Lord, how my tastes have changed. When I was a teen all I listened to was Black Sabbath, Metallica, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, and similar bands. I am about to hit 47 in less than a month (July 4, yes I am a firecracker!), and was reflecting on how I still like some of the stuff from my teen days, but my musical tastes have completely changed and expanded since then. Tristeza, Nick Cave, Glass Hammer, and Tarja Turunen, to name a few examples.
But I have always liked classical music, and starting last year, began grabbing some cd’s if I saw them at the store. One I really liked was “The best of Beethoven”, 2 cd’s of Beethoven performed mostly by the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, with some songs by other orchestras. Most of the songs seem to start with the word “Allegro” (I have no idea what that means). But I love it, a lot more than the Mozart one (which I admittedly haven’t spent a huge amount of time listening to yet).
So that’s the backstory. Here’s what I want some help with. I understand that a lot of the Beethoven cd’s are performed by specific orchestras, and some are mixes of different songs played by different groups. I want some recommendations on who to look for and where to look for it. Wally World doesn’t have too big of a Beethoven collection for some reason :dubious: And I don’t really know anyone else who listens to classical music, in fact when I play it in the car most people I drive past cover their ears, exactly the same as they did when I played Twisted Sister all those years ago.
This was, as I said, inspired by the What’s your favourite Beethoven Symphony, excluding the Fifth and Ninth? thread. I don’t have any of those songs. I need them. I want to listen to them all and select my ‘favourite’ Beethoven Symphony too. What do I look for and where do I find this wonderful music?
Hmmm… “Classical” comprises hundreds of years, thousands of composers in different regions (mostly Europe), different forms and styles… it’s huge.
But, to get started you probably need to learn only one thing: the periods of The Common Practice Periodand then take representative composers and works and see what you like. These periods are:
[ul]
[li]Baroque - Bach, Handel, Vivaldi[/li][li]Classical - Haydn, Mozart, early Beethoven[/li][li]Romantic - late Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky[/li][/ul]
You seem to already be liking the big forms, so here is a work from each period:
If you want a primer on Beethoven, why don’t you check out the videos on YouTube and see which versions you prefer? Many different famous conductors have made recordings of pretty much all his works, and each one brings his own touch to them. (My personal favorite is Herbert von Karajan).
While you’re there, check out other composers as well: Haendel, Bach, Mozart, and Haydn are all pre-Beethoven; Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Mahler, and Bruckner are all post-Beethoven.
Those are just a few samples; there are many more. Works by Italian composers, Dutch composers, English composers, you name it!
The last movement is fun to listen to by itself, but the first two movement do set up the themes that that last plays on, so it is useful to listen to if you haven’t heard it before.
Then, since you used to like metal in the day,this fusion is probably one of my favorite things to listen to on the entire internets.
Try listening to a great classical station online, like KUSC. You’ll get a wide exposure. (Except on Saturday, which seems to be opera day on KUSC.) When you hear something you really like, follow up on that composer.
Classical music is different from pop music in that it has a lot of structure and depth. If a piece appeals to you, you’ll appreciate it more and more as you become familiar with it and realize its intricacies.
The Slovak Philharmonic did a version of my favorite piece of music ever, Grieg’s Holberg Suite. Three of the five movements are Allegro (well, one is Allegro vivace, one is Allegro con brio, and one is Allegretto, but nevermind-- they all mean “fast”). The Holberg Suite was composed in 1885, but it was deliberately written in an older style. It’s not as famous as Peer Gynt, Grieg’s most famous work, and one which shows up in Looney Tunes fairly frequently, but IMO, it’s his best work. YouTube has the Slovak Philharmonic’s version, but the movements are posted separately. Since you love Allegro, listen to the last movement, “Rigaudon,” first.
I hate to say it, but you should probably pick up a basic guide to read, a “Classical Music for Dummies,” so to speak. If someone can link to an online version, please give out bud Apocalypso a hand, here.
You should definitely stop referring to the music as “songs,” which will immediately peg you as a tyro. Learn what “sonata form” is, and that when an orchestra plays a sonata, they call it a “symphony.” When they play one with a solo instrument featured, they call it a “concerto.” Learn that “allegro” means fast, “presto” means faster. “Adagio” means slow, “largo” means slower.
The orchestral piece that precedes an opera is an “overture” except in the case of Wagner, when it’s usually a “prelude.”
It’s complicated – I’ve been listening seriously for over 40 years and still feel like a moron when I talk with REALLY serious listeners – but EXTREMELY satisfying and rewarding.
Here’s a nice Mozart overture that will make your ears happy. James Levine conducting the NY Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Slow and majestic alternating with fast and delightful.
“Allegro” just means “fast.” And what you’re calling “songs” are almost certainly movements. A large-scale work of classical music, like a symphony, a concerto, a sonata, or a string quartet is usually made up of three or four (occasionally more or less) parts called “movements.” (So a movement is to a symphony sort of as a song is to an album in a genre like album-oriented rock). The movements usually don’t have names of their own, but are identified by their tempo markings (like “Allegro”).
There are literally hundreds of different recordings of the really famous works (like Beethoven’s symphonies). You might not want to worry about the performers at all, and just explore pieces, composers, or types of music you like. Or, if there’s a recording you particularly like, you might want to look for other recordings by that same performer, orchestra, or conductor.
You can find a lot of classical music available on YouTube (including all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies). If you don’t know ahead if time exactly what you want, that’s a good, cheap way to familiarize yourself with different pieces. If you then want to buy music to own, online sites like Amazon have a huge selection of both physical CDs and digital downloads.
I can not recommend the series by Great Courses “How to listen to and Understand Great Music” more highly. 99% chance that your local library has it on CD (maybe even DVD).
It’s a perfect introduction to “Classical” sometimes called “serious” or “orchestral” music. All those names suck for various reasons, but there aren’t many better ones.
Personally I think the exact recording you listen to can change your appreciation for a particular work quite a bit. For example, I adore Mozart’s symphony 40, but find that many performances are too fast and not quite staccato enough for my taste, particularly the final movement. But taste is particular so rather than recommending any particular recording, I will say, GO LISTEN! Listen to a bunch of versions. Start here:
compare to here
then here
Interpretation is really the magic here. Same music, different interpretations giving very different feelings (the middle link is my favorite of the three.)
If we are sticking with Symphonies and you want Beethoven, I recommend listening to the 3rd and 7th symphonies. But again, listen to a bunch of versions.
Listen to Szell do the 3rd (my favorite)
listen to Bernstein
or an older classic
or KarajanYoutube is your friend in this endeavor. Start by deciding what you like and then go explore.
Edit: you got me going through old bookmarks from when I was starting to explore this music. I used to love this website
It has/had great reviews on specific recordings and was super approachable.
this is the thread I started (10 years ago, cripes I’m old) on this subject when I got bit by the classical bug. It has some great suggestions by some really really smart posters…some of whom don’t post too much anymore.
In that is a suggestion to check out BBC Discovering Music.
While the whole archive isn’t available if you aren’t in the UK you can still listen to a bunch.
Umm, a string quartet is four string instrument players who play together, usually two violins, a viola, and a cello.
A musical composition called a “quartet” is one that is written for four instruments. They often have three or four movements. Suites have five movements.
Let your discovery of classical music be a delight, not a chore. Don’t feel ignorant – we all do. It’s a huge subject, but can be enjoyed at many levels.
What you might have to look forward to: there is a particular note in Beethoven’s Ninth that sends me into cosmic bliss (it’s a B). I hope you find your note.
Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts are interesting. They’re probably more than you want to know at the moment, but keep them in mind for later.
Don’t watch the whole thing (unless you want to). But do watch the clip starting at 15:32 to hear him start the explanation with “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” and then a Beatles tune.
There are many more of those concerts on YouTube and other video sites.
The current program I use to educate myself on the subject is Exploring Music with Bill McLaughlin. It’s the spiritual inheritor of Adventures in Good Music with Karl Haas, which sadly is hard to find due to licensing issues.
Wow. I was hoping to get a couple of decent responses and move me along a little further. I got much more than that. Thank you everyone for all this great information and encouraging words. I realize this is a very large body of work spanning hundreds of years, so this was exactly the information I was looking for, some ways to introduce and educate myself on this.
Here’s something NAF1138 said that I’ve been trying to figure out. If, say, Beethoven, wrote this piece a long time ago, did he leave room open for different aspects of it, is there room for some slight variation? How is there room for interpretation? Did Beethoven not write all the music notes to be played originally? When I was in my early teens I took guitar lessons for a while. They gave me a book with notes, and I played the notes. How does there wind up being such different performances of the same song? Er, movements. :o
Ok, I’m going to check out some of the links given and learn some new things. I feel like a redneck walking into a museum of fine art. But I really am liking this and want to educate myself and hear much more. Quartz, I have heard people talking about the similarity before, and I think that’s what started getting me interested in classical music to begin with. There are some bands like Blind Guardian, Rhapsody of Fire, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra that have symphonic elements mixed with the heavy metal.
But I really am liking this and want to educate myself and hear much more.