Classical Music!

[rossination]

I didn't realize it, but apparently there are some B&Bers who enjoy classical music! What are your favorite recordings or works - opera, orchestral, chamber music, etc...?

I'll start: I'm a huge fan of string quartets. I love almost anything that the Emerson String Quartet records, especially their performance of Dvorak's 12th Quartet, the "American" quartet.

 

[mrob]

Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde, the Song of the Earth

Berg, Wozzeck, definitely an acquired taste!

Nearly anything Stravinsky or Copland wrote--I love the Music for the Theatre of Copland--its big, bold, athletic, sometimes even raw--very American.

Brahms' symphonies are gorgeous, rhythmically complex and rich sounding.

I only listen to Mozart, Haydn and the boys anymore when I need a musical "Q-tip."

The problem here is that when I try to limit it to my very favorites I inevitably forget some absolutely stunning music, and then I feel awful. I guess I'll get over it!

 

[rossination]

Wozzeck! Yeah! Awesome, Mitch. I love me some atonal music.

Here in Seattle we have the privelege of being around the amazing Stuart Dempster, who does all kinds of cool stuff with new music (as you probably know). The whole atonal thing takes some getting used to, but I totally dig it.

 

[EL Alamein]

Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Elgar. I love them all. My two year old daughter also prefers classical to modern. Whenever I put modern on in the car she tells me to turn it off. "I don't like it, Daddy. Play my moogis for me, pleeeeaaase!" Her "moogis" is classical and preferably Mozart. The first time she did that her mother looked at me and said, "She's definitely your child".

Chris

 

[JohnP]

Bach, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Holzt...the list goes on.
Yeah I'm a junkie too....
John P.

 

[rschul2]

Stravinski, Grieg, Gorecki...oh and Holst too. Just too damn many to name.

 

[rtaylor61]

Bach, Wagner, Copland

Randy

 

[mrob]

I'm guessing the Holst-lovers were in band at some point? Either that, or they got hooked on The Planets?

If you like Holst, are you also fans of Vaughan Williams, Grainger and the rest?

 

[jfm]

Bach's Concerto In A Minor For Violin, Strings And Basso Continuo (BWV 1041). There are few things I can say are my favorite, this is my favorite piece of music. Second to that are Glenn Gould's (1981 recording) Goldberg Variations.

 

[mrob]

I just had a doc student do her dissertation on Irish trad music--great stuff!!! One of my happiest accomplishments was getting her approved for a research grant to visit Ireland and hang out in pubs listening to Irish traditional musicians jam. Now that's a dissertation!

 

[ouch]

Camille Saint-Saëns's Symphony No. 3 in C minor 'Organ' is one of my favorites to show off an audio system.

For the ultimate in deep, infrasonic bass, nothing beats Jean Guillou's organ transcription (Dorian recordings DOR-90117) of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, recorded at the Great Kleuker-Steinmeyer organ of the Tonhalle, Zürich. It is positively frightening.

 

[JMT]

I am actually currently taking a music class which fulfills my humanities requirement. I enjoy classical music, particulary the baroque period and the classical period. The class I am taking has also confirmed that I definitely prefer instrumental music to vocal performances when referring to classical music. That being said I also like jazz, blues and rock. I really have no opinion on pop music today because I never listen to it. I usually listen to NPR in the car and the local NPR affiliate plays local bands and classical music.

 

[Shane]

Bach, Brahms (symphony no. 4 is one of the best symphonies ever composed), Shostakovich, Mahler, Ravel, Schönberg, Poulenc (most underrated composer ever), Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Copland, Vaughan Williams (no one does British folk music better), Puccini, Verdi

 

[Kyle]

I am actually currently taking a music class which fulfills my humanities requirement. I enjoy classical music, particulary the baroque period and the classical period. The class I am taking has also confirmed that I definitely prefer instrumental music to vocal performances when referring to classical music. That being said I also like jazz, blues and rock. I really have no opinion on pop music today because I never listen to it. I usually listen to NPR in the car and the local NPR affiliate plays local bands and classical music.

I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but I likes me some jazz. I was first exposed to early jazz (20's thru 60's) from one of my master's courses. Every since then I have been addicted to it.

 

[JohnP]

I'm guessing the Holst-lovers were in band at some point? Either that, or they got hooked on The Planets?

If you like Holst, are you also fans of Vaughan Williams, Grainger and the rest?

The cool thing to me about Classical music is that you can cherry pick it. There is no requirement you have Beethoven's entire "Album" to get the song you like....as for Holst(I always mispell these things) you nailed it with the planets, but primarily, the one on my el-cheapo MP3 player, is "Mars, Bringer of War" It is easy to listen to that and see its influence, for instance, on movie soundtracks.
I also like some of the old, cathedral style chorals...you know, the ones sung in Latin...now THOSE are about harmony....even if I do not know Latin to have any idea what they are singing, the sound is amazing. I have been listening to some wonderful pieces by Spanish composer Tomas Luis de Victoria....look him up, he has some really really good stuff. Too bad he lived 400 years ago, as I am one of his latest fans.
John P.

 

[JohnP]

I am actually currently taking a music class which fulfills my humanities requirement. I enjoy classical music, particulary the baroque period and the classical period. The class I am taking has also confirmed that I definitely prefer instrumental music to vocal performances when referring to classical music. That being said I also like jazz, blues and rock. I really have no opinion on pop music today because I never listen to it. I usually listen to NPR in the car and the local NPR affiliate plays local bands and classical music.

Jim, I have noticed I had similar tastes (I steer clear of most Opera....Wagner does great until someone starts singing...) perhaps you could look up Sr. Victoria and listen to one of his works, the one I listened to last is called "O Magnum Mysterium" Yes, people are singing, but it is simply amazing....and I have recently been reconsidering if I am really against vocal music, or if it is just my dislike for certain styles...
Otherwise, for the most part I am with you and prefer instrumental music.
It would be interesting to see your thoughts on it, or perhaps, anyone here who speaks Latin, or whichever language the song is in, could sortof tell me the jist of what the song is. I THINK it is a religious song, but that's about the limit of what I can discern. I just know it SOUNDS wonderful, my copy of it sung by the Westminster Cathedral Choir...
John P.

 

[JohnP]

I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but I likes me some jazz. I was first exposed to early jazz (20's thru 60's) from one of my master's courses. Every since then I have been addicted to it.

Kyle, for a short time between high school and college, and for a little while in college, I played in a small stage band (I played trumpet/cornet interchangeably) but as that was 13 years or so ago, I have since been out of the loop, and do not know who the big names are now. I know in those days I was a huge fan of Wynton Marsalis, and Jazz was perhaps one of the places where the most innovation in instrumental music was happening, at least in those days...techniques I had not even remotely considered before...such as humming harmony while playing the melody on a trombone.....there are some people out there with amazing skill. Had I not seen it, I would not believed it.
Who in your opinion is producing the best jazz these days?
John P.

 

[rossination]

Kyle, for a short time between high school and college, and for a little while in college, I played in a small stage band (I played trumpet/cornet interchangeably) but as that was 13 years or so ago, I have since been out of the loop, and do not know who the big names are now. I know in those days I was a huge fan of Wynton Marsalis, and Jazz was perhaps one of the places where the most innovation in instrumental music was happening, at least in those days...techniques I had not even remotely considered before...such as humming harmony while playing the melody on a trombone.....there are some people out there with amazing skill. Had I not seen it, I would not believed it.
Who in your opinion is producing the best jazz these days?
John P.

I'm also a huge jazz fan. At the risk of hijacking MY OWN thread, I'd have to say Dave Holland (a British bassist) is doing some great stuff right now. There are tons more --- perhaps we should start a new thread???

 

[JohnP]

I'm game....I also am starting to notice there are a LOT of former and current musicians on the board....wouldn't surprise me if it was the majority....
John P.

 

[Tito]

Oh wow... classical music.

1. Anything Yo Yo Ma!!! Cello Suite No. 1 G Maj is a good start, The Crouching Tiger stuff is great too.

2. When I was a kid my brother and I would listen to an old vinyl copy of Tchaikovsky's Overture 1812 over and over. We loved the Finale... Canons! Bells! Glockenspiels! Oh my!

3. Deodata: Also Sprach Zarathrustra