any classical enthusiasts?

[bogfrog]

i have been wondering lately about finding some decent classical music as i occasionally hear the most mind blowingly intricate stuff on the radio, but they quite often wont tell you whats what.

some stuff really reminds me of trance and decent electronic but i dont really know where to start when it comes to classical.

have kinda gotten over electronic music at the mo, after listening to it for so long i find i am craving REAL music with REAL instruments, there is something magical and elegant about classical.

would love to hear any suggestions or even anything out of the classical genre

Edited October 19, 2011 by bogfrog

[Jonstn]

These guys aren't classic but I love em:

Beach boys

Dick Dale

Can't beat real instruments

[bogfrog]

and real singing! every time i hear a good singer in person it sends shivers over my whole body.

[Quill]

for a bit of a twist

try a string quartet tribute to;

the mars volta

tool

def recommended if you like the the original bands, also a bit more palatable than the originals - the only way i've got TMV on the stereo at work (cafe)

There's also a lot of really good modern classical type shit that i could recommend if only I knew the names

[bogfrog]

dont mind tool, saw them live when i was 15 and didnt know who they were, some of my old friends hated me for that lol.

i have a freakishly talented musical family but somehow my parents and i missed out

all of my cousins play atleast 3 instruments each varying from piano, violin, organ, cello and double bass, along with being soprano singers, and my aunti is a musical genius, composes all her own stuff for the church they go to and sings like and angel, while my uncle conducts the symphony orchestra and teaches shit loads of instruments.

i'm a wee bit jealous ae. it seems like learning a new language, as soon as you know one instrument it makes it easier to learn others, sadly i never got that first one going!

[ballzac]

Not too interested in Classical or Romantic stuff myself, but love baroque and feel it is most aligned to trance in terms of creating an atmosphere. While there is electronic music that I like as much as I like Bach's music, I don't believe an electronic artist has yet demonstrated a mastery of music in the way that Bach did, and I think that when someone does, it will be a revolution in music.

Listen to the sixth Brandenburg concerto and try to follow a single instrument with your ear from beginning to end (of one movement at least). The amazing thing that happens if you do this is that you realise each instrument is playing its own beautiful melody that fits into the soundscape as though every other instrument is there to support it. It has its own subtleties and its own emotions that it can evoke, yet it also contains themes and motifs that it shares with the other instruments. Another thing that amazes me is how difficult it actually IS to follow a single instrument. You will start with one instrument and realise shortly that you are listening to a different one as the melody you were listening to has been picked up and carried away by the second instrument, so smoothly that you may not have noticed at the time. In addition to this you have conversations going back and forth between instruments. Again, being consistent with the themes in the piece, but expressing them in a different context and evoking different emotions.

[ballzac]

Also, there's no copyright on music over a certain age, so anyone can perform and record it. It's important to find a good recording of a good performance.

[FancyPants]

I love Classical music when I'm in the mood. Go to your local JB hifi etc and get a couple of classical music mix CDs (they're usually only like $10 each). See what tickles your fancy and follow on through. The booklets give enough info typically. A couple of my favourite classical songs are Bolero by Ravel, Romeo & Juliet by Prokofiev, In The Hall Of The Mountain King by (Grieg?), and Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy by Tchaikovsky. It's briliant music when you listen to it without knowing the story, you can make up your own story to follow along; it's all so evocative. Vivaldi's Four Seasons are a voyage unto themselves. Lucy loves the rich audio tapestry and easily fills in the other sensical gaps for your mind.

[naja naja]

vivaldi, most composers have peices I love and some I hate. I have never however heard a vivaldi that I didn't love. Straight up I recommend vivaldi Four season and The Planets by Holst as two very well known and popular peices of classical. Honestly, the best thing to do is tune into abc classical fm or foxtels radio station and choose classical. foxtel also has on screen menu's which tell u the name of the artist and the piece.

[Fluss]

(not classical classical music, but i like the sound of the buzz in the background and gives it a feeling)

 

I liked this one a lot!

I know there is another video of the same song, but in blues with 2 really old black men, i have searched and searched, but not found it. if anyone know which one i mean, please link it.

I think i found it in the "youtube vids" thread, but cant find it there anymore, all i remember is that it said in the title "last preformance" or it

Anyways this one sounds like an inspiration source for the band Caravan Palace, kind of a 20th c. version of this.

So if u liked the music at least browse for Caravan palace on youtube.

Edited October 20, 2011 by Fluss

[Marcel]

Ditto for Baroque music. Anglo culture celebrates the "classicism" of Beethoven and Mozart but there's nothing of worth there, in my humble opinion... Bach is where it's at. Bach's Cantatas performed by Lorraine Hunt Lieberson are amazing. As are his fugues (Art of Fugue performed by Glenn Gould is somewhat reminiscent of electronic music in its relentless energy). Also, Vivaldi, especially The Four Seasons, is a great starting point for someone hoping to catch the classical music bug.

Other than Baroque music, I'm a sucker for 20th Century stuff. The Adagietto in Mahler's 5th is possibly the most incredible 10 minutes of music in the European tradition. I often trip to it, and 8 out of 10 times, I'll see God near the final crescendo. Other interesting 20th century composers are Stockhausen, Xenakis, Ligeti, La Monte Young and Fujieda. Some of these are pretty avant-garde experimentalists. Many of them were fiddling with mescaline and LSD before the counter-culture could even wipe its ass.

But my all time favourite is Morton Feldman. Two works, in particular: Piano and String Quartet (1985) is so dreamy and hypnotic that I'd say it's more powerful opiate-esque music than Velvet Underground and Mazzy Star combined. But Feldman's greatest is Rothko Chapel (1970). it's only 25 minutes long, but it's meditative psychedelic euphoria of the highest order. I get teary just thinking about the final movement.

[qualia]

"classical" is a bit broad, are you want solo instrument? quartet? symphony?

can't help really with the later two but i dig solo piano,

chopin etudes (intricate and musical, lovely), nocturnes (more melodic, "downtempo")

beethoven solo, Op. 27, No. 2 ("moonlight sonata"), also sonata no. 8 mv. 1

bach is ok too, cello suite is ok

rachmaninov, some solo piano is brilliant, his "vespers" (liturgical choral music) is tres rad

if you want more choral music, theres a cd series "sacred treasures", i have no. 1, sends shiver down your spine (can UL if you like),

modern era i like arvo part, eric satie, also heard recently a guy by the name of jeroen van veen - very steve reich like, hypnotic piano loops, i like it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zOv76GMLbU&feature=related

[Halcyon Daze]

Bach's cello suites are always a winner.

It really pays to have good speakers when listening to classic stuff, so you can actually feel the music.

 

[ballzac]

Go to your local JB hifi etc and get a couple of classical music mix CDs (they're usually only like $10 each).

 

Or not! There is nothing that kills an emerging interest in orchestral music as much as cheap recordings. Go to Thomas' and ask for some recommendations, or research and order online. Seeing as everyone is recommending Vivaldi's Four Seasons, I would definitely suggest Chesky's recording, especially if you have high end equipment to listen to it on. I have a Raglan Baroque Players recording (produced by Virgin) that is also very good and is in a four disk set with a lot of other pieces. But Chesky blows everything else out of the water if you have the equipment to hear the subtleties in it.

bach is ok

 

Lol. That, my friend, is the quote of the century

EDIT: Oops. Just realised the OP is in NZ. Thomas' is probably out of the question then, lol.

Edited October 20, 2011 by ballzac

[qualia]

actually just remembered Bach includes this, maybe the second most famous piece of western classical in the world

 

[bogfrog]

thanks guys there is certainly some beautiful work, atleast gives me a starting point!

cheers for sharing what your ears like with my ears

[bogfrog]

modern era i like arvo part, eric satie, also heard recently a guy by the name of jeroen van veen - very steve reich like, hypnotic piano loops, i like it

 

yes! i have heard these from the movie Amelie - amazing!!

[hebrew]

yeah some good suggestions, i am a trained composer, so had to study all the western classical music from baroque onwards, i definately agree with morton feldmann, its awesome, loving arvo part at the moment, also enjoy the work of the minimalists, and olivier messiaen john cage, harry partch, loads of great 20th century composers out there.

bach is great, beethoven is good too, but i agree there is a lot of emphasis put upon these so called masters,chopins piano music is lovely, but i prefer debussy, and satie.

hans otte is brilliant, his piano works are in my opinion of high quality, his book of sounds is a wonderful collection of piano music

[ballzac]

I'm curious what you think of Philip Glass, VS. I heard a great joke recently:

Philip Glass walks into a bar

...walks into a bar

...walks into a bar

...walks into a bar

...walks into a bar

...walks into a bar

...walks into a bar

[WoodDragon]

There have been a number of good composer recommendations already, but if you want a source of good music consider Neville Marriner's Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

I've never been disappointed by their productions.

[Darklight]

The Adagietto in Mahler's 5th is possibly the most incredible 10 minutes of music in the European tradition. I often trip to it, and 8 out of 10 times, I'll see God near the final crescendo. Other interesting 20th century composers are Stockhausen, Xenakis, Ligeti, La Monte Young and Fujieda.

But my all time favourite is Morton Feldman. Two works, in particular: Piano and String Quartet (1985) is so dreamy and hypnotic that I'd say it's more powerful opiate-esque music than Velvet Underground and Mazzy Star combined. But Feldman's greatest is Rothko Chapel (1970). it's only 25 minutes long, but it's meditative psychedelic euphoria of the highest order. I get teary just thinking about the final movement.

 

Hey thanks for the recommendations, great thread too

I adore Baroque and Renaissance music, like a few here I don't warm to music from the classical period at all, and the Romantics just give me the horrors. When motivated I play passable classical guitar, unfortunately I loved learning it so much I developed carpel tunnel before I was 15 and had to cut down on practice time. Playing is a very different experience to listening and I'd recommend it for so many reasons. Good for the brain, good for 'tuning in', good for focus

Bach, Vivaldi, Weiss ( Sylvius Leopold ), John Dowland instrumental- can't go past it for the old stuff. But do get recommendations on artists and conductors, nothing ruins a good piece of music like a bad interpretation. Probably what put so many people off classical music in the first place

For a while there I lived off the recommendations of one reviewer in a weekend broadsheet, I got a pretty bloody good collection that way, not sure if they're still writing but they were spot on. I don't know many other people into classical music so it was a lifeline

Moderns can be disconcerting and a challenge to shop around til you find what you want- then heaven. I own a CD of the Andres Previn version of Carmina Burana and it's one of my favourites, the lyrics are a serious hoot too, lots of drinking and philosophising. I used to ride hundreds of kilometres just to see a good performance of the Carmina Burana, one I saw in BNE still sends shivers up and down my spine, they had a ballet accompaniment that was much wilder than it sounded and they meshed seamlessly

Also a big fan of Nicholas Lens Flamma Flamma. The first and third discs in the recordings of that trilogy are... the voices are so good they seem like a pure mindmelting substance. The second disc I found meh, but that might have been the commentary.

Oh, and Satie. Oh.. and Durufle's Requiem, and Faure's requiem. Seen them live, omg...

Thanks for the 20C recommendations, hey bring some to EGA and we'll find a space to share them maybe?

[hebrew]

i presonally like phillip glass, i enjoy playing his piano work, and enjoy some of his larger peices. i know some dislike and other like, but i think he has made a huge contribution to 20th century music.

and has written some truly beautiful music. the metamorphosis piano solos are really nice, as a performer i enjoy them, and have tuaght young children to play them quite easily due to the repetitive formal structures.

he has also done some interesting work with david bowie and brian eno, the heros symphony is good. he also did a complete work about the amazon river, the score is almost impossible to get, but he has arrange metamorphosis for orchestra and this south american musician or group. should listen to it again has been a while

i am listening a lot to sufjan stevens at the moment although that is not classical

[bogfrog]

just stumbled across these guys, Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson

i'm pretty taken with them

 

btw how do you embed videos?

Edited October 20, 2011 by bogfrog

[qualia]

 

i think you have to use the full url (not. youtu.be)

anyway i just thought of max richter, he was used as the soundtrack for Shutter Island - i dig the shit out of his work

[bogfrog]

cheers

well you guys have certainly set me up for a future of loving classical music!