# Cool and unusual classical music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626 "2014-06-25T17:25:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/61 "2014-06-29T04:19:17Z")
I’m very fond of Philip Glass. I love Einstein on the Beach, but [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX_umLOdYPg) may be more accessible. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/62 "2014-06-29T15:40:06Z")
Don’t know whether this has been mentioned yet. [_Bachianas Brasileira #5_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anxdAcilnsM) by Villa-Lobos. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/63 "2014-06-30T04:52:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Look up to my post #46. There’s now a belief that Leopold Mozart didn’t compose it, either, but a Benedictine monk I’d never heard of. Oops! I actually am reading this thread carefully – and taking lots and lots of notes! – but I slipped up and duplicated your recommendation. Sorry. Also…no, I hadn’t heard this development! Fascinating! Thank you for the heads-up! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/64 "2014-06-30T10:01:47Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Don’t know whether this has been mentioned yet. > > [_Bachianas Brasileira #5_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anxdAcilnsM) by Villa-Lobos. Excellent choice; I was going to post that. I like the version by Joan Baez. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/65 "2014-06-30T15:26:30Z")
[Koto Vivaldi, anyone?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zydfz49a09o) ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/66 "2014-06-30T15:57:44Z")
I love all of Verdi’s _Requiem_ and would die to have it performed at my funeral. Here’s a [taste](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHw4GER-MiE). Flashy, operatic, and wild. It has to be a favorite of timpani players everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/67 "2014-06-30T16:05:32Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > From a completely different era, but in a similar genre, 16th century composer Clément Janequin’s [Voulez ouyr les cris de Paris](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiPhbS_ZlRk) (Hear the Cries of Paris). After a short intro in which the title is repeated, we’re presented with a rather cacophonous collection of genuine market criers’ calls. Again, it’s incredible that a piece like this (turnip! turnip!! turnip!!!) was composed 500 years ago. It’s an incredible historical document. That’s _fantastic_. As an (amateur) early musician, I thank you for the link! In a very similar (and contemporaneous) vein, there are a whole series of “Cries of London” compositions from late-1500’s England. [Dering](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPsXTYHzSnI) and [Gibbons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu9PU8OXHGc) both did versions, and Dering also did a [“Country Cries”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSynhQ6F_sQ) which goes into hilarious detail about all of the goings-on in a country village (including clucking chickens and a rabbit hunt with barking dogs). ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/68 "2014-06-30T19:44:50Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Excellent choice; I was going to post that. I like the version by Joan Baez. Indeed! Superb rendition. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/69 "2014-06-30T20:11:40Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Not quite “classical,” but lots of movie soundtrack music: Bernard Hermann’s PSYCHO or VERTIGO, Elmer Bernstein’s THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, etc. The music for the [barn raising scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trjR5yAc-ys) in Witness, by Maurice Jarre. Very good. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/70 "2014-06-30T21:24:23Z")
> [@FlyingRat](#): > > That’s _fantastic_. As an (amateur) early musician, I thank you for the link! > > In a very similar (and contemporaneous) vein, there are a whole series of “Cries of London” compositions from late-1500’s England. [Dering](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPsXTYHzSnI) and [Gibbons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu9PU8OXHGc) both did versions, and Dering also did a [“Country Cries”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSynhQ6F_sQ) which goes into hilarious detail about all of the goings-on in a country village (including clucking chickens and a rabbit hunt with barking dogs). I adore Richard Dering’s The Cries of London! The business where the Town Crier comes bustling through, officiously, and asks if anyone knows of a grey mare with a black tail, having but three legs and both her eyes out – all that’s missing is the punch line, “Known by the name of ‘Lucky.’” – is hilarious. The whole thing is witty. Another peddler’s song is “A Peddler’s Song” – well, duh – which begins, “Will ye buy a fine dog, with a hole in its head.” I’ve always wondered if that meant one of those ceramic pen-holders you still see around today. The song goes on to say, “With a dildo.” Did that mean then what it means today? ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/71 "2014-07-01T00:54:29Z")
> [@FlyingRat](#): > > In a very similar (and contemporaneous) vein, there are a whole series of “Cries of London” compositions from late-1500’s England. [Dering](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPsXTYHzSnI) and [Gibbons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu9PU8OXHGc) both did versions, and Dering also did a [“Country Cries”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSynhQ6F_sQ) which goes into hilarious detail about all of the goings-on in a country village (including clucking chickens and a rabbit hunt with barking dogs). Awesome! Thanks for those links. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/72 "2014-07-01T00:56:46Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > The music for the [barn raising scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trjR5yAc-ys) in Witness, by Maurice Jarre. Very good. Nevertheless, unexpectedly NSFW video. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/73 "2014-07-01T01:28:01Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > Nevertheless, unexpectedly NSFW video. WTF??? Sorry about that… I found the music on Youtube, let it play, and clicked away to other tabs. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qte_Ne5mpJk)’s an SFW version. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/74 "2014-07-01T01:44:39Z")
Some excellent selections guys. Allow me to add… [“Lux Arumque”](http://youtu.be/D7o7BrlbaDs) by Eric Whitacre. Choral piece, debuted as a virtual choral piece on that link. [_Three Places in New England_](http://youtu.be/dnAyaOjNUfw) by Charles Ives. Orchestral piece that borrows heavily from American folk tunes, sometimes in different keys and even tempos simultaneously. Very odd, and cool. [_1000 Airplanes on the Roof_](http://youtu.be/jGZVhUb5Y14) by Philip Glass. Glass brings his minimalist sensibilities to a science fiction inspired work with heavy synthesizer use. Just don’t ask me what it’s about. I haven’t a clue. [_La Cheminee Du Roi Rene_](http://youtu.be/bVj8v5dW0_o) by Darius Milhaud. Finally some chamber music. This piece written for woodwind quintet was is contemporary, but inspired by medievial music. It’s one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/75 "2014-07-01T02:15:41Z")
You want weird? **Stargazing** by Donald Erb, a piece in several movements. “The Stars Come Out” had various instruments producing apparently random brief notes, but the number and concentration increased as the piece progressed, duplicating the appearance of the stars in the evening. “Comets, Meteors, and Shooting Stars” gave us appropriately swooshing sounds. “The Surface of the Sun” featured a lot of flutter-tongued brass notes, I suppose to duplicate solar prominences and flares. tasped electronic music backed up my high school symphonic band when we played this. Here’s one description: > [@](#): > > •Combines traditional and non-traditional elements with electronically produced sounds to uncover a new world of band sonorities. “Each of its three movements concerns itself with exploring a different sound sphere. The first movement employs a quasi-aleotory technique to build tension through increasing density; the second movement is a scintillating interplay of brief chromatic fragments; the third movement throws bright stabs of light against an ominously rumbling background. The taped sounds add a unique dimension to the work.” (Taken from program notes) [http://www.und.nodak.edu/instruct/knorman/521/new.html](http://www.und.nodak.edu/instruct/knorman/521/new.html) Someone told me that, as he walked off the stage (to uncertain applause) our bandmaster remarked “That’s my joke on the high school.” Here’s some other school doing it. : [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zyycdNQildQ/hqdefault.jpg "O.M.E.A. District VII J.H. & M.S. Honors Band - Stargazing - Donald Erb") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyycdNQildQ) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FlJFOYr2GaM/maxresdefault.jpg "OMEA Honors Band Stargazing") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlJFOYr2GaM) ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/76 "2014-07-01T18:53:14Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I adore Richard Dering’s The Cries of London! The business where the Town Crier comes bustling through, officiously, and asks if anyone knows of a grey mare with a black tail, having but three legs and both her eyes out – all that’s missing is the punch line, “Known by the name of ‘Lucky.’” – is hilarious. The whole thing is witty. > > Another peddler’s song is “A Peddler’s Song” – well, duh – which begins, “Will ye buy a fine dog, with a hole in its head.” I’ve always wondered if that meant one of those ceramic pen-holders you still see around today. The song goes on to say, “With a dildo.” Did that mean then what it means today? The bit about the dude looking for his lost, broken-down horse occurs in all the versions of the “Cries” I’ve encountered. I guess the modern equivalent would be like someone posting flyers for a stolen car - a primer-grey Yugo with no bumpers, one headlight and three flat tires. 😃 I honestly have no idea about the “dildo” thing. The best album I have found for this type of thing is this one by [Theatre of Voices and Fretwork](http://www.amazon.com/Cries-London-Hillier-Theatre-Voices/dp/B00B3IGV7Y/). It also contains William Cobbold’s “New Fashions”, which talks about the fickleness of taste while incorporating snippets of music and lyrics from at least ten popular songs of the late 1500’s. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/77 "2014-07-01T19:52:59Z")
Another favorite. Charles Ives pieces for 2 pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart. Most people I've met find these unlistenable, but I think they're wonderful. Interestingly, the only other person I know who shares my appreciation for them is the guy who turned me on to them- a fellow Piano Technician. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/78 "2014-07-01T22:12:43Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > [Koto Vivaldi, anyone?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zydfz49a09o) I’ll see that with [Gayageum Hendrix](http://youtu.be/NfOHjeI-Bns) And raise you with killer [Bayan Vivaldi](http://youtu.be/o0Bn4m6dQbI) ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/79 "2014-07-02T00:20:02Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > One of my favorites: [Danse Macabre, by Saint-Saens](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyknBTm_YyM). > > Give me some more! I think we took the OP too literally… “Cool and Unusual” may means quite a different thing to someone who only has a superficial knowledge of classical music. Based upon the one example given (minor key, intense rhythmic, melodic)… I have come up with the following (possibly suggested already): [ul] [li][Bachanelle from “Sampson and Delilah”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7BnZ8uicU)[/li][li][Jazz Waltz No. 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmCnQDUSO4I)[/li][li][Dance of the Knights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBsKplb2E6Q)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626/80 "2014-07-02T01:08:49Z")
Oh, here’s another: [Masquerade waltz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNqMnfCxxC4) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-and-unusual-classical-music/691626.md?page=3)