UKC

Slowly working my way through the best off you tube videos of the grand masters, LVB, WAM, JSB and GFH. Loving it, so far.

What are your favorite, must listen to pieces?

In reply to goldmember:

10 Great's for variety (some might depend on one's strict interpretation of "Classical", but they do it for me):-

Mozart's Clarinet Concerto

Motzart's Requiem

Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony

Sibelius' 5th Symphony

Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending

Dvorak's Symphony No 9

Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez

Handel's Messiah

Wagner's Tannhauser Overture

Carl Orff's Carmina Burana

In reply to Trangia:

There's an album on Spotify (not sure if the physical version exists) carried 40 most beautiful classical anthems. Some good extracts on there.

But in reality, if you just play the popular pieces it would be like enjoying films by watching on the climax scenes.

In reply to goldmember:

Vaughan Williams, fantasia on a theme by tallis, lark ascending

Tchaikovsky, 1812. Only the versions with proper cannons though.

Tallis, stem in alium

Night on a bare mountain, murgosky (sp)

Tales from the Vienna woods, Strauss

Beathoven symphony number 7 algretto ( I know....)

Rodrigo guitar concerto the orange juice one...

All a bit classic fm I know.....

Cheers
Mark

In reply to goldmember:

Beethoven 4th & 5th piano concertos
Elgar Enigma Variations
Saint-Saens Organ Symphony
Dvorak 8th Symphony
Brahms 1st Symphony, the Haydn Variations, violin concerto
Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherezade
Gounod Petite Symphony for Winds

In reply to Mark Westerman:



Ha ha! I once played this with detonators in dustbins. It was disturbingly loud & I can't imagine what real cannons would have been like to play through.

In reply to goldmember:

When I want to transcend this earthly sphere I tend to reach for late Beethoven. I'd check out:
String Quartets 14, 15 (For me the Canzona is the most moving thing he wrote, and that's saying something!) and 16;
Piano Sonatas 30, 31 and 32;
9th Symphony;
Missa Solemnis.
Prepare to be transported!

In reply to goldmember:
Shostakovich Piano Concerto no2
Beethovens 7th & 9th Symphonies.
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending

In reply to Andy Clarke:







I agree with your choice more or less exactly, esp the Heilige Dankgesang of String Quartet 15 (Op.132). Also the Cavatina of Op.130.
The last three piano sonatas are in a class of their own, particularly the last (Op.111) - I have long thought that this is about the greatest solo piece that's ever been written.
(Would add the extraordinary Diabelli Variations Op. 133. Far ahead of their time.)
The Ninth Symphony ... arguably the greatest piece ever written.
Missa Solemnis: particularly the last half, from the Praeludium and Benedictus onwards.

Re. the Heilige Dankgesang, an interesting lecture here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=29&v=4c-R544gF8s

I also used it in a biopic I made on Beethoven over 40 years ago, while at film school:
http://gordonstainforth.apps-1and1.net/gordons-cv/out-of-the-labyrinth-gord...

In reply to Andy Clarke:

Add: 'Second period' Beethoven:

The Symphonies 2 to 7.
Piano Concertos 3 to 5
And, last but not least, the Violin Concerto
(and I haven't even mentioned many of the piano sonatas )

In reply to Andy Clarke:

... then we get on to the whole of Bach

In reply to goldmember:

My current top 10, in no particular order:

Mahler 2

Mahler 5

Dvorak cello concerto (I heard my sister playing this when she was about 16 and I was in tears hearing my 'little' sister produce such an amazing sound. She is now a professional cellist!)

Allegri Miserere

Mozart Requiem

Verdi Requiem

Faure Requiem (I have a thing for requiems!)

Barber, Adagio

Ungar, Ashokan Farewell

Hamish MacCunn, Land of the Mountain and Flood (after all, this IS UKC / UKH!)

In reply to goldmember:

Have u any orientation for period / instruments / chorale / chamber ??

In reply to goldmember:

Favourite bit of chamber music:

youtube.com/watch?v=hEFu9iV0Zxw&

If you're interested in this type of thing, here's an excellent talk/performance/explanation about it:

youtube.com/watch?v=_h65g_WnQTU&

This youtube channel's great, but sadly you only tend to get one movement done in the animation.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2zb5cQbLabj3U9l3tke1pg

In reply to goldmember:
Some of my faves...
Mahler 2 - final mvmt
Vaughan Williams - Romanza from symph no 5.
Mahler 3 - final mvmt
Morten laurisdson - o magnum mysterium
Wagner - Siegfried funeral march from the ring cycle
Bach - ricercare a6 (arr. For strings rather than organ)
Gorecki - 3rd symphony
Olafur arnalds - just about everything

And for any Climber my MUST is
Richard Straus's - alpine symphony - a musical depiction of 24 hrs climbing & descending a mountain. The 'summit' music just absolutely nails (for me) that magical feeling u can sometimes have on a summit.

In reply to goldmember:

Rachmaninov - 2nd & 3rd Piano concertos. You can find recordings of them being played by the man himself on YouTube (a bit crackly, but adds to the atmosphere).

Erik Satie - Gymnopodie and Gnossienne (not to fond of some of his other stuff - a bit plinky plonky for me).

For something a bit more left-field (and modern) Chilli Gonzales' Piano Works I & II is good entertainment (Piano Works I is better). And if you don't mind a bit of rock, Muse have some Rach sounding stuff in a couple of songs - Hurricanes and Butterflies and also parts of the Exogenesis trilogy.

In reply to goldmember:

Ravel
youtube.com/watch?v=7uxsshA24cc&
Rodrigo
youtube.com/watch?v=RxwceLlaODM&
Chopin
youtube.com/watch?v=WNZBtYT1vF0&
Liszt
youtube.com/watch?v=LdH1hSWGFGU&
Handel
youtube.com/watch?v=1p7ZW3q6PbQ&

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Many thanks for the links: very much looking forward to checking these out properly over the next couple of days, particularly your biopic.

In reply to Andy Clarke:

... it was just a film school film, made on a very low budget. Actually, I'm still quite proud of it, because I went out of my way to avoid many/most of the pitfalls of conventional dramatised biopics (with a strong narrative) ... which i guess makes it a lot less entertaining than it might have been ... One problem was that I didn't have enough time to work on the script with Tony Britton because i spent nearly two months, day in and day out, searching for a suitable location/house to shoot it in. (Not having any spare money!) Was saved by the very generous Ranger of Hyde Park ...

In reply to goldmember:

Not for the first time on here, people seem to ignore opera so 18 posts in i nominate
La Boheme
Madam Butterfly
but most of all
Tosca

In reply to goldmember:

Another vote for Beethoven, 7th 2nd movement

In reply to goldmember:

Mahler Second The Resurrection. Despite not having a religious bone in my body I've been to a number of performances and the entrance of the solo voices never fails to bring a tear to the eye.
Shostakovich's Seventh The Leningrad is another moving and exciting work and attending a performance should not be missed. Knowing something of the history of its composition adds a lot to the experience. Much Shostakovich is very thrilling especially 4th,5th,9th, & 12th and the political background very interesting. In addition much of his chamber music is wonderful especially the second piano trio which is an extended threnody for the Jewish victims of nazism.
In a totally different style I find myself entranced by a lot of Schubert's piano solo works, especially the last three sonatas D958,959 and 960. Make sure if you buy this music get the performances by Liverpool's own Martin Lewis, said to be the best living interpreter of this music.
My last recommendation is a bit off the wall, but last year we made a special trip to Lahti to hear Sibelius's Kullervo Symphony. It stayed with me for months.
I can't resist one more vote for Beethoven. The last three piano sonata op 109,110 & 111 are to me his greatest works. Martin Roscoe's disc published a couple of years back is superb (though I'm biassed as he lives near us and we've attended countless of his recitals in and around South Lakes). Very lucky to live here.

In reply to goldmember:

Yesterday morning I nearly replied to say: Bach's concerto in d minor for 2 violins ... but I was just on my way out so left it till later. Got in the car to go climbing, put the radio on, and it was playing the very same. Got my day off to a good start. The radio also played part of another of my favourites: Vivaldi's Gloria.

In reply to Rog Wilko:

I also really like Schubert and late Beethoven piano music. It is so moving. I have a soft spot for Radu Lupu and D894, having gone with my father to see him play that, 30 odd years ago. Years later, I had it played at Dad's funeral.

In reply to goldmember:

I know you asked for classical period but I always think any outdoors people should at least try a little Sibelius. Any of the symphonies or shorter tone poems.

In reply to goldmember:
The overture to the marriage of figaro. best watched as the start of Trading Places. Fecking love it.

In reply to goldmember:

For me it is the Chaconne from Bach's Violin Partita No.2.
I prefer it when played on the guitar, particularly by Andres Segovia. Unbeatable.

In reply to Welsh Kate:

Definitely the Allegri Miserere. Was lucky to catch a live performance by the Surrey Youth Festival Choir.

In reply to goldmember:


Rachmaninoff, Piano Sonata No 2. Horowitz's Version.

Beethoven Sonata No.32, where he invents Ragtime in the second movement.

Bach, Toccata in E minor. Because Bach.

Phillip Glass, Metamorphis

In reply to planetmarshall:





My own thoughts exactly! 😀

Though I have no technical knowledge of music, i believe this is an example of syncopation. Can anyone confirm?

In reply to goldmember:

Bach's Goldberg Variations, as performed by Glenn Gould. Wonderful stuff.

In reply to Rog Wilko:

Yes, very heavily syncopated.

youtube.com/watch?v=2HiyWXGZURk&

The big moment is the start of the 3rd variation at 6:30

In reply to goldmember:

Some really nice pieces mentioned here but ...

Wot, no Aaron Copeland? Shorely a must for outdoors lovers

In reply to goldmember:

An instantly accessible piece that makes me dream of Scotland.

youtube.com/watch?v=zcogD-hHEYs&

In reply to goldmember:

For JSB, you should give allofbach.com a try. The Dutch Bach society adds one performance per week to the website, at the moment they have a couple of hundred . Most are great, a few so so, but even these will give you an idea of each piece. My favourite at the moment is the mass in g minor (BWV 235).

Also, you can get great operas on youtube, e.g. Händel Ariodante from the festival in Aix en Provence. My current favourite opera, though, is Vivaldi´s Verita in Cimento in the recording conducted by Jean-Christophe Spinosi.

With advent coming up I will soon also dig up my Christmas oratory CDs, either with the Thomaner choir or the Dresden Kreuzchor (however, the good recordings from Dresden are hard to get, most often you can only find an old and rather crappy performance with Mauersberger on the net).

CB

In reply to goldmember:

My infants school headmistress used to put classical stuff on when people walked into assembly - flight of the bumblebee, hall of the mountain king, 1812 overture etc.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

I totally agree with you Gordon re the last three and Op 111 in particular. It gives you space to think and react in between the notes. By this time Beethoven was totally deaf. How did he do that?

In reply to mbh:

I don't know. It's one of the wonders of the world. After that crazy, orgasmic Ragtime variation (mentioned earlier) the music really does seem to enter another, higher plane, of such beauty and peaceful contentment that it brings tears to my eyes. I never get tired of it (first heard it when I was 20 years old).

In reply to mbh:

PS. The only thing that compares with it is the end of the Goldberg and the end of the Diabelli Variations. Have you heard Anderszewki's superb performance of the latter?

youtube.com/watch?v=W0Iu-1iE_eI&

For a taster start at about 43:32 ... You will probably then have to listen to the end

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

No! Something for this evening. Thanks!

In reply to goldmember:

Schubert Impromptus not a bad one among them, all beautiful.
Beethoven 4 &9th Symphonies. The opening of the 4th is stunning on full volume! The slow movement on the 9th is blissful.
Vivaldi Gloria. Short but sweet.
Death & Transfiguration by Richard Strauss
Mahler 4 The 'Ruhevoll,'
Any Handel opera, they are all good.
Mozart Piano Sonata no 20 in D minor K466 that second movement is pure tease!
Thomas Tallis: Spem in Alium the more choirs, the better!
I could go on and on...

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

If you are "good" at music you hear things us mere mortals don't, and can conversely imagine the sound from looking at the sheet music. I have no doubt Beethoven could do this naturally, even my son (a lowly boy's alto in the Dresden Kreuzchor) can do this to an extent.
Just last week I was listening to BWV235, snd he came in commenting that these are the words of the mass, that it sounds like Bach, but that this was g minor rather than b minor...

Beats me how he does it,

CB

In reply to goldmember:

How about this for an interpretation of LVB's Moonlight Sonata (3rd movement)?

youtube.com/watch?v=xB9l4U2D1rc&

In reply to goldmember:

Gould playing the Goldberg Variations-interesting to compare both recordings (honourable mentions must also go to Rosalind Turek and Tatiana)
A few left field pieces to consider-
Ives, Three Places in New England
Part, Fratres (various incarnations of this-check out the cello section of the Berlin Phil for this)
Mahler, Adagio, Symhony no. 10 -Bernstein or Boulez conducting
Brahms-any symphony-Carlos Klieber conducting
And just to make you step back in amazement at how good a top class band and conductor can play, check this- youtube.com/watch?v=jMvOLepoBO8&
Towards the end of his life, the legendary conductor Bruno Walter was asked if he had any regrets-he thought for a while and said he would give anything to hear the masterworks again for the first time. You have a fabulous time ahead of you!

In reply to Sean Kelly:

I too am a massive Schubert fan, and I think his Impromptus are right up there (with Beethoven and Bach) - immaculate to my ears!