Trying to find some classical tunes I'd dig.  I heard some concert stuff today that I liked but I couldn't catch the composer or names...but it got me on a kick to find some that i like again.

My two favorite short pieces...actually pretty much my favorite works of all time...are Cello Suite (6, I think) and Fur Elise.  I like stuff that's have on the strings...cellos, guitars, pianos, violins, etc.  I like slow, mellow stuff when it's just one instrument (prefer cello or piano).  Concert stuff I like to be upbeat and happy-ish...don't care much for the harsh angry stuff like Flight of the Valkyries (I think that's the name).

Any suggestions?

Bachs Toccata and fugue
Tchaikovsky's 1812 overature
Beethovens 5th symphony
Of course no rousing list of classical is complete without Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries
One of my personal favorites is Shuberts unfinished symphony (Symphony #8)

I like the angrier stuff when I'm riding with other people...but i don't usually listen to "ride" of the valkyries...typically i'm screaming in my helmet 'da da da da dum da da da da dum da da da da....' haha

I'll d/l that other stuff though and check it out.  i do remember toccata...i dig that.

Hmmm...no anger...  

Avoid Wagner.  (But impress the women by pronouncing it "VAHG-ner".  Or sound like a pretentious asshat, it's your call.)  But viking helmets with horns ARE kinda cool.

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (First movement is best, but the whole thing is pretty good)  My all-time fave.  

Bach:  Brandenburg Concertos.    Great background stuff when you're just chilling around the house.   Also great for dinner music when you've got half a dozen friends over.

Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata".    Not upbeat, but you'll need a break from the upbeat stuff.  Beauty, passion, and a heaping helping of pain.   How did he get a piano to express all that?  If you like "Fur Elise", this one will suck you right in as well.

Vivaldi:  "The Four Seasons"  (This is full orchestra, but a great work).  Can't get much more upbeat than this.

Mozart:  
             "Rondo alla Turka"  (pretty much just piano) Definitely upbeat.
             "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"  or "A Little Night Music" (not just piano)

I blame Bugs Bunny cartoons for the fact that I now like classical music.  A good bit of what I like was in the cartoons I watched as a kid.  When I hear the overture to Barber of Seville, I think of Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs with a straight razor.

OK, you've made me feel all touchy-feely now.   I have to go put on some Ramones...

Thanks caffein.  it's amazing how long it takes to download one tune on a 14k line haha.

"The Planets Suite" by Gustav Holst gets my vote.

Also, try going to a Border's bookstore or a used CD shop that lets you listen to the music before you buy it.   It's a good way to get a quick sample of other stuff you might like.

Mak,

I'm a music professor, but I feel like the wrong one to answer your question.  I like almost every kind of music.  My mp3 player has a pretty diverse collection.

If you're in my neighborhood (I know you got to Edmond sometimes, so you go right through Weatherford, OK) give me a call and I'll fill up a CD with mp3s for you.  My wife's a music teacher as well, so we have a few classical CDs 

Send me a PM if you come this way.

I'll keep that in minid man.  Kalee has been wanting to go back to see her cousin for a while...I'd like to be able to do that sometime this summer.

I like every kind of music, too...except pretty much any modern rap (saying "chicken noodle soup" into a mic 20 times while jamming to a wal-mart beatbox = not music).

I'm just in the mood for some nice string stuff.

When I said I liked almost every kind of music, rap is the one kind I don't like much.  Every once in a great while, I hear something interesting in a rap song.  I don't like endless, boring repetition, which is what the background in most rap "songs" is.

I have found lots of classical and jazz CDs in pawn shops or used CD stores.  Usually they do not sell well, so they are cheaper than other CDs.  Sometimes there are bargain CD collections as well in Best Buy or Circuit City, etc.  -- they're most often made by small and relatively unknown Eastern European or Oriental orchestras, but pretty good for very little money.

Anything by the Kentucky Headhunters.   Nevermind I hate Classical Music. Except for something Close.Danzig Black Aria.

Quote from: Caffeine on June 14, 2007, 03:57:30 PM
Hmmm...no anger...  

Avoid Wagner.  (But impress the women by pronouncing it "VAHG-ner".  Or sound like a pretentious asshat, it's your call.)  But viking helmets with horns ARE kinda cool.

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (First movement is best, but the whole thing is pretty good)  My all-time fave.  

Bach:  Brandenburg Concertos.    Great background stuff when you're just chilling around the house.   Also great for dinner music when you've got half a dozen friends over.

Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata".    Not upbeat, but you'll need a break from the upbeat stuff.  Beauty, passion, and a heaping helping of pain.   How did he get a piano to express all that?  If you like "Fur Elise", this one will suck you right in as well.

Vivaldi:  "The Four Seasons"  (This is full orchestra, but a great work).  Can't get much more upbeat than this.

Mozart:  
             "Rondo alla Turka"  (pretty much just piano) Definitely upbeat.
             "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"  or "A Little Night Music" (not just piano)

I blame Bugs Bunny cartoons for the fact that I now like classical music.  A good bit of what I like was in the cartoons I watched as a kid.  When I hear the overture to Barber of Seville, I think of Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs with a straight razor.

OK, you've made me feel all touchy-feely now.   I have to go put on some Ramones...

Haha, +1  Great post Caffeine.  Bugs Bunny was the shaZam!!!  LOL

Also just to add, Bach is dark typically, but KILLER.  Check out Air for the G string... beautiful.  Of course Toccata and fugue in d minor.  Those are popular ones, but there's so many. Check out Chaconne in d minor, again dark but pretty interesting.
Also Paganini... I always relate everything to guitar LOL, Paganini has KILLER stuff(and complicated)  to translate to guitar... check out 5th Caprice (I believe it was 5th Caprice anyway) that was if you remember the movie crossroads the Karate kid(well he doesn't really play it LOL) does a wicked classical solo at the end while dueling the devil's player (Steve Vai).
Henry Purcell I always liked, simple stuff but with complex time measures etc. Really cool violin stuff.

Well, good luck...

You might also like Handel's Water Music.  One of my favorites for back country roads.  Helps set a sweet pace.

Also, go to Pandora and plug in what you like.  It will pull similar stuff - great way to find stuff you'd never have thought of.

You can't go wrong with Bach.  God only wishes he was half the composer that Bach was. Nobody else even comes close.  Most composers have a few good pieces and the rest.  Bach wrote more good music than most composers wrote music.  The Brandenburg Concertos are good for light listening.  The Goldberg Variations are amazing.  The Art of Fugue is more technical, but is very nice as well.  He had quite an obsession with big organs, so if you like big organs rocking your house, he's the man. His chorales are great for relaxing. 

Strangely enough though, one of my least favorite Bach pieces is Air on a G String. 

Personally, I think Beethoven's 5th and 9th symphonies are only slightly better than fingernails on a chalkboard.  Mozart is nice, but his music has a lot of "flourish" and it can get grating.  Some of his later work is excellent, especially (most of) the Requiem Mass, though I do like portions like the Lacrimosa, Confutatis, and Dies Irae better than those like the Tuba Miram. 

I could go on, but I'm pooped. 

Except that AFAIK, Pandora doesn't do classical. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyxPxpSvXQ8

Quote from: Egaeus on June 15, 2007, 09:57:50 PM
Except that AFAIK, Pandora doesn't do classical. 

Damn - I hadn't actually tried it ... oh well.

The Brandenburg Concertos re absolutely wonderful.  Vivaldi's Adagio e Piccato is great, as well as the Four Seasons (had to d/l to complete bit because listening to the individual parts didn't seem like a complete work).

any more suggestions along the lines of the Brandenburg concertos?  Not a fan of organs, though.

Again, I like the stuff that's mostly stringed instruments.

GG Allin

Quote from: makenzie71 on June 19, 2007, 03:52:31 PM
The Brandenburg Concertos re absolutely wonderful.  Vivaldi's Adagio e Piccato is great, as well as the Four Seasons (had to d/l to complete bit because listening to the individual parts didn't seem like a complete work).

any more suggestions along the lines of the Brandenburg concertos?  Not a fan of organs, though.

Again, I like the stuff that's mostly stringed instruments.

Handel -- Royal Fireworks Music
Handel -- Water Music
Bach -- Orchestra Suite No. 3
Corelli -- Sonatas da Chiesa OR Sonatas da Camera OR Concerti Grosso