Classical Music

[Seiferalmasy1930]

The best way to listen to classical music is to just switch on the radio and tune int to the classical music channel . I wouldn't buy a classical music cd if unless one is selling under $ 5.90 . And yes , there are some classical cds selling below that price from where I stay .
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[h i k a r i a]

I was forced into playing the piano too. It was actually my sister's idea in the beginning. She really liked classical music so she learned how to play the piano in Hong Kong when she was little. By the time she finished Grade 8, our family decided to move to Canada and since the family was too busy getting settled (finding a house, new jobs, etc.) she didn't have time to find a piano teacher and continue learning. Now, she can't find the time to learn the piano with her busy work schedules and she regrets for not continuing when she was still a teenager. So when I was around, she persuaded my parents to let me have a try because when I gradually get older, I might like classical music too and will have a chance to complete the piano course. Heh, so yeah, if it weren't for her, my parents wouldn't have forced me into learning the piano when I was three and a half years-old. o___o;

As for classical music, I grew up liking the genre. I had an enjoyable time studying musical periods and composers while I was going through the History course in theory. I took a liking of impressionists composers like Liszt (his ‘Hungarian' Rhapsodies' and ‘La Campanella' are worthwhile to listen to), Debussy, and Paganini. I did like some Classical and Romantic composers like Mozart, Schumann, Beethoven. Bach's works usually drove me crazy when I was in Grade 10 in piano because I find his fugues challenging, but once I got the hang of it, I did enjoy playing his Preludes and Fugues. ^^;

The musical period I found fascinating was the 20th century, or what I like to call it, the "experimenting" period. Either the song makes sense, or makes no sense at all. XD Some people don't like it because of the strong dissonant sounds, but I don't mind. It was interesting to see how some composers wanted to take music to the extreme level and they made it so complex that usually no ordinary musician can play their works well. (Ex. ‘Desorder' by Ligeti. It's one of my favourites but unless the piano player is extremely good with technique, it's difficult to play on the piano since both hands have two seperate, different keys to control and the piece goes really fast. ) The period didn't seem to last for a longtime, but I enjoyed it a lot. ^___^

I'm not a big fan of the "greatest hits" or some of the popular works out there. Maybe it's the fact that most musicians seem to consider playing the popular works more than other musical works that exists out there. I used to go to my piano teacher's Christmas recital every year and I keep hearing Chopin's 'Fantastisie Impromptu IV' and Beethoven's 'Fur Elise.' at least two or three times. It's not that the piano piece doesn't sound good, but I feel like I'm listening to some replay over and over again...Heh, and that really irritates me. =__=

[Krawnik]

I too have a soft spot for classical music. It started when I became physically dependant on Mad Maestro for the Playstation 2. My favourite composers include Tchaikovsky, for his ballets (manly!), Bizet's L'Arlesienne (and Carmen, of course, but no one gives props to L'Arlesienne), and then the two biggest names, Mozart and Beethoven.
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[Tony Stark]

I like classical music, but I was never able to delve myself deep into the genre. The classical station here in Raleigh is a frequent on my radio, but I find that besides Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Handel and a few others, I have no idea of the composers that they're talking about after the song is over.

Out of the three biggest, Mozart, Beethoven and Bach, my favorite is Bach. While Beethoven has a much more emotional, eccentric sound I find Bach's harmonics much more interesting. Whereas Mozart's work was interesting to me, it really never hit me like Bach's does. But that's just my opinion, I guess.

I suppose it isn't really classical music, but I listen to John Williams and Danny Elfman music a lot, they do scores for movies. John Williams produces some of the most killer music of our time, the scores to Jurassic Park and Star Wars are just incredible. Elfman, who does almost all the scores for Tim Burton, though he has a less classical feel, is certainly amazing.

If they ever joined forces, I have no clue what I would do besides bug out like crazy. I think I might actually do a flip for joy, and I am in no way athletic enough to do a flip.
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[Gil-galad]

As many Tintoans know, classical music is one of my passions. So here I go on a little bit of rambling...

I really don't care much for the earlier classical composers, because of the lack of Brass and other Winds in their orchestras. I just think that without those instruments the music really loses depth. It's not the fact that the music is boring... it just feels so sterile. When music moves into the Romantic Era in the 1800s, it really gains a lot of depth. They add more brass and woodwinds, and experiments with other themes besides the primarily similar themes that had been used in the past.

The first composer I'd like to talk about is Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. He's a really terrific Russian composer, who sadly often gets over looked by the casual classical music listener. His best work is the truly epic Scheherezade, it's really one of the greatest symphonies of all time. Ohter notable works by Korakov that are really enjoyable are Capriccio Espanol (another symphony) and Dance of the Tumblers.

Richard Wagner is another one of my favorite composers. His operas are probably the most notable compositions. Lohengrin (especially the prelude to Act III), and Tristan and Isolde are my favorites. The Ride of the Valkyrie (from Die Walkure) is another very popular one of his works.

Modest Mussorgsky I chose to mention mainly for his work Pictures at an Exhibition. Which is a 15 part composition thar really has a fantasic, and very Russian, finally. I absolutely love the glorious parts that Russian composers give to brass players. His most famous work is probably Night on Bald Mountain, but in my opinion, it really pales in comparison to Pictures at an Exhibition.

Peter Tchaikovsky is another very distinctly Russian composer. I can't say much about him that you don't already know, because he's the most popular of "The Five" Russian composers of the age. My favorite pieces of his are Overture 1812, Marche Slav, and Romeo and Juliet.

My favorite composer is probably Antonin Dvorak. His 9th Symphony: "The New World" is absolutely terrific. I'm sure you've heard at least the very famous second movement. I actually find that the second movement is really a bit too long, and that the first, third, and fourth are actually much more interesting. Slavonic March, and Carnival Overture are two other excellent pieces composed by him.

Gustav Mahler was kind of amusing, personality wise. He was terrified of '9th' symphonies. You know, the age old curse of the ninth symphony of a composer, while being their greatest work, was also doomed to be their last. He even called his ninth symphony by some name that completely avoided the number "9" at all. Ironically enough, that ninth symphony was his last symphony! Another composer down to the curse of the ninth. My favorite work of his is actually his Second Symphony, the Ressurection Sympony, though. A beautiful mix of chorus and orchestra, especially in the beautifully uplifting finale.

Ahhh, what to say about Richard Strauss. He wrote music that feels much more... thoughtful, I guess I could say, then most of the composer I've listed. MY favorite, Also Sprach Zarathustra, shows this very well. While the introduction has been made exceeding well known due to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the rest of the music in the suite is very beautiful-- yet very staid, and as I said, thoughtful. ^^

One of the most influential composer/performers of the past century was Sergei Rachmaninoff, a Russian born who lived the later half of his life in the US. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is my favorite of his works. Capriccio Bohemien and Symphonic Dances are also excellent. The recording of "Rachmaninoff plays Rachmaninoff" is really a must have for any classical collection.

The last two composers I will mention were both at odds with their governments. Each government wanted them to continue writing music that would award their country with international pride, but each spoke out against their governments, and also wrote music in "celebration" of their rulers.

The first of the two I will mention is Ottorino Respighi. If you don't recognize the name, you'll recognize his most famous work: [The Pines of Rome[/b]. This is actually just the first part of a trilogy of symphonies he wrote. The second one was called The Fountains of Rome. The third, he was asked to write in celebration of the facist leader of Italy, Mussolini, however he wrote it more as a satirical celebration. The final work was caled Feste Romane, or Roman Festivals. It's really a work of genius, as there celebration appears frequently throughout the piece, however it often hints at the sort of madness, and cruelty involved not just in Ancient Rome, but equally in the facist state that he lived in. Roman Festivals, in my opinion, stands out as one of the most difficult, and most delicately composed symphonies of all time. A must have for any collection.

The last compser, and by far one of my favorites is Dimitri Shostakovich. He, similarly to Respighi, wrote pieces in "celebration" of his government. He was much more heavily censored by the Communist leaders in Russia. He wrote his Seventh Symphony while in Leningrad, during the seige of Leningrad-- and that song was adopted by the Russian leaders as a sort of anthem for the victories of their nation. However, he later wrote his Eighth Symphony as a counterpoint depicting the suffering and sadness of war (truly a masterpiece), and it was thus banned in Russia until the 1960s. Several more of his works were banned, especially because of his outspokeness on the Communist leaders in Russia. He has a very interesting life, which I really shouldn't go in to detail here, because its really very detailed. I'm curious as to if he has an official biography out, because he definitely has the most exciting life a composer could have. Other notable works by Shostakovich, besides his 7th, and 8th, are his 5th Syphony, which is my favorite, and his 10th, which certainly shows a change in his personality.

Anyways-- I hope I didn't ramble too greatly. ^^

edit: Alright-- I forgot to mention Ravel. heh. I don't want to say too much more, but Daphnes and Chloe and Pavane for a Dead Princess are two of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written.
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[Gil-galad]

Sorry for the double post, but I've just recently wrote a little more in deatail about Ottorino Respighi's Feste Romane-- and why it's my favorite piece. ^^


The work was actually commissioned by Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Respighi, however, was never fond of the fact that Mussolini came to power, and wrote his work about the excessive extravagance, and sometimes disturbing behavior of the Ancient Romans whom Mussolini revered.

The first movement opens up with a pretty glorious sounding trumpet fanfare, which often signifies the beginning of a celebration, but this fanfare slowly degrades in to a more sinister sounding section on which more and more layers are added on top to. It slowly builds up in intensity and complexity until you can hear the trumpet fanfare from the beginning singing out over the rest of the insanity the orchestra is playing-- and then it all comes to an abrupt halt with a final tuba line.

The second movement, I believe was written about the Christian martyrs in Rome. Not exactly the symbol of gloriousness Mussolini was hoping for, I would imagine. The kind of eerie beginning section is heavily contrasted to by the ending portion, which does so quite glorious-- as it shows the Romans returning to their opulence and festivals right after the murder of a group of people. I believe the music near the end is supposed to signify the beautiful countryside of Italy, at least that's what it sounds like to me. ^^

The third movement, for me is the least exciting. That's not to say that it isn't as good as the others, but I just don't have as much to say about it. There is a section played by guitar, which I think is meant to symbolize the commoners at the harvest festival. This section has got some really beautiful French Horn solos in it, as well.

The fourth movement returns to kind of the same style as the first movement. This one jumps in to some pretty complex layering right from the get go, though. Throughout this last part there little allusions to partying that come through by using much more modern compositional techniques than you'd expect to find in a piece like this. There's syncopation used that had only very recently been brought to prominence by American composers, and later a Trombone solo signifying a sort of drunken stupor. After which it returns to a sort of frenzy building, once again like the first movement, piece on top of piece until the finale. Also, like the first movement before the end you can hear the trumpet fanfare from this movement peak out over the rest of the orchestra, while the two of them build up and continue to the climax-- unlike in the first movement where the theme just abruptly lets off. The ending is traditional, in all respects, however the rest of the song certainly is something all on its own.

I absolutely love listening to classical music from the early 1900s, as you can see the composers trying so many new things, and incorporating new styles with the old. While the complexity of the piece certainly is immense from a compositional stand point, it's much easier to listen to than a lot of modern classical composers are. It's really the combination of new styles, with the old, and the complexity of the themes building on one another throughout the piece that lead me to say that this really is my favorite "song". ^^
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[Tendou Souji]

I have a strange affinity to Classical. I can't seem to hold myself from doing weird arm movements when I'm listening to one.

[Galt]

I like Giuseppe Verdi. I dig his stuff.

[Assassin01]

Yeah i don't mind listening to classical music every now and then. I use to play the flute and the songs i played were mainly from the Baroque and Classical periods of music. I like listening to Debussy's piano works mainly because its relaxing and i also enjoy listening to it when i had a rough day.
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