Favourite Piece Of Classical Music?

2

Comments

  • neilr4
    neilr4 Posts: 161
    Pal Lovatt cooper-Dark side of the moon.

    It's composed for brass band, much more power than a symphony orchestra!

    Eric Ball-Journey into freedom.

    Again, brass band.............drool!!
    'REMEMBER SOME PEOPLE ARE ALIVE
    SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS ILLEGAL TO SHOOT THEM'
  • john-e-big-guns
    john-e-big-guns Posts: 489
    Flight of the Valkyies
    No Pain; No Gain;

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/john-e-big-guns/
  • LazyBoycp
    LazyBoycp Posts: 320
    A couple of my favourites, stretching the definition of Classical slightly (though not as much as others! :wink: ):

    Mi Par D'udir Ancora from the Pearl Fishers by Bizet (no, not the duet!):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9dgcLRHIFo

    (I also love the Rolando Villazon recording (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET_bXJad ... re=related) except for him missing out of the high note at the end, even if it is apparently more authentic)

    and

    When I Am Laid In Earth from Purcell's Dido & Aeneas:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_50zj7J50U

    (The good bit starts after about a minute.) They play a brass band version of this at the Armistice Day service each year. :cry: every time!

    Mozart, Mahler & Shostakovich are also great, plus many others.
  • Tom BB
    Tom BB Posts: 1,001
    john-e-big-guns wrote:
    Flight of the Valkyies

    :D
  • andy_f
    andy_f Posts: 474
    Chi Mai

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbdPUiih020

    Troika

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QsRDpsI ... re=related
    "Let your life rule your job, not your job rule your life"

    Born to ride, forced to work.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,697
    it's the choir boy in me (Quiet!) but I'm a big fan of "for unto us a child is born" (Handel) or "I was glad" (The Parry version, the loud one!)

    I'm a sucker for christmas carols too, bring back fond memories
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    I keep thinking of more, Faure's Pavane being the latest. I'm not really a classical music buff and most of those I know well are from films or TV programmes or tunes I played when I was in a brass band but I do love to sit with the lights off and a few tunes on load every now and again.
  • draftdodger
    draftdodger Posts: 3
    concierto d'aranjuez by Rodrigo, magnificent.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I'm a big fan of Russian 'shock and awe' music. Prokofiev is me fave, especially 'romance' from the lt Kije suite. Borodin's Polovtsian dances is mighty fine too. I could go on there...

    Love Debussy and some Mahler, particillaly his 3rd symphony. Strauss' Alpine symphony has a top beginning but becomes a bit too literal further on.

    Ravel's Bolero is so overlooked as a piece of music since T+D but it is absolutely amazing, basically one long slow burning crescendo from start to finish.

    Of course, having a good stereo helps too...
  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,695
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Prokofiev is me fave, especially 'romance' from the lt Kije suite.
    Of course, having a good stereo helps too...

    And the original Reiner CSO Living Presence version ?
    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • Le Commentateur
    Le Commentateur Posts: 4,099
    carbonfiend wrote:
    Steve Reich anybody? Music for 18 musicians.

    I like the old ECMrecording of that, but I think I prefer his Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards.

    I've a great recording of it, paired on the CD with John Adam's amazing Shaker Loops, which itself is like the soundtrack to some kind of diabolical exorcism.


    *edit*
    This is it:

    http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Reich-Varia ... B000E6EH0Y
    Un uomo solo al commando
  • kettrinboy
    kettrinboy Posts: 613
    My favorite piece is "Nimrod" from Elgars Enigma Variations, when they play it at the remembrance ceremony at the Cenotaph it never fails to bring a tear to my eye, a perfect piece of music for this occasion.
  • plankton
    plankton Posts: 78
    Not sure if this has been mentioned but i woke with it in my head this morning.
    God knows what I must have been dreaming :shock:

    Zadok the Priest, Handel
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1W1XJ96y9k
  • bartimaeus
    bartimaeus Posts: 1,812
    Aria from La Wally
    Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
    Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
    Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building
  • man2wolf
    man2wolf Posts: 70
    LazyBoycp wrote:
    A couple of my favourites, stretching the definition of Classical slightly (though not as much as others! :wink: ):

    Mi Par D'udir Ancora from the Pearl Fishers by Bizet (no, not the duet!):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9dgcLRHIFo

    (I also love the Rolando Villazon recording (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET_bXJad ... re=related) except for him missing out of the high note at the end, even if it is apparently more authentic)

    and

    When I Am Laid In Earth from Purcell's Dido & Aeneas:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_50zj7J50U

    (The good bit starts after about a minute.) They play a brass band version of this at the Armistice Day service each year. :cry: every time!

    Mozart, Mahler & Shostakovich are also great, plus many others.


    +1 for Purcell "When I am laid........" although I prefer "Oh! Fair Cedaria, hide those eyes"

    With Remembrance Sunday coming around again, get ready to blub uncontrollably (Flowers of the Forest, When I am laid in earth, Nimrod)

    Anyway, back to the topic, 2 of my particular favourites:

    Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante, K364
    Mozart - Ave Verum Corpus, K618
  • alex16zx
    alex16zx Posts: 153
    Having graduated with a degree in music this summer it's reassuring to know that some people do still appreciate 'classical' music!

    My favourite work is possibly Shostakovich's 5th Symphony, although it's so hard to compare works across genres (and across centuries).
  • beatsystem
    beatsystem Posts: 118
    Drumming by Steve Reich or just about anything else by him.
  • UpTheWall
    UpTheWall Posts: 207
    What?

    Has no one mentioned the most beautiful piece of all time:

    Bach's Air On A G String.

    Woof.

    OPs taste in Carmina Burana mirrors mine. Off to see that very work on Saturday night at RAH.
  • rickyrider
    rickyrider Posts: 294
    Interesting thread. I've got way too many favs to start listing them all here, but if anyone doesn't know this piece by Morten Lauridsen, you should check it out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn5ken3RJBo

    You've got to be in the right (v relaxed) mood though!
  • Zachariah
    Zachariah Posts: 782
    And no-one's mentioned Pachelbel's Canon yet either...Too common...

    Most of Rachmaninov's oeuvre is very interesting.
  • LazyBoycp
    LazyBoycp Posts: 320
    beatsystem wrote:
    Drumming by Steve Reich or just about anything else by him.

    I guess you were listening to Radio 3 at the time of posting? :wink: It was pretty good - I do like rhythmic pieces like that. Mahler's Kindertoten Lieder were on a couple of hours later - mmm...

    @man2wolf - not heard of that piece... *one quick YouTube search later... Hmm, not bad. :)
  • crumbschief
    crumbschief Posts: 3,399
    Pastoral Symphony 3 (4th mvt) - Ralph Vaughan Williams
    The Lark Ascending - Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Clair de Lune - Claude Debussy

    There are more as usual but i can't remember at the moment,I shall second Bolero as well,always liked that one.
  • deptfordmarmoset
    deptfordmarmoset Posts: 3,118
    crumbschief wrote:
    Pastoral Symphony 3 (4th mvt) - Ralph Vaughan Williams
    The Lark Ascending - Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Clair de Lune - Claude Debussy

    There are more as usual but i can't remember at the moment,I shall second Bolero as well,always liked that one.

    I love the earlier Vaughan Williams - his post-war stuff was all about disharmony and is very challenging to listen to.

    Beethoven's last E major piano sonata (Op 110???) is a personal favourite.

    Schubert's Impromptus are always a pleasure to hear and Chopin's Ballades and Nocturnes can be sublime.
    Looking for a cycling buddy?
  • Stone Glider
    Stone Glider Posts: 1,227
    How about Finlandia by Sibelius? If that doesn't lift the spirits...you are dead.

    I like Vaughan Williams, he became more radical as he aged, an admirable and rare characteristic.
    The older I get the faster I was
  • rickyrider
    rickyrider Posts: 294
    Stone Glider wrote:
    How about Finlandia by Sibelius? If that doesn't lift the spirits...you are dead.

    So much Sibelius is fantastic - the finale of the 5th symphony is incredible http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFHekK1TNlU
  • man2wolf
    man2wolf Posts: 70
    rickyrider wrote:
    Stone Glider wrote:
    How about Finlandia by Sibelius? If that doesn't lift the spirits...you are dead.

    So much Sibelius is fantastic - the finale of the 5th symphony is incredible http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFHekK1TNlU

    Ah yes, Sibelius. The first classical composer I "got into" mainly due to his 2nd symphony, probably his most "romantic". For a real treat, however, lie down in a darkened room, whack the headphones on and listen to Symphony no. 7. One movement, 23 minutes, brilliant!
  • BeaconRuth
    BeaconRuth Posts: 2,086
    Tom BB wrote:
    2nd movement from Beethoven 7 is right up there
    +1.

    Also the last movement of Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto for me.

    Ruth
    http://www.rutheyles.co.uk/
  • bill57
    bill57 Posts: 454
    I'm simple. I'll have the rondo from Mozart's 4th horn concerto, and the second movement of his clarinet concerto in A. Oh, and the lacrimosa from his requiem as well.
  • nolf
    nolf Posts: 1,287
    I know it's terribly cliched but Im a big fan of Beethovens 9th, and Mozarts Reqiuem Mass.
    And Mozarts Queen of the Night Aria.
    And Mozarts Magic Flute (Overture).

    If you're going to say any Vaugh Williams surely Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y7nJL1hpUU
    (Featured in a Bont Shoe advert on cycling.tv a couple of years ago..!)

    Einaudi's Primavera

    Gotta love a bit of Bach Tocca and Fugue:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FXoyr_FyFw


    Some random piano solo stuff:
    Piano cover of Stairway to Heaven
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFJ-4C3K5Dw

    Seatbelts: "Piano Solo" by Yoko Kanno
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvsZPNOttCY
    (Really quite excellent this, especially love the bit from about 4:00-7:22)
    "I hold it true, what'er befall;
    I feel it, when I sorrow most;
    'Tis better to have loved and lost;
    Than never to have loved at all."

    Alfred Tennyson
  • jonathan2
    jonathan2 Posts: 78
    1. Arvo part - spiegel im spiegel - cant beat it for conveying tension.
    2. Aaron Copland - any of his but especially Appalachian spring.

Categories