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March 28, 2024, 06:09:06 PM

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Please inject loads of classical music into my brain

Started by alan nagsworth, January 28, 2019, 07:17:28 PM

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alan nagsworth

I've been thinking a lot lately that my love for very select albums from Steve Reich and Philip Glass does not warrant me the right to say "oh yeah classical? I'm a fan, deffo. I, uh... hmm. I love that Grieg one, about the morning. What's that called? 'Morning'? Yeah, love that one..." as if I know absolutely shit about dick. Because I don't. I know basically sod all about Bach or Mozart or Beethoven or Chopin or any of the big lads. This year, I aim to get as immersed in classical music as possible.

Now, that's daunting, but everyone has to start somewhere, so where d'you think I should start? Literally beginner level here, don't worry about coming across as patronising: I'll take everything you've got. I should note first and foremost that I am far more interested in collected albums of stuff, or suites(?), as opposed to individual songs. I'm acutely aware of some performances by some players/conductors being far better than others, but again, I've no idea where to even start. Spotify is very intimidating for this sort of thing. Bloody loads of stuff on there. Ah yes, I'm using Spotify, so anything that's available on there is what I'm going to investigate first all above other listening platforms, just to be clear. So preferably albums (or playlists! I hear they're good) by select performers or conductors of the works of big name composers which I can listen to on Spotify.

I greatly appreciate your time and I'm excited to hear some fuckin' CLASSICAL SHIT, YEAH BITCH as they might say. (Any cool lingo I can use when talking about the stuff I like is also welcome. Like "yo that bassoon, it's like my goddamn HEART'S EXPLODIN'!" or "bro that timpani friggin' SLAPS LIKE THE TANGO MAN", which is how I imagine it may be described by the elites of the scene).

Thank you.

sevendaughters

I think because you're already operating in the return to melody that happens in modern classical in the 20th century, breaking from the strictures of the serialist Marxist hardheads, then you could do a lot worse than diving in on Arvo Part's Tabula Rasa, which I find incredibly beautiful and soulful, marrying a certain romantic tendency with minimalism (in the second movement) and modern technique (there is sparing prepared piano here).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HON4AswPVk

I saw this piece performed in a show with a bunch of stuff from different eras that had different kids of connections to it, such as Bach, Kurtag, Rachmaninoff, Messiaen. But I won't hammer you with links. Follow your nose.

Sin Agog

I'll just link you to probably my favourite Modern Classical album by a guy who took his own life a few years after making it, Luciano Cilio's Dialoghi Del Presente, and you immediately know you're in the presence of a fragile soul from the first gently plucked string: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ae3F0wcot-M

Mantle Retractor

When I first started listening to classical music, the first pieces I heard and bought were:

Mozart - Requiem (English Chamber Orchestra / Daniel Barenboim)
Elgar - Cello Concerto (Jacqueline Du Pre)
Dvorak - Cello Concerto (Berlin Philharmonica / Msitslav Rostropovich / Herbert von Karajan)
Holst - The Planets
Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring
Beethoven - Symphonies Nos 3, 5 and 9
Chopin - Preludes (Martha Argerich)
Schubert - Piano Sonata No. 21 (Sviatoslav Richter)
Bartok - Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta

They're as good a starting point as any. Mainly orchestral stuff with a bit of choral and chamber music as well. I've specified the recordings I can remember the details of. Let me know how you get on!

chveik

Quote from: Mantle Retractor on January 28, 2019, 08:07:47 PM
Elgar - Cello Concerto (Jacqueline Du Pre)

good call! Jacqueline du Pre is a fantastic interpret.

A few more suggestions:

Bach - Violin Partitas #2 & #3, Violin Sonata #3 (Hilary Hahn)
Couperin - Harpsichord Works (Blandine Verlet)
Mendelssohn - A Midsummer's Night Dream
Schubert - String Quartet #14 "Death and the Maiden"
Brahms - Hungary Danses
Schumann - Piano Concerto (Martha Argerich)
Fauré - Requiem (Paavo Jarvi)
Sibelius - Violin Concerto (Itzhak Perlman)
Rachmaninov - The Isle of the Dead
Ravel - Ma mère l'oye

purlieu

#5
Classical music can be difficult to comprehend coming from a pop background, particularly in the late classical and romantic eras, where recurring motifs are relatively rare and there is frequently virtuoso playing (particularly in concertos), so I personally recommend going backwards from where you are now. Being into minimalist stuff, I'd definitely second someone like Arvo Pärt being a good stepping stone:
Summa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzSlmWQuHFw
Für Alina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmBrepbZji0
Fratres: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vdgZAJVnes
Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KImKBJ1jQfU

Then moving back through the 20th century (and ignoring the entire modernist movement because that's an ugly snarling beast all of its own) to the French impressionists, whose works were hugely important to the later 20th century composers through their intentional move away from more 'formal' compositional to pieces which were heavier on mood, emotion and colour. Melodically very lush without falling into the bombast of the romantic era.
Ravel:
Pavane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6A96yQO82I
Une Barque sur L'Ocean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTYUyDjVCRU
Menuet antique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaCkyTEtlS8

Debussy:
Clair de Lune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nft7tiy5E-w
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvnRC7tSX50
La Mer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOCucJw7iT8

Satie:
Gnossiennes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7kvGqiJC4g
Gymnopedies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fuIMye31Gw
Nocturnes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGR9LiTdxuA

Delius (who was actually born in Bradford, but whose musical landscape paintings fit with the above composers beautifully):
Walk to the Paradise Garden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVeaAhYluOc
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xHIhcstxUM
In a Summer Garden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojEiAF9HCFI

At the same time, other European countries were moving away from the romantic era with starker, darker, but no means less beautiful, music. Some of my favourite British composers of the era:

Vaughan Williams:
Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQoP9iLwoos
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIhZbvlCjY0
The Lark Ascending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR2JlDnT2l8

Holst:
Somerset Rhapsody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeFDTHTj4PA
Beni Mora: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA5CImEv7UI
The Planets Suite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isic2Z2e2xs

Finzi:
Romance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03s7teFeH7Q
Clarinet Concerto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMukLZGaE0I

Elsewhere in Europe:
Sibelius:
Symphony no. 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opolY2qTzpc
Swan of Tuonela: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjyLWoJvtME
Finlandia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5zg_af9b8c

Scriabin - Piano Sonata 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a-F2YCqzb4
Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP42C-4zL3w
Shostakovich - Symphony no. 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L__jruvYuCg
Dvorak - Symphony no. 9 "From the New World": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HClX2s8A9IE
Smetana - Moldau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G4NKzmfC-Q

Generally 19th century and before still baffles and confuses me more than anything, so you're better off with other people when it comes to your Beethovens and your Tchaikovskys.

flotemysost

Fairly obvious one, but I love what I've heard of Shostakovich's string quartet stuff, it's so intense and urgent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0nKJoZY64A (this one is also excellently sampled in Malpractice by Faith No More, although that's taken from the Kronos Quartet version I think. And yes, my knowledge of classical music is such that I refer to pieces as 'stuff' and 'this one' as I don't know the proper technical distinctions).

Does Satie count as classical? Again, obvious as fuck but I really like the Gymnopédie and Gnossiennes suites, although I guess if you're into minimal/ambient type stuff you're probably already familiar.

Edit: both already mentioned far more knowledgeably

rue the polywhirl

Sting has an album of John Dowland lute music that's worth checking out. Alan Titchmarsh has quite a few good classical samplers and compilations out there as well.

studpuppet

You could try Year Of Wonder by Clemency Burton-Hill. Yes, she's a posh totty Radio 3 presenter, but the book is surprisingly good for giving you a piece of music each day that you may like and want to investigate further, or not and move onto the next one. It's a really wide eclectic list which is what it sounds like you're after.
There's a Spotify playlist to save you the bother of searching as well.

non capisco

Gotta love a bit of Saint-Saens and his 'Aquarium', which you'll already know from a million TV depictions of undersea life. As overplayed as it is I think it's a wonderfully haunting bit of music. When I first moved to my current place twelve years ago I had a bout of insomnia due to trying to sleep in new surroundings and this thing was in my head every night, although it felt like it was playing outside it. That bloody ghost is in here with his Saint-Saens again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVpl-RNzdE4


alan nagsworth

Okay so I'm quickly realising that I'm far more inclined towards the minimalist style of composure of Arvo Part than the fuckin' mahoosive stuff such as Mozart's "Requiem", if that helps with the suggestions. I'll try to give as much of this stuff as fair a crack as possible, but yeah, the enormous choral/orchestral stuff is actually quite overwhelming to the point where my brain can't really engage with it.

I dunno if this helps at all, but today I was listening to Max Richter's recomposition of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and I thought that was pretty banging. But I'm aware that's a far more modernist approach and I don't want to just be listening to the new fangled gubbins!

This may take some time for me to figure out. But the Arvo Part "Tabula Rasa" linked above was bloody excellent.

NoSleep

When I've dabbled in listening I've discovered that it's important to consider you've not bought a recording by a composer but by artists performing the work of that composer and some are better than others at interpreting the work. A work can sound as exciting or as dull as the performers.

A great example of this is the recording of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yevgeny Svetlanov in 1968. No other recording of the symphony compares, despite some warts in the recording process (the orchestra get too loud for the recording equipment in an amazingly rock'n'roll manner). Everybody involved seems to be living the experience to the full; it could well be that many of the performers were present at the siege of Leningrad, which was part of the inspiration of the piece (Shostakovich was in Leningrad during the siege). Here's a rip of the original Melodiya vinyl from the USSR (I have a copy of this but also have a CD remaster of the same):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27xXBBMzo5g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw-9skOoWkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnSeDHuabDM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVvqw65zOQ0

It's fair to say that getting performers from the same country as the composers is a good general rule as they will probably "get" the cultural references embedded in a piece and bring them out. If I hear an American orchestra play The Planets Suite by Holst they will miss the englishness of the whole thing (best recording is the old mono recording from 1958 by Malcolm Sargent and the BBC Symphony Orchestra).

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ksiz8fXlUIjmp-5dfSA1sAhRT3K9baIBY

That said Yevgeny Svetlanov can bring fireworks to almost anything. But my two favourite recordings of him are both of Russian composers (and are war-themed, so fireworks built-in); the above-mentioned Leningrad Symphony and his rendering of Prokofiev's music from the 1938 film Alexander Nevsky recorded in 1966 with the USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra and The Russian Republican Choir:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr_Yaau09ak

That said, another fave of mine is Leonard Bernstein conducting The New York Philharmonic on Bartok's Piano Concerto No 2 with Philippe Entremont: Piano; not much Hungarian about that line-up (movement 2 is just amazing):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXyHhsmJUNI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIzQgdsJciM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GkzDYgCJuE

jobotic

Quote from: non capisco on January 28, 2019, 10:06:58 PM
Gotta love a bit of Saint-Saens and his 'Aquarium', which you'll already know from a million TV depictions of undersea life. As overplayed as it is I think it's a wonderfully haunting bit of music. When I first moved to my current place twelve years ago I had a bout of insomnia due to trying to sleep in new surroundings and this thing was in my head every night, although it felt like it was playing outside it. That bloody ghost is in here with his Saint-Saens again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVpl-RNzdE4

As is so often the case, you're spot on.

My favourite Satie peice (prefer it orchestral)

https://youtu.be/mdURohWzFKQ

shh

Quote from: purlieu on January 28, 2019, 08:39:15 PM
Melodically very lush without falling into the bombast of the romantic era.
Debussy

Debussy's piano Preludes was my gateway into classical music, but here is the (orchestral) Trois Nocturnes which I think fits that description - probably approaches bombast at times but the mysterious is never far off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spXwXLqFLvs

Messiaen, les offrandes oubliées (only 30 years later). this final movement was the first part I heard, at the time I thought it must have been from 2001: ASO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHkMuJGGHmw

'Easy listening', Butterworth's arrangement of english folk songs, eg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j16euAlvHyc

Boccherini (Ladykillers bloke), a sort of classical impressionistic saunter down a Madrid street
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dmWAve3Pvk

hummingofevil

#14
This is a great way in. Jascha Heifetz plays the first movement of Tchiakovsky's violin concerto for a movie. One of the great violinists (no fucking about just pure sound and control) and one of the great, beautiful violin pieces. Watch it all but 5m19s will melt your heart.

https://youtu.be/kFaq9kTlcaY

The story behind it is pretty fascinating too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_(Tchaikovsky)

More generally I would just try to work out a general timeline of music and what happened when as it's fun to know how influences and context overlap. And find a fun way to listen to it. I once sat at the back of a piano recital with my phone watching the Champions League final. Noone noticed and I disturbed noone but for me having something visual to focus on actually helps me get into the music better. If not my mind just wanders from the music and I end up thinking about what socks the viola player has on or something.

This is a bit of a CaB classic for something more modern. I can't say I "get it" but its fucking rad. Barbara Hannigan doing dominatrix soprano conducting to Ligeti.

https://youtu.be/sFFpzip-SZk

non capisco

Ace thread, this. Debussy's Clair de Lune makes me want to cry myself inside out. Almost like he was weaponising beauty.

hummingofevil

Quote from: NoSleep on January 28, 2019, 10:46:19 PM
That said, another fave of mine is Leonard Bernstein conducting The New York Philharmonic on Bartok's Piano Concerto No 2 with Philippe Entremont: Piano; not much Hungarian about that line-up (movement 2 is just amazing):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXyHhsmJUNI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIzQgdsJciM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GkzDYgCJuE

This is fun and sure its been posted here before. A trumpet player arguing with Berstein and kind of coming out on top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Zfhk22-_M

Naggs; if nothing else this shows how intense and inpenetrable some of the ideas in orchestra music are. Even the very best can't always tell the difference so don't worry if you think you don't get something.

https://youtu.be/F-Zfhk22-_M?t=38

This is pretty amusing too. Triangle lessons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebf6_7nHciw

pancreas

This is fairly hopeless to do systematically via recommendations in a thread.

There is a website here:

http://www.classical.net/music/rep/

And if you click on the various categories: mediaeval, renaissance, etc., then you'll find it's quite comprehensive, with various stars on things which are especially canonical.

This should also give you the benefit of being able to get a taste for music of the same broad period, and contrast it with other periods. But you really should read a book on it too, to get some context.

NoSleep

Quote from: shh on January 29, 2019, 12:04:47 AM
Messiaen

That reminds me; two of my favourites organ pieces by Messiaen (couldn't find Louis Thiry's version for the first, but it's a decent one):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTyvgKdlIZc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOhTN0MTS80

* I think Messiaen's own first choice amongst organists

alan nagsworth

Thanks all for these shouts. I'll keep this tab open but my time at home relaxing and poring over lots of recommendations is sadly few and far between so apologies in advance if I'm not immediately thanking you personally or fawning over particular choices!