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I suppose I should not have been surprised.
I got home from work a few days ago just as a performance by the New York Philharmonic of Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World" came onto the radio. I actually had a break in my busy schedule and was able to listen to it uninterrupted from start to finish. I especially enjoy the introduction of certain 'passages' that reappear later as well as the tension as the piece builds to a huge fanfare.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and remarked on this in our IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel. Not only did several people recognize it, there was a sudden discussion of people's favorite classical works and a suggestion that I should post a story to the main site.
Other favorites of mine include:
- 1812 Overture - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- The William Tell Overture - Gioachino Rossini ("The Lone Ranger" theme)
- The Barber of Seville - Gioachino Rossini
- Pictures at an Exhibition - Modest Mussorgsky
- Brandenburg Concertos - Johann Sebastian Bach.
In retrospect, a well-performed piece of classical music is like a well-written piece of software. Everything just flows together. Intricate passages combine into something much greater than its constituent parts.
So, fellow Soylentils, what are your favorite classical works? As performances vary in quality and there are many recordings out on the internet, it would be very much appreciated if you included a link to a free (libre) copy if you know of one that you think others would enjoy.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday December 16 2015, @11:00PM
I always call that classic rock. And classical music has greatly influenced a lot of rockers, some of which were classically trained. Randy Rhoads, guitarist for Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne, was classically trained on guitar and Piano.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday December 16 2015, @11:20PM
The ultimate example to me is Rick Wakeman of Yes fame. Classically trained pianist who then helped write loads of Progressive rock, some of which is structured very like classical symphonies.
In fact Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition was covered (if that's the right word), by Emerson, Lake and Palmer another of the big progressive rock groups.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 17 2015, @03:25AM
ELP did lots of symphonic tracks: Fanfare for the Common Man, Allegro Barbaro, Romeo and Juliet, Toccata, Copeland's Hoedown, a bunch of stuff on the Works Vol. I album (including a concerto written by Emerson), etc.. They even toured with a full orchestra in 1976-ish, but they lost a lot of money because of that.
Crap! Forgot Mars, the Bringer of War off of the Emerson, Lake, and Powell album. Great version that I used to blast out of my stereo.
The Picutres album is awesome; one of my favorites.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 17 2015, @05:05AM
Glad somebody mentioned Keith Emerson and the funky bunch.
It would be interesting to know how many folks got the Classical bug from listening to some rockers' take on The Masters.
Walter Carlos[1] did a cover of Brandenburg Concerto #2 on a Moog synthesizer in the 1960s that was pretty great.
(Like VLM, below, my memory had put this a few years later.)
[1] Now Wendy, after gender reassignment.
.
Since you already mentioned some stuff on my list, I'll add this here.
Fanfare for the Common Man; Appalachian Spring; Rodeo (A lot of folks immediately say "The soup commercial music" when they hear Hoedown)
Never heard anything I didn't like from Copland. [wikipedia.org]
Rhapsody in Blue; An American In Paris from another American genius [wikipedia.org]
Back when I watched TeeVee, the 1812 Overture performed in DC with an Army artillery unit was very stirring.
Brandenburg Concertos - Yup. If it ain't Baroque, play it till it is.
Toccata and Fugue in D minor (more Bach) - The other day, somebody mentioned "the organ music" in the Rollerball subthread.
If memory serves, it's used in The Phantom of the Opera too.
The Four Seasons - Vivaldi nailed it.
Carmen - ...though I don't tend to like opera
I think Clair de Lune makes everybody's list.
Something from The Nutcracker too I'd bet. The Russian Dance for me.
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 17 2015, @12:43PM
Was Carlos the one who did Switched on Bach and others (though the others I'm remembering are probably me-too albums.
(Score: 2) by tadas on Thursday December 17 2015, @03:39PM
Was Carlos the one who did Switched on Bach and others (though the others I'm remembering are probably me-too albums.
He (at the time) did "Switched on Bach, and "The Well-Tempered Synthesizer". Loved both then, love them now
(Score: 2) by kurenai.tsubasa on Thursday December 17 2015, @12:15PM
Rick Wakeman is ok. Awesome work with Yes (and the one ABWH album), but his solo album was surprisingly terrible. I loved ELP's Pictures at an Exhibition, especially the new “pictures” they added.
I'd like to throw these two out: BanYa [wikipedia.org] (see Beethoven Virus [can't find link], Winter [youtube.com], and Turkey March [youtube.com] [framerate is bad and audio is crap, but you get the idea]) and DJ Taka. Ach, I used to be able to do this without breaking a sweat: DJ Taka's V [youtube.com], a remix of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Winter, First Movement only unlike BanYa's version. Oh, also a fan of Chopin although my introduction was Kakumei [youtube.com] [Revolution[ary]] (note: the oni [demon] steps are actually easier than expert and more fun).
Speaking of classical music, let's travel to a time when music started being a thing for Western civilization. The band formerly known as the Philadelphia Renaissance Wind Band [wikipedia.org]. Apparently a different band: Orazio Vecchi, So Ben, Mi C'ha Bon Tempo [youtube.com].
Finally, BBC Proms Verdi's Requiem [youtube.com].
(Score: 2) by JeanCroix on Thursday December 17 2015, @02:17PM
Wakeman had a number of solo albums, of greatly varied quality. I have a soft spot for "Journey to the Center of the Earth," though some likely find the spoken word snippets from the Verne novel to be pretty cheesy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 17 2015, @05:00AM
James Gang|Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh recorded a tune called The Bomber and included part of Ravel's "Bolero".
Maurice Ravel died in 1937, yet his estate sued Joe and the gang because Ravel's will specified that the entire song had to be performed--not just bits.
Future pressings of the record had to shorten the tune.
In What's Playing Now lists for some radio stations, you may see "Long version" beside that tune.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday December 17 2015, @05:30AM
Saint James Infirmary Blues, Hugh Laurie version.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek