# Classical music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719 "2003-02-22T03:57:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/21 "2003-02-23T01:25:26Z")
Dvorak - _New World Symphony_ would certainly be one of my desert island discs. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/22 "2003-02-23T03:39:14Z")
A few favorites off the top of my head: Beethoven: 7th Symphony Dvorak: 7th Symphony Shostakovich: Leningrad Symphony (that’s right, his 7th) Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde Schoenberg: Moses und Aron Bach: The Goldberg Variations ---
**Author:** ![Epigramcracker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Epigramcracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epigramcracker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/23 "2003-02-23T04:26:42Z")
I second **TTT** on Prokofiev’s _Romeo and Juliet_–especially the March of the Capulets and the Montagues. I also can’t listen to the Puccini aria “O mio babbino caro” without having to stand still and just breathe till it’s over. I’ve always had a very large soft spot for Vivaldi. Basically anything, but of course (stereotypically) Spring from _The Four Seasons._ I also love Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A, though I have to admit I have a love-hate relationship with it after trying to play it myself. Also, if it counts, I’m an opera sucker. Acquired taste I know, but give me some _Marriage of Figaro_ any day. ---
**Author:** ![gorillacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@gorillacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gorillacus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/24 "2003-02-23T05:02:54Z")
All I can add to these illustrious picks is- Erik Satie. Brilliant, moody and playful piano music from the turn of the 20th century. The Gnossiennes give me goose bumps every time. Required listening for those of you dubious as the contributions by the French to culture. The London recoriding with Pascal Roge playing is grand stuff and easy to find. (multi-posts deleted by request – Uke) ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/25 "2003-02-23T06:49:25Z")
**gorillacus** , if you weren’t a newbie I might’ve concluded that your were making a reference to Philip Glass. I’ll second **Satie** though. One of the more interesting and perhaps underrated composers of all time, and certainly one of the best senses of humour. I’ll actually second your endorsement of turn-of-the-century French music in general. Debussy, Ravel (he was French, right?), Berlioz (OK, he was much earlier), Milhaud, some others I’m forgetting, are all up there among my favs. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/26 "2003-02-23T15:18:48Z")
Stuff I’ve listened to in the last week (no particular order) Hindemith - _Mathis der Maler_ Brahms - _Nanie_ Brahms - _Ein Deutches Requiem_ Bernstein - _Overture to Candide_ Bernstein - _Chichester Psalms_ Donizetti - _Don Pasquale_ Vaughan Williams - _Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis_ Vaughan Williams - _The Lark Ascending_ Orff - _Carmina Burana_\*\*\* Glass - _Songs from Liquid Days_ \*\*\* - except when used in most tv commercials (the one for Disney’s Tower of Terror 4 is actually kind of amusing) ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/27 "2003-02-23T20:13:11Z")
I love classical music of the loud, dramatic, “ass-kicking” variety. Some favorites include: -Beethoven’s 9th (quite possibly the greatest single achievement of human culture) -Stravinksy’s **Firebird** -Mahler’s 1st and 2nd (plus lots of his other stuff) -Mozart’s, Verdi’s, and Brahms’s **Requiem** s -Shostakovitch’s 5th -Hindemith’s **Mathis Der Maler** and so forth. I also highly recommend **Fantasia 2000** , which is generally overlooked, but which I thought was wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![gorillacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@gorillacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gorillacus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/28 "2003-02-24T04:42:35Z")
Hey Moe, Try as I might, I really don’t dig Philip Glass. Satie (and listed contemporaries) have more…soul. What I really want is a CD of all the colllected suggestions on this thread. The ‘Straight Dope Classical Collection’. A worthy project I should think. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/29 "2003-02-24T08:33:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gorillacus \* > \*\*Hey Moe, > > Try as I might, I really don’t dig Philip Glass. > \*\* Not sure if it came across, but I was really just making a joke about your triple post (though now that it has been corrected it sorta loses the effect). ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/30 "2003-02-24T09:02:44Z")
So many of you have listed many of my favorites already! I just thought I’d pop in and give a quite plug to a favorite, Jean Sibelius. I love his 4th Symphony, his 2nd, his 5th…wait—is there any symphony of his that I _don’_ like? Nope. But his 6th was a bit odd. I love it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/31 "2003-02-24T09:04:29Z")
“quite plug to a favorite”? What? Forgive my typos. Sibelius is a favorite, there is no “quite” about it. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/32 "2003-02-24T09:09:11Z")
Schubert’s Mass in G. Mostly because I’m singing it in concert on Tuesday though. Also, some free music (including Schubert’s Mass in G) can be found [here](http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/MIT_Music/). They explain the legality of it on the page, something about composers being dead for 100 years and such. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/33 "2003-02-24T13:25:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fusoya \* > \*\*Oh yeah, Brandenburg #5, movement 1 has gotta be one of my favourites ever too. One of the more amazing experiences I had in getting my minor of music was the history of baroque music classes, when we were talking about the Brandenburgs, and the professor mentioned that the harpsichord solo in the middle of this was one of the most difficult keyboard pieces of music to play…and then proceeded to sit down and play the entire thing by memory, perfectly, while lecturing to the class at the same time. \*\* It’s the harpsichord solo that makes that piece really wonderful for me too. It’s simply amazing to listen to. Also, in general, I think it’s the use of that instrument that attracts me to music of that era–the harpsichord has such a precision and delicacy of sound. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/34 "2003-02-24T14:21:38Z")
Hey \*\*yosemitebabe \*\*, there was I time when I tried to push Sibelius as my favorite as well, but I guess he’s been overtaken by his better-known contemporary (at least with me). Still I do enjoy in particular the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th Symphonies. However, the 4th one I still don’t ‘get’. Once in a while I listen to it and think: ‘Interesting…’ Would you care to elaborate what you love so much about it? ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/35 "2003-02-24T15:38:20Z")
So many people here like big symphonic music. I prefer intimate chamber music from solos to quartets. I absolutely love lute and art songs too. But to choose one from there would do a disservice. I am quite partial to Ravel’s _Tombeau de Couperin._ There are too many classical guitar pieces to even bother naming. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/36 "2003-02-25T03:24:29Z")
Some favorites that no one has mentioned yet: Haydn’s “Lark” string quartet (if I had to single out just one of his works) Beethoven’s “Archduke” Trio (and a number of his piano sonatas) Dvorak’s “American” string quartet Mahler’s 5th symphony Prokofiev’s 3rd piano concerto ---
**Author:** ![leechow09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@leechow09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechow09)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/37 "2003-02-25T03:32:47Z")
Classical songs I have been hooked on: -Bach Brandenburg No. 5 (Mvt 1) -Mozart Divertimento No. 1 in D -Mozart Requiem -Beethoven Symphony No. 5 (Mvt 2) -Brahms Symphonies No. 1 + No. 4 -Tchaikovsky Symphonies No. 4-6 (especially 5.II) -Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique -Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 (you can’t not like it) -Wagner: Prelude to Tristan und Isolde -Sibelius: Finlandia ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/38 "2003-02-25T06:03:32Z")
> [@](#): > > TTT wrote: > However, the 4th one I still don’t ‘get’. Once in a while I listen to it and think: ‘Interesting…’ Would you care to elaborate what you love so much about it? I don’t really know how to explain Sibelius’s 4th—I should explain that I grew up in a Classical lovin’ household, and my dad’s favorite, (and I mean **FAVORITE** ) composer was Sibelius. He especially loved the 4th. He said it was Sibelius’s “Best”. So I listened to it a lot. It grew on me. I always liked to say that I loved it because it was “depressing”, but my dad took exception to that. But that was a big reason why I loved it! Some types of “depressing” (or more accurately, “moody”) music is my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/39 "2003-02-25T06:06:08Z")
A few favorites: Rachmaninov - 2nd Piano Concerto Brahms - 4th Symphony Beethoven - 9th Symphony Chopin - various Nocturnes, especially Op 48 No 1 (c minor) – I played this one in my Senior piano recital in college. Rimsky-Korsakov – _Scheherazade_ Albinoni – Adagio (Baroque) Samuel Barber – Adagio for Strings ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719/40 "2003-02-25T12:46:44Z")
Favourite composers in more or less random order (apart from the first 3) and their best work (tough choices) Bach JS - Overtures Mahler - Kindertotenlieder Brahms - Clarinet quintet Schubert - Unfinished symphony Shostakovich - Symphony 14 Dvorak - Ninth symphony Mozart - Clarinet concerto Debussy - Prelude d’après-midi d’un faune Bruckner - Symphony 9 Mendelssohn - Violin concerto Respighi - Fontane di Roma Beethoven - Pastoral symphony Ravel - La valse Wagner - Ring Puccini - Tosca Fauré - Requiem Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky Barber - Knoxville Strauss R - Vier letzte Lieder Gubaidulina - Jetzt immer Schnee Pärt - Tabula Rasa Britten - War requiem Vaughan Williams - Symphony 5 Bax - Tintagel Moeran - Cello concerto Grieg - Peer Gynt Takemitsu - Requiem Gershwin - Rhapsody in blue Sibelius - Symphony 5 Schumann - Pianoconcerto Liszt - Liebestraum Chopin - Nocturnes Rachmaninov - Piano concerto 2 Strawinsky - Sacre du printemps Haydn - Late stringquartets Copland - Appalachian spring Sallinen - Sixth symphony Tsjaikovsky - Violin concerto Composers I do not like in general, but with at least one outstanding composition: Gorecki - Third symphony Saint-Saens - Organ symphony Verdi - Requiem Rimsky-Korsakov - Sheherazade Smetana - Vltava (Moldau) Grofe - Grand Canyon suite Messiaen - Turangalila symphony Hovhaness - Mount St Helen symphony Bruch - Violin concerto [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music/156719.md?page=3)