Hey I know there are some classical aficionados here at TL so I thought I'd ask y'all for some help.
I am really into peaceful and pretty classical music but I am at a loss as to where to start. I know that I dislike big orchestra pieces (mostly because of violins and some pieces I've heard that were very abrasive and stressful) but prefer pieces done exclusively on piano. Though I also enjoy songs with sweet vocals or woodwind type stuff.
I like debussy, beethoven, and some rachmoniov. I also really loved the type of music from 'the pianist' where he plays for the german. I feel my scope is too narrow and I want to get my hands on much more artists and composers that have very skilled and enjoyable music. I'm missing out on all kinds of modern stuff.
I want to really get into this music as I think it will help me during my studies and also to relieve stress when I go back to school in september.
I'm hoping this thread gives me a push in the right direction. Thanks.
ps I also love lounge blues with warm tube amp guitars leads, stripped down drums, and muted bass. Weird request I know but I always enjoy this stuff when I hear it on the radio.
Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but Fazil Say is pretty ridiculously good. He's a Turkish pianist I've been listening to recently. Does a lot of jazz interpretations and otherwise "not normal" versions of classical music, but give him a shot.
what's wrong with violins T___T Not wanting a violin means that you're going to miss out on like 60% of classical pieces :O
I am really into peaceful and pretty classical music but I am at a loss as to where to start. I know that I dislike big orchestra pieces (mostly because of violins and some pieces I've heard that were very abrasive and stressful) but prefer pieces done exclusively on piano. Though I also enjoy songs with sweet vocals or woodwind type stuff.
Chopin. Start with the Ballades, and go from there (piano concertos, waltzes, etc). Chopin's Ballade was the one featured on the Pianist . I'm sure you'd like Beethoven's piano sonatas/concertos as well (in fact that's what I'm going to assume you mean)
Other than that.... well if you're looking for peaceful and pretty piano pieces, you can always listen to new age stuff since it seems to be what you're looking for (David Lanz and Yiruma comes to mind). But most peaceful pieces I know involve the Violin somehow (but I guess that's because of my personal bias)
im fairly sure some famous japanese composer wrote this..but im not quite sure who i used to have an mp3 of it but i dont anymore >.< however i do love the music
The piano music in The Pianist was all by the Polish Romanitc composer Chopin, who is widely regarded as one of the best composers for piano in all history.
A lot of the 20th/21st century classical music tends not to be peaceful or pretty, lol. Of course there are exceptions, but given your tastes you might be better off in the realm of 20th/21st century music with Impressionists like Debussy and Ravel or some of the French composers like Poulenc.
There's a decent amount of woodwind chamber music out there, particularly for woodwind quintet. However, more composers wrote for solo piano, other solo instruments with orchestra or piano, string quartet. etc. so the quality and quantity might not quite be as high here. I think a lot of the modern brass chamber music is of high quality, as that instrumentation has attracted many talented and adventurous composers of late, but they tend to be more abrasive and stressful than any other classical music.
Bach's Goldberg variations, as played by Glenn Gould, is probably my favourite suite for piano.
Further, The Well-tempered clavier is definitely worth listening to.
Many of his organ works are exceptional, from the endlessly overused Toccata and Fugue in D minor to many less known works such as the Toccata and Fugue in F major, and... Well, almost anything written by Johann Sebastian Bach for the organ is just marvelous, really.
Chopin is also a classic, although a bit too sweet for my taste. Mozart has written quite a few piano pieces as well.
Apart from Bach, one of the best composers in my opinion, is Dvorak, especially his 9th symphony. Big-orchestra stuff, obviously, but very, very enjoyable.
I confess that I love the pipe organ - it's the biggest, baddest musical instrument on the planet. I also confess that I love Bach - the wildest, most mathematically genius stuff there ever was. Here's Tom Kroopman slaying Fugue in G Minor on the pipe organ - and YES, he's playing ALL of the contrasting voices, tapping out the bass notes with his FEET - yes, he's harmonizing with his fucking FEET. Baroque APM overload.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I love hearing cellos abused in dark, emotive pieces. Bach is usually played with a strict rhythm and hard staccato but Maisky here puts such feeling into it that you'd hardly think it was Bach. Some would tut-tut him for it, but I think his interpretations are gold.
You didn't seem to post a strong aversion to violins, but you stated that you weren't a fan. Your time periods were pretty specific, and you can narrow your search down to the late classical, romantic, and impressionistic periods. Modernist music is really weird and you probably won't like it at first. It isn't "peaceful". Try a work by Richard (not Johann) Strauss, and see how you like it. That's the tip of the iceberg.
Bach and Vivaldi are both very old (1600s), and may be too archaic a style for you. I'd look into romantic period chamber music. Chamber music is specifically small groups, intended to be played in someone's home or a small meeting. Brahms is an excellent (and canonical) example of this. Pachelbel, Holst, Mahler, Wagner, Grieg, Debussy, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov are all good places to start.
On July 03 2010 06:22 jgad wrote: I confess that I love the pipe organ - it's the biggest, baddest musical instrument on the planet. I also confess that I love Bach - the wildest, most mathematically genius stuff there ever was. Here's Tom Kroopman slaying Fugue in G Minor on the pipe organ - and YES, he's playing ALL of the contrasting voices, tapping out the bass notes with his FEET - yes, he's harmonizing with his fucking FEET. Baroque APM overload.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I love hearing cellos abused in dark, emotive pieces. Bach is usually played with a strict rhythm and hard staccato but Maisky here puts such feeling into it that you'd hardly think it was Bach. Some would tut-tut him for it, but I think his interpretations are gold.
On July 03 2010 06:31 samuwen wrote: You didn't seem to post a strong aversion to violins, but you stated that you weren't a fan. Your time periods were pretty specific, and you can narrow your search down to the late classical, romantic, and impressionistic periods. Modernist music is really weird and you probably won't like it at first. It isn't "peaceful". Try a work by Richard (not Johann) Strauss, and see how you like it. That's the tip of the iceberg.
Bach and Vivaldi are both very old (1600s), and may be too archaic a style for you. I'd look into romantic period chamber music. Chamber music is specifically small groups, intended to be played in someone's home or a small meeting. Brahms is an excellent (and canonical) example of this. Pachelbel, Holst, Mahler, Wagner, Grieg, Debussy, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov are all good places to start.
If you know any chamber music by Wagner, you should call your national newspaper because you are gonna be famous. Same for Mahler although there is a single movement for an unfinished piano quartet. :/
I would advise OP some chamber music too. Schubert is a good start: piano trios and string quartets.
On July 03 2010 05:35 stack wrote: Hey I know there are some classical aficionados here at TL so I thought I'd ask y'all for some help.
I am really into peaceful and pretty classical music but I am at a loss as to where to start. I know that I dislike big orchestra pieces (mostly because of violins and some pieces I've heard that were very abrasive and stressful) but prefer pieces done exclusively on piano. Though I also enjoy songs with sweet vocals or woodwind type stuff.
I like debussy, beethoven, and some rachmoniov. I also really loved the type of music from 'the pianist' where he plays for the german. I feel my scope is too narrow and I want to get my hands on much more artists and composers that have very skilled and enjoyable music. I'm missing out on all kinds of modern stuff.
I want to really get into this music as I think it will help me during my studies and also to relieve stress when I go back to school in september.
I'm hoping this thread gives me a push in the right direction. Thanks.
ps I also love lounge blues with warm tube amp guitars leads, stripped down drums, and muted bass. Weird request I know but I always enjoy this stuff when I hear it on the radio.
peace tl!
Pianophile here. Because there's a wide range of them, it's more important to get acquainted with the works first, but if you want I can give a list of recommended performers for everything and maybe a list of the greatest recorded performers. Most of the following is piano works but not necessarily everything. Since you said you didn't like big orchestra pieces I'm not going to recommend anything big boned Orchestral such as Mahler or Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky etc also won't mention Gershwin.
Debussy's works are usually kind of set Debussy L'Isle Joyeuse Children's Scenes ( Preludes Pour le piano Estampes Etudes
Beethoven Sonatas: 1, 4, 7, 8 "Pathetique", 12, 14 "Moonlight", 15 "Pastorale", 17 "Tempest", 21 "Waldstein", 23 "Appassionata", 26 "Les adieux", 27, 28, 29 "Hammerklavier", 30, 31, 32. The ones with names are the most popular, but give the other ones a try particularly 12, 27, 30, 31, 32. While the entire thing is recommended I give the ones I listed as the starting points.
Rachmaninoff. Not too sure what you like here whether it is the concerti or his piano works. Try his Etude Tableux (Op. 39, No. 5, 6) and Preludes (Op. 32 No. 10) for piano works, Vocalise. Op. 3 No.2 is popular as well. Also try his piano duo pieces, might want to sample the Barcarolle first.
Other things you should definitely consider but I won't go into too much detail: Scarlatti Sonatas... need to look them up but usually what you get within the first 20 seconds is a good indicator Bach Well Tempered Clavier Bach Violin Sonatas Bach Partitas Bach Chaconne (violin, or Busoni piano) Bach Keyboard, Cello Suites
Haydn sonatas... well I need to look them up. Mozart sonatas... start with Number 8, K 310... Also recommend some of his minor Piano Concerti as starting points 20 and 24. Then move to others. Beethoven's Chamber Music... a lot. I reccomend the late.
Schubert Sonatas 960, 958, 537, Moment Musicales, Impromptus, Trout quintet Schumann, mostly piano works but might take a while to warm up to. Start with Kindersczenen (butchered spelling) Brahms late piano works Opus. 76, 79 116, 117, 118, 119. Op. 10 Ballades and also his Piano Sonatas, and Violin Sonatas. Brahms Paganini Variations. Handel variations. Mendelssohn variations serieuses
Liszt: a bit too much go off here. Will just say Mephisto Waltz and La Campanella etude, if you're interested ask for more. Chopin: also a lot. Ballades, Nocturnes, Etudes, Mazurkas, Polonaises, Barcarolle, Sonatas, Waltzes
some pre-20th or 20th century works other than Rach, not too modern. Satie Gymnopedie Bartok Piano Concerti, Romanian dances, Romanian Folk Dances, etc. Ravel le tombeau de couperin, Piano Concerti Prokofiev Sonatas 2, 6, 7, 8, some of the concerti as well. Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues
minimalists Philip Glass and also John Adams. classical guitar might interest you
As you can see, there is a huge chunk of classical to get into even from a mostly instrumental point. If it's too much just get a little specific into what kind of feelings you get from it and people can help you better.
The problem with theses threads is that everybody post youtube vids / lists of everything he likes.
With 20 or so answer, OP has the choice between precisely the whole repertoire, from Albinoni to Wagner, Dvorak symphonies to guitar repertoire, which is basically wortheless as he could as well pick up a cd randomely in is local shop.
On July 03 2010 07:20 Biff The Understudy wrote: The problem with theses threads is that everybody post youtube vids / lists of everything he likes.
With 20 or so answer, OP has the choice between precisely the whole repertoire, from Albinoni to Wagner, Dvorak symphonies to guitar repertoire, which is basically wortheless as he could as well pick up a cd randomely in is local shop.
I always try to not post lists of YouTube videos because it's a huge waste of space and doesn't really help too much.
On July 03 2010 07:20 Biff The Understudy wrote: The problem with theses threads is that everybody post youtube vids / lists of everything he likes.
With 20 or so answer, OP has the choice between precisely the whole repertoire, from Albinoni to Wagner, Dvorak symphonies to guitar repertoire, which is basically wortheless as he could as well pick up a cd randomely in is local shop.
Well of those 20 answers, like 18 didn't actually read the OP and posted symphonic works or other pieces with violin. Just read my post as it actually has piano works, and some other "soothing" pieces.
Well, peaceful and pretty.. Haydn comes in mind, you should look him up, like his concertos and some of his symphonies.
I feel as if you are severely limiting yourself by just asking for "peaceful and pretty" music, as it totally shuts you away from the more powerful pieces of music that have been composed. Already with that request you almost entirely shut out Mahler and Shostakovich.
If anything, I fully recommend the Dvorak Cello Concerto, absolutely beautiful piece.
Touching on something no one said yet, I would recommend some Schubert song cycles, with a piano and voice accompaniment. Winterreise would be where I suggest you start, see if you like it.
Just gonna say you'll miss out on a lot of stuff if you dislike violin/orchestra stuff. Not all of it is "Abrasive and Stressful". Here's 2 great examples:
Mozart and Beethoven's piano sonatas are great, here's some of my favorites: + Show Spoiler +
Also since you said you like vocals try their Missa's:
EPT
what's wrong with violins T___T Not wanting a violin means that you're going to miss out on like 60% of classical pieces :O
