Western Classical Music

It is sometimes so amazing that the music of Bach is so universal.....from Ilayaraja to Heitor Villa-Lobos the Brazilian composer who core compositions are a set of Bachianas Brasileiras. These pieces are inspired by Bach. If you are feeling a touch of melancholy, try No. 5 originally scored for voice and 8 cellos, and later for voice and guitar:

Bachianas Brasileiras No 5 - Aria (Heitor Villa-Lobos) - Salli Terri & Laurindo Almeida - YouTube

so calm and beautiful....written in the late 30s...
 
Thad E Ginathom said:
PS... a few people here know that I am a great fan of Mahler's symphonies. I have known Nos 1 and 2 for a long time, and have seen them and "the Symphony of a thousand" (forget the number) live --- and am discovering the others of late. 3, I find lacks the coherence of 1 or 2, but 4 is sweet.
:D
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Symphony of a thousand is No. 8 - there is a great recording by Solti to test anyone's stereo system ! I love No. 5 (whose slow movement was used in the movie Death in Venice) and No. 6. But like you, I often return to No. 1 too...it is truly a great musical sunrise!
 
Thad E Ginathom said:
Great stuff indeed.

I used to have a theory that, if a person was humming a tune, there was a good chance that that tune had been written by Mozart or Beethoven. Most of us have no idea how much those tow contributed to our culture! There is nothing to be frightened of in Classical music. It's great coming across melodies you knew all your life, but might not have been able to put a name to.

Whilst I wouldn't force it on anyone (nothing could be more counter-productive of course) I do not think that there is anything better than an orchestra to bring out the best in hifi --- indeed, to challenge it! I can't help wondering, sometimes, what is the point of soundstage, separation, depth, etc, when one is only listening to four or five instruments, and maybe they are coming from a couple of electronic boxes on the stage too. But, when there are dozens of instruments, or even hundreds of people playing ...wow.

It's just a personal thing with me, but I am not that fond of solo violin, or small string groups. For me, carnatic music expresses how a violin should sound! Similarly, I find the classical-trained western voice, sometimes, hard to listen too. Partly because of the vibrato, it sounds a bit artificial to me.

We don't have to like it all: Western "Classical" covers different centuries, different genres, different countries. It is a huge box of chocolates, and we can pick the ones that we like.

PS... a few people here know that I am a great fan of Mahler's symphonies. I have known Nos 1 and 2 for a long time, and have seen them and "the Symphony of a thousand" (forget the number) live --- and am discovering the others of late. 3, I find lacks the coherence of 1 or 2, but 4 is sweet.
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I am in sync with you ... I have been mesmerized a lot on hearing great orchestras ...

I do see some useless debates in the Internet on who the great is between Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, etc ... As you said, Western classical covers different periods, genres and also based on the mood of the composer. It also depends on the mood of the listener too ..:) Some times I feel Bach as the best and on some other occassions, I feel Schubert as the best. I eventually found that all those composers are gems and who the best composer could be depends strictly on the individual listener's mood/character and preference. You aptly put "It is a huge box of chocolates, and we can pick the ones that we like."
 
I have a massive ( appx 140 Records)collection of western classical for sale - in very good condition. out of them 20 are melodia & appx 30 Deutsche Gramophone.
 
Staxxx said:
...But like you, I often return to No. 1 too...it is truly a great musical sunrise!
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I came home to my shared London flat in nineteen-seventy-something. A flatmate took me into his room, said. "Sit down! Listen!" He put an LP on the record player. My head was in the stars, and when the side finished, and I started to move, he said, "Don't move! It gets even better!" He turned over the record and ...It did, of course.

That was my introduction to Mahler's 1st symphony.
 
@Staxx: Brilliant, and hats off :)

Thad and everybody else here... I am loving the discussion here :)

I have so far listened very little music from Beethoven and Mozart; and I have an habit of listening few instrumentals of these music masters (and the modern Beethoven - Hans Zimmer) everyday in the morning, when I do my little exercise or read newspaper.
Now it's time to explore more and enjoy more !
Thanks for introducing me to the world of western classic music.
 
I am a big fan of Beethoven, Amadeus, and Bach. And I also admire Tchaikovsky, Handel and Strauss.

One type of Western Classical I find getting very little mention is Operas. Wagner's Lohingrein and Die Walkure are masterpieces .. heavy for a newcomer but with immense musical enchantment

Another type of music I listen often is choir music. Mozart's Requiem, especially a brilliant recording by Solti, and A German Requiem by Brahms are tremendously atmospheric and impressive.
 
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Wagner's operas are exceedingly long. I worked with a Wagner fan once, and, having always been tempted, went with him and a couple of other colleagues to see one. It was hugely expensive, and I wondered if I was wasting my money on three hours (yes, three hours!) of boredom. No way! You might love it, you might hate it, but it would be very hard to be bored. Very dramatic. Don't know much opera: could this be the rock music of opera? :lol:

My colleague gave me a dress-rehearsal ticket he was unable to use (he was a member of Friends of Covent Garden) so I got to see two. It's over 20 years ago, I can't remember which :o

The orchestral music can be quite light. I had a record player wired to a time clock, and got woken up by Wagner every morning for quite a while: great alarm clock! (That was one of the Lohengrin preludes. I forget which act: the famous one!)

I wish I'd used my decades in London to see a bit more W. classical (and even a bit more rock!) but it tended to be Indian classical that got me off my backside and buying a ticket.
 
Haha Thad! I can imagine being woken up by Lohengrin's Prelude to Act III. I would jump out of my pajamas. One of the really dramatic pieces of music written. (BTW I was a Friend at CG too and the Philharmonia).
In terms of operas, I strongly suggest starting with La Boheme. It is utterly beautiful all through and has a nice story (albeit sad) with great arias (solo songs). It was written by the Italian Puccini and is not too long.
I shifted to collecting and listening to operas on DVD several years ago as I used to miss the visual and acting element. It is so much easier to watch this way.
 
Staxxx said:
I shifted to collecting and listening to operas on DVD several years ago as I used to miss the visual and acting element. It is so much easier to watch this way.
Click to expand...

If ever I invest in an HT, it will be to watch the beautiful Anna Netrebko:)
 
Rupam said:
I wonder why no body mentioned Vivaldi-The Four Seasons. One of my favorite. Please listen Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's Jonathan Carney. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons; Pachelbel: Canon; Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
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That's surprising! I especially like the first movement of "Summer". It starts off in a easy, lyrical style that almost puts you to sleep and then suddenly the strings hit you with a thunderous melody. Just love the effect! :clapping:
 
Anna Netrebko: Yes yes yes, she is BEAUTIFUL! :) .....I love her Russian Album. Like a favourite box of chocolates! Highly recommended.
 
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Linn has this very beautiful recording on sale right now,
Bach on the Lute,
It is one of my favorite recordings of Bach's music and I do think it is a great introduction to the music of this Master.
You can download the album here:Linn Records - Bach on the Lute Box Set
ckd-300.jpg
 
The worlds best trumpet player

:DThis album with, in my opinion, the worlds best trumpet player,
Andre Heuvelman, is incredible well recorded.
The sound stage is big, deep and wide and the background is almost black.

The repertoire is a beautiful mix of western classical and world music.
So in that sense maybe also a good introduction to classical music all though
only half the tracks are classical.

it is possible to listen to the tracks here;Andre Heuvelman - After Silence

Andre%20300%20met%20schaduw%20320_300.png
 
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