Feb 202010
I have heard some great Classical tunes, and liked them. They are pretty much the one’s that everyone has heard, like:
End of the Beginning – Jason Becker
1812 Overture – Tchaikovsky
Ode to Joy – Beethoven
Symphony No. 5 – Beethoven
Canon in D – Pachelbel
and so on.
Can you give me some composer’s names or some great compositions or something? I would really appreciate it.
thanks!
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! 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!
This is the exact same answer i gave to someone else, and they seemed to like it…
Try listening to these first:
1. Beethoven’s symphonies (I like the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th)
(there are some conducted by Karajan on youtube!!)
2. Mendelssohn symphonies (I like the 4th)
3. Brahms symphony #3, 3rd movement
3. Schumann symphonies- the 4th one’s the most exciting!
4. Smetana’s Má Vlast – second movement – Vltava (“The Moldau”)
5. Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto #2 In C Minor
6. Prokofiefv’s Romeo & Juliet – Dance Of The Knights
7. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major
8. Saint-Saens – Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso
9. March by Prokofiev (Heifetz’s version on youtube is marvelous!!)
10. Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor
There is also this video I saw recently… you might enjoy it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aajtw30-Y…
Anyway, I hope you enjoy these selections; these are some of my favorites
I love Debussy, particularly Clair de Lune
another really great piece is Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven.
For more contemporary classical music, or more instrumental really, look at soundtracks from some recent movies. The music from Pan’s Labyrinth is really, really good. I also really like Yann Tiersen, the composer for the musical score of the movie Amelie. His music is really simplistic, but excellent. Phillip Glass, too, has some excellent piano.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Aaron Copland
Friedmann Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Johann Stamitz
Joseph Haydn
Johann Christian Bach
Luigi Boccherini
Antonio Salieri
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Franz Schubert
Ferdinando Carulli
Niccolò Paganini
Frédéric Chopin
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
Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C-sharp minor
Satie: Gymnopedie
Brahms: Waltz in A-flat
Schumann: Traumerei
Sinding: Rustle of Spring
Chopin: Etude in E-major
Liszt: Un sospiro
Chopin: Nocturne in E-flat
Brahms: Intermezzo in A
Chausson: Interlude
Faure: Nocturne in A-flat
Chopin: ‘Raindrop’ Prelude
Granados: The Maiden and the Nightingale
Satie: Gymnopedie No.3
Mendelssohn: La Casse
Schubert: German Dance No.1
Grieg: Wedding day at Troldhaugan
Handel: Courante from Keyboard Suite No.1
Bach: Prelude no.8 in E-flat major
Granados: Spanish Dance No.2
Granados: Spanish Dance No.5
Chopin: Prelude in E minor
Mozart: Fantasia in D minor
Chopin: Prelude in B minor
Marcello: Adagio from Concerto in D
Albeniz: Prelude from ‘Espana’
Bach: Prelude No.2
Albeniz: Malaguena from ‘Espana’
Haines: Sonata no.6 ‘Memorial’
Scott: Prelude no.22 in D-flat
I am also going to suggest some composers if you would like to further your liking of classical music:
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)