

True. This is the piece I was referring to. But the whole opera is superb, as I say. (Well, most of it. It is an opera after all.)

 

I am also going to have to look up those bits and bobs on Napster.

"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update: I went to my grandparents today and look what i found, Dvorak's 9th Symphony. Too bad it was an LP-record and i don't an LP-player at home :sorcerer:

 

Anyhoo, i did some searching (again, thank you Youtube) and found many recommending Von Karajan's intepretations of the Beethoven symphonies, and i have to admit i really like them; Very passionate and dramatic. Apparantly, there's a recording of symponies 1-9 to be found somewhere. I can personally highly recommend it.

"Some men see things as they are and say why?"
"I dream things that never were and say why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

"The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

- Some guy 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went through a classical phase where I established a decent collection of CDs. I got Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Holst's the Planets, Beethoven's symphonies(4 disc set), and Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung (7 disc set).

The area between the balls and the butt is a hotbed of terrorist activity.

Devastatorsig.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been re-listening to Lucia di Lammermoor. I hated it a few years ago, but it's grown on me.

"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Krzysztof Penderecki is my favorite classical composer. Pure. Brilliance.

 

Took this advice, and am listening to the Te Deum. Bloody sinister. Should use in a movie if not already.

"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...