Noni J asked:
I’m getting interested into classical music and don’t really know where to start. I like the songs “Claire de Lune” by Debussy, and “Crossing Rivers” by Jonathan Elias (I really like piano solo songs) so if you could recommend some good ones it would be greatly appreciated!
Sherry
I’m getting interested into classical music and don’t really know where to start. I like the songs “Claire de Lune” by Debussy, and “Crossing Rivers” by Jonathan Elias (I really like piano solo songs) so if you could recommend some good ones it would be greatly appreciated!
Sherry
Roberta
klaviersonate pathetique by beethoven
Juan
maybe this would help
Jeanne
Bele fleck is my all time fav. you should listen to em, I think you’d like it.
Judy
How about Cinematic Orchestra as a transition or piano music?
Angela
I like Chopin.
Jessie
chopin.
Vicki
Wagner baby, Wagner
Franklin
Buckwheat Boys all the way!! Milk and Cereal,Cerea, Cereal
Christian
Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.
Lisa
Tom Dooley by the Kingston Trio…very sad, but good.
please go into my profile and help me
Richard
why the forefathers? mozart and older composers .
Renee
Ive heard magical flute by Mozart is really good. Its good music to study to
Arthur
well right now i am listening to “dear maria” but its not a classic
maybe “thriller”
that always makes me want to get off my chair and start dancing!
good luck on your music search!
Courtney
Theme from “Love Story” by Henry Mancini
Straus is really good too
Connie
Well if you’re into piano, try Chopin and Beethoven’s piano concertos. I used to be an obnoxious metal head, but I laid off the booze and got myself into classical music just by downloading stuff from people I’d already heard of and exploring new composers on the internet. Since none of the songs are copyrighted, you can get most of them for free, too!
Gerald
Bach tocatto fugue in D minor
And non piano, Holst – The Planets Suite.
Bruce
classics are always the best. mozart, bach, debussy, so on and so forth.
Marc
beethoven
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
look for some chicago symphony stuff
Wicked CD
Definetly Lang Lang, if you like piano
Lang Lang is an amazing piano player, i saw him live, he plays so fast and so long, all from memory, he is amazing.
Maurizio Pollini
Umm…Look around.
Alice
Air, and other simple gifts
Lucy
Claire De Lune is good.. You will like the Blue Danube by Joann Strauss.. Also Hungarian Waltz and Greensleeves
Floyd
Listen to Handel’s “The water Music” or Vivaldi’s
“The four Seasons”. They’re bright and happy.
As far as piano solos are concerned, listen to
all of Mozart’s, Franz Lizt’s and Copin’s piano
solos or conciertos. Just make sure they are in
a major chord!!
Kim
Moonlight sonata by beethoven
and ANYTHING BY BEETHOVEN because he’s crazy.
Andre
Beethoven – moonlight and pathetique sonatas, 5th and 9th synphonies, Rondo a capriccio, fur elise
Sonata IX, his Requiem, “A little night music”
Mozart – all sorts
Haydn – Sonata in C Major (#35) and in A Major (#8), more?
Khachaturian – Sabre Dance !
Rimsky-Korsakoff – The flight of the bumble bee !
Bach – I love his fantasias, maybe in C minor? pretty much he just sounds awesome with counterpoint
Tchaykovsky takes some getting used to, but his pieces are really fun to listen to…
But it sounds like you like more romantic/contemporary pieces, so…
Hungarian dances? some atonal stuff is really weird
Liszt – Liebestraume #3, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, I’m sure there’s more
Chopin – prelude in E minor, Nocturnes in E minor and F minor and C# Minor, Impromptus and Etudes and Polonaises and Mazurkas and Ballades!!!!!! this is essential. Maybe Polonaise #6, Fantasie-Impromptu Op. 66, and his Revolutionary Etude…
Rachmaninoff – Etude-Tableau in G minor, all the etude-Tableau’s
Brahms – just look around
Camille Saint-Saens – The Carnival of the Animals is awesome
Yiruma – Kiss The Rain, etc (all piano solos)
Eugene Rocherolle – Le salon de Musique, more
Dennis Alexander – Reverie in F minor
Mildred Souers – Impromptu
This is a new discovery of mine – just sorta listening to music scores from your favorite movies…Personally, I like Twilight, The Notebook, the Village; really any movie with understated orchestras in the background. Plus they remind you of the movies they’re in, which is a good thing if it’s a good movie
Leo
I’ll recommend some music off the top of my head and group it according to how accessible I think it is.
By “accessible,” I mean relatively easier to appreciate by someone who isn’t as experienced with classical music. These are all GREAT works. Maybe as you become more familiar with the listening process you can move on to some of the harder-to-swallow(but still great!) pieces.
Pretty accessible:
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1
Copland: Appalachian Spring
Mussorgsky & Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor
A little more out there(still great music!!):
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major
Barber: Adagio for Strings
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
Sibelius: Symphony No. 1
Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
Serious listening(still great music!!):
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring
Stravinsky: Firebird
Barber: Knoxville, Summer of 1915
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe
Remember that classical music is different from all other types of music: You have to pay attention to it if you really want to enjoy it fully. It is like really engaging your mind and being absorbed by a work of art as opposed to just glancing at a cool-looking drawing. That is ESPECIALLY true with the pieces in the second and third categories.
That brief list should provide you with many hours of enjoyment. There is SO much wonderful music out there! If you would like some more recommendations, feel free to post here more or send me a message!
P.S. Don’t use youtube, no matter how tempting! The sound quality sucks and this great music doesn’t deserve to be listened to on it. Use the local library or iTunes! There are also some good torrents to be found!
P.S.S. The first piece I listed, Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto, is a really great piece. This should be the first one you get, IMO. It is really accessible and easy to follow and is also a wonderful, excellently written piece. Highly recommended. Get the Van Cliburn recording if possible.
Please stop by here if you have any more questions!
Bryan
most definitely “The Moldau” by Smetena. Listen to every movement. It’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.
also….Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” (especially “Spring”) and Boccherini’s “La Musica Notturna Delle Strade di Madrid” no. 6 op. 30
and since you like piano solos….
Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”
Pachelbel’s “Canon in D”
Chopin’s “Chanson de l’adieu”
hope you like them!! i sure do : )