Classic Music


I’m a little bit of a classical music nerd. My mother was (is) a gifted singer and pianist, and when I was a small child our house was always full of music. Whether it was Bocelli on the radio, Moonlight Sonata on the piano, “O Fortuna” at bathtime or (my favorite) Mom singing “Ave Maria” while doing dishes, we always had some sort of piece playing in the background.

As us kids got older, Mom stopped playing. We eventually had to sell the piano and with her asthma problems, it became difficult and eventually close to impossible for her to sing like she used to.

I’d pick up the slack occasionally singing some snatch of popular music in a mediocre tenor, but it wasn’t the same.

Now that I’m older and I’ve run the gamut in terms of popular music, I find myself returning to those old tunes more and more. There is something essentially timeless about this music; something that nourishes the soul, and stirs it. So here’s some music. Some of it’s old, some of it’s new. Most of it’s well known, although there are a couple pieces you’ll be surprised with. A

few are not classical music per se, but most certainly inspired by the same profound aesthetic that leaves us listening to the same notes hundreds of years after the fact.

I realize some of you are going to be like, “WTF?! Classical music?! PUSSY MUSIC FOR PUSSIES!” All I can say is, if you don’t feel like getting up and kicking some ass after listening to the Fifth you need to get the fuck off this site before God kills you for having no taste.

Beethoven Symphony No. 9

Beethoven Symphony No. 5

Dvorak, Symphony No. 9, fifth movement

“O Fortuna” (from Carmina Burana, by Carl Orff)

Habanera as performed by Katherine Jenkins (yes I realize this isn’t the best version but my God is she fucking hot)

“Rondo Alla Turca”, Mozart

Bach, Fugue in G minor

“Entrance of the Gladiators”, Julius Fučík

“Moti Ragnarokum”, Burzum

Carlos Guastavino, “Bailecito”

I’ll put more up later. Pic unrelated.

In the past year I’ve started listening to a lot of classical. It started with me listening to the “100 Greatest Masterpieces of Classical Music” in a weekend, and I’ve been hooked since. It’s great for cardio sessions.

A few of my favorite composers off the top of my head, in no particular order are:
Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky (I LOVE Marche Slave), Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Dvorak, Wagner, Grieg, and Ravel. I’m still pretty new to Classical, so I’ll check out some of the videos you posted that I’ve never heard before.

Not exactly classical but definitely orchestral, and when played right, is a really nice piece:

Astor Piazzolla - “Libertango”

one version i particularly enjoy is that played by marc-andre gauthier


ALSO, a really nice improvisation by Samvel Yervinyan during a Yanni concert…being a violin player myself, I think its awesome

I’ll go ahead and add a few my favorites:

Prelude #4 by Villalobos (starts @2:10)

String Quartet in F Maj by Ravel:

Bouree from Bach’s Lute Suite #1 (BVW 996):

Leyenda by Albeniz:

Mozart’s 40th (cliched, but necessary):

“The Lark Ascending” by Ralph Vaughan Williams:

Symphony #2 (“Mysterious Mountain”) by Hovhaness:

String Quartet #15 (op132) by Beethoven:

Study in B minor (op32#22) by Sor:

This list is admittedly a little guitar heavy, but as a (mediocre) classical guitarist, I’m a little biased.

I’m a big fan of Bach’s cello suites, especially this one (I think I can’t hear it right now so I’ll doublecheck later:)

I like choral stuff too:

OP, thanks for starting this thread. Part of the reason I don’t listen to Classical music is that I don’t really know where to begin. I’ll look through some of these links.

Pachelbel’s canon in D major is my absolute favorite.

Pavarotti kicking “I Pagliacci”'s ASS

Charlotte Church, “Ave Maria”

Brendel does Schubert

(few things in life are as pleasing as Schubert played well)

The obligatory Chopin- Piano Sonata No. 2

Sufjan Stevens, “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing”

(yeah, I know it’s not classical but it was my favorite hymn as a kid and he does a sweet cover)

Helps me sleep.

[quote]timbofirstblood wrote:
OP, thanks for starting this thread. [/quote]

x2

It was a great idea.

[quote]hoosegow wrote:
Pachelbel’s canon in D major is my absolute favorite.

x2

Great thread by the way.

Learning to be an opera singer here :stuck_out_tongue:
So i’m on board in this thread.

eri tu che macchiavi - un ballo di maschera

si puo from pagliacci

Yeletsky’s aria from pique dama (russian)

Il balen delu suo sorriso from Il trovatore

Cielo e mar from la gioconda

Che gelida manina from la boheme

Avant de quitter ces lieux from gounod’s faust

Let’s drink!

More Verdi:

Borodin, “Polotsvian Dances” from Prince Igor

(one of my absolute favorites)

Khachaturian, “Sabre Dance”

(gotta love this)

Fucik again, “Florentiner March”

Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” is a favorite… especially the first movement, “Mars: The Bringer of War”. Goosebumps everytime! This is probably one of the most influential pieces of music ever on the film soundtrack genre… yet it was composed decades before.

No-one an Einaudi fan?

I know it’s contempary classical, but it’s still classical music. I like it anyway:

I Giorni

Primavera:

“O Fortuna” (from Carmina Burana, by Carl Orff)
http://www.youtube.com/...h?v=_0I8_bOAuso

awesome and timeless.

also i can’t belive this thread has got as far as it has with out this:

Mozart - marriage of figaro

I can’t listen to a lot of these without thinking about Looney Tunes. That’s pretty sad when most of the culture I’ve received is from a cartoon.

[quote]WS4JB wrote:
hoosegow wrote:
Pachelbel’s canon in D major is my absolute favorite.

x2

Great thread by the way.[/quote]

Booo re: Pachelbel. As a one-time quartet member, I hate that song. Ugh.

My all time favorite:
Saint Saens, Introduction and Rondo Cappricioso

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
Booo re: Pachelbel. As a one-time quartet member, I hate that song. Ugh.[/quote]

Agreed.

Anyway, I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Mahler. His 6th Symphony is great. Gorecki’s 3rd is also gorgeous, along with some of his choral works (Amen, Miserere, Szeroka Woda). Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste and his string quartets. Sibelius’s Pohjola’s Daughter. Shostakovich’s string quartets and 5th Symphony. Charles Ives Symphony No. 4. Rachmaninov’s 3rd Symphony and piano works. Eric Whitacre’s choral works. Eliot Goldenthal’s Titus soundtrack. Ennio Morricone - anything. Bach’s Goldberg Variations and cello suites. Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

I could keep going but it’s late.