fallenstar

Since every other modern music have been on the forum, I will bring the old ones to join the crowd. Mostly I listen to symphony and concertos(wind instrument, like flute or clarinet). Mozart, Dovrak and so on... Chopin is not bad you know, considering the piece I heard by a flute soloist and piano accompany that he wrote when he was 14....(goodness that guy is a genius). Most piano pieces, though I regret I haven't learned piano..only keyboard for a year............ what about you?

Hypes

I listen to classical often enough, the regular stuff, really. Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and so on. Esioul is a great opera fan, though, you ought to talk to her.

littlemissattitude

I think it's really kind of funny (peculiar) - I love classical music, but I don't really know anything about it. I can't identify most composers or the pieces they wrote, for example. ("The Nutcracker" is an exception, but only because I've done props for it for several years.) When I want to listen to classical, I generally listen to the local public broadcasting station - whatever they play is fine with me, most of the time.

I'm not a big opera fan, though. I much prefer my classical music to be instrumental only.

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knivesout

My favourite classical piece would have to be Stavinsky's Rites of Spring. The variety of off-kilter ideas he pulls off in that piece and the sheer drama of it, always gets me.

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I, Brian

Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" is one of my favourites - by that meaning the full composition, rather than just the most popular track - "O Fortuna Velut Luna" (and if often played too slow, IMO). I saw a deocumentary on Orff once - when they previewed Carmina Burana for the first time to the Nazis, even they were shocked and at the end apparently Orff's daughter stood up to a silent auditorium and cried out "Clap, damn you!". Or something to that effect.

I wonder how they would have reacted to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack?

I have to say, much as I like some of the old classics, IMO orchestral music for film is the natural continuation of the real classical music tradition. Mozart and Beetoven etc wrote a lot of their music not as art for art's sake, but as paid-for work to accompany parties, shows, and playscripts, etc.

The social function of that has shifted towards film in the 21st century. However, my impression of the classical world is that they regard film music with some disdain - "not proper music", which IMO is sheer snobbery. A case in point is Prokoviev's "Troika", which was written for film - but the film was never completed. Thus it is regarded as a great work of classical music. However, had the film actually have been made, I'd be impressed if the Western art circles would have ever picked it up.

People like James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, Basil Poledouris, Howard Shore, and, of course, John Williams, are the real inheritors of the genre, IMO. Beetoven may be 300 years or so removed from us - but John Williams is with us, and he is our modern Beethoven. Long may they be playing his music 300 years from now - and call it classical music.

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fallenstar

You listen to Wagner?My friend is a HUGE fan of his opera, especially Der Ring des Nibelungen...

Esioul

Andreas is right, I am a huge fan of opera, and other classical music too.

I love Verdi and I don't care if people think he's just a 'fun' composer- Aida is wonderful, and so is Traviata. Of course I like Carmen too. And Saint Saen's Samson and Delila has been obsessing me at the moment, I was singing 'Mon coeur....etc' for ages yesterday. Purcell's 17th century opera Dido and Aeneas will always be a favorite too.

I don't know a great deal about Wagner, but it's something on my list of things I want to listen to.

I'm keen on some instrumental stuff, too, especially Prokofiev's Romeo And Juliet, and I like Tchaikovsky. What annoys me is, the library files it under the 'ch' section' so it took me ages to find it the first time I went looking for it.

Hypes

Yes, I do. Ritten der Valkyries give me goosebumps every time.

angrybuddhist

My favorite classical recording is the Mercury Living Presence recording of Enesco's Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1 and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 1-6 with Antal Dorati conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. I also like Bruckner's Symphony No. 9. But my favorite cd of all is Keith Emerson and the Nice doing their version of the Intermezzo from Karelia Suite by Sibelius. It also contains a jazz version of Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony No. 6, 3rd Movement.

knivesout

That's a good point about classical music, Brian. I think the 'art music' mythos started sometime after the death of Beethoven, with critics creating a new romantic ideal of the driven, mystically inspired composer struggling with personal demons to wrest art out of his torment. Reality is much more prosaic, but that doesn't make the music any less brilliant.

I also listen to a fair amount of Indian classical music - mostly Carnatic (there are two schools of classical Indian music - the form most of you would be more familiar with is Hindustani, which imbibes many Arabic influences). Has anyone heard any of this stuff at all? The tonalities are very different from Western classical, and the emphasis is on the individual interpretation and imporvisation of a given piece - much like jazz, in that sense.

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Lacedaemonian

Not meaning to sound quirky and weird, but I've been listening to Chinese and Japanese traditional music. My favourite track is Tortoise, but there are so many it would be hard to choose. I have also been listening to the Shenmue soundtrack and Shen Hua is the probably the best, althought they all sound fairly similar. I like most classical music, mood depending, but there is one really emotive opera tune that featured on Grand Theft Auto 3. I was led to believe that it was from Madam Butterfly but my craven brother appears to be wrong. I know it is a long shot but could anybody provide me with the name of this very famous opera track. I really love it, and it inspires me to write certain moods. Thanks.

mzarynn

There's so much I want to reply to on this thread. Oh Joy!

My favorite classical piece is Mozart's Requiem. I sang it in college and it was just amazing. The piece was not finished by Mozart and there is controversy on who has, or should have finished it. But I still love it! I like to play it on the drive home after really stressful work days.

I also like Stravinsky, Knivesout. I really enjoy his Symphony of Psalms. It's dissonant but beautiful. Brian, A lot of movie music borrows themes and styles from classical music. I'm sure the reverse is true also. I always thought the Orkai music from LOTR sounded like The Rite of Spring. That piece actually inspired rioting on it's premiere, so you're probably correct to assume that LOTR would have had a strange reaction. I always like it when they use the actually classical piece in the movie. There is a movement from Mozart's Requiem in X-men 2.

Esoiul, my sister just graduated with a degree in vocal performance. She is also a mezzo-soprano. She played a boy in a famous opera, I just wish I could remember which one it was. hehe Oh well, I do like Strauss', Die Flaudermaus. I remember that one.

Lacedaemonian, I think I know what you're talking about in Grand Theft Auto, but I can't think of the name. I can check our game, but for some reason our main guy keeps turning around backwards. It's kind of strange.

Esioul

I like Die Flaudermaus- I can sing Ofrlosky's song about drinking.

Was it Cherubino in Nozze di Figaro?

I think Mezzo's are largely maligned, poor things- soprano's are always the goodies. But at least mezzos are rarely wet. There are some great songs around for mezzos, actually, although some of them aren't well known. I've recently discovered a lovely opera by someone called Francesco Cilea, called Adriana Lecourvrir. Has anyone heard of it? I only just have.

Yes- I kept nudging my friends at X-Men 2 and going, 'Mozart's requiem! Mozarts requiem!'.

I love Madam Butterly. When I'm feeling high I can sing that. I mean high as in high voice, not high as in hyper.

I, Brian

I have Reqiuem upstairs, along with Beetoven's 9th - my other half just doesn;t like choral music, so I have it burned to my hard drive.

I absolutely love choral music - preferable where it expresses passion. Palestrina can go so far in a mellow mood, and Orff is good for the riotous - but generally I have to pick and nibble from various works and composers. That's a particular area I always look for in modern film music - whether it's Conan the Barbarian, or Return of the King. Give me a good thumping choir and I'll be happy listening to it.

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Esioul

Just thought I'd add I've just found a CD with Wagner on it and I'm listening to it.

I like music I can sing myself, often, which is probably a bit silly, but anyway.