[Smash Adams]

Please. I need to get more classical music, but the type of stuff that appeals to me is proving to be hard to find.

Example: Right now I am listening to the lovely "Air on the G String" by Bach. If anyone could suggest some stuff as fantastic as Air on a G String that would be resplendent.


Cheers.

[Happy Boy]

This was posted to me about 4 years ago when I asked a similar question, I now own over 100GB of classical music and dont listen to anything else.

Enjoy

" Originally Posted by Pennywise03
Ok. I'll give you a rundown of the main eras of Western (that is European and American) art music...the word "classical" music is basically a misnomer, as it is actually one of the periods of music I'll discuss. Of course, the "greatest" composers of each period are debatable and subject to opinion, but I'll give you a few that are hard to argue about. It's cool to see that someone is interested in discovering this music...you might even consider taking a music listening or intro to music history course at a nearby community college if you really want to get into it. Here goes:

(1) Medieval and Renaissance Eras: we're talking 1100s-1400s for Medieval and 1500s-1600s for the Renaissance Period. There actually are some great recordings of music from these eras, and the music itself can be very haunting. You'll see sacred music and folk music (like drinking songs of the day). Some composers to look for (and some works): Hildegard von (of) Bingen (the Canticles of Ecstasy), William Byrd (keyboard music, or his Mass), Andrea and Giovannie Gabrieli, Guillaume de Machaut, and Claudio Monteverdi (his madrigals, or the opera 'Orfeo'). Josquin, Palestrina, Thomas Luis de Victoria, Orlando di Lasso are other greats. John Dowland and John Dunstable both wrote really nice songs too.

(2) Baroque Period: the usual dates given for this era are the dates of JS Bach's life--1685-1750. Johann Sebastian Bach is THE composer of this period, and basically any of his music is great to listen to (or play). He had 21 kids (he was married twice) and most of them grew up to be composers as well. The Baroque period is known for its rich textures and polyphonic music (many voices going on at one time), and rich ornamentation.
JS Bach: St. Matthew's Passion, Goldberg Variations (on piano or on harpsichord, but Glenn Gould does a great job on piano with these), his preludes and fugues for keyboard, the Christmas Oratorio, the Italian Concerto (keyboard), his cantatas (which he composed each Sunday for church)...and so much more. He influenced every major composer after him! http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxjsbach.html (these have some samplings)
Domenico Scarlatti: listen to his keyboard sonatas (on piano they are just great)
George Frederic Handel: The Messiah, Water Music, operas...he is considered also the great Baroque composer next to Bach--and he lived 1685-1757 (seven years after Bach). http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxhandel.html
Antonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

(3) The Classical Period. (1750-1830s or 40s or so...) While the Baroque period was rich and ornamental, the Classical period composers strove for simpler textures but began experimenting with more complex harmonies as the period moved on. Bach was a major influence, but you can tell from the music of this period that simplicity and elegance, mirroring simple lines of architecture, was the goal.

Joseph Haydn--the Father of the String Quartet, and the Father of the Symphony.Listen to the "Surprise" Symphony and the "Military" Symphony. His oratorio The Creation is beautiful, as are any of his string quartets...His piano sonatas are lovely too.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--he studied with Haydn for a while. He was, of course, a child prodigy, and died at age 35. His piano sonatas, any, are wonderful (check out pianists Alicia de Larrocha or John Browning). His piano concertos will become a favorite for happy listening. I personally LOVE his "Vespers" (listen to the Laudate Dominum and don't do anything else while you listen...it's gorgeous) and his Requiem Mass. As for operas, listen to The Marriage of Figaro or The Magic Flute. I can't say enough about his music!
Early Beethoven--his early piano sonatas and symphonies bridge the Classical period into the Romantic era.

(4) The Romantic Period (mid 1800s,somewhere around 1860 perhaps, through the 20th Century, although this is arguable...some say it has never really ended, others would say it ended in the late 19th Century).

Ludwig van Beethoven. He really changed the face of music...just listen to his early piano sonatas (there are 32 in all), then listen to his latest three...the harmonies and rhythms become extremely complex and challenging for the pianist. Listen to his early symphonies, even the famous 5th...we see the beginnings of his later music, which became so full of emotion, told stories and painted pictures unlike any music before it. His famous 9th symphony is amazing! He wrote in every genre...try a little bit of it all: the piano sonatas and concertos (that is for piano and orchestra), the symphonies, the overtures for orchestra, the chamber music (such as string quartets), the choral music, etc. Beethoven's music is famous for its highs and lows...he seemed to invent contrast. When you listen to the Moonlight Sonata, listen to all of the movements this time. You'll see what I mean.
Frederic Chopin. Piano music was his main thing...whatever you can find is definitely worth a listen. To look for: The Preludes, the four Ballades, his Sonatas (you will definitely recognize some of this music!), the Waltzes, the piano concertos...and on and on. His music is highly emotional and brilliant. While I'm sure that any recording artist/pianist would be good, look for Vladimir Horowitz or Arthur Rubinstein playing his music.
Franz Liszt. He was like Elvis or the Beatles in his day and he started the whole practice of playing concerts by memory. He wrote a ton of piano music, including concertos and piano solo works. These sound absolutely impossible to play, and they nearly are...extremely difficult music to play, and very showy. He loved to incorporate hungarian music and other ethnic sounds in his music.
Others: There are so many I'm just going to list a few of the really famous great composers of this time period. I highly recommend listening to these...you can always check out cds from the library and decide what you want to own. Wagner (the Ring Cycle operas), Brahms (symphonies, piano works, chamber music), Schubert (piano music, symphonies, songs), Mahler (symphonies), Dvorak (the New World Symphony)Tchaikovsky (the famous B-flat piano concerto, and symphonies or ballets), Schumann (listen to Scenes of Childhood--Kinderszenen--for piano), Scriabin (piano sonatas or preludes)...to name a few.

(5) Impressionist Period (late 19th Century, early 20th Century) Basically this music captures the same effect as the art work of this period...reflecting nature, a scene, or a feeling. Go look at paintings by Renoir, Matisse, Morisot, Monet, and/or Manet, and then listen to the music.

Claude Debussy: Preludes for Piano...orchestral works like Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun; you'll recognize Clair de Lune (piano). Find a cd of the piano works, and relax.
Maurice Ravel: piano music and orchestral music. He is famous for Bolero, but any of the piano music is very haunting and gorgeous. Sonatine...or Ondine.
Griffes: An American...listen to the Roman Sketches...one of them is The White Peacock. Beautiful. He said all music appeared to him in color.
Erik Satie: the famous Gymnopedie

(6) 20th Century: contains both late Romantic, Impressionist, and atonal/twelve tone music that is based on a system of using twelve tones without repeating in a row, and then starting over (various combinations of that). There are so many that are still composing...here I'll just name a few.

Rachmaninoff: leftover Romantic...thick, gorgeous and haunting Russian music. Check out the Piano Concertos, esp. #2 and #3. You won't want to listen to anything else! He also has wonderful piano solo works, and there is a recording available that took the piano rolls he recorded and with the wonderful technology available, made them into cd recordings of him playing his own music.
Schoenberg: 12-tone music that is quite jarring at first to hear...but remember he was writing in the late 19th century into the 20th! piano music or orchestral music
Copland: listen to Appalachian Spring or Rodeo; however, he also wrote in 12-tone, esp for piano...very different from his Americana music.
Poulenc: beautiful and funny French music that is very happy and cute
Stravinsky: His music caused riots when it was first debuted in Paris (he was Russian though). Rite of Spring, Firebird Suite, Petrouchka.
George Gershwin. Rhapsody in Blue, American in Paris, piano preludes. There is a story about Gershwin going to study with Ravel in France; Ravel asked him, why would you want to be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a first-rate Gershwin? He introduced jazz into art music.
Others: Corigliano, Philip Glass, William Walton (violin concerto), Bela Bartok, Faure (Requiem), Durufle (Requiem), Leonard Bernstein (Chichester Psalms, Candide, West Side Story), Samuel Barber (Adagio for Strings), Villa-Lobos...so many more...
Well that ended up being sort of a long response, but really I only touched on a few of the main composers! There are hundreds and hundreds of composers and hopefully this gets you started. I recommend going to live concerts in addition to buying or checking out cds--seeing it is just as important! Read the cd case jackets and liner notes...that helps too. Those, along with program notes at the concerts, will send you on to other artists and composers. You can also go on Kazaa or any file sharing client and usually find exceps of many of the pieces I have told you about. If you have any more questions let me know...good luck and have fun!"

[LavrentiBeria]

http://www.classical.net

[Astroboy]

canon in d minor by pachabel is good

[kakashi]

search fonction

[JohnnyBuddha]

My favourite is Gustav Holst. Try to get a hold of "The Planets" and if you can only download individual movements from The Planets, I recommend Jupiter and Mars. You might recognize Jupiter, and Mars sounds a lot like the Imperial March from Star Wars. Other than that, I really like his Military Suite in F.