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sina posted:
You should listen to all the Bartok Quartets since it's only like 2 hours of music. #3 is the shortest so start with that one. My fave Shostakovich is #3, people always talk about 8 but I think it's kinda boring. All the Shostakovich quartets are pretty consistently quality tho (unlike his symphonies), you should take the time to listen to 'em all! One of my favorite quartet cycles is by Schumann. He only wrote 3, and published them all together (opus 41?), so it's not really a significant part of his output, but they're really nice. I like the first one the best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YVAh3_rr1Q
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Oct 22, 2012 22:16
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CowOnCrack posted:I am looking for recordings of the Well-Tempered Clavier. So far I've listened to Andras Schiff, Sviatoslov Richter, parts of Glenn Gould, and snippets of others (Edward Aldwell, Jeno Jando, etc.) Vladimir Ashkenazi's recording is worth listening to. Schiff is the best I've heard too. He has such a great tone, my god.
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Mar 12, 2013 04:25
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Dr. Video Games 0081 posted:What do you guys like for contemporary classical music? I love the chunky gritty tendencies in 20th century classical but I'm pretty ignorant about anything that's actually happening today. What do ya all like? Especially, do ya got any recordings you think are particularly awesome? A recent piece that I really like is Salonen's Violin Concerto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbBw03Q_3zw It was written in 2009 and won the Grawemeyer last year. I don't really know how people feel about Salonen, I def get the impression that he's not looked on too fondly as a conductor, but I think some of his more prominent recent orchestral pieces are pretty good. I'm also not sure how representative this is of contemporary classical! It's mostly straightforward harmonically, and there's some almost pop-rock parts, which seems like uhh a contemporary thing to do? Does anyone know of any prominent string quartets written in the last like 15 years? It's my favorite genre and I wondered if anything new was worthwhile.
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Aug 15, 2013 04:56
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firebad57 posted:More like last 30, but Kevin Volans' White Man Sleeps is great, and his other stuff for sq is okay too. Peteris Vasks has also written some really cool stuff for Quartet. A really great way to check out contemporary rep for string quartets is to check out albums by Kronos Quartet, Jack Quartet, Ethel, Brooklyn Rider, Arditti Quarter, and other groups that focus on contemporary music. White Man Sleeps is really good. Besides Kronos and Arditti, I haven't heard of any of those quartets. Thanks for the rec, I'll check em out. Since we're talking quartets, does anyone have an opinion on who does the best Shostakovich cycle? I've heard the Emerson, (some of) the Borodin, and the cycle the Pacifica is in the middle of, and I prefer the Emerson. I know the Beethoven Quartet premiered almost all of his quartets, anyone know if their readings are good or what?
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Aug 15, 2013 14:40
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80k posted:The Borodin quartet have recorded them (with varying completeness) several times. This complete set is truly fantastic. But the world of Shostakovich complete sets is an embarrassment of riches and everyone has their favorite. Check out Mandelring and Danel for great performances with great sound. The connoisseurs seem to go back to Borodin, Beethoven (great but bad sound quality), or Taneyev (amazing but expensive and I have only had a chance to hear some of them). A review of the Taneyev: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2005/June05/Shostakovich_Quartets_AMC20551.htm I've listened to the Taneyev's full recording of the Myaskovsky cycle, and I thought they were pretty good, but the engineering was real bad. Some reviewer on Amazon said it sounded like they were recorded in a barn. Speaking of the Taneyev Quartet, have you had an opportunity to hear the composer Taneyev's quartets? I've been trying to hunt down an affordable copy in my Quest To Hear All The String Quartets, but I ain't had no luck. I'm in the same boat with the Krenek and Honegger quartets, they're tough to find. All I wanna do is talk about sting quartets! Who are your favorite composers? Here's an exciting movement from my fave quartet composer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZw-0zArfX4 what about lesser known pieces? I'd like to hear about some that I may have missed. Here's a good one that's not too well known: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y10ZIF8jV4U
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Aug 16, 2013 04:53
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80k posted:Never heard Taneyev's quartets myself. Have you heard Heitor Villa Lobos'? He wrote quite a few and many are fantastic. I am also quite into Karl Amadeus Hartmann and he wrote a couple of excellent quartets: http://youtu.be/xu9k3SSTf9U I have heard the Villa Lobos quartets. I thought they were pretty disappointing, tbqh. As a guitarist I'm really familiar with Villa Lobos' guitar music, both because its really important and also super good. I guess I brought to his quartets some unfair expectations. I do really like a few of them tho, numbers 1, 5, and 7 especially. Love that Hartmann quartet! That's exactly what I'm looking for. Lots of drama, interesting rhythms, lyricism, good understanding of the string quartet idiom, etc. His life story is pretty interesting, too. I'm really surprised his music isn't championed more. If his symphonies get as good as that quartet they should be performed often just on the quality of the music itself, but since he was such a strong anti-fascist German actually living in Germany during the war, his music could obviously have lots of appeal for extra-musical reasons.
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Aug 16, 2013 15:17
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80k posted:Yea, I am really amazed he is not recognized more. I could not tell from your post whether you haven't heard his symphonies or you have but thought his quartets were better? In any case, I think he is one of the greatest symphonists. I actually discovered his 6th as a coupling on a Bruckner CD and quickly became a huge fan of his work and his story. I hadn't heard his symphonies, but I really liked what you've posted. The Sixth is very nice, I thought the ending was one of the most exciting I've heard in a long time. Some of his writing and textures sounds very contemporary. There were passages in the symphonia that sounded like something Kaija Saariaho would write. Do you have a preferred conductor for the Hartmann symphonies? His wikipedia page mentioned Mariss Jansons has conducted a few, but I thought his Shostakovich kinda uneven. Thanks for posting that Pijper quartet. Its an excellent piece, his use of little motives throughout the movements is a neat lil trick. I especially liked the scherzo, it has a mysterious mood that I'm not sure I've heard anywhere else before. Here's another quartet: Benjamin Britten's quartet no. 2 (the music starts about 24:20) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryxX6TNTJek Britten wrote three quartets that are seldom played, with the second prolly being the most popular. I guess it's the best, but they're all really good! They're good! The slow movement of the third quartet is among the saddest music I know. It was the last large scale piece of music he wrote, IIRC. The Belcea Quartet has done a really good recording of the three quartets on EMI if y'all dig this. Edit: oh poo poo all three quartets are up on youtube with a lecture beforehand! just search 'Benjamin Britten String Quartet" and they should be among the top results david crosby fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Aug 22, 2013 |
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Aug 22, 2013 01:17
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The Dark Wind posted:Can anyone give me some good jumping off points for Brahms? I feel like he's always been a giant void in my knowledge of classical music. The only works that I can remember coming back to are his 4th Symphony and some of his latter piano pieces like Op. 119. What chamber works are considered essential listening? What Piano Concerto would be the best to start off with? Thanks guys! As far as chamber music goes, I think you gotta listen to uhh lets see. The piano quintet, the second and third piano quartet, the first piano trio, and the clariniet quintet. His string quartets are good but not really essential honestly. his violin concerto is a masterpiece, you've got to listen to that. Brahms, for me, has always been the most difficult of the major composers. He's really rewarding, but you've got to put in a lot of effort up front. I think it's worth it though.
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Nov 22, 2013 06:37
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Warchicken posted:Haha wow. I'm kind of surprised to hear anyone name that as their favorite, though . What do you like so much about it over his other works? Also just seeing "Dresden" and "Mahler" in the same place makes me a sad fanboy. Thanks for bombing the loving Dresden archives, us Air Force , nope the world won't miss out on anything as a result of that no way for what it's worth, Shostakovich thought like the last 5 minutes or so of DLvDE was the best thing ever written.
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May 28, 2014 03:12
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Does anyone have any recs for a good recording of the complete Schubert piano sonatas? The Brendel set looks good, but it's not all the sonatas, so I was thinking of going for the Wilhelm Kempff set. I'm not familiar with most of them if that is important.
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Jun 30, 2014 20:30
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theycallmeuncas posted:Hi! I know practically nothing about classical music, but enjoy listening to it in the car and whatnot. Also, check out Janacek's String Quartet No. 1, "the Kreutzer Sonata," based upon the Tolstoy story, based upon the Beethoven violin sonata...
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Nov 20, 2014 18:51
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firebad57 posted:Apologies (sorry not sorry) for self-promotion, but I thought this thread might have some interest in this video my group just released: This is pretty rad stuff. Didn't you start a classical guitar thread a couple of years ago? did that die or what
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Nov 20, 2014 18:54
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Yeah this is literally the most moving music ever written. I've never heard the argument that Bach is like elevator music or passionless, that seems 2 me like an extremely weird and hot take.
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Feb 16, 2015 02:40
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abske_fides posted:Any fans of Schnittke here? I've been listening to some of his stuff and it's interesting but I still haven't had a-ha moment with his compositions. I really like his 3rd quartet, but I haven't really had an 'a-ha' moment with any of his stuff. tbqh I don't usually have that kind of response with contemporary composers, I usually just find a work kinda kool and perplexing the first time I listen to it, and, if I listen to it further, I like it a bit more each time.
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May 19, 2015 15:22
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Quantumfate posted:To put it simply- I uh, have some issues with disabilities that makes picking up an instrument a little more difficult. Never too late to learn theory, I suppose. I just wish I knew more what a Scherzo or Adagio was, to be able to identify it the way I see others doing. Aaron Copland wrote a book about form & major concepts in classical music: What to Listen for in Music. It's written for beginners, and you should be well on your way to being able 2 identify major forms after you read it.
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Jun 24, 2015 15:21
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Rollofthedice posted:Is there any other rendition of Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream that can match Peter Maag's? His 1957 recording is one of the most magical things I've ever heard, but I'm wondering if there's anything out there that's just as breathtaking while being a bit more contemporary. I've never heard the Peter Maag version, but the one with Judi Dench reading the lines and Seiji Ozawa conducting is really good. I think it was recorded in the 90's.
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Jul 10, 2015 15:21
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Money Bags posted:I love Beethoven. One thing I love about Beethoven is when he takes the dying form of fugue and makes it new and exciting in so many of his works including his Missa Solemnis and Hammerklaver. I think fugue is best served as something a work breaks into instead of a standalone form. Any fugue recommendations are appreciated. Check out Shostakovich's 24 preludes & fugues
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Sep 4, 2015 04:06
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Eifert Posting posted:I'm not really a classic music guy but after reading a book on the Siege of Leningrad I listened to Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 a few times and really liked it. Is there a consensus best performance/recording of it? I don't mind paying, obviously. In addish to what Krampster said, I'd also eventually check out Shostakovich's 8th symphony. Like the 7th, it was written as a response to the war. The emotional content of the 8th is much darker than the 7th, imo; if unease is what you want, then the 8th gon give it to ya.
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Dec 30, 2015 13:50
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firebad57 posted:
Segovia and Bream are, IMO, the two guys who really exploited to guitar to it's full effect. If you listen to either, what stands out is the extreme tonal contrasts they get out of their guitars, like, all the time. What Bream does, for example, is during a part where you have the same thing played twice, the first time he plays it really warm, right hand near the 12th fret or something, and then the next time he moves his hand really near the bridge, getting a super bright and tinny sound. Its such a cool effect, and adds a lot of umm not depth but interest to a piece. it really spices up some boring stuff like Giuliani, for instance. I can't think of any other guitarists who get such extreme contrasts regularly. Like the current school of thought seems to be to go for a consistent tone, and only go for the extremes of warm/bright like once during a movement, to highlight maybe the most dissonant chord or whatever. Which is fine, but it would be nice if, out of the current crop of extremely technically gifted GFA/Tarrega competition winners, some would be a lil bolder with their tone.
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Jan 22, 2016 15:47
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oncearoundaltair posted:Brahms: The Four Symphonies Have u heard the Leipzig Gewandhaus conducted by Chially? It's a relatively new set that won a bunch of awards in like classical music magazines and poo poo like that; I thought they were really good, but i'm not really a Brahmsian dude. How do they compare, if u know?
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Sep 21, 2016 23:26
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oncearoundaltair posted:Sorry, I haven't heard those. They're on my list, but I'm not buying anymore Brahms cycles for a while. The only other cycle I've heard is Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra from like the early 70s, and I thought that set was pretty boring. I guess Chially is more exciting and dynamic? Idk, it's been a while since I've listened to those Ormandy performances, maybe I'm just a better listener now. When I was new to Classical music I thought Brahms was pretty boring, defo the most boring of the major composers, but I uh don't think that now...
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Sep 22, 2016 00:10
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Mr. Mambold posted:...whew. That would make it way, way worse?
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Sep 22, 2016 01:04
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Mr. Mambold posted:It was the only thing I could listen to during 9-11. that was awfully prescient of you, to have it on as the attacks were happening.
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Sep 24, 2016 21:51
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Franchescanado posted:Can anyone with Spotify point me to a good Brahms album or playlist so I can comb through the guy's work? Recent Brahms chat got me interested, and all I've heard is Violin Concerto in D, Op.77 3. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace - Poco piu presto performed by Anne-Sophie Mutter. I don't have spotify, but if you'll permit I can make a few suggestions. First, listen to the entirety of both of those pieces. They're good! The Schubert in particular is one of the finest works yet written. For moar Brahms, check out his symphonies. BBC music magazine did a survey of like 100 composers recently where they asked for their top 3 symphonies, and made a "Top 20 Symphonies of all Time" list with the poll results. It's an incredibly stupid way to figure out what the 20 best symphonies of all time are, maybe also it's stupid to try to rank symphonies like they're Eagles albums, but uh hey, guess what, all four of Brahms's symphonies made the cut. In response to your Q about Schubert, It's like oddly specific, I'm sure that you can find high strings set against pizzicato bass lots in the literature, so I'll just say listen to late Schubert, especially, since you seem to like the part of the Quintet you've heard, the last 3 string quartets.
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Oct 12, 2016 22:25
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Aging Millenial posted:Beethoven died too young. The feeling I get when listening to late Beethoven is something I've been chasing for years. I've only found a few pieces that hit on that extraordinary level. Late Beethoven, for me, is the absolute best sustained artistic achievement in any medium in history. Here are a few pieces that are similarly profound: Schubert - Piano Sonata in B flat maj. This is some good-rear end poo poo, although Brendel doesn't take the repeat in the first movement like he should. Late Schubert is almost as good as late Beethoven. Bruckner - Symphony No. 7 Bach - Saint Matthew Passion Ponce - Sonata Romantica This sonata is written as an homage to Schubert. the last movement is 
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Jan 13, 2017 00:23
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Money Bags posted:
i'm not really familiar with Walton, BUT i can recommend two really cool pieces: Five Bagatelles for guitar, this performance is ridiculously virtuosic. Cello Concerto
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Feb 24, 2017 02:42
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krampster2 posted:I love going to my local SO (Queensland Symphony Orchestra) because they have amazing student prices. $50 for any seat in the hall, even box seats which are normally $120! It's a good thing too considering the rising average concert age that people always go on about. I try and do my bit by taking friends who don't normally listen to classical but I think they just like getting to dress up and see the big hall. I force my friends to go sometimes and they also use it as an excuse to play dress up. Which is embarrassing, but I let it slide because they're putting up with my poo poo.
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Mar 2, 2017 16:28
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Has anyone read the Beethoven biography by Jan Swafford? I've heard it's the best Beethoven bio.
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Mar 16, 2017 20:09
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Aging Millenial posted:It's excellent. I read it in the summer of 2015 and I'm now just finishing up listening to the audiobook version of it. I'll probably read it a third time if/when I learn a little more music theory but the book IS accessible to people who are merely interested in learning about the composer and his music without having too much interest in academic technical details. It's an epic read too but Swafford's prose is a breeze and he's never boring. Cool, I'll also try and check out the Lockwood bio. I think I read his book on Beethoven's string quartets a few years ago, but it was way over my head. I just listened to the 'new' Grigory Sokolov album. It's older recordings (like 90s and 00s, iirc) of a Mozart and a Rachmaninov piano concerto. They're loving sick, and I think Sokolov might be the greatest living pianist.
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Mar 21, 2017 15:38
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This is cool: Nikita Koshkin - Prelude and Fugue in a Minor It's from a series of 24 preludes and fugues for the guitar (!)
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Apr 26, 2017 22:21
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I've been listening to a lot of Sibelius lately, I don't think his 3rd symphony gets the recognition it deserves. I think it's really catchy basically all the way through, which is rare, IMO. Here's a youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Qq-8rI34Q
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May 17, 2017 15:51
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firebad57 posted:https://www.twitch.tv/videos/166976094 That's cool. do you generally practice standing up? I've only seen one other classical guitarist do that, it looked super awkward.
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Aug 15, 2017 01:53
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firebad57 posted:In Feb, I injured my back while exercising, and it's kinda turned into a huge, lifechanging thing. V long story short - turns out I minorly injured a disc in my lumbar spine, and when we xrayed to check it out, we discovered I have a congenital fusion of L3 and L4 vertebrae, meaning spine-loading activities like lifting weights, sitting, etc. will always be way harder on that disc than they would be in a normal person. As a result, my physical therapist strongly advised me to avoid sitting as much as possible, especially while I am recovering from the injury, but in general as well. THat sucks rear end dude. have you had to adjust your technique to cope with this different body position? I've tried with cushions instead of footstools and I feel like I have way less control, or that the guitar is slipping away from me, idk.
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Aug 17, 2017 02:09
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I found this cool Dutch composer on youtube after clicking around on random links: Simeon Ten Holt - Canto Ostinato It's a pretty sick rear end minimalist piece. It's structured so there are these small cells of music, maybe 1-3 bars long, and each cell can be repeated ad libitum for however long you want, and then you move on to the next one. It's sort of like Terry Riley's In C, but there is, I think, less leeway for individual performers to drop out, play on different beats, etc. so that while the piece is long and has a set of musical ideas with irregular repetition, the ideas themselves are strictly presented. Pretty cool poo poo, the performances naturally vary in length, so there are a bunch on youtube that are 1.5 hours, and there's one that's four hours! That's so long! haha anyway 2 questions to maybe get some discush going: 1. Can you recommend me some sick rear end minimalist pieces. I'm pretty familiar with the big names, maybe something off the beaten path would be cool. 2. How do y'all find new music? do you click links on youtube, read reviews, have friends with good taste, google 'best piano sonatas of all time'? I've fallen into a rut for classical music, and there are too many resources/I'm too lazy to develop a rigorous plan to find some new poo poo.
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Feb 24, 2018 22:45
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A human heart posted:Have you heard Julius Eastman, he was incredibly cool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_QGQcKq1ik no, this is good. I read about his life on wikipedia and it's really sad.
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Feb 25, 2018 02:02
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Tiresias2 posted:What do y'all think of Franz Schubert? He's good.
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Mar 6, 2018 06:00
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Schubert is Beethoven/Mozart level good, yeah.Tiresias2 posted:Out of curiosity, why are the Bach/Beethoven/Mozart comparisons meaningless? I know it's abstract, and doesn't delve into the more interesting yet probably technical details of what makes music captivating, but it seems like a fairly good rule of thumb for what's best. I know the whole idea of "best" in art is questionable, but I believe it's down to what evokes the most meaning, and that's basically knowable quantitatively simply by how many mental associations and feelings can be derived from a given work by the universe of potential listeners. Though there will most likely never be a way for us, rather than some theoretical God or objective universal observer, to know that reality, I don't find it absurd to suppose that it is real nonetheless, by analogy, which is the same reasoning we must use to even suppose that other consciousnesses are even real. The comparisons are only meaningful as a shorthand for describing things that are much more complex and also as a sort of barometer of taste. Any artist who's work exists on that very high level of quality is, at least within a human lifetime, infinitely rich; you can always go back to their work and find new things about it that are exciting and make new mental associations & have new feelings. I think you could very easily spend your life listening to Mozart or Schubert, which makes the questions of 'who's best' dissolve into meaninglessness. At least when taken on the human scale, which is the only scale that matters!!! THat said Schubert is better than Mozart.
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Mar 6, 2018 20:14
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Tiresias2 posted:If both Schubert and Mozart were infinitely rich then we would have to cease to distinguish their quality numerically and begin to do so qualitatively, which is to say by what kinds of associations and feelings they tend to invoke. And I agree that, in that case, Schubert would be better, but that's only because, though I love the silly, I love the solemn more, and I don't know how I could justify that preference objectively. In fact, I can't even be sure that everyone would see Mozart as mostly silly and Schubert as mostly solemn and not the other way around. It's plausible that it only seems to me that Schubert is mostly solemn and Mozart is mostly silly. lol jfc This is cool: Robert de Visee - Suite in d minor
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Mar 6, 2018 23:57
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SgtScruffy posted:I've been in a Philip Glass kick lately. I get all the criticism that he just plays a bunch of arpeggios seven hundred times, but it's good working music. Any recommendations for a next composer I should check out to either get more of that, or the "pfff Glass is overrated, __________ is so much better"? I posted some stuff from this guy on the last page, but I think this stuff is directly in line with what you want: Simeon Ten Holt - Palimpsest
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Mar 10, 2018 00:16
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