I’ve been trying to get more into classical music lately (being of the renaissance man lifestyle, I’m always trying to broaden my horizons) but don’t want to be one of those a**holes who owns some Bach, Beethoven and Mozart and thinks of themselves as classical afficionados.
Can I borrow the wisdom of any dopers out there who might be kind enough to recommend me the music of a few composers who are less known? Like, someone I can mention whose name won’t ring a bell in the head of the average Joe, but would in the head of a hardcore classical listener.
Don’t try to become a musical snob, that is pathetic.
Get some classical collection CD’s find what music you enjoy and listen to more of the works by the same composer. If you have a local music store that lets you hear before you buy, then even better, plan a good few hours to listen to as much as you can and then buy music because you like it.
The best advice is to find a local radio station that plays classical music (assuming there is one) and give it a listen. You’ll get a broad exposure to a variety of styles and the helpful announcers will explain who’s who. (Some places even have shows that specifically delve into the more obscure composers.)
If you’re just trying to impress your date I’m fond of Geminiani’s arrangements of Corelli’s concerti grossi, which I discovered by the aforesaid method.
Alexander Borodin. Obscure enough that most people say “Boro-who?”, but well-known to classical people. Lived in Russia during the mid to late 1800s. His opera, Prince Igor, is my favorite. You may recognize its most famous section, the Polovtsian Dances.
Johann David Heinichen – extremely obscure because he wrote his works for some prince or another, who kept them under wraps for centuries. Very nice baroque classical pieces, though.
Darius Milhaud – “Le Boeuf sur le toit” is a great little piece.
There’s a truly awesome piece I heard on Classic FM that, once I heard it the first time, I immediately rushed down to the local music shop to buy. It was the Benedictus from “The Armed Man”, by Karl Jenkins.
He’s probably not really obscure, but I’d certainly never heard of him before.
Rossini – wrote alot of well-recognized themes, though not many know him.
Verdi – opera composer, also wrote some of those ‘Aha!’ pieces *
Puccini – same as above
Elgar – wrote ‘Pomp and Circumstance,’ (the Gradation Song),
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov,
Sergei Prokofiev,
Aaron Kachutorian,
Modeste Mussorgsky,
Offenbach, (forget his first name),
Bruch,
Franz Suppe,
Felix Mendelssohn.
Some piano composers who are more than noteworthy:
Franz Liszt,
Frederick Chopin,
Sergei Rachmaninoff,
Claude Debussy,
Nicolo Paganini – ‘The greatest virtuoso of all time.’ Wrote all the top notch violin songs, check out his 24 caprices and his second violin concierto.
Now onto the really obscure guys:
Maurice Ravel, (virtuoso piano material)
Henrik Wieniawski, (amazing violin conciertos)
Alkan (don’t know his first name, more amazing piano material)
‘Aha’ pieces are a name my conductor gave to those songs that you won’t recognize by the first few chords, but when it hits the main theme, you just think to yourself “AHA! I know this piece!”
I’d like to point out that there is a reason why Bach, Beethoven and Mozart are so celebrated. How much of these composer’s music have you really listened to? If you are tired of Beethoven’s 5th, Mozart’s G-minor symphony, and Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos you might try listening to some of their other music. The music of each composer is it’s own little universe of moods and styles and it seems as if they are getting short shrift here.
Have you sampled Bach’s keyboard works (English Suites, French Suites, Italian Concerto, Goldberg Variations, etc…), violin concerti, keyboard concerti?
How about Mozart’s other symphonies? Try the “lesser” g-minor, and there’s a good earlier one in A-major. He wrote two great piano quartets, and a great piano quintet with winds that I really love. Almost any of his lesser known pieces are worth a listen.
Same with Beethoven. His chamber music, for example, is not given the airplay it deserves. Try some of his Sonatas for Piano and Violin or Sonatas for Piano and Cello. Many of his piano sonatas are overplayed to the near exclusion of others (the three that make up Op. 31 for example) that are marvelous.
Sure - you can try to impress people with your knowledge of lesser known composers, but you can also impress them - if that is your goal - with your in-depth knowledge of the so called masters.
In the spirit of not hijacking this thread I offer one fairly obscure composer: Domenico Scarlatti. He wrote hundreds of sonatas for Harpsichord (although pianists love to play them as well) that are amazing. They are extremely daring - both technically and harmonically - for their time and they still thrill.
I think the suggestion of Rossini is an excellent one. The average man on the street wouldn’t recognize the name, but play from him the overtures from William Tell or the Barber of Seville and he’s likely to be familiar with them.
A few other well known pieces from composers that aren’t household names that you should become familiar with:
Holst - the Planets
Schubert - The Unfinished Symphony
Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique
Grieg - Piano Concerto
Bizet - Suite from Carmen
Another vote here for Respighi. He’s one of my husband’s favorites.
Vaughan Williams is another good suggestion, too.
I also like Gustav Holst (his other stuff, not The Planets so much), Aaron Copeland, and Percy Grainger. There’s a fantastic old Mercury Living Presence recording of Holst and Williams out there that has Holst’s Suites 1 and 2 and Williams’ Folk Song Suite on it - performed by the Eastman Wind Ensemble and conducted by Frederick Fennell. The music was written for military band/wind ensemble, so if you like strings this may not be your thing, but this recording in particular is one of my all-time favorites.
I’d like to suggest Mussorgsky and Prokofiev. They are both Russian composers and my personal favourites. In particular, Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” and Prokofiev’s “Alexander Nevsky” score.
It’s very patriotic Russian music. Very inspiring.
(“Pictures” is one of those pieces wherein I doubt you recognize the name, but I guarantee you’ve heard it before…likely on any variety of nature documentary.)
I’m fond of Geminiani’s arrangements of Corelli’s concerti grossi, which I discovered by the aforesaid method.