Side note: have you ever heard Leonard Bernstein conducting the 9th with (for lack of a better term) a world symphony orchestra in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate right after the fall of the Berlin Wall?
Ah, you gotta listen to the ninth with the volume turned up and headphones on on a commuter bus. As you know, people can still hear what you’re hearing, faintly, if you have it on loud enough.
When the choral starts, the head of your next door neighbor will turn. I’m not really obnoxious so I don’t do this often, just every once in a while when I’ve had a tough day at work and I just have to get my fill.
And I actually will listen to all of the Brandenburg Concertos (Bach) with the sound turned up just because they’re so freakin’ pretty. Actually, I’d probably listen to just about anything by Bach with the sound turned up. Of course, if you do this on the bus, your neighbor might get the driver to call the cops if you’re listening to the Tocatta thingie. (Rollerball theme, in case you’re wondering.)
This brings back nostalgic memories of my first classical lp’s… in this case Wendy/Walter Carlos Switched on Bach. I would play the first movement of the Third Brandenburg at max volume. My girlfriend called it “rubber-band music” because of the twangy timbres used. A sample can be played from this page
It is still a very special piece of music for me. The end of the first movement, with the long build-up leading to a brief sojourn in g minor, and then the glorious re-cap in G major, ahh it’s better than sex (actually it’s the same as sex :eek: )
I love the Brandenburg Concerti–I was listening to No. 5 driving in to work this morning–but I don’t usually crank them up. They’re nice for keeping me from getting all aggravated in traffic.
I have a (mildly) funny story about this piece.
I just bought 3 CDs to play in the car a couple of months ago (my new car has a CD player, so I thought I ought to have something to put in it). I got Bach’s “Greatest Hits,” some Beethoven, and the previously mentioned Gershwin with Rhapsody in Blue.
Out in the mall parking lot, I unwrapped the Bach set and put the first CD in to try it out. No music right away. I started to poke at the controls; I had not touched the CD player before this and didn’t really know what I was doing with the thing. Then, suddenly, unexpectedly, the Toccata and Fugue in D minor came blasting out: BA-DA-DUM, DA-DUM-DUM! So loud that I covered my ears, and the other people in the parking lot turned to stare before I sheepishly turned it down.
However, it does strike me that this would be a good Bach piece to play loudly under the right circumstances.
Another vote for Wagner’s Tannhauser Overture. Look for the Eugene Ormandy version.
Also another vote for Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, with Leo Stokowski at the podium. Especially the last movement.
Regarding Holst’s The Planets, do indeed get the whole work, but the one to crank is Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age. When it reaches the section that starts off sounding like slow footfalls in the bass string register, be prepared: it builds to extraordinarily massive majesty.
It’s not classical classical (meaning, it’s a modern piece), but Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man is excellent. I’m also a fan of Flight of the Bumblebee, among all the others mentioned here.
For stuff that has to be played at maximum volume, I recommend:
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and many other pieces by Ludwig
Wagner’s Ride of the Valkeries
Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture
Rossini’s Overture to William Tell (the Lone Ranger theme as I call it)
Mozart’s 20th Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in D Minor
Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony
Borderline for this thread, but I think it’s just dramatic enough to make it: Sibelius’ Concerto for Violin & Orchestra in D Minor. Available on the disk Sibelius Nielsen Violin Concertos.