Simviation Forums

Well after quite a sabatical I'm listening to classical again, one of my ex-students is in the local philarmonic and has given me some mp3s of them performing Beethoven to listen too. I'd forgotten how relaxing or stimulating classical could be. Although I still listen to Wagner a lot.
So who do you like in the classical scene?

Ozzy

Definetly Beethoven.  My favorite is Moonlight Sonata, however one  that comes close is O Fortuna.  It's been in practically every type of commercial, film preview, game preview etc.

Anything by Mozart will put me in a state of awe for days, so I have to be careful when I listen to it.  :)  From him though, my favorites are 'Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik' and 'Symphony No. 40'.  'Le Nozze de Figaroa' is the only piece of music I consider to be perfect and one of a very few pieces that have moved me to tears from just listening to it.

Other than that, Bach's 'Brandenburg Concertos' get top billing.  Beethoven's Ninth, of course, and Dvorak's 'Symphony for the New World' are right behind.

Beethoven's "Fur Elise"
Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture
Mozart's Symphony No 40
Beethoven's 5th Symphony

My "recent" favourites...
J.S. Bach.
Mozart.
G.F. Handel.
Samual Barber.
Pacabell.
etc...

..but I go back even further...
To Medevil, Baroque, and Elizabethan times... ...!

John Dowland.
Henry Purcell.
etc.
...and not forgetting King Henry VIII's efforts... ...!

As well as my modern instruments, I also play organ, a classical guitar, a 13 course baroque lute, a baroque wooden flute, dulcimer, and a complete set of recorders, from the tiny sopranino to the big bass recorder...!

It may be a surprise, that the most enthusiastic "old music" players are actually Americans... ...!

Cheers all... ...!
Paul.
(England).

Fozzer, you're like Yanni on steroids man...  

[quote]Fozzer, you're like Yanni on steroids man...

Underrated classical pieces:

Beethoven - Symphonies 4 and 7 (7 is awesome).  You thought he only wrote 5 and 9?

Mozart - Piano Concerto 21, 2nd Movement (Will bring tears to your eyes)

Vivaldi - Gloria (Part of a baroque mass, by the guy who wrote "4 Seasons" - makes 4 Seasons sound like crap.  And there's a reason why it's all female voices)

Holst - Planets Suite (The first half is pretty good - would make a good soundtrack for a scf-fi movie)

Wagner - Pretty much any opera, but lets go with Gotterdammerung because that's where it all culminates.

Bach - You can't go wrong here.  Try "Wachet Auf" cantata or the orchestral suites (whence "Air on a G-String")

Bach/Gounod/Schubert - Ave Maria.  No one is sure who really wrote this, but it's in Fantasia.  I love it and I'm not even Catholic.

um, george gershwin-rasphody in blue
love that music its the best
try listening to jazz! i recomend miles davis

From Opera I love;

E Lucevan Le Stelle from Tosca (Puccini) and

Vesti la Gubbia (Leon Cavella).

Mozarts Woodwind Piece is fantastic.

Stravinsky's Rite of Spring is crap.

Are you trying to be more obscure than me?

I agree, Rite of Spring is crap.

Did Mozart write only only one woodwind piece?  I'm not familiar with it.

I do not like Mozart  in general in the way that I like Bach in general - if you understand my meaning.  I like anything by Bach but I like particular works by Mozart.  In fact I like a great many works by Mozart.

I think Mozart is a musucal genius but not in the same sense as Bach.  Bach had to work, like a Shakesperiean sonnet, to create perfection.  Mozart had beautiful tunes in his head that he could write without thinking.

So I'll check out your posts.  I'm not a big opera  fan but attending one is awesome.  In the meantime here are a couple more.  My tastes are clearly towards the baroque:

Bach (obviously)  - Cantata 140-  "Wachet Auf"
Handel - Chandos Anthems
Brahms (see, I know something besides baroque) - 1st symphony  (but I think I've heard it somewhere before)
Mendelsshon - Reformation Symphony

PS.   You didn't mention Wagner?  Love him or hate him?

erm...classical music. often discussed in school,but i don't really like it.
maybe "camina burana" by carl orff,"the moldau" by smetana or vivaldis "four seasons".

I've never heard Wagner before.  I don't go out of my way to listen to classical but if it is there i will listen to it.  In Music at school we are studying the Rite of Spring.  There was one distinct woodwind piece that Mozart wrote i cannot remember the name at the moment but they did play it in the film Amadeus.

Opera is amazing live.  I've seen Tosca (brilliant) and Andrea Chenier (it was ok)

I find baroque music to driven which is what it is.  Romantic Music is the best.  Smetana's The Moldau is awesome.

I find baroque music to driven which is what it is.

?

Check out the helicopter attack scene in Apocalypse Now.  You'll like Wagner.

Nice to see that there are some classical fans out there, I can't name my favorite but can hum along with the rest of you Guy's.

Sarah