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The Classical Music Recommendation Thread


Muad'Dib

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Yes, especially some of RVW's later symphonies have made me think more than once that Herrmann could be thought of as RVW minus the pastoral British halo, but plus a post war, schizophrenic psychological profile.

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I listened to Steve Reich's Daniel Variations this morning.  It was a favorite of mine back in college, but I hadn't listened to it in several years.  I'd forgotten how wonderful the piece is.  Beautiful and harrowing.  Very emotionally affecting.  Not surprising given the programmatic subject.

 

 

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I love, LOVE this piece!! Got to see her perform it live with MTT/SFSO last fall - incredible (and she wore the same lovely dress!) With phenomenal principal trumpet as well...both soloists and the orchestra have to be really "on" for it to be stellar. Heard it live a few times now with different groups, such a fav of mine.

 

4 hours ago, karelm said:

A wonderfully inventive work from one of my favorite composers.

 

 

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Here's a fun student piece I discovered from reading a biography of Shostakovich:

 

 

Apparently it was originally intended to be one of the movements in his graduation piece, the First Symphony.

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20 hours ago, Will said:

 

 

Call me crazy, but this does nothing for me.  It sounds like a bunch of car horns going to heaven, but they're still just car horns.

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3 hours ago, igger6 said:

Call me crazy, but this does nothing for me.  It sounds like a bunch of car horns going to heaven, but they're still just car horns.

 

Crazy! :P

 

I can definitely see why you feel that way, though. Modern music can be "difficult." This is one of the rare times where I do "get it" pretty quickly, but that's not always the case!  

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I love this proto-Goldenthal work, Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto (1977) which Goldenthal as a student of Corigliano was influenced by (listen for the off stage horn rip to trills at 1:26 and 2:50 that is a Goldenthal fingerprint).  Starting at 2:05, the six horns are individually tonguing as fast as they can which I freaking love that manically anxious effect that they are not in sync and spread across the audience (they are not on stage).  This is just an excerpt from the end since I can't find the complete work on youtube in this recording.

 

 

and from Goldenthal here at around 1:06...Goldenthal loves this effect as do I. 

 

 

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Been really digging this new Prokofiev album that came out last month.

 

MI0004243726.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

 

Exuberant piano from Trpceski.  I adore the brash, overexcitable first concerto.  Very much the product of a late teenage student.

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5 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Been really digging this new Prokofiev album that came out last month.

 

MI0004243726.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

 

Exuberant piano from Trpceski.  I adore the brash, overexcitable first concerto.  Very much the product of a late teenage student.

One of my favorite and most original composers.  I performed Romeo and Juliette and his Piano Concerto No. 3 in the orchestra and it was so much great fun.  The whole orchestra was so energized and electrified on his music.  I can't imagine how it was received at its unveiling. 

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6 minutes ago, karelm said:

One of my favorite and most original composers.  I performed Romeo and Juliette and his Piano Concerto No. 3 in the orchestra and it was so much great fun.  The whole orchestra was so energized and electrified on his music.  I can't imagine how it was received at its unveiling. 

 

I got to see his second violin concerto performed last year and it was one of the most thrilling live music experiences I've ever had!

 

Sadly the second half of that concert was Tchaikovsky's Manfred symphony, which is interminable gloop in my opinion.

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Well, @Disco Stu, after discovering Daniel Variations in this thread yesterday I have fallen madly in love with it. Even though I know it's about a sad subject there's an incredible bouncing exuberance in its groovy rhythms. Can't stop listening - thanks for recommending! 

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6 minutes ago, Will said:

Well, @Disco Stu, after discovering Daniel Variations in this thread yesterday I have fallen madly in love with it. Can't stop listening - thanks for recommending! 

 

I'm so glad you like it!  It's one of the few modern American classical pieces to really tackle the post-9/11 atmosphere of fear and hope and sadness.  Beautiful, gut-wrenching and fascinating music.

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10 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

I bet you love the darkly jazzy second movement, Alex - Leonard - Richard? - oh, it's just Jilal now?

 

I love every bit of it - it's one of my go-to orchestral works lately.

 

Walton's awe-inducing Symphony No. 1 is becoming a cherised favorite of mine. This recording is especially powerful and the acoustics are absolutely marvelous.

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In my continued quest to listen to new classical releases from over the summer, I have happened upon this lovely album of romantic French chamber music:

 

MI0004258299.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

 

I've never heard of either composer but I was especially impressed by the Chausson piece.  It's for piano and solo violin with a backing string quartet.  Such an interesting combination.  Great music for relaxing with a drink at the end of a long week.

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I really adore mid to late 19th century French music like Chausson, Faure, Debussy, Ravel, Roussel, Massenet, d'Indy... etc.  It's very comfortable music - there's such an ease about it.  No weighty philosophical or aesthetic anglings, just these delicate, perfumed trips into strange, beautiful realms.  The esoteric quality of much art from this period is very appealing to me.  Franck is great as well though the more rigorous Teutonic influence is heard quite strongly there.

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6 minutes ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

I really adore mid to late 19th century French music like Chausson, Faure, Debussy, Ravel, Roussel, Massenet... etc.  It's very comfortable music - there's such an ease about it.  No weighty philosophical or aesthetic anglings, just these delicate, perfumed jaunts into strange, beautiful realms.  The esoteric quality of much art from this period is very appealing to me.  Franck is great as well though the more rigorous Teutonic influence is heard quite strongly there.

 

The last minute or so of the second section of the Chausson piece is like swimming in cotton candy

 

 

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I recommend listening to this mid 20th century symphony by the Hungarian composer, Laszlo Lajtha.  It is very interesting and imaginatively scored with a large orchestra including saxophone, timpani plus 7 percussionists and two harps.  It never feels excessive and has much in common with Vaughan Williams late symphonies like No. 6 and 9 (saxophone, strings divisi in 3) with some proto Williams (the parallel triple bassoons reminds me of Star Wars in some of the atmospheric Tatooine sequences.  There are some traces of Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev in here as well.  Though not particularly melodic, the work exudes atmosphere and creativity.  

 

 

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On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 9:38 PM, karelm said:

What is probably the longest Piano Concerto, Busoni's 70 to 80 minute long concerto

 

Criminy, and I thought Furtwangler and Brahms' were long.

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6 hours ago, nightscape94 said:

 

Criminy, and I thought Furtwangler and Brahms' were long.

 

Hey! I love grand works as long as they are well structured.  For example, this is exceptionally beautiful in its design though it is grand because there is elegant balance and nuance within its architecture. It effectively speaks volumes in the most minimal way. 

gothic-cathedrals-03.jpg

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