I've always had a wide range of taste in music, from Art Blakey and Max Roach, Elvis to the Beatles, Beach Boys, Stones, to Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, to Johnny Mathis and Billy Joel, to Green Day and the Offspring, to Drake and Kendrick Lamar and J Cole, to David Guetta, and Kygo and Illenium etc etc.
But recently I've been exposed to classical music by my best friend from high school who used to work at Lazard but then uprooted his life a few years ago to study music in Zurich and travel around Europe playing the organ.
I must say classical music is really profound. Not to sound cheesy but it really can take you through a wide range of emotions and feels much more like an experience than just listening to a song. It's helped me stay more focused when working, its helped me wind down when Im trying to sleep, its helped me feel better when im in a bad mood, its made going for a walk much more therapeutic. Its motivated me to be more creative, more empathetic, more interested in other people and things.
It's really hard to explain but Im glad to be able to experience these things from music that I've never been exposed to before. Initially Mozart and Bach then Brahms and Schubert and Schumann. Liszt and Chopin and Debussy, Haydn and lately Gustav Mahler has been blowing my mind.
My mom used to love this song
Beethoven - Für Elise
Used to listen to this before every big test in college
I used to listen to Killing in the Name by Rage Against The Machine before big tests. Then it became Stairway to Heaven.
I do like classical music though, particularly the controversial composers like Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Wagner. As OP mentioned, Mahler is great. So are Vivaldi and Grieg. Rimsky-Korsakov is also worth listening to.
Interesting. I've heard that Steve Jobs also listened to music(
as I recall) before big events.Does it help you calm down? or does it make you more focused?
How's she been doing, Isaiah? Have you been able to see her lately?
Thanks for asking - yeah she is doing well - I saw her this week - she was very happy to see me.
I am not bothered in general by MS, but MS for this post really bothers me. These were special moments shared by my mom and I in the past when we heard this song. She would always say “do you know what song this is?” and then name the song.
you are a good man and a hidden treasure of this platform
Brother there are complete fools on this site. Pay them no mind - you should know by now that the majority of the real people here love you and your posts, and if there were a hall of fame for this site, you undoubtedly would be a unanimous selection
I remember playing it a talent show in elementary school
One of the most famous classical pieces of all time, and indisputably perfection. The people throwing MS are likely haters / children, so I would disregard. Hope your mom is doing as well as possible Isiah, Happy Thanksgiving man
Thanks bro - appreciate it.
Do you have some pieces that you mostly enjoy? I like classical music especially the Italian masters like Verdi and Puccini.
But it has a tendency to put me in a melancholic mood.
Today I've been listening to Mahler's Symphony No. 5 and his Piano Quartet in A minor. Liszt's Un Sospiro is one of my favorite piano pieces.
much appreciated, good stuff
Mahler is great
Someone just saw Tár.
Love Fur Elise, listened to that a bunch as a kid. Also really love Bach's cello suite 1 - prelude. Can't quite explain why. Love yo-yo ma playing it:
That music video is a little weird but honestly digging it.
Check out Hauser, great cellist. Also Cynthia Freivogel, goes so hard on this:
One of my favorites has always been Mozart's Requiem in D Minor, especially the Dies Irae sequence and Lacrimosa movement. It is truly an exceptional piece of sacred music. The fact that Mozart wrote it as he was dying is the ultimate testament to his prowess as a composer.
When I have passed away at an old and ripe age, I wish for the choirs to sing this beautiful piece as my family mourns their late patriarch during the Requiem Mass.
Beethoven's Symphony 9 can still move me to tears. The music, the lyrics' meaning, and the context of Beethoven himself on premier night, almost fully deaf, needing to be turned around at the end to see the crowd's jubilant reaction. It's overwhelming if you surrender to it.
driving with classical music is a-whole-nother level
I’m going to try this
Kinda off topic, but do you have a quality audio setup? Or do you just enjoy your music through airpods?
through my Bose QC 35 headphones usually lol
Per username: Rega Elex integrated amp (still got my NAD C326BEE kicking around just in case), pair of Rega RS5s from an older system, no sub since I'm in an apartment, Sennheiser HD598 headphones.
Listen to The Swan by Saint-Saens. Beautiful.
Clair de Lune. Transcendental experience
Love that song so much
so far so good. Loving this thread
Not a classic, but an amazing piano piece. OST from an old korean movie
If you like Mahler give Bruckner a listen. Fantastic work.
Awesome to get into a new passion. Does anyone have some good starting points? I would love to get into classical too but it just feels so vast, and the Spotify playlists just don’t cut it.
Any key artists by vibes, instruments, etc? Good starting points?
Spotify classical algos are shit so here’s my biased incomplete skim of the canon typed from my phone.
Symphonies: Mozart (25, 41) Beethoven (5,6,7,9), Brahms (all, there’s only 4), Tchaikovsky (4,5,6), Mahler (2, 5, 9), Shostakovich (5,9). New York Philharmonic, chicago symphony, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia orchestra are gonna be your old school heavy hitter American orchestras, but basically any major city orchestra. Vienna, Berlin, London, imo the rest of Europe starts falling off but like I said I’m biased.
Bach violin partitas (Hilary Hahn, I’m partial to her recording of no. 2), Paganini caprices (Perlman), Bach cello suites obviously (no. 1 is the one in like, jewelry commercials. yo yo ma, obviously, but def Rostropovich too). Bach Goldberg variations (Glenn Gould)
Random other orchestral pieces: Debussy (la mer), Ravel (Bolero, piano concerto, string quartet, which is not orch but throwing it in), Rimsky Korsakov (Scheherazade), Stravinsky (firebird, rite of spring), Berlioz (Symphonie Fantastique, this one’s a fun one)
It’s worth skimming the wikis for these as you listen, some of them have stories like Scheherazade, interesting historical/political contexts like Shostakovich and Stravinsky
Thanks so much!
Peer Gint, Gustav Holst, Franz Listz, Swan Lake, Blue Danube, Chopin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Domenico Scarlatti, Camille Saint-Saëns
That's great to hear you have gotten into classical music.
I'm a life long lover of classical music myself. My parents only listened to classical music at home and I studied music in the classical tradition (as an extracurricular) growing up. Over my life I've easily attended more classical music concerts than ball games, which I think very few people on WSO could say the same!
If you like Mahler, then you should seriously consider exploring Wagner as well. Wagner's music is not as accessible as some of the other composers on your list since his major works are often so epic and gargantuan (and mainly operatic), but between Mahler and Wagner, the latter is clearly the more "important" (for lack of a better term) composer in the history of classical music. Moreover, though they were not contemporaries, Mahler was heavily influenced by Wagner's music and it clearly shows in Mahler's music.
I also found it curious that you didn't mention any of the Russian composers in your original post (e.g. Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, etc.) - they are worth exploring imo.
People talk about the first metal artist and will toss around Black Sabbath and zeppelin. The reality is its Bach. I fortunately exposed to classical music via my guitar teacher when I was in high school. It made me a much more proficient player and really helped me to list to the music for context. For me certain things like a harpsichord does wonders for my mind. The dancing and tingling sounds ignite a series of sparks in my mind that help me to connect to what I’m focusing on or retain what I was learning.
The level of intellect it takes to compose a symphony is massive. To make it even more impressive realize that none of the people performing on a recording are hacks. You are listening to nothing but hard work delivered with all parts adding a drop to a gallon of expression. Next to nothing can compete. For me classical helped my studies in college. Hours at the library listening to Beethoven made way for Latin honors. At work listening to John Williams (guitarist) will help me focus and wrap my head around what needs to be accomplished on a more creative level. However, when it’s grind time, Slayer is a great. When it is just a series of mindless alt-key strokes and borderline muscle memory I can fly.
Music is a drug and a powerful one.
Glad you have expanded your music choices. I love various classical music and baroque, enjoy.
Nocturne No.20 in C-sharp minor by Chopin, performed by Pressler, love it
Any of Chopin Ballades are incredible, especially 1 & 4
Stanislov's Ballade No. 4, the performance at the Chopin competition.
Unfortunately, the quality is not great but the performance was mesmerizing.
The voicing and pacing of the performance are one of the most visceral experiences of this final ballade.
For something a little more contempory, I recommend Max Richter.
Enjoy, sweet prince.
No one has really mentioned Tchaikovsky, who I feel is one of the best Romantic-era composers. Swan Lake, Symphonies 4 and 6, and Serenade for Strings are all such incredible, accomplished works.
I've been getting into Minimalism, too. Gavin Bryars' The Sinking of the Titanic and Arvo Pärt's Speigel im Speigel are both incredible pieces.
This thread made me smile.
Since so many wonderful composers have been mentioned, I'll add ones that have been omitted so far.
Dvorak. Nearly everyone will recognize Humoresque by sound. Opus 92, the Carnival Overture, is a triumph. The New World Symphony is a masterpiece.
Rachmaninoff. Opus 18, his second piano concerto, is rich.
Copland. Fanfare for a Common Man should be required listening as part of the grade school curriculum.
So funny. I played an instrument at a high level for 9 years of my life but fell away from it with everything I had going on in my young adult life. Have just recently been getting back into classical music and other than when I am working out, it's all I've been listening to. Agree that it helps you get more in touch with your humanity.
Ipsum velit rerum fugiat molestiae eos cupiditate. Rerum est iste similique quia esse. Consequuntur maiores ipsum fugit a consequatur assumenda aut. Est deleniti vero et sit. Omnis animi explicabo placeat et. Amet ex ea iure vero veniam modi voluptates.
Maiores ut minus dolor rem. Est quibusdam beatae similique aut rerum veritatis voluptatibus. Vero quae modi consequatur.
Fuga eveniet praesentium dolor mollitia eos earum. Sapiente iste optio odit eos. Rerum officiis non corrupti recusandae doloremque omnis. Est vitae necessitatibus corrupti et voluptatem aut amet. Est omnis est velit voluptate cumque ut.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Nisi eaque et porro exercitationem nostrum est tempore. Enim ex ut sit. Omnis deleniti et id quidem dicta aut dolor. Quo est necessitatibus natus quia minima.
Fuga et nulla vitae aspernatur quaerat quis. Mollitia suscipit omnis aut quas. Cum omnis ipsam nihil adipisci saepe dolorem.
Cumque assumenda quidem nisi voluptates suscipit officia. Nihil aut consectetur explicabo quia ut ea molestias. Illo laboriosam reiciendis consequatur earum dolores esse possimus nisi. Laboriosam omnis eveniet animi aspernatur consequatur nihil fuga expedita. Et sint nisi harum iste dolorum est repellendus. Modi sapiente non ea.
Et inventore quia numquam aut vel. Ut repellat rerum deserunt accusamus quia. Reiciendis autem expedita et veniam id.
Rerum quos id quod expedita consequatur dolorem aut. Aut magnam nam aspernatur rerum. Error saepe quidem dolor. Debitis quia ducimus voluptate quia eos.
Aut rerum ut laudantium qui libero temporibus. Ex nobis est voluptates nihil voluptatem excepturi. Fugit aut facere eligendi numquam officia. Quo quidem odit qui sunt. Repudiandae quia assumenda voluptatem fugiat enim enim nihil.
Quo qui quia quia. Et magni enim consequatur suscipit sed. Saepe inventore quaerat tempora ut.
Rerum et qui molestias id. Veritatis placeat et aspernatur reprehenderit eaque quos. Sit hic voluptatibus sed nemo corporis. Sint neque molestias praesentium est. Est quis quis sapiente. Optio optio deserunt odio dolor.