I am a big classical music buff. I have watched several famous works performed on stage, including Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I have a lot of classical music on CD and MP3. I do enjoy it when they use classical music in cartoons- especially when it can be humorous.

When I first met my boyfriend, he taught me to appreciate his favorite composers, Bruckner and Mahler. They aren't necessarily easy to understand, and I still don't know whether I really do, but I like their music.

*waves to Berlioz - I mean Sibelius *

Varnafinde! *waves back*

Bruckner and Mahler are both very much worth the effort . Takes quite a while to "get" Bruckner, even more so than Mahler.

We also both love Sibelius. We found some good bits on youtube recently:

Viipuri: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLEW9iZIMjM

Illalle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZlg8fpgWkA

Aulikki - 'Illalle' (at the tempo indicated by the composer): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_mER-zTO5k

By the way, Mr. Sibelius, it's nice to know how you got your username! I'd been wondering about that... And I'll have to find that piece of his that you mentioned as going along with VDT.

TheGeneral,

Have you heard Shankar's two Sitar Concertos? A melding of Eastern and Western classical traditions. You would enjoy them, I think.

Thanks for pointing that out, it's strange to hear them together like that but it's a great sound

If anyone is interested in getting into Classical music it can sometimes be rather daunting and a little intimidating. There's lots of composers with long, funny sounding names and they each wrote dozens of major pieces in most cases. That said if you're reading this and haven't yet posted let me make a few recommendations.

I have long felt that Tchaikovsky is by far the most approachable of Classical composers. He had a very special gift of creating enjoyable melodies, ones that get stuck in your head. Tchaikovsky's music can be somber at times and happy at others but it's always powerful. Some may view his music as a bit maudlin and overused, but that only reinforces their enduring nature. His themes can be found in various movies and on TV and once you listen to a few you'll start to say, "hey, I know this music!".

Here's a few examples...
Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony "Pathetique", my personal favorite of his.
Romeo and Juliet. Instantly recognizable.
Waltz of the Flowers, from the Nutcracker.
Russian Dance, also from the Nutcracker.
The 1812 Overture. This is the one where they fire cannons at the end.

Tchaikovsky is universal in popularity and will appeal to most Classical music fans on some level, hence my putting him at the beginning. From there I would recommend moving on to Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart. You'll note that Beethoven has a much more forceful tone to his music but still beautiful. Mozart was, to me, a bit all over the map. He was a truly gifted composer who could write light, airy pieces as well as more solemn examples. For Mozart the beginner might readily recognize the Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, while for Beethoven everyone will know his 9th Symphony.

From there you'll have literally hundreds of choices of composers and on where to branch out and explore more. And there is so very much out there to enjoy!

Another long post from me, catching up on replying .

First of all, I'm very glad for all the responses this thread has received!

Varnafinde,

Yes indeed! Sibelius is my 3rd favorite composer, right after Berlioz and Dvorak. I didn't listen to the clips you linked to, but I have them open and loading now. I'll get back to you on them .

Adeona,

When you do listen to Sibelius' ymphony No.7, it's fun to listen for the transitions between movements/sections. Officially, the piece is in one movement, but within it are sections. Enjoy! (I've linked to some performances down below for you )

Shadowlander,

You are SO right about Tchaikovsky being a good intro/gateway for people into CM. The Nutcracker alone must hold a supreme record as the #1 piece that gets people to like classical.

Another of his great masterpieces is the Serenade for Strings in C. Also, if you want to scout it out, the "Souvenir de Florence" is well worth knowing.

TheGeneral,

It is indeed an interesting mix. I wish Shankar would write a few more of those Sitar Concertos!

EDIT UPDATE

Varnafinde,

The video of Sibelius' funeral was affecting. I really enjoyed the piece from Karelia .

Adeona,

Here are two excellent performances of Sibelius' Symphony No.7 on YouTube. The first one is a classic recording from 1933. The sound is excellent for its time. It's divided into two videos:

1:

2:

The second performance I'm linking to is a modern recording with Esa-Pekka Salonen. He's a famous Sibelius interpreter. This one is divided into three videos:

1:

2:

3:

I recommend listening to this recording over the first, if you're going to choose one.

For me, the music conjures images of the Dawn Treader, sailing out of the twilight of the world and into the "realness" of the edge of the world. There's a really sparkling passage too that makes you picture the part of the sea with the lilies growing .

PS: one last thing. The conductor in this second performance can get a little silly with his arm gestures. If it distracts you, just listen to the music while looking at something else

Today I checked out at the library the Creative Moods soundtrack by HGTV. It is full of classical music pieces. It is fun pinpointing the various movements they belonged to- Baroque, Neo-Classical, Romanticism, and so on. I am addicted enough to HGTV already- and this adds to my love for this channel.

Aravis Narnia,

Yes, part of the fun is listening to how the differences between Baroque and Classical (capital C for the era!), Renaissance and Romantic, etc . For me, the hardest era to listen to used to be the Baroque. Initially I found it boring, but after a while I started liking how energetic and danceful the music could be. And now I like it all (well, all that I've heard anyways).

Classical music is about all I've been playing on the piano lately. Here are some of my favorites:

Rachmaninoff's C sharp minor prelude - took forever to just figure out all the notes and it's REALLY hard to get it up to speed, but it sounds so big and great and awesome when you can finally play it.

Chopin's Military Polonaise - This one's a monster to get through without your forearms tiring out but the melody is very catchy and a lot of the chords sound very rich - especially in the parts where the right hand plays 6 notes at a time.

Mozart's Fantasie in D Minor - It's not that hard, but somehow I'm just drawn to this peice. Can't really explain why. xD One of the few peices where Mozart ventures into the strange worlds of minor keys.

MinotaurforAslan,

I love your name, by the way .

It's awesome that you play all three of those works! The Rachmaninov prelude especially is notorious for being difficult. I love all three pieces, but ala, my piano lessons didn't get too far .

Godspeed, and keep up the good work!

Yes, part of the fun is listening to how the differences between Baroque and Classical (capital C for the era!), Renaissance and Romantic, etc . For me, the hardest era to listen to used to be the Baroque. Initially I found it boring, but after a while I started liking how energetic and danceful the music could be.

Oh I agree! Baroque, to me, is something of an acquired taste. One might not like much of it when they initially listen to it but if you listen to enough of it you'll come to appreciate it more. I still strongly prefer Romantic period music more, perhaps because it often tends to incorporate a central theme or motif to the music (usually music set to a geographical location, a story, etc.) whereas Baroque tends to be music for the sake of music. Usually. The modern "Minimalist" era is almost a polar opposite to the Romantic period music, but still some nice compositions can be found there as well.

I watched a portion of the movie Amadeus over the weekend and so I want to ask if anyone here has seen it and what they think of the (largely manufactured) story and the very nice Classical compositions throughout?

Alright, I would like to pop in and put in my two bits.

First of all, one composer that I like allot is Scott Joplin, the "King of Ragtime". Actually, right now I am learning three of his pieces to perform at a non-competitive piano festival -- Elite Sycopations, Silver Swan Rag, and Sugar Cane. (For all you folks who don't know Scott Joplin, have you ever heard the song called The Entertainer? That was written by him.)

As far as other famous composers I don't have a great leaning to one over the other. My experience of classical music has come mainly out of my piano playing, so I wouldn't know much about symphonies and what not. However, I have to say that I like Bach and Beethoven. As I am in Grade 8 RCM, I am beginning to get an appreciation for Chopin. Also, there is a place in my heart for waltzes, so it should be no surprise to you that I like Strauss.

I've been playing piano for a while (seven years, actually), and all I ever really play on the piano is classical music (besides some jazz for school). So practically all my knowledge of classical music is from playing piano. I don't really have a favorite composer, though. Beethoven sonatas are really fun to play, and I really like Chopin nocturnes (and his waltzes, and preludes, and everything else ). I've also played a lot of Bach inventions and fugues (is that spelled right?), and they sound cool, but they're rather difficult to play because of all the different parts.