Classical Music Thread

[Allamorph]

[quote name='SunfallE][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Hmmm... I didn't word that right, the recommendation is for both of you.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]
[FONT=Arial]Hmmph.

Now if you'll ex-[I]cuse[/I] me, milady, I'm off to play some Smetana.[/FONT]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]Hmmph.

Now if you'll ex-[I]cuse[/I] me, milady, I'm off to play some Smetana.[/FONT][/QUOTE]Smetana is wonderful, I'm especially fond of Má vlast a set of six symphonic poems. Where each poem depicts some aspect of the countryside, history, or legends of Bohemia. The one I enjoy the most is Vltava, one that as the composer puts it in his own words:

[INDENT]The composition describes the course of the Vltava, starting from the two small springs, the Cold and Warm Vltava, to the unification of both streams into a single current, the course of the Vltava through woods and meadows, through landscapes where a farmer's wedding is celebrated, the round dance of the mermaids in the night's moonshine: on the nearby rocks loom proud castles, palaces and ruins aloft. The Vltava swirls into the St. John's Rapids; then it widens and flows toward Prague, past the Vy?ehrad, and then majestically vanishes into the distance, ending at the Elbe.[/INDENT]
This piece contains Smetana's most famous tune. It is an adaptation of an ancient folk song of indeterminate origin, which is also the basis for the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah. Smetana probably adapted the melody from a Swedish version called Ack, Värmeland.

And yes I used Wiki to help with the information since it's much easier than going and finding either my music history book or vinyl record of this piece with the booklet that came with it when I purchased it while attending school. ;) It's a wonderfully beautiful piece that I enjoy listening to very much. Though I now have a copy on CD and no longer listen to the vinyl anymore.

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]I officially need a recording of Mozart's [I]Requiem[/I]. And how.

I'm going to shift away from Classical for a moment (which is so terribly generically used, anyway) and talk about band music. Right now what pops into my head is Alfred Reed, Charles Ives, and Gustav Holst; of Reed's compositions, [I]Russian Christmas Music[/I] is my favorite and one I tend to react passionately to, particularly the woodwind chorale at the beginning and the full-band fanfare at the close; Ives is just frikkin' random, referencing other works constantly, sometimes even in the middle of other references, and it just makes me laugh; and Holst's two Suites are some of the best-written works I've ever heard, besides being the first definitive compositions expressly written for the concert band.

I just found out recently that Mozart did several band compositions as well ? or rather, works for large ensembles excluding strings, meaning the orchestration was particular to the period...excepting that Mozart apparently disliked the flute, and so did not write for it as much, which I find rather funny. [I]*pant pant*[/I] I would rather enjoy the opportunity to perform his works, even though it was my impression that there are very little of his works that include the trombone.

Also, Pavel Tschesnokov's [I]Salvation is Created[/I] is gorgeous.

Criminy, I'm random.[/FONT]

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]My big issue with classical music is that I regularly forget either the names of pieces or of the composer! Haha.

But to get to the point, I like both "classical" and "neo classical" pieces. When I talk about neo classical I'm referring to stuff produced by the likes of Hybrid or the Kronos Quartet as just two examples (also remakes of old themes, such as those produced by Bond or Vanessa Mae).

In terms of actual classical pieces, I think my favourite piece is Kanon in D by Pachelbel. Interestingly some of the newer updates to this piece are even better than the original, in my view. I would like Kanon in D to be played at my funeral actually.

Other than that, another favourite is Vivaldi. I am a fan of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and I think one of my favourites is Violin Concerto No. 8.

I'm also quite a fan of Tchaikovsky's work in general.[/font]

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]When I was younger I was a pretty accomplished symphonic trumpeter (well at least amongst the high school and college talent pool) so I tend to gravitate to songs that I enjoyed to play.

Concertos by Haydn, Hummel, L. Mozart, Richter, Handel, and Hertel bring back really fond memories.

Some other composers that I really enjoy include Mahler, Prokofiev, Shubert, and Wagner. Like James though, most of the time I really have no idea who or what I am listening to. I do listen to classical music every night when I am in bed though, and I cannot say that I have ever found the radio to play anything unpleasing to the ear.[/color]

[Allamorph]

[quote name='James][font=franklin gothic medium']In terms of actual classical pieces, I think my favourite piece is Kanon in D by Pachelbel. Interestingly some of the newer updates to this piece are even better than the original, in my view. I would like Kanon in D to be played at my funeral actually.[/font][/quote]
[FONT=Arial]Cellists the world over will despise you for all eternity.


(I play trombone, so we're good. :p)

[B]Edit:[/B][quote name='James][FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium']Other than that, another favourite is Vivaldi. I am a fan of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and I think one of my favourites is Violin Concerto No. 8.[/FONT][/quote]

Oddly enough, I have this really crappy Paintball FPS for Windows 95 or something archaic like that, but which has an amazing metal soundtrack — including an excellent cover of the first movement of [I]Spring[/I]. I have no clue who performed it, despite intensive efforts, but whoever it was did a phenomenal job of transferring the style correctly to electric guitar.[/FONT]

[Rachmaninoff]

Just to give this thread a bit of a jump... there's an interesting site online where you can put in the name of a composer you're interested in listening to and it will not only pull up pieces by the composer in question but by others that have a similar sound. I blame this on Allamorph by the way since I believe he's the one who mentioned it, but if you're wanting to check out some classical music and yet aren't sure what... it's a good place to get some random exposure. I'm not sure if I agree with what they consider similar to another composer, but still it's a fun site. [URL="http://www.pandora.com/"][U]Pandora[/U][/URL]

[Mr. Maul]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1][COLOR=DimGray]I hadn't been on Pandora in a while... but it's about time they added classical music to their collection.


[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]