Classical Music

I'm fairly surprised that this didn't make it into the "Prog/Non Prog" thread, so what are your top 10 "Classical" pieces, albums, collections, etc?

Mine:

10) Varese - Hyperprism

9) Penderecki - Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima

8) Debussy - Suite Bergamasque

7) Poulenc - O Magnum Mysterium

6) Orff - Carmina Burana

5) Messaien - Quator pour la fin du temps

4) Beethoven - Symphony #5

3) Mozart - Requiem

2) Squiban - Molene

1) Mozart - Clarinet Concerto

Too much to choose from (we have close to 2000 classical CD's), so I'll limit myself to ten favourite composers and two favourite works per somposer:

BACH (Matthew Passion, Cello suites)

BRAHMS (Clarinet quintet, Deutsches Requiem)

MAHLER (Kindertotenlieder, Symphony 4)

SCHUBERT (Unfinished symphony, String quintet)

DVORAK (Symphony 9, American string quartet)

SHOSTAKOVICH (Symphony 14, String quartet 8)

SIBELIUS (Violin concerto, Symphony 5)

BEETHOVEN (Pastoral symphony, Violin concerto)

MENDELSSOHN (Violin concerto, Scottish symphony)

MOZART (Clarinet concerto, Requiem)

Edited to change the Mozart clarinet quintet t concerto (what was I thinking?).

'pure' classical only or avant-garde as well?

All prog lovers should own some classical music, after all without classical music....

1.Concierto De Aranjuez (Rodrigo)

2.Piano Concerto No2 (Shostakovich esp part II the Andante)

3. Piano Concerto No21  (Mozart)

4.Symphony No 5 (Mahler)

5.Scherezade ( Rimsky-Korsakov)

These are the pieces I find most beautiful and inspiring, especially when I feel a bit down.

James Lee wrote: 'pure' classical only or avant-garde as well?

If I meant pure Classical, I wouldn't have included Varese, Penderecki, Debussy, Poulenc, Messiaen - or arguably Beethoven - that's why I put "Classical" in quotes

The Classical period, as every pedant will tell you, covers the period roughly 1750-1820. Before that was Baroque, and after that was Romantic - but for the purposes of this thread, it's all one - unless someone wants to give a Middle ages top 10, a Mediaeval top 10, a Renaissance top 10, etc - in fact, I love early music, and would be interested to see lists of C12 Italian and Celtic Minstrel music, Gregorian chant and even Roman music - if anyone knows of good recordings!

Avant-garde is fine - I'm pretty sure Penderecki fits that category, and Varese certainly does - so, for that matter, does Zappa's orchestral work.

Hmm, only ten, eh? Well then:

1. Beethoven - 9th Symphony (it's the "Sgt. Pepper" of classical )

2 .George Crumb - (Anything!...but if I have to choose one, then) "Ancient Voices of Children"

3. Stravinsky - Sacre du Printemps (Rites of Spring)

4. Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring (full version, or just the suites)

5. Mahler - Kindertotenlieder (ah yes, how can you not adore the subject)

6. Chopin - Nocturne Op. 9 in B major (just plain beautiful)

7. Mozart - Requiem (a lot of 'death' and 'night' in my choices, eh?)

8. Johann Sebastian Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor for Organ (as Stewie said, "so deliciously evil!")

9. Reich - Music for 18 Musicians (I'm still amazed after 15 years)

10. Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore (incredible yet simple harmonic structure)

grrr, I just can't keep it to ten. I can't leave out:

Delibes - Lakme (a little overused lately, though)

Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain (never heard that one before)

Wagner - Gotterdammerung (the biggest of the huge)

Barber - Adagio for Strings (like Lakme, suffers slightly from overuse)

Bartok - Violin Concerto no. 2 (more intimate than the dances, I think)

Gorecki - Symphony no. 3 (just try not to shiver)

Shoenburg - Verklarte Nacht (there's that night thing again)

Stockhausen - Stimmung (what, no tape loops?)

Varese - Deserts (if you haven't heard it, do so immediately)

Ligeti - Atmospheres (running out of comments here)

Grieg - Peer Gynt (including "Hall of the Mountain Grill"...wait, or is that...)

Dick Heath wrote: I once had a lecturer of music (he teaches jazz), correct me by saying "classical music" strictly covers a short period  around the turn of the 19th Century taking in Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and few others, with the other "serious music" composers having other historical niches, for instance the turn of the 20th Century French composers Debussy, Sate and perhaps Ravel being post-impressionistic.  (Therefore to keep him happy) my serious music favourites: Shostakovitch: 1st cello Concerto  (Andrew Lloys Webber reckons this was the first rock concerto!) Shostakovitch's 1st Piano Concerto Beethoven: 5th Piano Concerto Rachmaninov: 3rd Piano Concert Bach: Brandenberg Concerto No 3 Ligeti: Atmosphere Vivaldi: Four Seasons Debussy: Fete Sate: Trois Gymnopaede

Music historians never seem to agree on precise dates, but 1750 as a start point is usually acceptable, as it is the year J. S. Bach died. 1820 or so is agreed on generally as the end, as Beethoven died in 1827 - however, as James points out, Symphony #9 really is the "Sgt Pepper" of Classical, and much of Beethoven's later music is in a style we might easily consider as Romantic, as it pushes harder and harder at the established boundaries of Sonata form.

I thought Debussy, Satie et al were simply at the later end of Impressionism (you can never be sure with these so-called "movements"!) - Debussy especially littered his work with symbols and indications rather than blatant imagery (e.g. "La Mer") - but the "picture" in the music is still quite clear and somewhat sharp for impressionism, IMO. I liken "La Mer" to Beethoven's Symphony #6, which although intended to be blatant has ended up very impressionistic - I've had to explain the "portraits" in the individual sections to people before they've fully got them.

Anyway - I should have added "La Mer" to my list - it's brilliant, with all those gorgeous scrunchy, French-sounding harmonic progressions verging on chromaticism, omitted resolutions and driving pedal-points, producing washes of colourful sound while practically obliterating form - the aural equivalent of Monet, I think.

...and "Le Sacre du Printemps" - what an amazing piece of music - and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerti - and Mozart's and Beethoven's - and Schumann's AMAZING Concerto...

Tell you what - why not just submit as many top 10s as you want - but keep them themed (you choose the theme)

Top 10 Concerti;

10) Elgar - Cello Concerto (look out for a recording by Jaqueline Du Pre - it's astounding!

9) Paganini - any of his violin concerti will blow away people who are into the more virtuosic aspects of music - Paganini was the ultimate virtuouso - forget Yngwie J Malmsteen...  Salvatore is probably the best interpreter of Paganini's music - but EVERY recording I've heard by the violin greats has been littered with fluffs.

8) Mozart - Flute and Harp concerto (like a slice of heaven!)

7) Mozart - Piano Concerto #24 (Hard choice, but #24 gets it by a whisker!)

6) Bach - Brandenburg Concerto #2 (or any of the other 4...)

5) Mozart - Horn Concerto #4 (The other 3 are very good too - especially recordings by Dennis Brain).

4) Vivaldi - Concerti "Alla Rustica"

3) Beethoven - Piano Concerto #5

2) Mozart - Clarinet Concerto (Emma Johnson does the best interpretation, IMO! - She rocks!).

1) Schumann - Piano Concerto in A minor.

I'll stick to top 5's per category, because beyond that, competition becomes too big...

SYMPHONIES

1. Schubert 8 (unfinished)

2. Mahler 4

3. Bruckner 9

4. Saint Saens 3 (organ)

5. Mahler Das Lied von der Erde

VIOLIN CONCERTOS

1. Mendelssohn

2. Bruch

3. Brahms

4. Berg

5. Sibelius

REQUIEMS

1. Brahms (Ein Deutsches Requiem)

2. Verdi

3. Faure

4. Mozart

5. Britten (War requiem)

PIANO CONCERTOS

1. Rachmaninov 2

2. Mozart 20, 21 (ex equo)

3. Beethoven 5

4. Schumann

5. Rachmaninov 3

SONG CYCLES WITH ORCHESTRA

1. Mahler - Kindertotenlieder

2. Strauss - Vier Letzte Lieder

3. Barber - Knoxville summer of 1916

4. Mahler - Rueckert Lieder

5. Mahler - Lidere eines fahrenden Gesellen

SONG CYCLES WITH PIANO

1. Schubert - Winterreise

2. Schumann - Frauenliebe une leben

3. Schubert - Die schoene Muellerin

4. Mussorgksy - Songs of life and death

5. Schumann - Dichterliebe

More later.

Some titles might be slightly off, as I'm doing this without outisde help.

I've performed the "Winterreise" cycle - good choice!

My favourite song cycle of all time is "A Shropshire Lad" (from the poems by A. E. Houseman), set by George Butterworth - wonderfully understated and British, yet beautifully emotive. My fave song from that cycle is "Is My Team Ploughing?", which is spine-tingingly haunting.

If you read any Bio of Butterworth, the cycle takes on an additional poignancy. His music and arrangements are superlative and display an uncanny connection to Houseman's fine poems.

 My tastes/faves in "classical" tend to be somewhat predictable/better known:

Handel - Water Music (English Concert - Trevor Pinnock -- final movement to be played at my funeral. Triumphant/uplifting!)

Bach - Air; Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring; Sheep May Safely Graze; Brandenburg Concertos (sheer beauty!)

Vivaldi - Largo; Four Seasons

Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, & lots more!

Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture; Nutcracker (stirring/pretty)

Beethoven - Symphony 6 (Pastoral) lovely!; Symphony 5 (it's so STRONG!); Moonlight Sonata; Fur Elise (delicate beauty!)

Rodrigo - lots! Sunny Spain!

Mussorgsky - PAAE (ELP led me to it, but a symphonic version is better, for me.)

Hayden - lots!

Holst - Mars (natch! Macho/proggish)

Smetana - Die Moldau (A graceful, swelling "stream" of majestic music - very evocative!)

Plus lots of Medieval & Renaisance era music! (The former for reading/dozing, the latter for its more uplifting, "traditional"-sounding elements.)

Oh, and the BEATLES!