Classical Music

Oh dear God, Sarah Brightman.... *shudder* Nearly as bad as Kathrine bloody Jenkins. Or Charlotte bleeding Church.

Thank you Ambler. You've now killed this thread.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Harms is a Sarah Brightman man. Rave prefers Pat Benatar tar.

Sign me up as big Pat Benatar fan! The world's most accomplished opera singer. ( she trained as opera singer )

Sharky wrote:

Thank you Ambler. You've now killed this thread.

Well. There it is.

I aim to please.

Now fuck off.

How shall we fuck off, O Lord?

Get a new humour chip installed, Dr Shark.

Forgive my intemperate language. I'm doing my tax return.

Sharky wrote:

Thank you Ambler. You've now killed this thread.

Sorry, that was meant to be sarcastic.

Written in 1673 and the 2nd movement is ahead of its time by 3 centuries.

Ah, I'd say the classical music written in 1973 was three centuries behind its time, making that Baroque piece (J.S. Bach?) six centuries ahead of its time.

What classical music written in '73? That's a very broad label.

The above piece is by Justin Heinrich Biber.

Sharky wrote:

What classical music written in '73? That's a very broad label.

The above piece is by Justin Heinrich Biber

Justin Bieber, a classical musician? Who knew? Kid's got talent!

Harmsway wrote:

Loomis wrote:

I guess I've got some listening to do. The question, though, is: where does one start?

You start with what you like, I'd say. Sure, anyone could write up a list of famous masterpieces, but I'd recommend you just find a gateway drug and go from there.

That's certainly the best advice. However, I'd still be interested in reading your list of masterpieces, or at any rate your selection of a handful of works that are absolute musts - the greatest of the great.

Harmsway wrote:

but before I make any recommendations it would probably be helpful to know what classic music you've heard and responded to, or even just which classically-styled soundtracks you've found compelling.

Well, I like what (little) I've heard of Philip Glass - in particular the opening track from GLASSWORKS, which I think is entirely piano. KOYAANISQATSI as well, of course.

Then there's Ryuichi Sakamoto's music for THE LAST EMPEROR, MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. LAWRENCE and BABEL. Away from cinema, he's also done some lovely piano music, such as "Energy Flow", which I gather was an improbable number one hit single in Japan a few years ago.

Continuing with pianists, I love what I've heard of Erik Satie, particularly that really famous tune of his - not sure what it's called, but I'm sure you know it.

I also remember liking Debussy's LA MER, Dvorak's NEW WORLD SYMPHONY and some Shostakovich violin pieces, all of which I owned on CD as a child.

On the whole, I guess I like music that's soft, reflective and slightly mournful. Relaxing, ethereal music with a poignant edge. For instance, I enjoy ambient electronic music (e.g. The Orb) and particularly chilled-out dub and instrumental reggae (e.g. Augustus Pablo).

Loomis wrote:

However, I'd still be interested in reading your list of masterpieces, or at any rate your selection of a handful of works that are absolute musts - the greatest of the great.

Hm. Well, Paul Schrader once wisely said that the formation of any canon must begin with the one work that couldn't possibly be excluded. And so I'll say J. S. Bach's MASS IN B MINOR. But it's not the kind of classical work I'd recommend to people just getting their toes wet in the vast world of classical music (well, at least not the whole of it).

That said, the one work I'd save from the fire, before any other, is Shostakovich's SYMPHONY NO. 5 (as recorded by Bernard Haitink with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra). This work moves me so deeply, in fact, that I really struggle for words to appropriately describe the experience of listening to it. IShostakovich's SYMPHONY NO. 5 is so emotionally intense in places that it almost burns.

Loomis wrote:

On the whole, I guess I like music that's soft, reflective and slightly mournful. Relaxing, ethereal music with a poignant edge. For instance, I enjoy ambient electronic music (e.g. The Orb) and particularly chilled-out dub and instrumental reggae (e.g. Augustus Pablo).

Okay, following on with this, then, I'll recommend the "Crucifixus" from Bach's MASS IN B-MINOR, the "Andante" from Barber's VIOLIN CONCERTO, the whole of Debussy's "Suite Bergamesque," "Adagio" from Kachaturian's GAYANE BALLET SUITE, the whole of Satie's GNOSSIENNE, and the "Lullaby" from Stravinsky's THE FIREBIRD.

Cheers for those recommendations, Harms.

Loomis,

You might also like Gorecki's Drei Stucke im alten Stil.

Loomis wrote:

Cheers for those recommendations, Harms.

No prob. Let me know how they go; I tried to put together selections that offer enough variety within a certain range that they might lead you in different directions.

Definitely. If I find that any of this stuff floats my boat, I'll post my thoughts in this thread.

Cheers for your recommendation as well, Perilagu Khan.

Just ordered that Mahler box set. 16 CDs for $45--fucking great deal.

I wish the Herrmann at 20th Century Fox box set was that cheap. :roll:

I've been falling in love with Verdi's DON CARLO. Not many clips on YouTube, though, so as far as video clip goes, I have to make due with this so-so production. But just listen to the score here:



That's just phenomenal.

Call my insane, but this gives me an eargasm.

THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS is a young man's piece, which is why the first of the two Gould recordings still reigns supreme. Those with grey hair and a grey mind will miss its joy.

Sharky wrote:

Those with grey hair and a grey mind will miss its joy.

And how old was JSB when he wrote it, Oh Shark?

*shaves off pepper grey beard*