Which classic music pieces do you recommend?

cantilena91

2009-01-18 04:07:17 UTC

Instead of pieces and composers, I recommend you to listen to Classic FM UK online, they have got full playlists and composer/performer details on their website so that you can check them out in case you became interested in a certain piece/composer. Happy listening!

Phil

2009-01-19 01:08:18 UTC

I'll recommend some music off the top of my head and group it according to how accessible I think it is.

By "accessible," I mean relatively easier to appreciate by someone who isn't as experienced with classical music. These are all GREAT works. Maybe as you become more familiar with the listening process you can move on to some of the harder-to-swallow(but still great!) pieces.

Pretty accessible:

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7

Dvorak: Symphony No. 9

Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1

Copland: Appalachian Spring

Mussorgsky & Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition

Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor

A little more out there(still great music!!):

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2

Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major

Barber: Adagio for Strings

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5

Sibelius: Symphony No. 1

Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

Serious listening(still great music!!):

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring

Stravinsky: Firebird

Barber: Knoxville, Summer of 1915

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe

Remember that classical music is different from all other types of music: You have to pay attention to it if you really want to enjoy it fully. It is like really engaging your mind and being absorbed by a work of art as opposed to just glancing at a cool-looking drawing. That is ESPECIALLY true with the pieces in the second and third categories.

That brief list should provide you with many hours of enjoyment. There is SO much wonderful music out there, and I am really glad you have gained an interest in classical music! You have opened a whole new world for yourself. If you would like some more recommendations, feel free to post here more or send me a message!

P.S. Don't use youtube, no matter how tempting! The sound quality sucks and this great music doesn't deserve to be listened to on it. Use the local library or iTunes! There are also some good torrents to be found!

P.S.S. The first piece I listed, Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto, is a really great piece. This should be the first one you get, IMO. It is really accessible and easy to follow and is also a wonderful, excellently written piece. Highly recommended. Get the Van Cliburn recording if possible.

Please stop by here if you have any more questions!

Papagena

2009-01-18 15:14:21 UTC

I'm going to give you a list of some of my favorites pieces. If you happen to find something you like, check out the composer and listen to more compositions they created.

Overture to Le Nozze Di Figaro - Mozart

Air on the G String - Bach

Symphony No.41 "Jupiter" - Mozart

Miniature Overture to The Nutcracker - Tchaikovsky

Flight of the Bumblebee - Rimsky-Korssakoff

In the Hall of the Mountain King - Grieg

Overture to The Barber of Seville - Rossini

Symphony in Three Movements - Stravinsky

Sleeper's Awake - Bach

Serenade for Strings - Tchaikovsky

Overture to the Bartered Bride - Smetana

Requiem in D Minor: Lacrymosa - Mozart

O Fortuna - Orff

Pictures at an Exhibition - Mussorgsky

The Rite of Spring - Stravinsky

Serenade #10 in B Flat - Mozart

Sicilienne - Faure

Piano Concerto #3 - Rachmaninoff

Vltava - Smetana

Symphony No.40 - Mozart

Andante in C for Flute and Orchestra - Mozart

The Four Seasons - Vivaldi

Water Music Suite #2 - Handel

Romance in B Flat - Faure

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - Bach

As for opera, check out these pieces. You can watch them on the "Pauper's Opera", or at least that is what I call Youtube. The only problem is that the video quality is not the best on this site.

Le Veau D'or from Faust - Gounod

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMBq4QDPhk8

Sull'Aria from Le Nozze Di Figaro - Mozart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmlCpOojau8&feature=related

Sola sola in buio loco from Don Giovanni - Mozart

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

Der Holle Rache from Die Zauberflote - Mozart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvuKxL4LOqc

Habanera from Carmen - Bizet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2XyHfi50yE

Liabamo ne'lieti calici from La Traviata - Verdi

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

Pres des Remparts de Seville from Carmen - Bizet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljv0zDATu3c

Need some background info on classical? This link might help.

http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/classical/classical.html

Want to download some of these pieces? Check out emusic.com. For $12 a month you can get 30 download, but when you first join they give you some free ones, so you end up with about eighty downloads. You can suspend your account if you (like me) don't have the money to pay for every month or don't feel like downloading any more music.

I'm no expert, but I hope this helps.

Dj KobyOne

2009-01-18 10:44:45 UTC

I love Wagner's Ride Of The Valkyries for 3 reasons,

The way it can was performed in front of a theatre audience:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=GSKL5E3zSjs

The way it was used in Apocalypse Now:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz3Cc7wlfkI

And the way it was used in What's opera Doc with Bugs Bunny,

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjhm-8kMtzg

I think these 3, although completely different in nature show the effect and timelessness of classical music, and although I, like yourself have only started to become interested in it i would love learn and hear more... I cant wait to see your other answers.

Rodmilla

2009-01-18 12:22:59 UTC

I would recomend the following:

Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent: Symphony No.3

Tchaikovsky: Marche Slave

Mendelssohn: Symphony No.4 'Italian'

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro

Chopin: Piano Concerto No.1

Sullivan: 'Irish' Symphony

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

Verdi: Aida

Wagner: The Ring cycle

Haines: 'Le Merchand'

Scott: 'The Duchess of York'

Shostakovich: Festive Overture

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

Berlioz: Harold in Italy

Liszt: Hangarian Rhapsody No.1

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.3

Mozart: Don Giovanni

Rossini: William Tell

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto

Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance march No.1

Dukas: The Socerer's Apprentice

Pierne: Entance of the little Fauns

Liadov: A Musical Snuffbox

Brahms: Hungarian Dance No.5

Wagner: Tannhauser

Respighi: The Birds

Handel: The Water Music

Bach: Orchestral Suite No.3

Faure: Spanish Suite from 'Dolly's Suite'

Debussy: Clair de Lune

Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals

Haines: Symphony no. 10

Bizet: Carmen

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture

Strauss: The blue Danube

Dvorak: Symphony No.9

Purcell: 15 Fantasias for viols

Vivaldi: Gloria in D

Rameau: Platee

Handel: Zadok the Preist

Bach: St John Passion

Gluck: Armide

Haydn: Nelson Mass

Mozart: Cosi fan tutte

Beethoven: Fidelio

Weber: Bassoon Concerto

Rossini: The Barber of Seville

Schubert: The Trout Quintet

Donizetti: Anna Bolena

Scott: Symphony No. 14

Bellini: Oboe Concerto

Berlioz: Te Deum

Mendelssohn: Octet for Strings

Chopin: Fantasy in F minor

Schumann: Cello Concerto

Sullivan: Macbeth Overture

Liszt: Faust Symphony

Wagner: Parsifal

Verdi: Nabucco

Franck: Symphonic Variations

Smetana: Ma Vlast

Bruckner: Te Deum

Strauss II: Morning Papers

Brahms: German Requiem

Saint Saens: Dnase Macabre

Bizet: Symphony in C

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker

Dvorak: Rusalka

Grieg: In Autumn

Elgar: Enigma Variations

Puccini: Tosca

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

Scott: Liebst Mich

Haines: Symphony no.12

Debussy: La Mer

R. Strauss: Don Juan

Sibelius: En Saga

V. Williams: Linden Sea

Rachmaninoff: Vocalise

Schoenberg: Variations for Orchestra

Ravel: Bolero

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

Bartok: String Quartets

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf

Sibelus: In the Arabian Desert

Bartok: Lapus Lazuli

Kampf: General Opulence

Yulis Fo: Lichen Huyinj

Mozart: Poliferary

Tai Min: Asiana Bliss

Scott: Burlief

Haines: In His Eyes

Verdi: Wilo

Kampf: Ovorio

Coloque: Greil Road

Hayes: Road to Perdition

Freais: Hell is Coming

Sibelius: The Day Heaven and Earth Collided

Gershwin: Rhapsody in blue

Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No.2

Britten: Peter Grimes

Monteverdi: Ariadne’s Lament

Purcell: The Fairy Queen

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Rameau: Zoroastre

Handel: Messiah

Bach: The well tempered Clavier

Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice

Haydn: Symphony No.100

Mozart: Symphony no. 41

Beethoven: Fur Elise

Weber: Clarinet Concerto

Rossini: Stabat Mater

Schubert: Unfinished symphony

Donizetti: The Elixir of Love

Bellini: Norma

Berlioz: Requiem:

Mozart: Requiem

Chopin: Polonasies

Liszt: Les Preludes

Wagner: Die Walkure

Verdi: Otello

Smetana: Salon Polkas

Bruckner: Symphony No.9

Haines: La Chasse

Scott: A Bird in the wind

Brahms: German Requiem

Saint Saens: Septet in E-flat

Bizet: The Peral Fishers

Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet

Dvorak: Slavonic Dances

Grieg: Piano Concerto

Elgar: Sea Pictures

Puccini: La Boheme

Mahler: Symphony no.8

Debussy: Jeux

R. Strauss: 4 Last songs

Sibelius: Finlandia

V. Williams: Symphony no.1

Rachmaninoff: Five Pieces

Schoenberg: Piano Concerto

Ravel: La Valse

Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra

Stravinsky: The Firebird

Prokofiev: Piano Concerto

Gershwin: Porgy and Bess

Shostakovich: The Age of Gold

Britten: War Requiem

Satie: Gymnopedie No.1

Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata

Sinding: Rustle of spring

Liszt: Un sospiro

Brahms: Inermezzo

Granados: Spanish Dnaces

Mozart: Fantasia in D minor

Purcell: The Double Dealer

Haines: The Grand King

Settin: War of Britain

Scott: 'Welsh' Symphony

Hobson: Goodbye

Tain: Anglo Symphony

Mussorgsky: A Night on a Bare Mountain

Stravinsky: Symphony in 3 movements

Strauss II: Hungarian Polka

Haines: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra

Scott: 'Grand' Symphony

I also might recommend some composers if you want to further you're liking for classical music:

Renaissance era:

Hildergard of Bingen (German)

Guillaume de Machaut (French)

Guillaume Dufay (Flemish)

Johannes Ockeghem (Flemish)

Josquin des Prez (Flemish)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (Italian)

Orlande de Lassus (Flemish)

Tomas Luis de Victoria (Spanish)

Thomas Tallis (English)

William Byrd (English)

Carlo Gesualdo (Italian)

Gilles Binchois (Bergundian)

Adriaan Willaert (Italian)

Baroque era:

Claudio Monteverdi (Italian)

Heinrich Schutz (German)

Jean-Baptiste Lully (French)

Arcangelo Corelli (Italian)

Henry Purcell (English)

Antonio Vivaldi (Italian)

Johann Pachelbel (German)

Dietrich Buxtehude (Dnaish)

Johann Sebastian Bach (German)

George Frideric Handel (German)

Domenico Scarlatti (Italian)

Jean-Philippe Rameau (French)

Gregorio Allegri (Italian)

Alessandro Scarlatti (Italian)

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (Italian)

Giuseppe Tartini (Italian)

Francois Couperin (French)

Georg Philipp Telemann (German)

Johann Hasse (German)

Classical era:

Christoph Willibald Gluck (German)

Joseph Haydn (Austrian)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Austrian)

Thomas Arne (English)

Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach (German)

Johann Christian Bach (German)

Domenico Cimarosa (Italian)

Antonio Salieri (Italian)

Luigi Boccherini (Italian)

Giovanni Paisiello (Italian)

Franz Schubert (Austrian)

Ludwig van Beethoven (German)

Romantic era:

Ludwig van Beethoven (belongs in both)

Gioacchino Rossini (Italian)

Gaetano Donizetti (Italian)

Vincenzo Bellini (Italian)

Carl Maria von Weber (German)

Giacomo Meyerbeer (German)

Niccolo Paganini (Italian)

Hector Berlioz (French)

Felix Mendelssohn (German)

Frederic Chopin (Polish)

Robert Schumann (German)

Franz Liszt (Hungarian)

Charles Gounod (French)

Georges Bizet (French)

Luigi Cherubini (Italian)

Daniel-Francios-Esprit Auber (French)

John Field (Irish)

Franz Berwald (Sweedish)

Jacques Fromenthal (French)

Mikhail Glinka (Russian)

Mily Balakirev (Russian)

Alexander Borodin (Russian)

Modest Mussorgsky (Russian)

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian)

Bedrich Smetana (Czech)

Antonin Dvorak (Czech)

Edvard Grieg (Norwegian)

Isaac albeniz (Spanish)

Enrique Granados (Spanish)

Arthur Sullivan (English)

Jacques Offenbach (French)

Johann Strauss (Austrian)

Johann Straus II (Austrian)

Emmanuel Chabrier (French?)

Edouard Lalo (French)

Johan Svendsen (Norwegian)

Christian Sinding (Norwegian)

Johannes Brahms (German)

Anton Bruckner (Austrian)

Giuseppi Verdi (Italian)

Richard Wagner (German)

Gustav Mahler (Austrian)

Edward Elgar (English)

Jean Sibelius (Finnish)

Cammile Saint-Saens (French)

Gabriel Faure (French)

Giacomo Puccini (Italian)

Richard Strauss (German)

Sergei Rachmaninoff (Russian)

Karol Szymanoski (Polish)

Alexander Glazunov (Russian)

Hugo Wolf (Austrian)

Max Bruch (German)

Hubert Perry (English)

Paul Dukas (French)

Vincet d'Indy (French)

Charles Villers Stanford (Irish)

Twentieth Century:

Claude Debussy (Fench)

Maurice Ravel (French)

Erik Satie (French)

Alexander Scriabin (Russian)

Ferruccio Busoni (Italian)

Ralph Vaughn Williams (English)

Gustav Holst (English)

Frederick Delius (English)

Leos Janacek (Czech)

Bela Bartok (Hungarian)

Zoltan Kodaly (Hungarian)

Carl Nielsen (Danish)

Arnold Schoenberg (Austrian)

Alban Berg (Austrian)

Anton Webern (Austrian)

Kurt Weil (German)

Francis Poulenc (French)

Igor Stravinsky (Russian)

Sergei Prokofiev (Russian)

Paul Hindemith (German)

William Walton (English)

Ottorino Respighi (Italian)

Manuel de Falla (Spanish)

Aram Khachaturian (Armenian)

Constant Lambert (English)

Philip Heseltine (English)

Dimitri Shostakovich (Russian)

Benjamin Britten (English)

Olivier Messiaen (French)

Sir Nathan Scott (English)

Joshua Haines (English)

Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent (French)

That's just for starters.....