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Classical Music

Sim

Captain
Captain
Are any fans of classic (and/or contemporary new) music here?

I've made it a hobby collecting and exploring classical and contemporary music on CD, but I don't play an instrument. How about you?

Who is it for you -- Bach or Beethoven, or someone else entirely?

Which do you think is the most important piece of the 20th century?

Which piece would you take with you, if you could only pick one when stranding on a lonely island?

Who is your favorite contemporary classical composer still alife?

Anything else you'd like to share?

Looking forward to your replies!
 
Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Shubert, Mozart, Handel, Botticelli, Tchaikovsky, ............ Lots of it...

Plus - Goldsmith, Horner, Zimmer and of course, Williams...f

Then you get into Jazz, Swing, Blues, Rhythm & Blues, Classic Rock....never ends.

The problem is - for the most part - no Rap save some (very little) of the early Rap, and most modern pop/rock music strikes me as very artificial and dull.
 
Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Shubert, Mozart, Handel, Botticelli, Tchaikovsky, ............ Lots of it...

Plus - Goldsmith, Horner, Zimmer and of course, Williams...f

Then you get into Jazz, Swing, Blues, Rhythm & Blues, Classic Rock....never ends.

The problem is - for the most part - no Rap save some (very little) of the early Rap, and most modern pop/rock music strikes me as very artificial and dull.

Do you have certain favorites?
 
Ummmm.....yes but, it's lots....

I can't really say that there's just one or two specific pieces from just one or two specific artists that I consider pure favorites.

Vivaldi - pretty much everything he did. Mozart...same, Bach same...Prince (yes as in "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince") oodles - Pink Floyd piles - The Eagles tons...

B.B. King - Al King - Stevie Ray Vaughan - Talk Talk - Johnny Cash - and it goes on and on..................
 
Vaughan Williams' ANTARCTICA suite, if underutilized in film, is arguably as good as it gets. But the 1812 overture and Beethoven's Fifth are certainly valid challengers.

I always remember my music teacher in high school when the "1812 Overture" is mentioned ... he made quite a show of it when he made us listen to it.

And of course Beethoven's 5th is amazing, so his 9th.

But I guess if I had to decide (and I'm glad I don't have to), the one piece I'd take onto a lonely island, would be Bach's "Goldberg Variations". There is no other piece that amazes me every time again like this. It works for all moods ... when I'm sad, it cheers me up, when I'm agitated, it calms me down, when I feel bored, it intrigues me. Just amazing. :)
 
I love the music in this:

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Also, not technically classical, but I love this, too:

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TIL it has lyrics!

The sun is sinking low in the sky above Ashokan
The pines and the willows know soon we will part
There's a whisper in the wind of promises unspoken
And a love that will always remain in my heart

My thoughts will return to the sound of your laughter
The magic of moving as one
And a time we'll remember long ever after
The moonlight and music and dancing are done

Will we climb the hills once more?
Will we walk the woods together?
Will I feel you holding me close once again?
Will every song we've sung stay with us forever?
Will you dance in my dreams or my arms until then?

Under the moon the mountains lie sleeping
Over the lake the stars shine
They wonder if you and I will be keeping
The magic and music, or leave them behind
 
Philip Glass.

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Good choice!

I'd say my favorite composer still alife is John Adams, though. I first learnt about his music when playing the computer game "Civilization IV", where it's used in the background, without knowing it was by him. I.e. the chorus from "Nixon in China" is chilling, imo.

As for the 20th century, it's not very original when I say I love Stravinsky. "Printemps" or "Symphony of Psalms" are just amazing.

But I also looked into some really weird avantgarde stuff, things that make conservative concert goers leave in protest ... you know, things David Lynch would use for his movies ("Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima" by Penderecki i.e. -- must be one of the bleakest pieces I ever heard). Also Babbitt, Boulez, Xenakis, Stockhausen and so on ... I wouldn't say it's "enjoyable" music, I mean you probably don't listen to it like to Mozart or Brahms ... but it's definitely interesting. I never know what will happen next. 😆
 
. . . Handel, Botticelli, Tchaikovsky . . . .
Uh, Botticelli was a painter. Could you be thinking of a cycle of three short tone poems that Respighi wrote about three of Botticelli's paintings?

Be that as it may, I've been a Hollywood Bowl subscriber since the late 1980s, and a Disney Hall subscriber since about the third year the Hall was open. My very first phonograph record that wasn't specifically targeted at children was a set of 5 Johann Strauss waltzes (The Blue Danube, Tales From Vienna Woods, Voices of Spring, Artist's Life, and Wine Women and Song), performed by the London Philharmonic under Antal Dorati. I became a fan of Adventures in Good Music, with Karl Haas while a Freshman at CSU Long Beach. My favorite Laserium shows are Crystal Odyssey, Rainbow Cadenza, (both all-classical), and Space Encounters (all John Williams film scores). My favorite rock band is the Hampton String Quartet. My favorite Beatles records are both covers: Bach on Abbey Road, by pianist John Bayless, and The Off-White Album, by the HSQ.

I invariably try to attend at least one classical concert by a local orchestra or chamber group when I'm on vacation. And KUSC is the only preset on my car radio.

I also like jazz. The strictly acoustic kind. Pre-Katrina, when visiting New Orleans, I spent more than one entire evening in Preservation Hall (2 or 3 sets, working my way up from standing in the dark, to sitting at the musicians' feet).

And I've been taking organ lessons for many years. On real pipes. (If I continue them indefinitely, I'll remain a ham-handed beginner indefinitely, and that's no reflection on my teacher, but only on me. It keeps me humble.)
 
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Uh, Botticelli was a painter. Could you be thinking of a cycle of three short tone poems that Respighi wrote about three of Botticelli's paintings?

Be that as it may, I've been a Hollywood Bowl subscriber since the late 1980s, and a Disney Hall subscriber since about the third year the Hall was open. My very first phonograph record that wasn't specifically targeted at children was a set of 5 Johann Strauss waltzes (The Blue Danube, Tales From Vienna Woods, Voices of Spring, Artist's Life, and Wine Women and Song), performed by the London Philharmonic under Antal Dorati. I became a fan of Adventures in Good Music, with Karl Haas while a Freshman at CSU Long Beach. My favorite Laserium shows are Crystal Odyssey, Rainbow Cadenza, (both all-classical), and Space Encounters (all John Williams film scores). My favorite rock band is the Hampton String Quartet. My favorite Beatles records are both covers: Bach on Abbey Road, by pianist John Bayless, and The Off-White Album, by the HSQ.

I invariably try to attend at least one classical concert by a local orchestra or chamber group when I'm on vacation. And KUSC is the only preset on my car radio.

I also like jazz. The strictly acoustic kind. Pre-Katrina, when visiting New Orleans, I spent more than one entire evening in Preservation Hall (2 or 3 sets, working my way up from standing in the dark, to sitting at the musicians' feet).

And I've been taking organ lessons for many years. On real pipes. (If I continue them indefinitely, I'll remain a ham-handed beginner indefinitely, and that's no reflection on my teacher, but only on me. It keeps me humble.)

Yeah - I remembered Botticelli was a painter later. Probably confusing him for someone else....
 
And then there is Boccherini and these talented young players:

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Vaughan Williams' ANTARCTICA suite, if underutilized in film, is arguably as good as it gets.
Vangelis also had music for a similar movie.

A favorite:

Hearts of Space often has music from this outstanding individual

A site even older than HOS
 
I have always enjoyed Edvard Grieg. The Peer Gynt Suite, his sonatas, etc. His Morning Mood is often played for soft mood music and his Hall of the Mountain King is exciting. I never tire of them.
 
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