Obviously, by my username, you can tell I'm a classical fan (mostly romantic era). I'm interested in discussing your favorite composers, pieces, recordings, etc.
My Top 10 composers (because why not)
In no particular order: Mahler, Sibelius, Bruckner, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Bruch, Saint-Saëns, Schumann, Schubert, Tchaikovsky. I could go on for a while, but I'll leave it here.
I like a lot of pieces, and it's hard to come up with a top few, but if I could only listen to one last piece of music in my life, it'd be Mahler 6.
I look forward to your responses!
Antonio Vivaldi
Johannes Brahms
Frederic Chopin
Antonin Dvorak
George Frideric Handel
If i could only listen to one last piece of music in my life, it'd be Minuet in G major.
In particular, Petzold's Minuet in G major is always a joy to hear. Looking at Chopin, my favorite interpreter is probably Pollini.
Just being facetious, but there are probably 500+ pieces of music that can be described as Minuet in G Major (funny that I know what you mean though)
Love this answer. Between you and OP, you named my three favorites, those being Vivaldi, Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky.
However, if I could only listen to one piece for the rest of my life, I think it would be either Vivaldi's The Four Seasons in G Minor or Dvorak's No.9 in E Minor, Part III (From New World). I observed the CSO perform the latter and it was one of more perfect things I've witnessed.
A classical music fan that doesn't like Bach? Heresy! Without Bach, none of those other composers you mentioned would have existed!
I kid... my top 10, in alphabetical order: Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Mahler, Mozart, Scarlatti, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Verdi
If I could only listen to one piece of music, it would be Verdi's Aida
Haha, Bach is the great Master, that is for sure!
I just watched a documentary about Scarlatti, and his story is very cool. Link if you'd like:
Favorite composers:
Mozart Vivaldi JS Bach Beethoven Haydn Galuppi Pergolesi Vinci Hasse JC Bach
Funny that while all the composers listed in this thread full under the classical music umbrella, my tastes differ dramatically from yours. I’m still into more conservative romantic music (special mention for above list: Schumann and Mendelssohn), but in terms of music that I can consistently enjoy, the 1850/60s is a sort of cut off.
If I had only time to listen to one last piece of music, I’d probably go with last movement of Beethoven’s 5th, but I would say Haydn’s Creation is my #1 piece of music. I admit I’ve never listened to Mahler’s 6th...
It's great to know that there is so much music under the classical umbrella, creating numerous possible flavors! Admittingly, I have never heard of Pergolesi -- I'll give him a try tonight.
Indeed— so many diverse tastes and styles to explore. Glad to see a number of others sharing interests in both finance and classical music
This must be where the intellects reside
Only those with perfect pitch.
perfect pitch gang
finer things club
The party planning committee is my safety.
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Mahler is the GOAT. I'll never forget the first time I heard 2 and 9 performed live. Let's not sleep on Das Lied von der Erde, either.
I won't bother repeating most of the composers listed here, which I agree with by and large. Instead, I'll give a few composers I don't see talked about enough:
Charles Ives: highly underrated turn-of-the-century composer. His Concard Sonata and Three Places in New England are both masterworks.
Vasily Kalinnikov: criminally underrated late Romantic composer. Both of his symphonies are beautiful.
David Maslanka: likely the best wind band composer to have ever lived. Listen to Symphony No. 2, Symphony No. 4, and Give Us This Day. Maslanka 4 is my favorite long-form piece in the entire wind repertoire.
On the topic of wind music, Percy Grainger's Lincolnshire Posy is the most important piece ever written for wind orchestra. Movement 2 has the one of the coolest, most jaw-dropping brass features you'll hear in orchestral music. Follow along with a score for movements 3 and 5; lots of complex meter and free time.
I was blown away by Kalinnikov 1. I need to explore his works more.
Going along the lines of underrated composers, I think people should give Eduard Tubin a shot.
Do you have a favorite Mahler conductor? Bernstein? Horenstein?
Mozart always calms me down
For me Tchaikovsky, Haydn, and Chopin rank top 3. I play cello and classical guitar. Always wanted to learn piano.
Beethoven - 9th Symphony Movement 4
No other song would come close to this.
Chopin's Ballades and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos are my favorite pieces of music
Beethoven Mozart Bach Tchaikovsky Vivaldi
Looks like the Germans and the Russians are well represented here. The German romantics appear to be the favorite by far, but curious that Wagner isn't on here.
There are a number of great French composers worth mentioning - Debussy (an obvious choice), Ravel wasn't as prolific as the other great composers but all of his pieces are fantastic, and Messiaen also has some cool stuff. Also would recommend a few works by Francis Poulenc, in particular his concerto for the organ, which is as metal as you can get with classical music.
Poulenc is fantastic, what I love is his music is also highly accessible while still being rich and harmonically interesting. It's something I can put on even with non-classical folk around.
Wagner. He towers far above anyone else. Der Ring des Nibelungen (the ring cycle) is possibly the greatest artistic endeavor the human mind has ever conceived. But his legacy shouldn't be confined to music only.
Love to see this thread. Switched from a performance major at a big name conservatory to finance.
The real question OP is Scherzo-Andante or Andante-Scherzo? And what about the final hammer blow, do you include it or not?
Personally I’m a huge fan of Shostakovich, Mahler, R Strauss, Stravinsky, Copland, Scriabin, some Bartok, and then Bach and the first Viennese school. Also like Monteverdi and Machaut’s double leading tone cadences. Fav romantic/20th century pieces include basically any Mahler esp 5, the Rite, Copland 3, Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, which is just gorgeous. Could talk about this forever, hard to choose a few favorites!!
As controversial as this may be, I think I prefer Scherzo-Andante. Bernstein with the Vienna Phil is one of my favorite recordings. Curious to see what you prefer.
Alongside Scriabin's piano works, his 1st symphony is fantastic.
That is my favorite recording too! I think harmonically S-A is more riveting. I love the counterpoint of Mahler, really opens up his works to just a behemoth scale in complexity and sound while being emotionally stirring. The only time I’ve ever let tears go at a concert was the finale of a live Mahler 2...indescribable but you know the feeling!!
Do you have fav recordings for Mahler 8 and 9? I haven’t listened to those two as much as 1-7 and haven’t searched through recordings.
I am floored every time I think of the fact that Mozart was only 24 years old, when he wrote Idomeneo.
Wild to think that these guys were writing such complicated music at a young age. I must say, I am envious of their skills.
Nobody mentioned Satie yet? Shocked. Some of the most fantastic pieces. His Gnossiennes are iconic.
Satie is awesome. Can't count out his Gymnopédies and Je te veux!
Lamb of God, Rammstein, Metallica
Do more modern composers like Roland Dyens count? Fuocco rivals anything Tarrega did....
Lots of good stuff on this thread! In addition to the above I love guitar so I’m a fan of greats like Albinez, Piazzola, Tarrega, Sor, and Segovia. Strauss, Bach, Debussy, Handel, and Paganini are also my go tos. Bach on guitar is divine.
Mussgorsky is a god amongst men
Favorite pieces:
Verano Porteno, Piazzola
Piano Concerto 24, Mozart
The Revolutionary, Chopin
Caprice 24, Paganini (fabulous on guitar)
Dies Irae, Verdi
Anything Debussy
stopping here because there are just too many
I'm not all too familiar with classical guitar. However, I have heard some Tarrega. Any recordings you suggest?
Hi there, sure:
More famous pieces:
Capricho Arabe
Gran Vals - this will make you laugh btw :)
Adelita
Memories of Alhambra - you’ve heard this :)
His studies are also nice:
Study in C major
Study in E minor
Study 5 in B minor
If you really want a treat, check out Balthazar Benitez performing Astor Piazzola. I think amazon sells the album for eight bucks, every song is an exploration.
Whoops, comment in wrong place
Thoughts on Scriabin and Glazunov? Underrated, in my opinion.
Mysterium by Scriabin/Nemtin is one of the best classical pieces ever made IMO
Definitely recommend checking out the "Impressions" album by Yo-Yo-Ma. Preludes and Swan are probably my favorites.
Personally, I don't really get into classical music much until the late romantic era, but I enjoy 20th century and modern composers the most because I feel like harmonic dissonance is used more readily. I have a particular hatred for baroque music made in major keys. Happy music commissioned by rich people has no character.
I don't have that much music theory or history education, although I played violin from ages 3-13 and was in choir on and off for another decade. I'm a fan of Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Erik Satie, Chopin, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Scriabin.
Liszt, Saint-Saens, Dvorak for sure
And Barber Adagio for Strings is a heavenly piece
Beethoven is top tier. Absolutely unmatched!
I know this is an old thread, and everyone in here has pretty much mentioned every major composer, but a less-known guy that I think you may like is Nicholas Britell. He's the mind behind the soundtrack of the show Succession on HBO, and it was his music that actually inspired my interest in learning more about (and regularly listening to) classical music. The one caveat is his tracks are too short (since it was more designed for short bouts scene-to-scene), and is really easy to bang through in a couple of hours.
Another sort of cool intro tool that I used when I first was interested in classical was this genre of Youtube videos that throw together 45 min. - 1 hr. playlists of classical music from an array of composers. It seems your knowledge on this topic runs relatively deep, but for you and others interested, I'd suggest adding this video type to your algorithm because this is another way that I was introduced to a wealth of "new" old composers. Not to mention that the art used is typically pretty cool. I'll attach a video here for reference.
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Not a prominent composer but a pupil of Liszt: Frederic Lamond. There are recordings of his playing on YouTube. I recommend looking him up.
Machine Gun Kelly
Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata is one of my favorite pieces ever to play. It must be something about the clean, austere purity of its C major, but it's probably the only piece that I've been practicing nonstop for years--ever since early high school--and still can't get enough of its sound, from the colorful trills to the earth shattering glissandos in the third movement.
I'm also a big fan of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes and Mendelssohn's and Tchaikovsky's piano concertos
Chopin completely dominates other composers in terms of hit rate.
Top 3 (Overall): Liszt, Mahler, Scriabin
Top 3 (Piano): Liszt, Scriabin, Ravel
Top 4: (Classical): Beethoven, Hummel, Mozart, Schubert
Top 3 (Baroque): Bach, Rameau, Scarlatti
Top 3 (Romantic): Liszt, Schumann, Scriabin
Top 3 (Impressionist): Debussy, Mompou, Ravel
Top 3 (20th Century): Rachmaninoff, Falla, Zemlinsky
Top 3 (21st Century): Kapustin, Salonen
Top 2 (Minimalist): Reich, Adams, Cage
Top 3 (Maximalist): Mahler, Wagner, Vaughan-Williams
Top 5 (Super Underrated Gems): York Bowen, Casella, Atterberg, Joseph Marx, Roslavets, Moeran
Top 6 (Pianists): Boris Giltburg, Horowitz, Beatrice Rana, Yunchan Lim, Vikingur Olafsson, Florian Noack
Top 5 (Conductors): Currentzis, Abbado, Oramo, Salonen, Pappano
Gustav Holst. Wagner. The entire Fallout 4 playlist. Absolute best piece ever made though is Debussy's Clair de Lume.
Any of the pieces done by Rousseau on the tubes like the piece mentioned below are off the chain.
Un Sospiro by Liszt
Howard Hanson is criminally underrated.
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