what is your favourite classical music work?

[rojo]

Grinnin- Yup, yup and yup- all fine works! Good choices, in my humble opinion. Dvorak`s use of Czech and American folk elements in the 9th symphony is interesting, and what an exhilarating work it is! If one needs cheering/pumping up, this symphony`s first mvt. can do it! The Brahms and the Rachmaninov- just beautiful stuff.

KBOC- It`s funny how popular the Moldau is- one hears it fairly often in concert. Have you read the discussion of it previously in this thread? Sheherazade and Capriccio Espagnol- very exciting works. I seem to like many symphonic poems as well.

I think everyone agrees about the difficulty of picking a single favourite work!

 

[KBOC]

I've only been to one Classical concert in my lifetime (I was nine years old

)

Shaherezad, I believe, is probably the inspiration for a host of movie music... I heard a few years ago that George Lucas wrote Star Wars to it... (rumor, dunno that it's true).

I guess my taste in music could best be described as "Pompus with Depth"

For instance:

I cannot stand anything by John Phillip Souza! Pompous with no depth... (yuk!)

Tchycovsky's 1812 oveture, IMHO, is far more appropriate for what Sousa's work is used to convey...

I cannot pick a single favorite... I listen to music in series... pieces that complement eachother.

Basil Poledouris' Theology followed by Aaron Copeland's Fanfare for the Common Man.

Howard Shore's Concerning Hobbits with Beetoven's Pastoral Symphoney

 

[rojo]

Hey KBOC,

Do you mean John Phillip Sousa, the march king?

Do you like Holst`s the Planets and/or Elgar`s work? These are also fairly pompous yet with depth.

 

[KBOC]

Emerson Lake and Palmer did a FAN ASS TASTIC rendition of Mars, Bringer of War! It turned me on to Holst

I'm unfamiliar with Elgar.

So far as Sousa yes... but a lot of his stuff barely qualifies as a march... Stars and Stripes Forever... uhg... I have no words to describe how horrible I think this piece is... Give me John William's Raider's march any day

 

[rojo]

I knew you`d be a Holst fan! You sure you never heard Pomp and Circumstance by Elgar? People play it at graduation ceremonies sometimes. That`s perhaps one of his best known works. I mention it mainly because it`s got the word pomp right there in the title.

I really like prog rock a lot, although I don`t know all the songs. Haven`t listened to much in a while, but from what I remember ELP had some great stuff. Didn`t they also do a version of Fanfare for the Common Man? Or was that another group. Do you like that version too?

I find it rather odd to compare Sousa works to Tchaikovsky`s 1812 because they are such different forms and styles, but I guess I see the comparison from a likes/dislikes standpoint. I find Sousa marches fun, but nowhere near as stimulating as the thrilling Tchaik. work, which is much more complex and moving.

I have to admit, I`m not really up on the recent film stuff- not much of a movie goer.

 

[KBOC]

Doh... I do know Pomp and Circomstance.

Other than that, I'm unfamiliar with Elgar's work and I don't think I've ever heard his name before.

I don't know that ELP did Copeland. If they did, I'd like to hear it.

I suppose Sousa's work is meant to be lighthearted. I find it shallow... I'm not sure how I can justify the comparrison to the 1812 oveture, but when I think on how a march should sound, that's the music I think of... (though I know it's not a march)...

On movie music, I think I was a teenager when I really got into Classical, and it was mainly due to Star Wars. From there I learned of Swan Lake, the Mouldau, Vivaldi's Seasons... my slide into being a fan came slowly... I must remind you I have zero in the way of musical education.

 

[rojo]

It`s funny- often folks know more classical works than they think!

Gotta go to work now- I`ll try to get back to you later on that version of Fanfare.

 

[Grinnin]

KBOC, sometimes I think it's because we hear Elgar and Souza's music so often in everyday life that we don't find much depth in them. For example, I hear Pomp and Circumstance or Star's and Stripes Forever, or his other marches in TV commercials or as background music where it isn't played very well, or with many instruments. Then you go to hear it in a live concert where it's being played really well and it sounds like a different song.

 

[rojo]

KBOC- just to get back to you- ELP did in fact do Fanfare for the Common Man; if you`d like to give part of it a listen, there`s a free sample of it at Amazon.com, ELP greatest hits (I think).

Let me/us know what you think of it if you feel like it.

Also, one doesn`t need a music education to know what one likes to listen to- most everybody likes some music or other, educated or not.

 

[ebs]

My favorite classical work is....

chopin - fantasia inpromptu opus 66

amazing piano playing

 

[rojo]

Hey ebs, (a fellow canadian!)

I can understand that; it is indeed a super piece! Quite a technical challenge to play, but well worth the effort, IMHO.

 

[ebs]

Yes - I agree its a great piece of music.
I'm learning how to play it on an electric guitar - two hand tapping like the jazz guitar player STANLEY JORDAN, its quite crazy actaully but it sounds good too.

 

[rojo]

Wow, on el. guitar- that`s cool. Why not. Would definitely like to hear that. Maybe with a little distortion, fuzz or whatever... just kidding- it`s just that classical and rock are my fave styles. I enjoy fusion of the two. I also enjoy jazz, but I`m afraid that as a pianist, I`m not all that familiar with the jazz guitar greats; I know the pianists better. Although I have definitely heard of Stanley Jordan, and would probably recognize some of his work.

 

[DanielFullard]

I must say that Vivaldis 'Four Seasons' is something that first pops to mind.....no matter how many times I hear it I cannot help but listen in awe at the sheer magical, rousing, uplifting genius that is unfolding before my very ears

Mozarts Horn Concertos a very close second

 

[rojo]

I find that`s the perfect word to describe Vivaldi`s Four Seasons- uplifting. I find them (it) to be timeless in that way; it`s almost always great, no matter who is playing it, where or when...

Mozart sure did write a lot of fine concerti, for many instruments...

 

[DanielFullard]

I find that`s the perfect word to describe Vivaldi`s Four Seasons- uplifting. I find them (it) to be timeless in that way; it`s almost always great, no matter who is playing it, where or when...

Mozart sure did write a lot of fine concerti, for many instruments...

Glad you agree.....

Whats your fav mozart conceroto then?>

 

[rojo]

Well, I really like his Piano Concerto no. 20 in d minor, the first mvt.

I also like his other concerti for wind instruments: flute, oboe, clarinet...can`t remember which is my fave though- haven`t listened to them in a while...

Mozart sure wrote a loooot of good stuff in his short life!

 

[Thomas Dressler]

If I were stuck on a desert island with only one recording (that is assuming there was electricity and something to play it on) it would be the B minor Mass by JS Bach. I've been listening to it for almost 30 years and I never get tired of it.

 

[rojo]

Hmm... I don`t recall whether I know this work. I do know his St. Matthew Passion fairly well (really like that one)...can you suggest a section of it that one might recognize or particularly enjoy? When I get the sound on my PC working again (it`s on the fritz), I`ll go look for it. I`ll probably say "oh yeah, that one!" when I hear it. That`s usually what happens

.

 

[Thomas Dressler]

If you like the St. Matthew Passion, you might like the B minor Mass. I think maybe the most well known movements might be the first movement of the Gloria ("Gloria in excelsis Deo") and maybe the "Crucifixus" movement from the Credo. When I'm trying to check something like this out, I usually go to a place like Amazon and listen to clips, so you can listen here

This is a recording by Ton Koopman. I don't have this particular recording so I can't specifically recommend this one, but I like many of his Bach recordings. (The ones with orchestra and/or choir. I wouldn't always recommend his solo organ or harpsichord recordings.)

Thomas Dressler