Classical Music Rundown

[Peace]

Anybody here listen to classical music?

I listen to a good bit of it. My younger brother is a certified classical music guru and got me onto it a little, starting from about 10 years ago.

Like many people, I consider Bach to be the greatest. My only slight against him is that he was Lutheran.

Somewhere below that I would put Beethoven. He's pretty high up there in my book, although Bach is in a class of his own.

Mozart I would not put in the same class as either of those two, although I find him excellent.

If we are rounding out the three B's I would have to say that Brahms is overrated. He just doesn't do it for me.

I'm also a huge fan of Rachmaninoff, Vivaldi, and Dvorak.

Edited January 31, 2021 by Peace

[chrysostom]

I have been immersed in this sort of thing for most of my life.

What is wonderful to me now is discovering new music, new recordings of old music, old recordings of old music, getting into genres I previously didn't explore, etc. I don't really rank people in my mind, though Bach is a good staple and Schumann always exerts a tug. Of late I have been listening to a baroque music project called Les Arts Florissants which has been putting up lovely videos lately.

 

is one example. There's so much liveliness and beauty. Another recent discovery is this new recording of a gorgeous Couperin piece. https://youtu.be/HOstLd2p7J4

I also like Heinrich Biber's Rosary Sonatas - a collection of fifteen baroque violin sonatas - each sonata the violin tunes the strings differently and even crosses them over each other in one occasion!

In new music, I like Caroline Shaw's string quartet album called Orange. https://youtu.be/tQPY89YQmJQ It's not for everyone but I really love the allusions to earlier music throughout. Also David Lang's Little Match Girl Passion is a touching, weird, but still beautiful (to me) take on suffering... https://youtu.be/-waRC73Wx6g

And Arvo Pärt is deservedly the most popular and most-performed living composer today - if you don't know him you should. Very Eastern Orthodox outlook and some heartrending music. https://youtu.be/7vdgZAJVnes

Despite having listened to so much music, there is still so much for me to discover!

[Luigi]

Henryk Gorecki's Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) is a touching, not-weird (though minimalist), beautiful take on suffering. Orchestra and soprano, in three movements: 

I. a 15th century Polish prayer/lament of Mary:  sostenuto tranquillo ma contabile

II. a message written on the wall of a Polish concentration camp: lento e largo - tranquilissimo

III. a Silesian folksong of a mother searching for her son: cantabile semplice

 

[SicutColumba]

I love seeing this thread. I am a huge fan of Baroque music, my very favorite Baroque composer being Clérambault. He has a magnificent Te Deum which I saw in concert and of which haven’t been able to find a recording. It’s stuck with me for a long time but it was performed by a very niche scholastic group and I don’t think it’s widely sung or recorded. I love Couperin and Rameau, and I am currently obsessed with Charpentier’s Magnificat à trois voix. After holding Vivaldi in unwarranted disdain I am really coming to appreciate his work. I also love Purcell a lot. 
I used to be totally in love with Rachmaninov. The Bells is great, and I used to adore his concertos for piano but I now find them a slight bit too sentimental, not as mature as I would like. right now I really like the Three Russian Songs. They’re very simple, nostalgic pieces. 
Palestrina is fantastic. 
I love Brahms, too, and even though it’s one of his most popular works, the Cello Sonata 1 in E minor is one of my favorite pieces of all time. The recording by Mstislav Rostropovich and Rudolf Serkin is the best. Shostakovich is great, so are Stravinsky, Ravel, Fauré, Tchaikovsky, Duruflé...

Afterwards, I don’t really have great taste. 

[Peace]

On 1/31/2021 at 6:19 PM, chrysostom said:

I have been immersed in this sort of thing for most of my life.

What is wonderful to me now is discovering new music, new recordings of old music, old recordings of old music, getting into genres I previously didn't explore, etc. I don't really rank people in my mind, though Bach is a good staple and Schumann always exerts a tug. Of late I have been listening to a baroque music project called Les Arts Florissants which has been putting up lovely videos lately.

 

is one example. There's so much liveliness and beauty. Another recent discovery is this new recording of a gorgeous Couperin piece. https://youtu.be/HOstLd2p7J4

I also like Heinrich Biber's Rosary Sonatas - a collection of fifteen baroque violin sonatas - each sonata the violin tunes the strings differently and even crosses them over each other in one occasion!

In new music, I like Caroline Shaw's string quartet album called Orange. https://youtu.be/tQPY89YQmJQ It's not for everyone but I really love the allusions to earlier music throughout. Also David Lang's Little Match Girl Passion is a touching, weird, but still beautiful (to me) take on suffering... https://youtu.be/-waRC73Wx6g

And Arvo Pärt is deservedly the most popular and most-performed living composer today - if you don't know him you should. Very Eastern Orthodox outlook and some heartrending music. https://youtu.be/7vdgZAJVnes

Despite having listened to so much music, there is still so much for me to discover!

Thanks for the suggestions. I checked out some Les Arts Florissants music on Tidal during work today. It seems that they have been around for a while, they have a ton of albums.

I like new artists that play the old songs, but honesty I have difficulty listening to most of this new "classical" music nowadays. But I generally can't stand "Free Jazz" either so perhaps my ear just isn't trained for the new stuff. When I listen to most of this stuff I'm honestly just like "Where is the melody? This hurts my ears. Please turn it off." I can even listen to bad music, say Lady Gaga. This new classical music literally hurts my brain. That's cool though. To each his own.

The past week all of Bach's harpsichord stuff has been my favorite. In general I am a huge fan of the instrument, moreso than piano. I don't know why I just hear it, and I like the sound of it.

One of my faves is this one because the solo near the end is nuts:

 

[chrysostom]

I think of modern music appreciation like someone getting used to cheese. Not everyone likes strong cheese. Some do but it can take time to get used to. Then again, not all of it is great either. I myself have a pretty high tolerance and where you might not hear a tune I am used to kind of just taking it in. But it's still not for everyone. Just like someone else might hear baroque music like Bach and think "ew, this is weird and old".

Another of my favourite videos out there:

Or this, which you might like considering it has harpsichord!

 

 

Edited February 2, 2021 by chrysostom

[chrysostom]

Also this duet gets into some pretty crazy fast harpischord later on. https://youtu.be/ttFCbprwtQY

[Seven77]

"Fantasia on a Theme" – Thomas Tallis

Stunning strings. I never get tired of listening to this. And to see it  performed like this is so beautiful although I just want to close my eyes and take off.