Who are your favourite composers?

[pixie_twinkle 48]

I'm very curious to see which composers are listened to the most by readers of this forum. I have a feeling that the great late/post romantic composers will feature highly on many people's lists. These after all were the composers who had the most influence on the film-music medium. For the record here's my list.

All time favourite composers:

Shostakovich (particularly symphonies 5,7,8,10 and 11)

Vaughan-Williams (particularly symphonies 2,4,6 and 7, Donna Nobis Pacem, Job, and Hodie)

...and close seconds:

Rautavaara (symphonies 6,7 and 8, Violin Concerto etc etc!)

Debussy (La Mer!!!)

Stravinsky (Rite, Petrouschka, Soldier's Tale)

Delius (Over the Hills etc)

Beethoven (7th Symphony, Violin Concerto, all the quartets!!!)

Prokofiev (the ballets. especially Cinderella)

Messiaen (Turangalila, Preludes, Quartet for the end of time)

I seem to have a preference for orchestral pieces! (Probably John Williams' fault!!!) However one of my all-time favourite pieces is Schubert's Quintet in C Major. Aaaaah!

[Jeshopk 8]

A few of my top favorite works are (in no particular order):

Shostakovich-Symphony 5

Saint Saens-Carnival of the Animals/Danse Macabre

Prokofiev-Lt. Kije/Romeo and Juliet

Stravinsky-Fireworks/Firebird

Mahler-Symphony 1/2

Dukas-Sorcerer's Apprentice

Mussourgsky-Night on Bald Mountain

Honneger-Symphony no.3/Pacific 231

Most of these works are very descriptive, like film music (In the case of Kije, it IS film music!)

[MSM 126]

Ok, again (just my top 25):

1) John Williams (Hook, Jurassic Park, Sabrina, Schindler?s List)

2) Antonin Dvorak (Heroic Song, Cello Concerto, Symf. no.9, Violin Concerto)

3) Sergei Prokofiev (Romeo and Julia, Cinderella, Lieutenant Kije, Love for Three Oranges, Summer Night Suite of the Duenna, Symf. no.7)

4) Leonard Bernstein (Candide Ouverture, Divertemento for Orchestra, West Side Story Symphonic Dances)

5) Zoltan Kodaly (Dances of Galanta (Opera ?), Hary Janos Suite)

6) Gustav Holst (The Planets ? Mars, Jupiter)

7) Igor Stravinsky (Fire Bird Suite, Le Sacre du Printemps)

8) Aaron Copland (Rodeo, El Salon Mexico, Fanfare for the Common Man)

9) George Gershwin (Girl Crazy Ouverture, Funny Face Ouverture)

10) William Walton (Symf. no.1 & 2)

11) Aram Katchaturian (Maskerade Suite, Spartacus, Symf. no.2)

12) Dmitri Shostakovitch (Symf. no.10, symf. no.5, Festive Ouverture)

13) Pjotr Ilyitch Tschaikovsky (The Nutcracker Suite, The Swan Lake Suite, Symf. No. 1, Symf. no. 5, Eugen Onegin)

14) Emanuel Chabrier (Espana, Ouverture Ford Gwendolin)

15) David Arnold (Independence Day, Stargate)

16) Michael Torke (Javelin)

17) Maurice Ravel (Daphnis et Chloe, Bolero, La Valse)

18) Ralph Vaughan Williams (The Wasps)

19) Paul Hindemith (Symphonic Metamorphoses)

20) Ron Nelson (River Holiday)

21) Richard Wagner (Walkuren Ritt)

22) Richard Strauss (Also Sprach Zarathustra)

23) Manuel de Falla (El sombrero de Tres Picos)

24) Johan de Meij (Symf. no.1)

25) Charles Stanford (Irish Rhapsody no.5)

[Donnelly24 0]

Strauss II...you gotta love a good waltz!

[Melange 446]

I really do love Mozart's Masses. The "Coronation Mass" for example is blessed with glorious roof raising power and moments of heart aching dramatic tragedy. I'm also a fan of his Piano Sonata's and Concertos. The sort of music that gets me imitating frantic piano playing with my fingers when holding the steering wheel of my car (i should'nt be doing that....but....ahem.). I also love Wagner, Mendelssohn, Borodin, Prokofiev, Kabalevsky, Vivaldi, Chopin, Beethoven. Overall, rather than flitting off into hundreds of composers works. I've instead stuck with 3 or 4 that have really clicked for me early on. Collecting Mozarts Piano Sonata's,Concerto's,and Masses. There is a vast amount of material just from Mozart alone, that a lifetime probably wont be enough to hear it all. So he's the guy i have the most material of i guess. His musical personality is more akin to my personality it seems. I'm also a bit of a manic depressive i guess. One day flitting around like a gerbil on speed with my eyes bright, writing wierd posts,and listening to Credo from Coronation Mass, and then the next day found sitting in a comfy chair with the lights down low, enjoying a cup of warm tea with the tragic Piano Sonata KV280 feeling like the world is "woe". He's the composer i've found my psyche connecting with the most in his music. Wagner is my second big connection. He's written such emotionally stirring work that pulls my heart strings. Many composers do it for me. But 1 or 2 REALLY do it for me on a deep level, and i find myself going deeper into their catalogue instead. There are of course many composers i've yet to hear work from. But luckily i can hire Classical Cd's from our library to give them a trial listen sometimes. Otherwise, it's an expensive hobby for sure.

Songs without Words - Mendelssohn

Melange - Has the DVD of Karajan conducting Mozart's "Coronation Mass" in the Vatican.

[QMM 4]

Mozart's Dies Irae!

[Mari 279]

Here are a few of my favorites:

Beehoven - Symphonies 5, 7, 9

Hovhaness - Symphony No. 2

Hanson - Symphony No. 2

Elgar - Enigma Variations

Holst - The Planets

Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade

Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition

Faure - Requiem

Copland - Billy The Kid/Appalachian Spring/Rodeo ballets

Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake/Sleeping Beauty/The Nutcracker ballets

Stravinsky - The Firebird/Petrushka/The Rite of Spring ballets

Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet ballet

Kathy

[MSM 126]

Good taste Kathy!

[Marian Schedenig 8,244]

Anton Bruckner, as everyone knows by now. Other favourites include Richard Strauss, Sibelius, Beethoven (been listening to more of his works again recently), Leonard Bernstein, some Mahler....more Wagner again recently.

Marian - realizing that he has several favourite works without having much other stuff by their composers, and therefore didn't list those.

[SeekUYoda 0]

Brahms - absolutely my favorite!

Williams, of course

Haydn, Chopin, Hindemith, and Skryabin are also brilliant.

[diskobolus 3]

Rachmaninoff

[Romão 2,276]

John Williams

Wagner (The Ring Cycle)

Grieg (Peer Gynt, Sigurd Jorsalfar)

Holts (The Planets, specially Uranus, no pun)

Verdi (Requiem)

Mozart (Requiem)

Bach (St.Mathew's Passion)

Beethoven (5th and 9th simphonies, Moonlight sonata)

Albinoni (adagio)

Dukas (Sorcerer's Apprentice)

Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring)

Dvorak (New World Simphony)

That's about it

[Marian Schedenig 8,244]

Grieg (Peer Gynt, Sigurd Jorsalfar)

Ah, good. Do you know the full Peer Gynt? Lots of great stuff in there that's absent from the two suites. But my favourite Grieg work probably is From Holberg's Time.

Marian - hoping to get Wagner's Ring for Christmas.

Seven Years in Tibet

[David Coscina 4]

John Adams- Harmonium, Harmonielehre, The Wound Dresser, Short Ride in a Fast Machine

Barber- 2nd Essay for Orchestra, Knoxville:1915, Adagio for Strings

Debussy- Reverie, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Ravel- Pavane for a Dead Princess, Daphnis et Chloe

Elgar- Enigma Variations (the Nimbrod being my favorite)

Wagner- Parsifal

Mahler- all 10 Symphonies, Kindertotenleider, Das Leid Von Der Erde

Prokofiev- Alexander Nevsky, Ivan theTerrible, Fiery Angel opera, Symphony #3, Romeo and Juliet

Vaughan Williams- all 9 symphonies, Job, Tallis Fantasia, Five Variants of Dives and Lazerus

Holst- St. Paul's Suite

Bartok- The Miraculous Mandarin, Concerto for Orchestra, The Wooden Prince, String Quartets, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste, Bluebeard's Castle

Xenakis- various pieces I cannot spell

Crumb- Black Angels

Glass- String Quartets

Shostakovich- Symph. 5, Symph. 12

Ligeti- Requiem

Mozart- operas

Puccini- Turandot

Gorecki- Symph. #3

Kilar- Exodus for Orchestra

okay this could go on forever....

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Marian Schedenig wrote:

Marian - hoping to get Wagner's Ring for Christmas.  

Which set? CDs go for the remastered Solti set. It's awesome, even though

Rheingold

was recorded in the 50s! Personally I would get the DVD set with James Levine and the MET. This music works so much better when you see the action taking place! (Unlike Williams' score for

Empire

which works well however you listen to it!)

If there was a Russian word for Weltschmerz it would be Shostakovich.

Shostakovich 8th symphony, Adagio

[pixie_twinkle 48]

OK so I need to learn the difference between quotes and italics aparently....

[Morn 8]

Mahler, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich I'd say are the masters, however there are many ones I like much like Richard Strauss, Elgar, Bartok, Ralph Vaughan Williams and more.

[Marian Schedenig 8,244]

Which set? CDs go for the remastered Solti set. It's awesome

I picked the Karajan. I've always been fond of his recordings, plus I have a "highlights" compilation from his Ring which I love.

I'd like to hear the Solti too, of course, but Karajan is my first choice.

Marian -

[Albaicin 0]

My top composers are:

Bruckner, Mahler, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, R. Strauss, Ravel, Rachmaninoff.

And concerning Wagner's ring, I think that the best choice is Solti's recording with the Wiener Philharmoniker and the best Wagnerian singers that were avaliable en the 50's.

James Levine's reading is weak, but anyway I got the DVD set becuase the other choice was Pierre Boulez's anachronistic Bayreuth set.

Among the critics, the best Ring is Knapperbutsch's Bayreuth recording of 1956. His 1957 has better sound, though.

[Beowulf 4]

My number one would have to be Tchaikovsky.

To me, he represents the penultimation of emotion in music. That and I can listen to anything he has ever written - and he has written every conceivable type of music. I can feel the anguish and emotion in his music - which is even more poignant when one considers Tchaikovsky's real life events while composing many of his great works.

Some of my particular favorites from him:

- Symphonies 4, 5, 6

- Swan Lake, Nutcracker ballets

- Violin Concerto

- Piano Concertos

- Romeo & Juliet Overture

- 1812 Overture

- Cappricio Italian

Other favorite composers:

Debussy - La Mer, Prelude al'apres-midi d'un faune, Suite Bergamase

Dvorak - Symphonies 8, 9, Carnival Overture, Slavonic Dances

Rachmaninoff - Symphonic Dances, Piano Concertos (all of them!), Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini

Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade, Capriccio Espagnol, Russian Easter Festival Overture

Prokofiev - Lt. Kije Suite, Romeo and Juliet, Symphonies 1, 5, Peter and the Wolf

Richard Strauss - Death and Transfiguration, Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegal, Festive Prelude

Stravinsky - Firebird, Rite of Spring

Mahler - All symphonies

Vaughn Williams - Symphonies 4, 6, The Lark Ascending, Fantasia on a Theme by Tallis

Bach - Anything

[SeekUYoda 0]

You know, I'm really surprised that no one besides me favors Brahms. His music is SO much like Williams' - it's all really thick and intricate and often very melody/theme based, and very difficult to arrange or transcribe properly because all the layers are so critical - that I figured all the Williams fans here would be Brahms fans too. Weird. And they both write so well and so frequently for horn.... I guess I'm a little biased... A pity Brahms never wrote a horn concerto.

[Guest]

Holst and Wagner are the two I have been into the most. And of course John Adams is a favorite.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Actually I have a really hard time with most of Brahms' chamber works. Maybe it's just a phase I'm going through. I adore his symphonic stuff though. His violin concerto is a tearjerker! Perhaps my favourite violin concerto ever. The second subject of the first movement is PURE emotion!!! Oh my God, I'm going weak at the knees just thinking about it!

[DarthHornPlayer 0]

Its good to see so many of you enjoy the classical composers. Im lucky

that I get to play some of their great works everyday! Ill break mine

down a little differently:

Absolute Greats

Bach

Mozart

Haydn

Beethoven

Mendelssohn

Stravinsky

Greats who lived short lives:

Schubert

Mahler

Scriabin

Nationalist greats:

Dvorak

Sibelius

Greig

DaFalla (poor mans stravinsky)

Vaughan Williams (do the english love him?)

Ravel/Debussy..both wrote in the impressionistic style but

Ravel never sounds like Debussy

Copland How could a man from New York paint the turn of the

century mid-west so well?

and a few words about the rest:

Holst...on many people's list, but Lebretch calls him a one hit

wonder...can anyone name a piece that he wrote other than the

planets? At my local borders the Planets section is almost bigger

than the whole Stravinsky section...CRAZY!

Bruckner...great but all his symphonies sound the same and he

COULD NEVER figure out a way to end a symphony...the 8th

is perhaps his best effort. You must listed to Bruckner live

to really appreciate it! His choral works are a must.

Ives...and a hush went over the crowd...LOL In my opinion

perhaps one of the greatest American composers...he went

his own way and no one ever dared follow. The unanswered

question still leaves me in tears. His music is almost

100 years old and today he is still considered modern...a true

American Genius

Brahms....always lived in Beethoven's shadow, wrote his

4 symponies very late in life because of it..the first

is considered the Beethoven 10th...

Wagner...his view on Jews was inexcusable, but only he

could right a 4 hour opera and write not only the music

but the stage directions, libretto and everything else...that

in itself is amazing!

Tchaikovsky....no one wrote better ballet music but perhaps

Stravinsky who workshipped him. Tchaikovsky

isn't considered a great Russian to the Russian

people because he studied in St Petersburg, the

German end of country...they would rather look

to far less worthy composers like Glinka and Mussorsky

Richard Strauss...All his tone poems are worthy, if you haven't

listened to four last songs you are missing out!

Mahler.....afraid of 9 because that is where everyone died and of course

so did he. No man could rip the guts out of you like he could

If there is anything more powerful than the climax to the

slow movement of the 6th I don't know it.

...and so many more..great topic. thanks

DHP

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

Antonin Dvorak.

Likely not the best composer of all time, whom no one can ever ordain, but the maestro means all the world of classical music to me. He's got all I love about classical music in his concert works and operas. I admit I am not fond of absolutely everything he composed, but one day I would like to own all his works on CDs, at least those that are/will be available.

Dvorak is what John Williams represents in film music world for me.

Piotr I. Tchaikovsky

For me, he's almost, almost as valuable as Dvorak, but I by far don't want to own all of his compositions. I admit I also don't know many of them. Again, his symphonies and all concertos and overtures are a must for me, as is the ballet music, but it's difficult to decide upon the rest because he's written so much music and is more varied than Dvorak so he's not that sure of a bet for me.

Gustav Mahler and Ralph V. Williams

I have all Mahler's symphonies and now I'm halfway through completing Wiliiams' symphonies collection, the set conducted by Bernard Haitink. Mr. Haitink is perfect for R. V. Williams. I can't imagine him conducting Dvorak's seventh or Tchaikovsky's violin concerto, but he's absolutely gotten Williams right. Yes, that being just my opinion.

I'm recently discovering the relatively "thin" world of William Walton and I found myself enchanted by his second symphony. It's as brisk as anything by R. V. Williams and a good choice for J. Williams fan like me.... :-)

What I can imagine J. Williams's fans being fond of is William Walton's viola and cello concertos. Excellent pieces of work, really!!!

Seems all the good composers have names that begin with "W"...

Roman.-)

[Rogue_Leader 2]

I prefer the more Classical film style.

My primary favorites are Mozart, Beethoven, Richard Wagner, Holts,

and of course Williams.

[MSM 126]

Antonin Dvorak [...] the maestro means all the world of classical music to me.

Good to see you Roman! Have you been away? Still have to mail you...will do soon! Still interested in your opinion about what I think to be the piece of music ever written, namely Dvorak's Heroic Song!

MSM

[Rogue_Leader 2]

Dvorak?

Hmmmm I have not followed his work to well.

Is it similar to John Williams' work?

[Marian Schedenig 8,244]

Holst...on many people's list, but Lebretch calls him a one hit  

wonder...can anyone name a piece that he wrote other than the

planets?

Well, I can at least name two: The Hymn of Jesus and the Choral Symphony. I picked up a CD with them for cheap in London a couple of years ago. But I must admit that I've only listened to it about three times.

Bruckner...great but all his symphonies sound the same and he

COULD NEVER figure out a way to end a symphony...the 8th

is perhaps his best effort.  You must listed to Bruckner live

to really appreciate it! His choral works are a must.

Obviously, I'm going to object about anything critical said about Bruckner. But his Codas in particular are what amazes me so about him. I consider the last bars of the 4th and 8th to be some of the best music ever written (and Celibidache's recording of the ending of the 4th to be the best-performed bit of music I've ever heard).

Bruckner live: Yes. The only problem is that most conductors just can't handle his music...there are not that many really great Bruckner recordings out there, and even fewer great performances of his work to be heard live. (Actually, that's also a problem with the Codas, some of the good Bruckner conductors don't fully do them justice either).

Richard Strauss...All his tone poems are worthy, if you haven't

                         listened to four last songs you are missing out!

Actually, I just picked up the Four Last Songs yesterday. And I've started listening to his operas recently - pretty impressive as well.

Marian - who loves Karajan's Stauss recordings on DG Originals.

The Return of the King (Howard Shore)

[Smaug 0]

Among the may great composers:

Debussy and Grieg (no real favourite pices)

Gorecki - Miserere

Bizet - Pearl Fishers duet

Bernstein - Overture de Candide

Doppler - Andante and Rondo (for 2 flutes) - amazing to listen to, even better to play!

Also a range of Renaissance composers including: Josquin De Prez; John Dowland; Palestrina; Guillaume de Machaut; Ockeghem and Monteverdi.

[jw2285gd 0]

Among the may great composers:

Debussy and Grieg (no real favourite pices)

Gorecki - Miserere

Bizet - Pearl Fishers duet

Bernstein - Overture de Candide

Doppler - Andante and Rondo (for 2 flutes) - amazing to listen to, even better to play!

Also a range of Renaissance composers including: Josquin De Prez; John Dowland; Palestrina; Guillaume de Machaut; Ockeghem and Monteverdi.  

Candide is one of my favorite compositions....I extremly like the John Williams and The Boston Pops arrangement on Salute to America.

[SeekUYoda 0]

Holst...on many people's list' date=' but Lebretch calls him a one hit

wonder...can anyone name a piece that he wrote other than the

planets?[/quote']

Yes - the two suites for wind band (No. 1 in E-flat, No. 2 in F) and Hammersmith - one of my favorite pieces ever!

And whoever mentioned William Walton, I've loved him for a while, ever since I read through "Crown Imperial" in my high school's band. I just heard a piece of his on the radio this morning, "Spitfire Prelude and Fugue," that was very nice.

Pixie, I agree - Brahms' chamber music is a little bit much to chew on at first - but if you can see some of it performed live (especially the piano quintet, which is probably the most sublime piano quintet ever), I promise it'll change your outlook. The horn trio is also a masterpiece, as are the clarinet/viola and violin sonatas. (And the violin concerto!!!) It's all wonderful - I've never heard or played anything of his that I didn't like after a couple times through.

Brahms....always lived in Beethoven's shadow' date=' wrote his 4 symponies very late in life because of it..the first is considered the Beethoven 10th... [/quote']

Yes, poor guy. :cry: It worked out for him eventually, though, even though he always felt he was in Beethoven's shadow. I think he surpassed Beethoven - as much as I love Beethoven's symphonies (favorite of the moment is 6), I continue to find more depth in Brahms. And better horn parts - guess having more/better valves helped that. But the more I listen to or play Brahms, the more he amazes and intrigues me and makes me want more. I know he spent years working and re-working his first symphony because he felt there was nothing left to say once Beethoven had finished, but I think he found something to say and got out of his shadow. The first may be Beethoven X, but I really think 2-4 are very different and all his own.

And wow - Ives! He's completely in his own world. I've never felt smart enough to really dive in and try to figure him out. What a genius!

This a great thread!

[Marian Schedenig 8,244]

And whoever mentioned William Walton, I've loved him for a while, ever since I read through "Crown Imperial" in my high school's band.  I just heard a piece of his on the radio this morning, "Spitfire Prelude and Fugue," that was very nice.

I have those and some of his other stuff (three or four CDs, all picked up in London). I'm afraid I've never been that impressed by his music so far, with one exception: Belshazzar's Feast. That's a great one.

Marian -

[Mari 279]

Holst...on many people's list, but Lebretch calls him a one hit  

wonder...can anyone name a piece that he wrote other than the  

planets?

Well, here are some other pieces of Holst music I own and enjoy ...

Symphony in F

A Hamphire Suite

Ballet from The Perfect Fool

Egdon Heath

Hammersmith

I'm recently discovering the relatively "thin" world of William Walton and I found myself enchanted by his second symphony.

I find Walton's Shakespeare inspired music to be more readily accessible to my ears (Henry V, Hamlet, Richard III, As You Like It), but also enjoy his violin concerto, and Belshazzar's Feast.

Oh, and Smaug (Jennie) ... great avatar

It's my cat Miranda and was my avatar once upon a time.

Kathy

[Smaug 0]

What can I say? I Love Cats, the picture was too much to resist.

She also looks very like a cat called Sammy who lives near me.

Jennie

[Trent B 337]

Here are my favorite ones......order varies on who is first favorite from time to time....

John Williams

Jerry and Joel Goldsmith

Don Davis

David Arnold

Alan Silvestri

James Horner

Horner though tends to be last alot....since most of his music he re-uses alot of his themes...

Trent Neodammerung

[Trumpeteer 302]

Sadly, I don't get much into the true classical music, though I do listen to our local classical station once in a while and enjoy what I hear.

Also, I thought this thread was going to be about film composers. ... So I was going to say that Williams is the only film composer I look forward to each time. When I see names like Zimmer, Horner, Newman (either of them) or Goldsmith attached to a film, I think, "Hmm. Interesting."

Jeff -- who thinks listening to Williams music is considered listening to classical music

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Ives...and a hush went over the crowd...LOL In my opinion

perhaps one of the greatest American composers...he went

his own way and no one ever dared follow.   The unanswered

question still leaves me in tears.  His music is almost

100 years old and today he is still considered modern...a true

American Genius

I agree! I listened to his 4th symphony again last week. The juxtapositions of styles are so effective. The use of hymn tunes in the second movement is awesome, and the fourth movement ends so beautifully. The cacophony proir to the gentle ending is so important to set the scene for the final section.

Central Park in the Dark, and Unanswered Question are also amazing. If anyone out there wants to see an entertaining series of lectures on musical language and tonal development/deconstruction over the years you should look at Bernstein's Norton lectures, also called The Unanswered Question. Some very complex musical issues are explained in simple laymans terms, in a frank and straightforward way. And of course Leonard Bernstein is always a joy to watch.

[Trent B 337]

When I see names like Zimmer, Horner, Newman (either of them) or Goldsmith attached to a film, I think, "Hmm. Interesting."

Man you're missing out on some good scores by some excellent composers! Jerry Goldsmith is well known composer...IE: Star Trek and the list is a large one for him.

Trent who loves Goldsmith's latest work Star Trek Nemesis 2 disc promo.

[Marian Schedenig 8,244]

Goldsmith's latest work is Looney Tunes.

Marian - who likes it more than Nemesis.

The Return of the King (Howard Shore)

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

Good to see you Roman! Have you been away? Still have to mail you...will do soon! Still interested in your opinion about what I think to be the piece of music ever written, namely Dvorak's Heroic Song!

Email, me, of course you can, anytime. But I'm as busy as humblebee during summer's peaking honey harvest, so it always takes days to me to reply. Also, I'm spending Christmas at work, means I should be here to write back.

And thanks, Ming! And yes, I'd love to talk about Dvorak some much more, any work and in-depth. No one but you seems to care about his work so I'm lucky to have found you out there...

[Melange 446]

I cant believe i forgot to mention Khachaturian in my earlier post above. Some amazing stuff from that guy indeed. Some of his dances are often so bombastic , they make me feel like leaping around with a sword in my hand like Chingis (Genghis) Khan on amphetamines (not that i was around to ever observe him in his music listening sessions,mind you) and his calm romantic moments really are lush and epic in scale. If you're ever feeling a lack of power. Sticking on a Khachaturian Cd is guaranteed to turn you into Conan.

Dance of the Crotalums (Spartacus)

[Beowulf 4]

I cant believe i forgot to mention Khachaturian in my earlier post above.  Some amazing stuff from that guy indeed. Some of his dances are often so bombastic , they make me feel like leaping around with a sword in my hand like Chingis (Genghis) Khan on amphetamines (not that i was around to ever observe him in his music listening sessions,mind you) and his calm romantic moments really are lush and epic in scale. If you're ever feeling a lack of power. Sticking on a Khachaturian Cd is guaranteed to turn you into Conan.

 

Dance of the Crotalums (Spartacus)

Don't forget about his 'Adagio of Spartacus and Phyrgia' from the Ballet Spartacus. It's one of the mose sensual, climactic pieces i've ever heard!

[Melange 446]

Don't forget about his 'Adagio of Spartacus and Phyrgia' from the Ballet Spartacus.  It's one of the mose sensual, climactic pieces i've ever heard!

How could i forget it?. That's what i've been listening to...hehehe.

I agree though. The Adagio really is a case of - "Luke and Leia" eat your heart out

P.S : 8O I've only just noticed you're from Scotland, beowulf. Nice to have a fellow Brit here

[Beowulf 4]

P.S :  8O I've only just noticed you're from Scotland, beowulf. Nice to have a fellow Brit here

Thanks

Been here for about 6 months and loving it!*

*Excluding the sub-arctic winds we get from the North.

[Melange 446]

Been here for about 6 months and loving it!*

*Excluding the sub-arctic winds we get from the North.

Oh. Where are you from originally?.

I sympathize about the cold winds. I've been scraping ice off my windshield every morning.

Melange - It's bloody freeeeeezzzzing