# Classical Music



## Eric S. Kim (Oct 22, 2014)

A thread on classical music? Why not?

I am a big fan of classical music. It all happened when I was a little kid, when I watched the movie _Fantasia_. Without that movie, I wouldn't have had an obsession with this genre. One of my hobbies is to collect CD recordings of many classical compositions as possible. I have a collection of CD's that include a variety of symphonies, concertos, overtures, etc. They range from Beethoven's _Violin Concerto_ to Tchaikovsky's six symphonies, from Holst's _The Planets_ to Stravinsky's _Rite of Spring_. My CD collection is destined to grow until there's no longer a composer in the past to check out.

Some of my favorite pieces include Igor Stravinsky _The Rite of Spring_, Modest Mussorgsky's _Pictures at an Exhibition_, Ralph Vaughan Williams' _A Pastoral Symphony_, Maurice Durufle's _Requiem_, Claude Debussy's _La Mer_, Alexander Grechaninov's _Symphony No. 1_, and Richard Strauss's _An Alpine Symphony_. Not only do they have genuinely top qualities, but they also give me inspiration. I sometimes listen to them on my boombox when I work on my next manuscript.


----------



## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

While not a fan of opera, I do like much of the music, so I've been collecting opera music without the singing. Puccini - how did he know to put those specific notes together? Beautiful! I tend toward the baroque also.


----------



## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I'm okay with classical, but not a fan, really. But I'll mention that for those with Amazon Prime, Prime Music has a nice playlist of classical music for reading....


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I listen to classical music 4-5 hours a day. We have a local FM radio station that plays classical music 24/7. It just celebrated 48 years of being an entirely listener-supported station.

I've been guitar player for almost 50 years, so it's not surprising that my taste runs heavily to classical guitar works, predominantly from the Romantic Period (~1820-1900).

I have some opera in my CD collection. There are two or three complete operas, and a number of collections from the likes of Maria Callas, Victoria de los Angeles, and Renée Fleming. And of course, The Three Tenors. I also have some CDs of operatic melodies played on the guitar. My favorite of these is _Opera Fantasy for Guitar_ by Pepe Romero.

I also have a number of recordings of piano sonatas and symphonic works (second only to the guitar recordings). I'm a fan of Beethoven's symphonies, as well as Mozart's work. I have a rather sentimental attachment to Viennese waltzes, also.

Two of the most-played pieces I have are:

_Harold in Italy_. The recording of the performance by David Oistrakh and the Moscow Philharmonic knocks my socks off every time I listen to it.

_Scheherazade_. I think the only recording I have of this is the Sir Thomas Beecham and the Royal Philharmonic. I won't say I think this is the definitive performance for me, but it's right up there.

I haven't actually collected many recordings for a good 10 years or more. The local station is such a good source of music that I haven't felt the need. My entire music collection is on my iPhone so I can listen to it being streamed to either my home receiver or car radio.

Mike


----------



## Melody Simmons (Jul 8, 2012)

Not a huge fan of classical music as such but I love modern adaptions - like electric violin versions - check out this amazing performance by Vanessa May playing Vivaldi's STORM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNc278W45ck


----------



## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

I am much like JMiked in that I sometimes play guitar and also love classical as well as baroque guitar music.
we are lucky to have The Public Broadcast System (PBS) WETA all classical all the time station here in the Nation's Capital.  Although they can be a bit predictable in what they play.  And Saturday afternoon is Opera, so I turn it off then.  While the music is indeed nice, and I appreciate the vocals for their ability, I don't really like most Opera singing.
At the same time I must say that I am eclectic in my music tastes and really enjoy big band, classic rock (50-80s) Not a fan of hip-hop or most of the current stuff.  Love Nora Jones and Harry Connick, Jr..


----------



## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

Of all my passions in this life, I think my love of the piano is my most treasured. I have a massive music collection, mostly classical and mostly piano. In addition to playing, I am a piano technician and restore vintage instruments. Knowing the technology increases the listening experience ten fold.










(...I will confess to an addiction to Dixieland Ragtime also...)


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

geoffthomas said:


> At the same time I must say that I am eclectic in my music tastes and really enjoy big band,


Oh, yeah... I'm a fan of big band also. I'm also a major Les Paul & Mary Ford fan, as well as a Chet Atkins fan. Les Paul is likely the reason I was attracted to guitar in the first place, even though I quickly shifted over to playing Chet's finger-style music back in the sixties.

Mike


----------



## deckard (Jan 13, 2011)

jmiked said:


> I listen to classical music 4-5 hours a day. We have a local FM radio station that plays classical music 24/7. It just celebrated 48 years of being an entirely listener-supported station.


The local NPR station several years ago went to broadcasting exclusively news shows; no more classical music. Many of us were very disappointed.

I enjoy classical music and alternate between jazz, blues, and classical music on XMRadio. I also enjoy *some* opera. I remember early in my life my mother playing classics on the record player. Tchaikovsky was one of her favorites. Like reading, she instilled a love of music in me and exposed us to classical music when my friends didn't get to hear it.

Along with the composers previously mentioned, I also enjoy Copland and Gershwin.

Deckard


----------



## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

I love classical music, too. I took piano lessons for 10 years, so couldn't really help learning to love the old masters. Piano is still one of the few instruments that I really enjoy listening to by itself. I usually prefer big orchestral pieces, but I don't like when the strings dominate the melody and the good harmonies. I love when the woodwinds get some love, and when percussion is used in interesting ways. Most of all, I love music that tells a story or paints a picture in my head without the need for words, like Holst's Planets suite, or Night on Bald Mountain. I'm so glad that Dallas has a wonderful classical radio station, 101.1 FM.


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Music Ed. major here, with an emphasis on band and orchestra instruments, with trumpet as my performance instrument. Guess what? Among the many genres of music I listen to, classical music is included -- especially instrumental works, and especially those where the brass section gets to shine at times. 

Mostly I'm into the symphonic works of Beethoven up through the present, but I'll go back to the Baroque period for some brass choir performances of Gabrielli. Probably the one choral work that's on my "desert island short list" would be Carl Orf's "Carmina Burana", and of course I'd have to have Beethoven's 9th ("Choral") Symphony.

I love Richard Strauss' tone poems (did you know that the fanfare from "Also Sprach Zarathustra" used in the movie "2001" is just the opening of a wonderful piece of music?) I'll listen to Stravinsky's "Firebird" suite, knowing the whole while it's building up to one of my all-time favorite resolutions and endings.

If you don't mind crossing genres a bit, perhaps my favorite orchestral work is "Symbiosis" by Claus Ogerman, which is a sort of concerto for jazz piano, impeccably performed by Bill Evans.


----------



## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

Music major here as well.  I have a huge CD collection, mostly classical. Also have soundtracks, big band and other jazz, various world music (a lot of native American flute).  My favorite music station is public radio WQXR. Too bad they moved on the dial to a weaker spot, but it's usually good for me.

A few months ago I discovered Livestream and get email from them when the Detroit Sympony streams a live concert.  I had it on this afternoon and the music came through my Amazon Echo speaker.  Much better than listening with my laptop's tinny built-in speakers.

Among my favorites to listen to are any Bach keyboard works played on piano, such as the Goldberg Variations, Well-Tempered Clavier, English Suites, and the concertos with orchestra.  I have bunches of James Galway and Emmanuel Pahud flute recordings and many other solo flutists' recordings.

I still have my LP collection, but no more turntable, so I'm not using the LPs.


----------



## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Nora Jones! Not strictly classical, but WOW. Blues is always good for a quiet evening. Anyone else think she sounds so much like Billie Holiday? Gilbert and Sullivan is always good for a fun afternoon - are they considered classical? Empire Brass playing just about anything. The list can go on and on (thank goodness for variety!)


----------



## Bluebonnet (Dec 15, 2013)

deckard said:


> The local NPR station several years ago went to broadcasting exclusively news shows; no more classical music. Many of us were very disappointed.
> 
> I enjoy classical music and alternate between jazz, blues, and classical music on XMRadio. I also enjoy *some* opera. I remember early in my life my mother playing classics on the record player. Tchaikovsky was one of her favorites. Like reading, she instilled a love of music in me and exposed us to classical music when my friends didn't get to hear it.
> 
> ...


Huge classical fan here. I love instrumental music (especially chamber music), but I am also devoted to opera and lieder.

Deckard, that happened at our local PBS station (WABE-FM Atlanta) too. They killed off all music segments during the daytime except for one puny two-hour show. Sometimes they have music late in the evening (after 8 p.m.), but you can only count on hearing music from midnight 'til 5 a.m., when they carry the Minnesota Public Radio overnight broadcast. WABE management insisted that the majority of listeners wanted talk shows, but a large number of us are so upset we quit listening to the station, and quit donating.

I've had to find Internet sources for 24-hour classical music. I don't want to squeeze a satellite radio subscription into my budget, though I may have to do it eventually. I considered getting a shortwave radio, but then I read articles saying that most radio stations have now stopped broadcasting in shortwave in favor of Internet feeds.

ETA: Speaking of the Internet, I should have added that YouTube is a fabulous resource for classical music.


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Bluebonnet said:


> I've had to find Internet sources for 24-hour classical music. I don't want to squeeze a satellite radio subscription into my budget, though I may have to do it eve


You might try KMFA in Austin, They stream their content 24/7 (AFAIK). It's at:

http://tunein.com/radio/KMFA-895-s34001/

Mike


----------



## Bluebonnet (Dec 15, 2013)

jmiked said:


> You might try KMFA in Austin, They stream their content 24/7 (AFAIK). It's at:
> 
> http://tunein.com/radio/KMFA-895-s34001/
> 
> Mike


Thanks! I'll check them out.


----------



## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I used to go the Met Opera a lot.  That was when it was affordable, at least in the balcony (2nd tier from top which is family circle).  I stopped going when I realized that there wasn't enough time in a day and I was drifting off to sleep during performances.  Later a friend was working at the Met and would occasionally get comps so I would go along.  I don't even know what it costs now, but it's too expensive.  I have a lot of Opera CDs but don't listen as much as I used to.


----------



## Flopstick (Jul 19, 2011)

I only recently discovered Scriabin, due to a book I'm working on at the moment, but I'm listening to a lot of him right now. Fascinating individual, too. I think that if he'd lived and somehow managed to (write and) accomplish his planned performance of 'Mysterium' in the Himalayas, it would probably have been the most memorable concert of all time. (As well as being the last concert of all time, if it went as planned.)


----------



## prairiesky (Aug 11, 2009)

I don't know anything about classical music, but after reading this thread I went to Prime music and checked out available classic listings.  They had an album of classical music to read by....perfect.  I downloaded that and a couple more and have been listening while I am reading..very enjoyable.


----------



## FMH (May 18, 2013)

Was binge-watching "The Blacklist" tonight (episode 1) and there was an ep. where Red is watching a private performance of Swan Lake. I bought the song they featured, because I'd heard it before, but don't own it...and it's beautiful. Op. 20, Act II: No. 10 - Hanz Friedman.


----------



## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

In case anyone happens to be here right now, the Detroit Symphony live concert on Livestream is in the intermission now. They've been having a Tchaikovsky festival since 2/12 (until 3/4). Not sure if you would have to sign in. I got the link from their email today.

http://new.livestream.com/detroitsymphony/events/3819135?origin=stream_live&mixpanel_id=f1e62ce1e96bd-081396f3b-43681f0a-2ee000-f1e62ce1eab82&acc_id=7659663&medium=email


----------



## Eric S. Kim (Oct 22, 2014)

I'd like to make a random recommendation. If you love Russian church music, then Alexander Grechaninov's _Seven Days of Passion_ might be an appropriate purchase for you. It is seventy-five minutes of beautiful choral singing, complete with heavenly Slavic melodies. The Phoenix Bach Choir and Kansas City Chorale do a marvelous job with the text, while conductor Charles Bruffy handles the score with care.

Available on Amazon MP3/CD = www.amazon.com/Grechaninov-Passion-Week-Op-58/dp/B001192ICW


----------



## Eric S. Kim (Oct 22, 2014)

Here's another recommendation:

Ralph Vaughan Williams - _Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis_

It's one of the most beautiful orchestral compositions ever created in the 20th Century. Fifteen minutes of bliss.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=52i25AdnDA0


----------



## Lefevre (Feb 1, 2014)

I often listen to Mozart's "Requiem" while writing late at night. Not only is it his final masterpiece, it was left unfinished because he died while composing it. If you want to check it out, I have listed the full requiem below for your convenience..

I. Introitus: Requiem aeternam 

II. Kyrie eleison 

III. Sequentia 

Dies irae 
Tuba mirum 
Rex tremendae majestatis 
Recordare, Jesu pie 
Confutatis maledictis 
Lacrimosa dies illa 

IV. Offertorium:
Domine Jesu Christe 
Versus: Hostias et preces 

V. Sanctus:
Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth 
Benedictus 
VI. Agnus Dei 

VII. Communio:
Lux aeterna 

Thanks for the cool thread!!


----------



## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

The Hooded Claw said:


> I'm okay with classical, but not a fan, really. But I'll mention that for those with Amazon Prime, Prime Music has a nice playlist of classical music for reading....


Thanks, Claw. Didn't know that, but now that I have Prime I'll be checking it out.

I fell in love with Brahms last summer when our local music festival featured it.


----------



## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

If you're a classical music lover (and I am) Amazon is your friend, even if you don't have Prime. I've picked up a ridiculous amount of free and dirt-cheap classical downloads from Amazon over the last few years. I know a lot of folks don't care for digital editions, but my ears aren't sophisticated enough make the distinctions. 

I listen on Pandora as well - my Gershwin and Rachmaninov stations serve me well for classical. (Joe Cocker and Movie Themes are my other two favorite stations.)


----------

